360DigitalInfluence

I’ve been on Facebook since 2003.  I’ve been blogging since 2006.   I got on Twitter in 2007.  Generally speaking, I didn’t believe there was room in my life (or my attention span) for another platform.   Enter Posterous.

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Today marks Day 2 of the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit taking place in Dublin.  In attendance are cancer advocates and survivors from 65 countries who can truly represent and discuss the complex issues comprising the global cancer burden.

Can’t attend? Never fear, there are plenty of ways to not only learn, but participate and make your voice heard and opinion counted from wherever you might be:

• Summit LIVE - Sessions are live Ustreaming from AND the LIVE tab of the very robust LIVESTRONG Facebook fan page or from livestrongblog.org (which also includes aggregation of tweets from the floor).
• Follow @livestrong on Twitter for interesting tidbits of data as they are released live on stage of the summit and opportunities to respond to Twitpolls.
• Visit LIVESTRONGAction to sign the World Cancer Declaration and have your name included on the list of those demanding that cancer be a global priority that will be presented at the close to the summit.

<Disclosure: client>

There’s been a lot of interesting discussion recently on how to best leverage channels like Twitter to communicate.  This post talks about a bit about the co-creation of new social experiences that drive conversation and engagement in innovative ways, with the potential to then communicate the co-creation activity across multiple channels - including Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr.

More than ever before, people have tools to help them co-create products and services in social environments.  It’s an exciting trend that’s still very much in its infancy.  Many of us are familiar with Cafepress, Zazzle and Nike’s custom shoes NIKEiD program.  These were early - and still successful - examples of firms that help people remix and create everything from shoes to skateboards.

We’re now seeing signs of continued evolution of this general trend, in areas as diverse as fashion, fabrication and finance. The ideas these companies are introducing will change the way a range of industries introduce, sell and market products.  For marketers, these companies all demonstrate useful and innovative approaches to genuine engagement of audiences around co-creation.

Instructables (DIY)
Part of the rapidly growing online “fab” and DIY trend, this site provides one of the best communities centered around creating almost anything - including an Electric Umbrella, Pulled Chicken, a Cardboard Frisbee and even Homer Simpson’s 3D Doughnut Trophy. The site reaches over 4 million monthly unique visitors globally.

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According to a recent eMarketer report, Twitter - so far - isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for the marketing industry. Only 8% of those in the advertising world feel that Twitter is effective for marketing to their audiences - partially because of the lack of knowledge and awareness that the general consumer has around Twitter. Research from LinkedIn showed that while over 80% of advertisers knew Twitter, only 30% of consumers on the Web were familiar with the micro-blogging tool.

50% of consumers said Twitter was somewhat to very effective for marketing and promotion (while 58% of advertisers consider Twitter to be at least somewhat effective). eMarketer’s take is this:

“While marketers, and advertisers, media [and celebrities]…have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, the average US consumer has not. And without broader consumer acceptance - not to mention awareness- it can’t be considered an effective marketing tool.”

So how can we make the best use of Twitter in our marketing strategies?

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Finding a new job can be difficult and nerve-racking, especially in today’s economy.  With 14.5 million Americans currently out of work and an unemployment rate of 9.4% and rising, how does one find career opportunities fast?

The old approach to a job search – developing a resume, writing a cover letter, submitting your resume to corporate sites and job banks, and crossing your fingers in hopes of receiving a call from a hiring manager – is, for the most part, no longer viable.

Most people know that the best way to find a job is through networking. You can go to networking meetings, tap into your own personal network, or ask friends who they know.  Similarly, there are many ways to use social media in order to network, and eventually find a job.

At Ogilvy, we use social media (among other things) to recruit potential new hires – a recent twitter example: “@kaimac looking for a social media strategist in NYC, 3 to 5 years of exp, client facing, must be awesome, DM me for details pls” resulted in the hiring of our newest Digital Strategist in New York, Priya Kapoor.   

Listed below are some useful tips in using social media to find your next job…

Blog, Blog, Blog

Blogging allows you to showcase your talents to potential employers – they see how you write, see what’s important to you, see who you are personally and even see examples of your work.  All that, before they even meet you.  It helps make you a real person versus a piece of paper resume.

