Posts about Social Media

How You Tell Your Prospects, Customers Stakeholders You Don’t Care About Them

April 1, 2014/0 Comments/in Communications, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Whether you work for a small business owner, a start-up, a not-for-profit or even a college or university, building and sustaining relationships is very important to your bottom line. With government agencies, there is an expectation that you regularly communicate with your tax payers and stakeholders to keep them informed. So, why is it is that so many of you continue to tell your prospects, customers, tax payers, etc. that you don’t care about them?

What Not to Do

With one simple gesture you say a lot in terms of what you think about the people who are the most important to you and your sustainability. The worse part is that it is totally avoidable. That simple gesture? Start unfollowing them on Twitter.

Case Study

I was recently working with a client, we will call them “M” and I was doing some follow-up training and training some new staff. As I was preparing to start the session, there was a conversation going on about what one of the new staffers was doing “to fix their Twitter” account. I listened with a lot of interest as I had not only originally helped them develop their strategy for using Twitter, but was now there to train the new staffers on how to use various management tools to make their lives easier when communicating via their social channels. The fix? Well, the fix was one of the worst things, in my opinion, that you can do. The staffer was unfollowing every single one of their Twitter followers. It was his opinion that there was no value having their Tweets come up in the organizations stream and it was a complete waste space and time.

My jaw dropped. This client had worked very hard to build relationships with its stakeholders and actually create a community. They had actually done a really good job. All that good work was just about to go up in smoke. The new staffers didn’t understand the nature of social media for business. The new staffers didn’t consult with anyone and decided to treat their organization’s social media like it was their own personal channel. I quickly considered how I was going to address this. Because I had worked with this client from the beginning and helped them develop their social strategy, policy and tactics, I knew how important it was for them. Additionally, and this is very important, because of the nature of their business they had now exposed themselves to a great deal of public criticism. Their community would not take kindly to this public dismissal.

I had to act quickly. I asked them to stop what they were doing immediately and enquired how many people/brands they had already unfollowed – the answer: 296. I then said, o.k. we are going to do our training a little differently than what was planned.

They of course didn’t realize the ramifications of what they were doing. They assumed that once you use social media, its all the same. They thought that how they do things with their own personal profiles and channels was the same in the business environment. It is not of course the same.

The Fix

So, what are the easy ways to avoid this? What are the ways to fix the situation? Here are some easy tips:

1. Train Employees BEFORE Allowing them to be the Voice of Your Brand

This could have been easily avoided with up front training. Not only do people need to understand social media and how to use it, but more importantly they need to understand your business, your brand value and how your brand operates.

Unfollowing is an easy mistake to make. We all make assumptions. In this case, a potentially serious mistake. It actually didn’t take long for some of their stakeholders to Tweet “Well, M just unfollowed me. I guess they don’t need my support after all.” We fixed this right away, by refollowing everyone and apologizing for the error.

2. Understanding the Social Nature of Social Media

Despite social media being more than a decade old now, many companies continue to treat it as just another traditional tool and/or tactic with the very focus of push communications. They fail to understand that there is a relationship that you need to build. It is about building trust, having interest in each other and communicating with each other. It is about sharing each other’s information. It is about being social.

3. Remember Your Prospects and Customers Are Human Beings

This seems like a no brainer, but it is a conversation that I have with some clients more often than not. In the case of M, the staffers weren’t thinking about the people on the other side of the Twitter handle. They thought of them just as a handle. They didn’t think about the message that was being sent.

In the training I delivered that day, we looked at real examples of brands that they were connected with and how they would feel if suddenly they were unfollowed. Between that conversation and the Tweets that started to come in from stakeholders, they quickly realized that they needed to better understand social media for business and just how easy it is to send the wrong message.

Thankfully we caught and fixed this one right away.

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3 Quick & Easy Tips to Freshen Your Social Media Profiles for Spring

March 24, 2014/0 Comments/in Influence, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Think Spring cleaning is just for your home? Think again. Our social media profiles, whether personal or for our brands can also use a freshening. Here are 3 tips to freshen up your social media profiles:

Updating Your Social Media Profiles – Image of TaylorMade Solutions

1. Update Your Avatars (Profile Pics)

This should be the most obvious on the list. When was the last time that you updated your social media profiles pics? If you still are using the “egg” for your profile pic on Twitter, it is time to crack that habit and lay the groundwork for a professional pic that enables people to recognize you.

