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Need to give your business a boost?

Need to give your business a boost?

Google Alerts, Sprout Social, Mention, SocialMention, ViralHeat, Trackur, Radian 6 and Sysomos are all great options that will help you get there

These tools are all social media trackers, they can be as simple as searching for keywords or in depth brand communication within social media platforms. They range from paid widgets, apps, office tools to free searches, accessing all of the public information on the internet.

To better discuss these programs I have divided them into 3 categories; primary notification services, CRM platforms and full business services.

Primary notification services include, Google Alerts, Mention and Social Mention. These tools search for any mention of your brand name or any keyword across all social media platforms. Google Alerts is an add on to those who have a Google Account. This is another avenue how Google making a one stop shop user experience. Currently Google has connections through Youtube, Chrome browsing, Gmail, Mapquest. Google Alerts is another way that Google makes themselves stand out from other search engines. This notification program is a free extension to those who already have signed up with Google and already have an account. You can set up keywords and receive notifications about them to your email on a constant basis. This would be good for helping maintain a positive social media presence for a small business. Secondly, SocialMention is much like Google Alerts, however, strictly focuses to 100+ social media places. This is also a free widget that allows businesses to watch over communication happening on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube … Doesn’t have many other features then that, but significantly reduces the time it would take for one individual to be on top of all of the communications during a workday. Lastly, Mention is quite a large social media tool considering its reach to deal with 40 different languages. This program is a paid one, from $19 basic to $99 premium allowing for it to be downloaded to a smartphone and keeping everyone within the company in the loop. Is able to decipher the authority behind the message and determine the importance the message has to the company.

CRM platforms include, Sprout Social and Sysomos to aid businesses in maintaining a customer database. By making it an easy environment to add customers to a database, it will facilitate better communication within the firm. Better communication within the firm means better service for each individual customer. Options like help desk, allow for customers to get support right away. Sprout Social is a paid program that not only includes CRM strategies but also has social media monitoring. Goes one step above just satisfying the customer and allows for the business to really hear what they have to say about their services and how they helped. This program runs for $39 basic, $59 premium and $99 deluxe. The free alternative is Sysomos which sticks to mainly CRM with an added feature of an influencer campaign. This neat feature allows for the company to see their social influence because of their added efforts to really understand their customer’s needs.

Lastly we have some companies that focus on giving their social media services to small to large businesses. These programs are ViralHeat, Trackur and Radian 6 which offer either individual products to businesses or offer the full unlimited service. ViralHeat is a great bang for your buck, it monitors every social media platform and produces statistics along with communication outlets to reach out to current/potential customers. It costs either $9 or $99 for absolutely everything. The price difference shows that you either take a few things we have to offer or you take everything. Next we have Trackur, which is big on return on investment. Here, a lot of data is analysed and presented in an insightful manor suggesting different marketing techniques to increase market penetration. Trackur focuses on full brand awareness  with social media monitoring in just 60 seconds. This is by far the most expensive of the social media monitoring tools and completely takes you into the eyes of the consumer. The prices range from 100 -$500, suggesting that it is a large investment but will provide deep insight into purchasing decisions and consumer’s thoughts. Finally, Radian 6 has lists of products such as social listening, social content, social ads and engagement.  What is nice about this developer is that they allow a business to pick from a list of products and select the ones that they would find beneficial for their business. Whether they want to know more about what a consumer things, or focus on workflow and automation, they can decide.

For a business that really wants to increase their return on investment, gain deep insight into consumer’s thoughts on their products, keep communication lines open and have up to date data analysis behind market penetration, Trackur would be the right choice. I would see this program as a complete asset to a business wanting to grow quickly and gauge their social presence. This would be a huge asset if they are they are competing with others

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Does a resume make or break you itself?

Does a resume make or break you itself?

Let’s backtrack briefly, reputation management on social media platforms differs not in importance . . . but reasons during every stage of life. For example,

Professional student taking extra courses

Reputation management on this stage generally revolves around LinkedIn, a professional social media profile platform. Here it is easier to stay on top of things such as endorsements, friend requests and other people’s interests. The role of RM revolves around the individuals that you have on your contact list and the endorsements you give to others. LinkedIn is a great tool when further networking with individuals who have common interests at the professional level.

Graduate student            

Being in the upper levels of your education, the ultimate goal is landing that job to jump-start your career. . . You can pad your resume with education, past positions, achievements, skills and get that first interview. But, do you really spend much time listening to what your friends are saying about you on Facebook, tumblr, pinterest … It may be your common lingo, your past ways or a couple nights you just let loose and your friends bring it up, OFTEN.