Consider posting comments on other blogs – this gets your name out there even more, and if you write something interesting, it may catch the eye of a potential employer.  Social media guru Chris Brogan suggests blogging on the types of jobs you want. For example, if I want a job at a specific company doing public relations, I can blog about ideas I have for them. 

Be Proactive On Twitter

Twitter is evolving as another resource for both job searching and recruiting.   By conducting Twitter searches, following recruiters on your account and using the “@” sign to communicate with them on occasion, you will start to learn a lot about them and their companies.

Before you follow anyone on Twitter, you HAVE TO have a completed profile.  Make sure your profile has a short bio, the location where you’re from, a link to a site that recruiters can go to for more information (e.g. your blog or LinkedIn profile). 

Mashable has a great recent post on how to find a job using twitter – includes tips on maximizing your page, as well as various search tools and resources to assist with your search.

Take Advantage Of LinkedIn

With more than 44 million members in over 200 countries around the world, recruiters are starting to use LinkedIn as the main place for sourcing candidates because it’s free, and the top professionals are on there.

If you don’t already have one, create a LinkedIn profile, import your address book, and start taking advantage of this tool.  You want to complete your entire profile, just like you would a resume, but include the same bio/profile you are using on Twitter (see above) and ensure that the summary section is complete.

The majority of the site is completely free to use, with varying monthly plans for additional features and options.   There is also a growing number of applications that users can add to their profile, such as RSS feeds from a personal blog, local events, local job postings, polls, and other useful tools.

Try to get at least one recommendation from a supervisor or friend, which will give you a “1″ next to a “thumbs up” graphic when people search for you.

Build A Social Media Resume

The problem with submitting your standard resume online to job postings is that most job postings aren’t even vacant, might not exist, and 80% of jobs offers are received through networking.  Social media resumes are useful for attracting hiring managers directly to you, without you having to submit your resume, blindly, to them.

Social media resumes include various multimedia elements, sharing options, integrated social networking feeds and the same elements you’d find in a traditional resume – for an example, check out personal branding expert, Dan Schawbel’s social media resume. 

There are several websites to get you started, both free and paid.  Bravenet.com is a free solution with many different tools, such as a polling feature and guest book to help you get started.  Bluehost or Godaddy are a few paid options to host and build your website.   

Please join us at an 8 am - 12 noon “unconference” on Friday, August 21st, in Atlanta - PR Camp Atlanta - organized by Dan Greenfield of Bernaise Source Media.

This event will be a fast-paced interactive learning experience free of panels and Powerpoint.   Learn and exchange ideas about social media relevance to senior executives, new approaches to measurement and effective sharing of knowledge.

We”ll be co-leading a session on measurement.  Here’s the full list of who’s helping guide the sessions:

- James Andrews, Managing Partner, Everywhere
- Melanie Babcock, SVP, Digital Strategy & Services, Manning Selvage & Lee
- Debbie Curtis-Magley, Public Relations Manager, UPS
- Bert Dumars, VP, E-Business & Interactive Marketing, Newell Rubbermaid
- Peter Fasano, Principal/Lead Catalyst, mass+logic
- Carol Flammer, Managing Partner, mRELEVANCE, LLC
- Christopher Jones, Digital Strategist, Ketchum PR
- Irfan Kamal, Vice President, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence
- Katie Mingo, Senior Marketing Associate, Delta Airlines
- Marilynn Mobley, SVP, Strategic Counsel, Edelman PR
- Shirley Powell, SVP, Corporate Communications, Turner Broadcasting System
- Jenny Schmitt, President and Director of Client Strategy, CloudSpark

Register here.

The CDC’s National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media starts tomorrow with an amazing lineup of presenters and keynote speakers. The conference is in its third year and brings together social marketing practitioners, academia, public health practitioners and many others to discuss best practices in health communications and marketing.

I am thrilled to be going to this conference and am looking forward to learning from some of the best social marketing practitioners and thought leaders in the country. I plan on blogging about my experience here on the Fresh Influences Blog with my colleague Kristin Parrish. You can also follow our Tweets @KFoster926 or @sarahmarchetti or follow the conference hashtag #NCHCMM. If you are attending the conference, Alex Rampy wrote a great post you should check on on 5 Ways to Prep for the CDC Conference.