The same goes for outdated pics across all channels. If you are using a picture for LinkedIn from your first day on the job and that was five years ago, it’s time to update! If people can’t recognize you by your avatar, then your impacting your personal brand.

For corporate brands, has your logo changed? Are you using an image that is now outdated? Shake it up and update asap!

2. Update Your Bio

Like your photo, a lot can change over a year or a few years. It’s time to wipe the cobwebs off of your outdated profile. Hobbies changed? New job? New blog? Remember to add the appropriate keywords for what you now do.

The same goes for corporate “About” pages, etc. While your core business may not have changed, business terms and keywords do change. Make sure that you are putting your best foot forward by freshening up your corporate information and reflecting current business strategies and tactics.

3. Create or Eliminate

Equally important for personal and corporate brands, if you are not listening and engaging with your audience in the right channels, then find out what channels you need to be a part of and carefully determine if it makes sense for you to be in that space as well. If you find that your audience (customers, prospects and competitors) are all in that space and you are not, then you are likely loosing out.

The same goes for channels that no longer work for your audience. If you have found that you are spending time and money in a channel that is getting zero engagement due to the fact that your audience is longer present, it’s time to re-evaluate. If it is no longer working, exercise judgement and eliminate this time waster. Focus on channels that net results: leads, conversions and sales.

Looking for some additional tips for setting up your profiles in order to meet best practices? Check out these resource for LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

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Fake Twitter Followers - image courtesy of blog.conduit.com

Busted: Why Buying Twitter Followers Makes You A Fake

March 22, 2014/0 Comments/in Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Each week I get at least a dozen “people” who start following me on Twitter with the sole intention of trying to get me to buy followers. Needless to say, I don’t follow back and, more importantly I don’t buy followers. While this is point of debate for some, I don’t believe in buying followers. I think that it makes a person or a corporate brand a fake – A big inauthentic fake and here are the reasons why:

1. You Underestimate People

Social media practitioners preach authenticity. Most of these practitioners that I know, are marketers by the way and they also preach authenticity. “You have to be real” we say. So, how can you be real and authentic if you are buying followers?

Yes, it is nice to have followers and a large network. It makes us feel important. And sure, when we see others with a large following we might automatically think that they are important and respected, etc. etc. And, they just might be! I know many of the people I respect have large networks. Then there are others that I hold in the same light and their “online” networks are not so large. It’s all about perspective.

That being said, what do you think about a brand (a person or a corporate brand) that turns out to be not what you thought? You might feel cheated right? You may even be angry that you believed in someone or something that isn’t quite what they claimed. What if the person or corporate brand you followed on Twitter was suddenly exposed as having bought most their Twitter followers? Would you be upset?

There are many tools to test the validity of followers, including those of your favourite brand. One example is Status People. I ran a test on my Twitter Profile and found that I had “0% Fake,” phew! And, these tools are usually free and available for people to check his or her own Twitter handle, or the Twitter handle of someone else. And don’t think that people aren’t doing this for regular people. It isn’t just there for celebrities and politicians.

Test of @MacLeanHeather

So, don’t just talk the walk…walk the talk boys and girls.

2. Don’t forget the “Social” in Social Media

The original purpose of social media was to connect with “people,” share information and communicate like we have never communicated before, regardless of where you are. So, that being said, social media has enabled us to reconnect with family and friends AND to connect with new people who have the same or similar interests to us. The common word here is “connect”. And, while some people have very large networks of real social media connections, most of us “still” want to get to know people on some level.

The same goes for marketing. For the first time, we could connect with our customers and prospects in new ways and, at a very personal level. Despite this, many of us seem to forget social is different. We seem to approach social media marketing with the “same old, same old” mentality of mass marketing and “push-only” messages. Some of us don’t even listen to what our audience is communicating about us, let alone to us.

When you are buying followers, there is no connection. Period!