               Reputation Management, is not something that you keep up with once and a while. While we have hectic school days with a full course load, and a part time job to come home to, being on top of your twitter wall / Facebook is not something that is high on the priority list. Even though you may have privacy settings friends of friends may have their privacy settings open to the public in which your comments can be viewed.

Teen student:

Here, one may be on social media quite often, checking out their status due to a need for belonging. The more friends, likes, re tweets, one would feel that they have a better reputation then the next person. Which can be controlled through followers, views, interaction, pictures or re-posts. RM is more of a popularity trend during these stages.

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Evaluating Online Social Media Footprints

Wondering what social media calculator best assesses ones' true online influence?

Klout, Kred and PeerIndex are in question and put to the test���

In brief, each of these three social media tools use different algorithms and measures to calculate ones preserved breath and strength in regards to their social media influence.  

Klout scores range from 1 to 100 with three subheadings present, including true reach, amplification and network impact. True reach is based on engaging an audience, derived from friends and followers across platforms. It is more favorable these connections react to online content posted by the individual in question. Amplification is the likelihood that ones post will generate further discussion. However, the accuracy of a Klout score has been criticized by researchers immersed in the area of social networking.   

Kred is set out to identify influential people in interest-based communities. The score is divided into two subheadings…personal influence and outreach. Here, the trustworthiness of an individual as well as whether their voice will be implemented and retold influences score. Kred Moments, sets Kred apart from the other social network calculators by allowing for individuals to upload past achievements and or personal accomplishments, adding to their overall score. The uniqueness of Kred comes from its open source transparency that allows individuals to see how their scores were calculated.

PeerIndex has major focus on twitter, currently tracking over 45 million profiles. The social media score is based on calculating three components, activity, audience and authority much like Klout.

After evaluating alternatives and digging deeper into these social media calculators, in my opinion, Kred takes the cake. The transparency of the algorithms and how scores presented while allowing for the addition of .pdf files containing personal accomplishments truly represents ones online influence. Coming close, Klout’s favorable quality lies in its ability for individuals to be contacted that have high Klout scores to promote merchandise or products through their social media vine and get PAID for it.   

Legitimate tools for measuring social influence?

These are incredibly relevant tools for measuring social media influence. Klout, Kred and PeerIndex all have similar qualities..

Through their tabbing of important measurements a few commonalities exist across all platforms. These tools place value where value is due. In saying that, areas such as trustworthiness, accountability and true reach are categories they place above all. By having a true online social influence, these programs look at not only the number of followers and friends in your network but how often they comment, endorse or retell your stories. An individual that posts valuable information to a great outreach of individuals with common interests will be seen as more influential. In addition, by having their fingers dipped in many other social media platforms like Pintrest, Instagram, Tumblr ext.. will further diversity their audience and include valuable pieces of visuals, including .jpg’s and .avi videos.

As seen in the Klout evaluation, marketing companies have contacted Klout directly and asked if they could contact their top achievers to pass on marketing messages to their diverse audience.  This in itself is a true indicator of social media calculators place in the overall industry of social online platforms.

Where do I fit in…

With this being said, Klout has given me a score of 21. In the grand scheme of things, this indicates that there are a variety of social media platforms that I have not invested time into. In addition, many platforms that I have yet to network through. One receiving a score as this can increase their score in many ways such as following influential people, voicing your opinion for them to hear. From here it gives them the ability to retweet / retell your story, providing credibility to your social media footprint as it relates to others with common interests.

For individuals looking to be on the board at their respective school, director of athletics, or intramural program coordinator positions, using social media as a tool will set you apart from your competition and ultimately boast your Klout score. Due to students being split between full-time and part-time it may be very difficult to contact them on your behalf through face to face. By using online platforms and voicing your opinions on the institutions intranet or community board you may find others want change to take place. Further showing the true influence of a high Klout score to achieve communication levels that far surpass word of mouth.

Why not make social media networking a gaming tool…There are ways to go about facilitating connections with others in your institution, community, province, ext without being ‘stockerish’ or intrusive. Knowledge is everywhere, some search for places to find it with convenience. By being that middle man between knowledge and audience you can find yourself as the source for credible up to date material. This overall ads value not just to your Klout score but also you as a BRAND.

A Business Tool?

