One of my big regrets in my time in the advertising agency world is that I never seemed to have enough time to figure out a good way to talk to the creatives at my former agency about social media. My door was always open, but I was covered up with projects, as were they. So when it came time to look at the social media concepts for our clients, most of the eyes looked my way.

I’ve always maintained that advertising creatives are far better than me for coming up with the “big idea.” It’s kind of what they’re trained to do. Sure, I’ve been able to produce a few of my own through the years, but leaving your winning social media concepts up to one guy’s (or gal’s) brain isn’t a sustainable approach. Even as my staff grew, we were PR folks, SEO folks and technology folks. We weren’t creative concept folks.

Still, there was (and I assume still is) a disconnect in a lot of advertising creatives (art directors and copywriters) and the world of social media. Some have made the transition. Still others are still finding their way.

One of my former creative colleagues emailed me recently and asked my take on copywriting for social media. Below is a more polished version of my response.

Just as social media has opened a dialogue between businesses and consumers, its value is apparent to those in political office, whose work and very professional survival hinges on the needs and perceptions of their constituents.

But when was the last time a local politician garnered the same social media buzz as a hip startup, or a savvy online retailer?

As it stands, the social web is ripe with opportunities for candidates and office holders alike to connect with voters, foster transparency, and even spar with opponents in the same ways they have been in the traditional media for hundreds of years. We spoke with some innovators who have been tapping into the political power of social media. If their work is any indication, expect the future of elected government to be measured in fans and followers, as well as votes.

Nice post, Gist! Savvy politicians will want to follow the ‘via’ link to get more info [you, too, Republicans!]…

Social media marketing is steadily increasing, and marketers are beginning to see opportunities to generate quality leads and position themselves as thought leaders in their industries.

Before you begin using any type of social media tools to communicate with people, you need a plan. You need a strategy. There are some basic questions you need answer BEFORE incorporating social media into your overall communication plan.

Follow the ‘via’ link for the 5 questions…

Sure, social media takes a lot of time, but probably not as much time as you think. Too many companies and organizations are reinventing the content wheel for every social outpost they maintain. A better approach is to create a content ecosystem that allows you to repurpose and cascade your best information.

 Instead of a series of self-contained initiatives, build yourself a content ladder.

Follow the ‘via’ link for 5 the easy steps…

Plan for it in your social media strategy!

I would say that social media success is gained by being all three.

Observe, respond, engage. And the observation part comes first. Why, you ask?

Well, Twitter is not a broadcast channel – it’s two-way conversation condensed into the most popular micro-blog on the planet. Imagine going to a party, jumping onto the nearest table and screaming, “HI EVERYBODY, LISTEN TO ME, LISTEN TO ME, LISTEN TO ME” over and over and over and over again. The response would be less than favourable.

Rather, try turning up to the party, see who’s attending, listen, mix, mingle, observe, add conversation where valuable or helpful, engage the most interesting individuals, make a point of passing on contact details, and leave after a fabulous evening.

Social media is pretty much the same – if you use the broadcast method only, it’s a waste of valuable social media space, and audiences switch off rapidly. And when they’re gone, they’re not coming back any time soon.

Try observing, learning, listening. A few responses, some engagement, add value and help. Give, give, give.

Me? I say ‘consume, create, and communicate’. Consume with Google Reader, Create with Posterous, Communicate with social media. What does your workflow look like?

Everyone who studies social media knows the importance of adding value. Social capital is earned by adding value to conversations and communities, and the lives of the people involved. But what we don’t usually think about is what happens when we don’t add value.

We tend to ignore or forget the fact that value in social media is a zero-sum equation. We focus on the importance of adding value, but we don’t adequately acknowledge the importance of not subtracting value. A better way to look at the relationship between social interaction and value transactions is with the following social media law of value:

In social media, if you aren’t adding value, you are subtracting value.

If you’ve ever worked with a designer or been on the designing end, you may see that the process can be a grueling one — especially if you don’t know what you want.

We’ve come up with a process at our company that weeds out 90% of the graphic issues but when the 10% happens, we have a process that is easily followed to achieve maximum results.

The key in having graphics done is to communicate, very clearly, what you want or need.

Follow the ‘via’ link for more wisdom from social media goddess Erin Blaskie…

Perhaps even worse than irritating your employer is irritating your employer by irritating the people your employer does business with. That was the lesson learned by James Andrews, a consultant hired by FedEx to come in to the company’s Memphis headquarters and give a presentation on social media. Unfortunately, shortly after his arrival, he announced on Twitter that he would die if he had to live in Memphis — and FedEx is pretty fanatically devoted to its Memphis location. A FedEx VP wrote Andrews a scathing letter — and cc’d his bosses. The gaffe was made all the worse because Andrews had come as an expert on social media.

Of course, sometimes it’s the listeners, not the speakers, whose rudeness is revealed. When David Galper of the Ruckus Network, a music service for college students, gave a speech to a large gathering of college professionals, all of whom found it deathly dull; they essentially began heckling the speaker on Twitter. Of course, all their snide commentary was public, and was quickly noted on a number of blogs. Ruckus soon went out of business, perhaps due to shame.

Follow the ‘via’ link for more good stories…

Follow the ‘via’ link for the other 11…

It’s no surprise that companies use social media to research job candidates.  A recent survey by Microsoft confirms this, showing that 70% of recruiters and hiring managers use social media to review online information about potential hires. 

 

Fortune Magazine, in their article How LinkedIn Will Fire Up Your Career, called social media the future of recruiting. 

 

SocializedHR, a Silicon Valley start-up currently in private beta, is hoping to make that future happen.  Their first product is the Social Identity Report.  Targeted for use by HR departments, recruiters and hiring managers, it is a “social forensics” tool that automates the process of tracking down public, online information on job candidates.