3. You Don’t Understand “Audience”

When you are buying followers, you are buying numbers and not an audience. When you have an audience, you have “people” who are interested in what you have to say. You can engage with real people. They can ask you questions and share information with you and vice versa. When you buy followers, you aren’t getting engagement. Just how many of those followers do you even think are real? When was the last time that you were asked if you would like to sell your “following” status? Ah…never, right? If someone is telling you that they can get you additional exposure by selling you followers, reread this post and repeat as necessary. You are buying empty fake Twitter accounts just to inflate your number of followers. Empty = empty results.

There is no shortcut to building an audience and your creditability. Take your time. Find your voice and have fun getting to know people – both those with their own Twitter accounts and those behind the handles of the brands of companies.

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The Cost of Ignoring Social Media (What You Need to Know)

March 19, 2014/1 Comment/in Customer Service, Human Resources, Management, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Is your company still in denial thinking that you don’t need to embrace social media? If so, you are suffering a great cost which can be documented through research. For example, McKinsey & Company research shows that unlocking value and productivity through social media is significant. In fact, the study reports that social media could potentially contribute between $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in annual value across the four commercial sectors studied.

Research from Genesys points to the fact that more than half of customer-facing Fortune 500 Corporations “suffer from social shyness”. Specifically, 55% fail to list a Twitter handle and 51% fail to list a Facebook page on their “contact us” page.

The Cost of Ignoring (COI) social media is more significant to businesses than just being socially shy. It comes down to dollars. According to a recent Forbes piece, “social media is more pervasive than ever among customers: 50% of the population currently use Facebook and more than 37% use Twitter.” This same post also suggests that only 16% of surveyed CEOs were participating in social media. The logical conclusion? Your customers are using social to connect and communicate; therefore, you should too.

The COI of social media comes down to missed opportunities. As a business, you need to question your opportunity costs. If you and your organization don’t have a listening and engagement plan in place, here are five areas where you are experiencing COI right now:

1. Customer Service

Conversations are taking place right now about your products and/or services. Some are very positive and helpful to you. Some are very negative, perhaps even inaccurate. If you are not listening and engaging, you aren’t taking the steps to correct misinformation. You are also not taking the steps for a rapid response to fix an issue and delight your customer. Rapid responses save time, which saves money.

2. Reputation Management

If you haven’t secured your company’s social identity, someone else will. They could communicate with your customers under the guise that they represent your brand. We all know that one of the things keeping the Boards of Directors awake at night is the possibility of a social media crisis that damages the company reputation.

3. Crowdsourcing to Build Loyalty

Perhaps one of the most effective companies at utilizing crowdsourcing for this outcome is Starbucks. They have successfully built brand ambassadors through contests and more. Best of all, when done well, it also engages their employees and results in profits.

4. Collaboration

Companies like Dell use their invention of IdeaStorm to bring collaboration to life. According to McKinsey & Company, improved communication and collaboration through social media could raise the productivity of interaction of workers by 20 to 25 percent. This has huge potential.

5. Recruitment

Some of the savviest candidates have strong social profiles. They have their resumé on social networking sites like LinkedIn. They are researching potential employers through social sites, commentaries, and the social profile of an employer. Being absent can send a strong message to potential candidates.

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A version of this post previously appeared on the Marketing Cloud blog.

Be a Branding Genius Like American Pickers’ Mike Wolfe

March 17, 2014/0 Comments/in Management, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

How would you like to debut your brand to 3.1 million people? That would be pretty amazing right? Well, that is exactly what Mike Wolfe did in 2010, when his show, American Pickers debuted on the History Channel making it the highest rated debut since 2007. This didn’t “just happen”. When you dissect it, Mike Wolfe is a Branding Genius and you can learn from his success.

Image courtesy of the Mike Wolfe American Picker Facebook Page

Now, before getting to Mike’s genius, let’s be clear what a brand is. Far too many people think a brand is a logo. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are a number of definitions for brand, but I think that Seth Godin’s best captures it: “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” Now that we are all on the same page, let’s break down what Mike did to create a brand that has resulted in growing his business and brand recognition that we all dream of!