Several representatives from Ogilvy PR’s Digital Influence and Social Marketing teams will be speaking at the conference. If you are going, please stop by our sessions:

Partnering with the AME Church to Educate African Americans about P.A.D. - Erica G.Taylor (International A/B) Tuesday, 2:15 — 3:45 p.m

Twitter Best Practices for Nonprofits and Health Communicators - Sarah Marchetti (Grand Ballroom A/B)Tuesday, 2:15 — 3:45 p.m

Motivating Women to Address Risk Factors for Heart Disease by Creating an Online Community with Customized Social Media Tools - Emily Yu and Kristin Foster (Poster Session)Wednesday, 9:30 — 10:15 a.m

Redefining Teen Health Communications Through Social Media - Trish Eitel Taylor and Caitlin Douglas (Cottonwood A/B) Wednesday, 10:15 — 11:45 a.m

Policy Advocacy: The Fifth “P” of Health Marketing - Bryan Callahan (Dogwood A/B) Thursday, 10 — 11:30 a.m

You can check out the program book for full descriptions of these sessions and all the other presentations that will be going on over the next three days.

Do you have any questions for us while we’re there? Any content you’d like to see here on Fresh Influences that Kristin and I can collect for you? Let us know in the comments.

I’ve been thinking and writing a lot lately about the power the “vocal minority” exert in social media.  I know it’s not a new phenomenon, but I’m still fascinated at the seismic shift it’s causing in the brand-consumer power dynamic.  And it’s not all cake and balloons.

The latest dust-up that has me back on my soapbox has to do with ESPN.   Last week it was rumored - based on a single vague Tweet from an ESPN reporter - that ESPN had enacted a draconian social media policy.  Some of the most influential bloggers in all of bloggerville rushed to wag their finger at the network. Tsk Tsk they said.

Big problem though - no one (by their own admission) had actually seen ESPN’s policy at the time they were passing some incredibly harsh judgment.  So this “reporting”  was based on, um … [crickets].

By the time ESPN actually released the policy, countless numbers had blindly re-tweeted and propagated the negative POV, based solely on the uninformed opinions of others.  In fact two days after ESPN released the policy, I heard someone say “ESPN blocks social networks.” Wrong, misinformed and damaging to a brand that did nothing wrong.

Funny thing happened on the way to the forum … turns out the policy was, for the most part, pretty reasonable.  But clearly the point of this post is not about arguing the merits of the fine print.  You can see the policy here and decide for yourself.

Yet another tempest in the teapot. The vocal minority strikes again.

Can’t we all just get along?  What is with this rush to judgment?  And why the snarkiness?  Why not a rush to truth?  Isn’t the culture of cruelty era over and done?

I have no allusions of changing the dialogue, or even the tone.  But I can do my own small part.  So here are five rules by which I’ll behave moving forward … think you’ve got it in you?

1. Get your facts straight before the bashing begins. Or at least get a fact (any fact) on which you base your opinion.
2. Put yourself in the brand’s shoes. Have you worked at a brand in the era of social media? If not, take your fingers off the keyboard for a minute and just try to think what it’s like to be a brand trying to navigate the new world of social media.
3. Don’t blindly pass along the uninformed opinions of others. Do your own thinking. If you agree, go for it. But at least put some effort behind it.  No lemmings allowed.
4. Consider the impact your words can have on an individual or organization. I’m not saying “if you don’t have anything nice to say …” but do try and put a human face on the target of your criticism.
5. Get over yourself.  We all make mistakes.

[this post is edited from the original that appeared on my personal blog]

Mashable this week posted about the low numbers of teens on Twitter.  The post invited readers to weigh in on why they thought this was (e.g. they’re too private, they prefer texting, etc) – once the comment count spilled into the hundreds, Mashable wrote a follow up post further analyzing the issue.

At the risk of throwing my hat into an already crowded ring, here’s why I think Twitter sees low adoption among teens:  Teenagers, for the most part, do not yet posses weak social ties – the very connections that fuel nearly all of twitter’s growth. continue reading