• A Whopper of a Social Media Blunder at Burger King

  By Paul | Posted May 20, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Crisis Communications, Social Media

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  Welcome to crisis communications 2.0.
  
  For those corporations and professionals who have not figured it out yet, everything you do online, whether under a real or fake name, is traceable.
  
  As we continually reinforce to our clients, social media can be a powerful communications and branding tool, but your participation must be authentic.
  
  Those who don’t adhere to this basic principle will eventually get "flame broiled."
  
  Burger King is the latest example of a corporation failing to grasp the power of social media. A May 18 Miami Herald article, Burger King's virtual missteps `a cautionary tale', tells the story two employees fired for ''unauthorized activity'' on public websites that didn't “reflect the company's views.''
  
  Plus, according to the Miami Herald, a Burger King Vice President posted comments under his daughter's screen name attacking the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a farmworker advocacy group. The comments accused the coalition's leaders of pilfering pay increases they had negotiated for migrant workers and “reaping millions in cash from unknowing or duped supporters.''
  
  According to a May 13 Associated Press story, “Burger King is in a public relations feud with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers over how to improve wages and working conditions for Florida's tomato pickers.”
  
  So what can we learn from Burger King? Every business must take social media into account when building its crisis communications and management strategy, starting with the Big 3:

  1. How can social media create crisis situations?
  2. How can social media be used to manage crisis situations?
  3. What actions should we take to understand & integrate social media?

  
  Then, drill down to the primary social media channels, and consider their potential impact on your organization. For example:

  Blogs & Crisis Communications

  • How can your business utilize corporate blogging - both internal (private) and external (public) - as a crisis communications tool?
  • What damage can be done to your brand if you are not proactive about monitoring and contributing to blogs?
  • How can influential bloggers impact perceptions about your business?

  Social Networking & Crisis Communications

  • What new crisis scenarios may arise as a result of employees, customers and businesses participating in social networks?
  • What are employees doing, saying on social networking sites? Is it even your business?
  • How can social networks be used to manage crisis situations?

  Online Forums & Crisis Communications

  • What forums should you monitor? Participate in?
  • What’s being said about your business in forums now?
  • When your organization chooses to participate, who has the authority to be the “voice?”

  
  Relevant Links:
  
  Associated Press: Burger King fires 2 after blog controversy
  Miami Herald: Burger King's virtual missteps `a cautionary tale'
  PR Junkie/Ragan.com: Is Burger King the new Wal-Mart? Let's count the ways

• Marketers Look to Cash In on Stimulus Checks

  By Christina | Posted May 18, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Business, Marketing

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  Earlier this month, the Treasury Department began its distribution of nearly $100 billion in economic stimulus payments to more than 130 million households.  
   
  But long before the checks came rolling in, marketing professionals were planning ways to capture consumer attention and grab a share of the windfall.  
  
  The challenge was two-fold: 1) convince consumers that they should spend instead of save, and 2) make them spend it on their company’s goods and services.
   
  The following NY Times article outlines several examples of companies pitching consumers on where to best spend, and stretch, their checks.
   
  As Stimulus Rebates Go Out, Stores Want the Whole Check
  By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD and MICHAEL BARBARO, May 10, 2008
   
  “…The government wants the checks to spur the economy through consumer spending. But the oxymoronic nature of the marketing campaigns — spend money to save money — has prompted finger-wagging from some corners, particularly about offers that require consumers to spend hundreds of dollars at only one store…” Full article

   

  Where's It Really Going?

  Measuring the success of these campaigns may be easier than planned, as consumers are volunteering details on the things they are paying for with their stimulus checks through news articles, online forums and even blogs, such as How I Spent My Stimulus.

• Tools to Build Inbound Links, Website Traffic and Leads

  By Paul | Posted May 15, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing

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  The number of inbound links to your Website plays an essential role in how the site ranks on major search engines, and in turn, directly impacts the quantity and quality of Website visitors.
  
  So what can you do to generate more inbound links to your Website?
  

  • Become content publishers:
    • Launch, maintain a blog about your company, industry and/or areas of expertise.
    • Distribute keyword-optimized press releases through online wire services that include links directing readers to your Website.
    • Publish eBooks, white papers and case histories.
    • Submit by-lined articles to industry sites.
    • Post photos and videos to social media sites.
    • Launch interactive, Web 2.0 magazines with keyword-rich content.
  • Incorporate RSS feeds into your site.
  • Maintain updated company profiles on key online directories such as ZoomInfo, DMOZ, Yahoo! Directory and Business.com.
  • Submit your URL to major search engines.
  • Post a complete, searchable site map to your Website.
  • Optimize anchor text of existing inbound links based on priority keywords.
  • Analyze competitor inbound links to discover new link-building opportunities.
  • Get involved in the blogging community by researching blogs that discuss topics related to your site, and then commenting on relevant blog posts.
  • Contribute to online forums discussing topics related to your company, products and industry.
  • Participate in leading social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon and Digg.
• Is It Time for an Internet Marketing Strategy?

  By Paul | Posted May 15, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing

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  If any of the following questions have come up at your organization, then it's time to define your Internet marketing strategy.

  • Does Internet marketing offer us a greater potential ROI than traditional marketing?
  • Should we be driving more Website traffic, generating more online leads?
  • What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? And how does it work?
  • How do we choose an SEO firm?
  • Why don't we appear higher on Google?
  • Can we get a greater ROI with a Google AdWords campaign?
  • Should we be on YouTube?
  • Does our company need a Facebook page?
  • How can we utilize corporate blogging as an internal and/or external communications tool?
  • What are our employees doing and saying on social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn? Is it any of our business?
  • Do Twitter, Second Life and Flickr matter to our business?
  • Would podcasts be an effective tool to communicate with customers?
  • Why is everyone talking about wikis?

   

  What Should be Considered in Your Internet Marketing Strategy?

  
  You need to clearly define and execute on-page and off-page optimization campaigns to succeed. An effective, optimized Website is just the beginning . . .

  • Analytics
  • Corporate blogging
  • Directory pages (e.g. DMOZ, Yahoo! Directory, ZoomInfo)
  • eBooks
  • Forums (monitoring and participation)
  • Google News Alerts
  • Landing pages
  • Optimized press releases
  • Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns (e.g. Google AdWords)
  • Photo sharing (e.g. Flickr)
  • Podcasting
  • Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Social bookmarking (e.g. StumbleUpon, Digg, Del.icio.us)
  • Social media tracking
  • Social networking (e.g. LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook)
  • Videos (e.g. YouTube, Google Video)
  • Virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life)
  • Webinars
  • Wikis
• Clever Use of LinkedIn for Networking

  By Paul | Posted May 1, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Internet Marketing, Social Media

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  As Internet marketing consultants, we hear from a lot of clients who are on LinkedIn, but aren't sure what to do once they have a profile and a few contacts.

  Well Chuck Hester, corporate communications director at iContact, has found a creative way to drive traditional (face-to-face) networking through social networking on LinkedIn:

   
  Posted to LinkedIn Answers on April 30, 2008

  Coming to Chicago next week (May 6-8) for the Ragan Corporate Communicators Conference.
  Want to meet for dinner?

  
  And check out the LinkedIn blog for additional tips on how to grow your business and career.

  8 LinkedIn Tips for a More Productive 2008

  
  

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