1. Leadership and Vision

Before you can establish a great brand, you need someone who has a great vision. On top of that however, you need a leader who can execute on that vision. (Click to Tweet)

Mike is definitely “that” person. His business Antique Archeology has a different take on antiques. In effect, he is creating and curating his own story all the way from the experience in-store to going out on the road with sidekick Frank Fritz to collect “rusty gold”. He is unearthing great finds. It truly is archeology.

2. Differentiation

In 2010 when American Pickers debuted, there were no other shows like it. In fact, Mike understands differentiation more than most. As a result, it was important to have his on-site in-store person to be outside the expected norm. Danielle definitely fits that bill. Tattoo-Clad, ring adorned and burlesque-dancing Danielle is definitely not what you would expect at a traditional antique’s store. (Click to Tweet)

In addition to Danielle being an unexpected twist, Mike’s take on going antiquing is truly different. Crawling through barns, garages, junk heaps and even junk yards, he is willing to go where no man has gone before on TV. His cringe-worthy approach made us all think twice about the junk we see and what it might be worth.

Image courtesy of the Mike Wolfe American Pickers Facebook Page

And of course I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that his approach has definitely converted many men to rethink antiquing trips with their wives. No longer is it about fancy or precious items that are to be looked at. No, Mike has created a whole new focus by getting junk-drunk with “mantiques”.

3. Consistency

For brands to be really successful communicating their brand value, consistency across all channels is essential.

Mike is using seven different channels: TV, Website and of course social: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest and ebay. Across all these channels, there is a high level of consistency with colour, themes and content. Mike continues to flawlessly curate stories. You know when you are looking at a Mike Wolfe asset. His touch and likeness are everywhere. Everything you see you can tie back to Mike. He stays true to his area of expertise and interest.

4. Passion

Hand-in-hand with consistency is passion. Mike has a passion for what he does. You can see it and feel it. He specializes in a few areas, including bikes – both man powered and engine powered. For the most part this is a real man’s passion. Engines, testosterone and finding the ‘honey-hole” of picks – that is Mike Wolfe and the American Picker brand.

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How To Look Like a Recruitment Rockstar

March 15, 2014/0 Comments/in Human Resources, Management, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

According to Jobvite and its annual Social Recruiting Survey, social recruiting has become an essential HR practice with 92% of U.S. companies using social media to find new talent. By leveraging social for recruitment, you can position yourself as a rockstar saving both time and money and increasing your effectiveness while hiring. Here are six ways to deliver best-in-class results:

HA MacLean Photo

1. Have a Plan

Understand and know the persona of the typical candidate applying for a position at your company. Also, know what your company wants from a successful candidate. Relying on a job description that was based on the person in the role previously may not be the best option. Interview hiring managers to understand their current needs and develop the job description from that point going forward. Be sure to incorporate the latest details from the industry so that successful candidates will be challenged.

2. Know Your Audience

Candidates go online to search for job opportunities as opposed to old standard searches. Understand the search preferences and ensure that you use the right channels to share your job openings. Remember that mobile should be an important part of your strategy and toolkit. In 2014 and beyond, mobile is key to your recruitment efforts. If you fail to incorporate this, you will lose out.

3. Leverage Social Media

Be sure to have well thought out branded social channels. To be successful, you must have the appropriate resources to post information to these channels, and someone needs to be actively listening and responding to potential candidates. Information should be fresh and in line with your overall brand.

4. Leverage the Power of the Brand

Using branded social channels is only a part of the equation. The real power comes from the leveraging the power of your brand. As a result, we are seeing a significant trend towards marketing and Human Resource professionals working side-by-side versus being mutually exclusive. With the economy improving, Human Resource Practitioners are realizing that they are in a selling role. They need to be able to understand the brand value and what it means to be associated with the brand. Candidates increasingly want to work for organizations that are respected and trusted.

5. Unleash the Power of Employees

Give your employees both the power and the tools to share job vacancies with their friends and families. Jobvite will also confirm that employee referrals are the highest quality, lowest cost source of hires at any company. To be successful, this means that you must not only trust that your employees will utilize social media appropriately during work hours, but you must actually give them access to various social channels in order for them to share.