In every industry, companies / firms / businesses constantly battle for market share. Treacy & Wiersema would suggest that customer intimacy and product leadership are two facets that a company must either be a champion in one while maintaining industry standard in the other two categories, including operational excellence. Businesses may have a leading product in their industry but without undergoing innovational marketing techniques it won’t reach its full potential. Using social media platforms such as Pintrest, finding individuals with common interests or Twitter looking for candidates with a large portion of followers in the industry they can be innovative in their marketing techniques. By reaching out to these individuals they will be able to get their premium product in the eyes of potential consumers. Like mentioned earlier, contacting individuals with a high Klout score will also have similar affect and outdo their competitors. Being a champion in product leadership within an industry is one thing, but getting it to be talked about and in the hands of a consumer is another. Inforcing that non-traditional media such as online platforms is an opportunity that should not be overlooked by businesses.

Risks?

Some controversy surrounding Facebook, is that ‘likes’ don’t necessarily mean that an individual will actually purchase the product or service a firm is offering. One may take to the idea or price of the service that one is offering, however is not in the market of making any immediate purchases. Social media is a great way to raise awareness, but doesn’t necessarily lead to changing ones purchasing behavior. In addition, social media could lead to bad publicity. Although, with celebrities , bad publicity can be seen as good publicity… HOWEVER, in a respected firm, bad publicity could sink the product or service they are offering especially if the claims turn out to be false. Be careful, choose social media platforms that have common interests, and back claims with testimonials, research and samples.

Works Cited

"The Business Case for Buying Facebook Likes." Schaefer Marketing Solutions We Help Businesses Grow. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

"Klout." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

"Kred Influence Measurement." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

"Mashable." Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

"PeerIndex." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

Solon, Olivia. "PeerIndex Launches Reward Scheme for Social Influencers." Wired UK. Peer Perks, 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

"Value Disciplines." Model. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

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Virtual Pinboard for Businesses

Using Pintrest as a social media source. May have once been visualized as a successful tool to gather like-minded consumers to one another.

However…

Social media marketing is a tactic used by agencies to connect networks of people to the product of choice. These networks of people allow a product to surface within areas that may not be reached prior to this marketing. Pintrest is a social networking tool that individuals use to connect their interests to other people whom they either have a connection with outside of the intranet or individuals with the same interests.

  Pintrests allow companies to freely advertise their products within these social webs. This social networking tool can be used to “pin” a product and connect tags to it that permit others to search for this product. As a marketing tool, this website lets individuals search for their interests and every product with that tag that is most recently “repined” shows up on the search engine. For a business that carries products unknown to consumers, this tool can be useful for advertising.

  Pintrest is the fourth top social media network known to carry over 40 million users. A product or service can move through one individuals profile to another in a matter of seconds. Using Pintrest as a business-marketing tool allows the business to track the interest of “pinners” and visualize which demographic the product is targeted towards. This virtual pinboard encourages individuals to link a website to the product of choice allowing for communication around the brand.

  Those who are new to the idea should consider using Pintrest as a way to get consumers to visualizing how their brand fits into everyday life. 

Sources:

Bandiom, Lana. "Pintrest Aim for Businesses."Technorati: Social Media Articles. March 19, 2013. 

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Define Yourself…?  A Student / Self-Employed / Confined to a Cubicle

What better way to develop our personal brand by not only making text blogs but using multimedia to portray our story that can be viewed by 25,000 users daily. The social media in question is Tumblr. Here,  branding is facilitated by uploading video’s, crisp pictures, links to Twitter, Facebook or other blogs you have written to give breadth to your story. In addition, it shows the list of other users that have viewed, commented or liked your blog, allowing a network to be formed between users. Furthermore, it is not only a networking tool much like Linkedin, but allows for common interests to be found across the social media platform that Tumblr has to offer.

 For someone aspiring to be in the medical field or someone wanting to connect with a captivating photographer that has traveled the world, both can be found while browsing Tumblr. Groups, previous experience and proud innovations are topics of various blogs that give insights into what individuals have to offer. This platform was developed sometime within 2006 and now has over 96 million blogs, with more than 13 billion views per month in 2013. Intuition would suggest that your aspirations based on past experiences may lead to employment.

Although, we constantly work to reduce our carbon footprint within the environment, by using Tumblr we can increase our other footprint within social media platforms drastically.

Sources:

Levine, Ari. “How the Best Brands Tell Stories Using Tumblr.” HootSuite University. 2013.