6. Understand the Numbers

LinkedIn alone has more than 200 million members in more than 200 countries. More than 2.6 million companies have pages set up on the network. Facebook has more than 1.11 billion active users and Twitter has more than 554 million active users. You can learn a lot about current trends and skill sets available in each of these channels. This will help you hone your search.

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A version of this post previously appeared on the salesforce.com blog.

50 Free or Low-Cost Apps for Small Businesses

March 12, 2014/0 Comments/in Communications, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

For many small businesses, keeping up with all of the latest tools and apps can be tough. So, we’ll make it a bit easier for you.

Here are 50 low-cost tools and applications to check out today.

The best part is that many are completely free!

Around Me – Search for the nearest restaurants, banks, gas stations, hotels, and more. Time is money and when travelling for business, this app will help.
Award Wallet – Travel a lot for business and have too many reward programs to keep track of? Track it all and stay organized and in sync with your rewards.
1ShoppingCart – Build, sell and grow your ecommerce storefront. You can try out the tool for one month at no cost.

1Shopping Cart
Beesy – This low cost app enables you to take meeting notes and has automated To-Do lists as well as some nifty Task/Project Management
Bizzabo – A mobile networking app for events and conferences to keep attendees, organizers and sponsors engaged. You can learn who will be attending in advance and make plans accordingly.
Bump – This free app enables to smart phone users to actually bump their phones together to transfer contact information, photos, files, etc.
Camera Awesome – The name alone is cool. This free app is touted as one of the best photo editors. Even the Wall Street Journal has endorsed it.
Cloze – Overcome “inbox overload” and filter through the noise to get to those critical emails.
Converter Plus – This free app not only helps you with currency conversion, but also comes with a mortgage calculator, fuel consumption tools, and more.
Dashlane – Need a password manager and secure digital wallet for devices? This free app might be just what you are looking for.
Dictionary.com – Need a dictionary and thesaurus on the go? This free app is the way to go. A bonus, you don’t need internet while searching words!
Doodle – This low cost app is a great tool if you are in the position of setting up meetings with people in different locations, businesses, etc. Doodle app enables you to poll invitees to determine which date and time best accommodates people.
Dropbox – Another great free app that lets you store your files, including photos in the Cloud. Access them anywhere and share with anyone. You will never have to worry about forgetting a thumb drive again. Or, if you can’t make a meeting, your colleague can access that all-important presentation and deliver it for you.
EasilyDo – Your free personal assistant that checks traffic before your commute, checks weather, tracks packages, lets you know when there is an important date you need to celebrate and more.
Blogger – Create your own free blog in minutes and leverage your other Google products to help promote.
Evernote – Another free app that enables you take notes, make lists, sync files across devices and stores everything in the Cloud.
Facebook Pages – Want to engage with your customers, stakeholders and community in general? Set up a Facebook page to share information and communicate real-time.
Find My iPhone – Not just for your iPhone, but really any Mac Product, this free app is one that you want to have. If you have ever lost your phone, you know the feeling of fear. Help mitigate loss with this app.
FlipBoard – Curate the news the way you like it in one place with this free app.
Gate Guru – The winner of numerous Best Travel or Airport Apps, this freebee let’s you view your Tripit and Kayak itineraries, view/post airport security waiting times, see a structured list of airport food, shops, etc.
Gmail – Looking for free email, with real-time notifications, multiple account support and more? Check out Gmail.
Google Docs – Want an easy way to share documents with colleagues and be able to edit together simultaneously? With free Google docs you can be in one part of the world while a colleague or client is in another sharing and updating the same document.
Google Hangout – Can’t make the meeting? Use Google Hangout to meet with up to 10 different people while seeing them online at no cost. Share information, photos and more all from the convenience of your office, or even the airport.
Google+ – Looking for a social channel that is different and offers you the flexibility of distribution lists (circles) magazine style viewing on your tablet? Check out Google+.
Google Translate – What a free and easy way to translate messages, signs or social posts? Google translate offers both text and audio translations.
Instagram – This free app enables you to take photos and video and then apply filters to improve the product, which is perfect for blogs, websites, and more.
Lemon Wallet – Store digital copies of your credit cards, ID, etc. all for free in this app.
Mozy – Looking for an industry leader in online backup? Mozy is a free app that helps you securely access all your backed-up files
ooVoo – Need to conduct video calls? Check out this free app and join ore than 70 million other video chatters.
PCalc Lite – Looking for a calculator that has more capability than the standard one on your device. This free app gives you a scientific calculator.
Perfect365 – Looking to make people picture perfect for your website, blog, etc. Perfect365 is a free app that offers one-tap makeovers, photo editing and more.
Photo Editor by Aviary – Another great free option to edit your online photos. Supported by multiple languages and numerous devices, the reviews are good for this app.
Pic Collage – Looking to dress up your photos for your website, blog, newsletter or other collateral? Check out this free app!
Pic Stitch – Want a different photo editor? Pic Stitch is a free app that creates interesting visuals.
Podcasts App – Want an easy way to access your favorite Podcasts to stay up-to-date on trends and news? Want to customize your own station with your favorite podcasts? Check the free Podcasts app!
Skype – Need to connect with a client or colleague and want to talk face-to-face? Or perhaps SMS? Check out Skype’s free tools. Upgrade to the paid version and get more options.
Skyscanner – Looking for an easy way to compare flights and costs? Check out this free app! More than 20 million people are using this app to get better and cheaper flights.
Square – Need a quick and easy way to process credit cards? Why not use your smart phone with this free app. They will even give you the free card reader!
Survey Monkey – Want to get the pulse of your market or a sample at least? Try Survey Monkey. Create you own surveys on your schedule. Their free version lets you create a survey with up to 10 questions.
Tripit – Need to keep all your travel plans in one place, plus share with key people? Check out Tripit’s free app.
Tumblr – Looking for a place to host your blog? Tumblr may be your spot. This free resource hosts more than 108.2 million blogs.
Twitter – Want quick news bites and to share quick news bites about your company in 140 Characters or less? Set up your free Twitter account.
Viber Media – Want to connect with people around the world by phone for free? Then check out this free app.
Vine – If you are looking for an interesting way to showcase your company with six-second videos, Vine could be your free resource. Be sure to sign up for Twitter first, if you haven’t thought.
Wave Accounting – Like many small businesses, you need accounting! Why not try this free accounting software with unlimited invoicing, collaboration options and more.

Wave Accounting
Waze Maps – Looking for free GPS navigation with turn by turn? Waze may be your app.
Weave – This free Project Management tool will keep your organized and in the know of what is happening with your business.
Wikipedia – This free online encyclopedia is a great resource that is used by researchers and general information seekers. Create your own Wiki page to showcase your business’ history and expertise.
WordPress – A great free resource to help you create great blogs. With a variety of plug-ins, this is a great tool for your blog.
XE Currency – Have the need to convert currency quickly? Check out this free app.

Don’t overlook how technology can support small business growth. With the right tech, you can grow faster, scale more efficiently, and delight customers faster. For more tips on communication, marketing and collaboration for the small business, be sure to check us out at TaylorMade Solutions.

How Not to Get Hired (Or, Get Fired Once Hired)

March 10, 2014/0 Comments/in Human Resources, Management, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

Over that last several months I have been working with clients helping them build out their marketing and communications departments. I have done the needs assessment, workforce planning, along with job descriptions, application review and interview design. Through the application review process I have to say that there is one shocking theme emerging – the inflation of one’s experience. Needless to say, inflating your experience is either the best way to NOT get hired or, should you manage to fool the hiring manager, it is a sure fire way to get fired!

I work in a pretty small market. I tend to know who is who when it comes to my industry. If I don’t know someone, I can easily call someone and ask about the person. So, it is really concerning to me when I see people inflate their resumes, including their LinkedIn profiles, with details that I know to be questionable.

Even if I didn’t work in a small market there are some telltale signs that raise eyebrows. While it is entirely possible that you were waiting tables or someone’s receptionist one week, it would be more rare that that your next job would have you leading teams that approved the top dog’s speeches and/or press calendar.

I am not saying that you can’t work on a team that supports senior management, but I have to confess that professing that you were single-handedly responsible for the approval process for either a CEO or a senior politician such as a Senator, a Provincial Premier or even a leader of a country is a bit far fetched. In the last two weeks I have read resumes that have made such claims. In one case, the candidate had been a receptionist and his next job was working for a Premier of the Province “approving” his speeches and speaking points. In another case, the candidate had managed a bar and the next job she was the CEO’s press secretary and responsible for approving all interview requests, messaging and speeches. In both cases, I know the person who actually performed those roles. As a result, I know the candidates were not performing the actual duties that they claimed to have done. I also know that people are not moved into such roles with no experience. These roles require a fair amount of expertise and experience.

Inflating your experience is a dangerous practice and here’s why:

On the front end, experienced hiring managers and/or HR Professionals will rule these candidates out. That is expected, but it becomes more serious as we look at this further.
In small markets, your reputation and creditability will be impacted sooner than later. People know each other and it doesn’t take long to lose your credibility.
Another scenario? Suppose you try this in a market that isn’t so small and you get the job. Things might be good for weeks or months, but eventually, it will become clear that you don’t have the experience claimed. The results then are be bad for both parties. Neither of these outcomes are preferable for either party.

Many organizations are taking steps to weed out false information in the event that it was not discovered in the screening and interview stage. They use companies that investigate your education, work history and even credit history. So, beware that more and more companies are doing this. If an employer finds out you misstated your experience, the end result is quite simple. You will be shown the door.

The cardinal rule is to tell the truth. Eventually it comes out and it can be far worse and devastating to all parties concerned.

Want to learn more about issues and risks to your business, connect with us at www.taylormadecanada.com.

The Influencer Series – An Interview with Jeff Bullas, Part 1

March 3, 2014/0 Comments/in Influence, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

7 Key Trends You Shouldn’t Ignore

Image courtesy of blogs.mcafee.com

Influencer Marketing and Influencer Relations have played an important role in marketing and sales for organizations both small and large. As brands develop and consumers become more demanding, we tap into the insights and thought-leadership of Influencers like Jeff Bullas to help us navigate this ever-evolving space. In the first of a series of Influencer interviews, we talk to Jeff Bullas.

MacLean: No stranger to the fast-past world of marketing, your blog is read in over 190 countries and you have been recognized by Forbes, Huffington Post and many others for your thought-leadership and influence. You are a strategist at heart and it shows. So, as an industry influencer, what are the top trends that you see emerge for marketers?

Bullas: There are many trends that have been emerging in the last two years. Here are 7 key trends that you shouldn’t ignore.

1. Content marketing

The importance and role of content marketing and how it works across social media, search, multimedia and mobile is becoming a key focus for many brands.

Brands have been blinded by the shiny new toy of social media. They think that this is all they should be doing beyond their day-to-day habitual marketing. The same thing they have been doing for decades.

Key Take-Away: Content is the foundation of all digital marketing and is the reason people read, view or share. Creating “Liquid” content is vital to create brand awareness and tap into crowd-sourced marketing.

2. Mobile Marketing

The rapid rise of smart phones and tablets has flatfooted many marketing managers and delivering marketing messages and content that is optimized for mobile platforms is becoming a “must”. Increasingly consumers are viewing content, receiving email and buying products from “small screens”.

Companies need to urgently redesign websites and blogs that are “responsive” – to respond to all device screen sizes for optimal viewing and usability – to ensure they are optimizing for mobile devices.

Key Take-Away: Some websites are recording 30-40% of all viewing from mobile devices. That should not be ignored.

3. Integrated Digital Marketing

Companies with savvy marketers are realizing that digital marketing should not be one-offs that are islands of isolated tactics. Increasingly social media and content is impacting search results. Google created Google+ for a few reasons, including capturing social signals. Ensuring that your approach is allowing you to tie them all together to achieve maximum effectiveness is becoming key.

Key Take-Away: This is optimized digital marketing.

4. Social at Scale Marketing

Brands are also realizing that “doing” social is complex and is like juggling many balls at once. We are seeing the rush to develop, buy up start-ups and implement Enterprise platforms that are assisting marketing professionals to market, manage and monitor multiple social networks and even other digital marketing (e.g. email).

Key Take-Away: This is “social at scale” marketing.

5. Continuous Marketing

Marketers need to realize that a strong trend is emerging called continuous marketing. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t run “campaigns”. The reality is that being found online requires constant SEO activity and content creation, publishing and marketing.

Key Take-Away: Google hates silence. To do this well requires implementing some marketing automation.

6. Personalized Marketing

The “one size fits all” approach to marketing of mass messages on television and traditional media are becoming less effective due to media saturation. We are seeing the rise of personalized marketing on ecommerce sites, websites and email that tailor the advertising and user interface to the relevant interests of consumers.

Key Take-Away: This trend is being driven by technology using “big data” to increase marketing effectiveness.

7. Visual Marketing

We first saw visual marketing creep into the landscape when YouTube entered mainstream consciousness a few years ago. Since then this creep has turned into a torrent of visual marketing with the emergence of Pinterest, Instagram and even Slideshare. In the last six months this has gone to a whole new level as Vine’s six second snack-size video and now Instagram’s new 15 second video app has marketers scrambling for creative inspiration to apply and leverage this new trend.

Key Take-Away: Use and maximize visual marketing tools.

Be sure to check out Part 2 of my interview with Jeff Bullas, To Pay or Not Pay Industry Influencers.

A version of this post previously appeared on the Marketing Cloud blog.

Don’t Feed the Trolls – Research Reveals Psychopathy

February 28, 2014/2 Comments/in Communications, Marketing, Social Media/by Heather-Anne MacLean

For any person managing a company blog, Facebook Page or other online asset, we all know and think about the trolls. We advise, and are advised by, others to not feed the trolls. Now new research out of Canada confirms what we all knew – online trolls have psychopathic tendencies.

Image courtesy of www.geeky-gadgets.com

Years ago I worked at a company that was pretty innovative in a number of areas. In fact like many innovative environments, not everyone is pleased with the direction that the innovation is headed. Some people who feel that they are losing control become embittered and look for ways to cause chaos. While all this was bubbling under the surface and it was for the most part hidden, it would soon boil to the top when we launched our Facebook page for customer interactions.

Of course we trained and prepared our staff how to handle external discord. We were prepared for that. What we were less prepared for however, was that of the trolls who clearly surfaced from within the organization. As someone who was very proud to work for the organization it was very disheartening and alarming to see very personal and abusive attacks being made against certain people. I can’t articulate just how bad it was. Eventually we had to take steps to ban the offender or offenders. We finally found a solution, but it took awhile.

Over the years since this “experience” I have shared the details with many social media thought-leaders and they were quite perplexed. They found the circumstances extreme and were actually shocked when I shared some of the actual posts. It was one of the worst attacks that they had heard about.

Needless to say the posts were vicious and unrelenting. At the time I couldn’t help but wonder what was driving the person or persons to behave in this manner. I worried about the mental state of someone who could act in this way. Research released earlier this month by Canadian researchers Erin Buckels, a University of Manitoba psychology graduate student, and psych professors Paul Trapnell of the University of Winnipeg and Delroy Paulhus of the University of British Columbia, found the trolls were “Machiavellian in their manipulation of others and their disregard for morality.” Most disturbing however, is the finding that this is not an online phenomenon, but rather something that they like o do every day, whether on line or not. If you think about this, the ramifications are quite serious.

How to handle trolls depends on the situation. In my case, we probably should have just ignored them, but it was difficult when it was such a disturbing attack on members of the executive. It was hard for employees to look at the posts when monitoring. More recently however, Dominos did an excellent job at addressing a troll. Here are some of the tweets:

So, how did Domino’s do? They did a great job. They stuck to message and no doubt have a great Playbook that helped guide them through this. They also kept the responses to a smaller audience. The trolls made sure that everyone could see their posts by using a “.” at the beginning of their tweets. When Domino’s responded however, they did not respond the same way. Instead, they just responded to the offender. As a result, only the people following both the troll and the Domino’s could see the response. By doing this they aren’t making a big deal of this. In the end, they shut it down.

Want to learn more about marketing, communications and strategy? Be sure to visit us at TaylorMade Solutions.