Chapt 8 Social Media

Table 8.1 (1 of 3)

(1 of 3)

Business Applications of Blogging (1 of 4)

(1 of 4) -Recruiting. In the other direction, employers often find and evaluate the blogs and microblogs of prospective employees, making blogging a great way to build a name for yourself within your industry or profession.

Business Uses of Social Media (1 of 4)

(1 of 4) Fostering Collaboration Extended: -giving meeting or seminar participants a way to meet before an event takes place and to maintain relationships after events. -accelerating the development of teams by helping team. members get to know one another and identify individual areas of expertise. -sharing information throughout the organization.

Table 8.1 (2 of 3)

(2 of 3)

Business Uses of Social Media (2 of 4)

(2 of 4)

Finally for Chapt 8

Adapting the Three-Step Process for Successful Wiki Writing -You can easily adapt the 3-step writing process for wikis, depending on whether you're creating a new wiki, adding new material to an existing wiki, or revising existing material on a wiki. -If you're creating a new wiki, think through your long-term purpose carefully, just as you would with a new blog or podcast channel. Doing so helps you craft appropriate guidelines, editorial oversight, & security policies. •-Make sure you understand how a new wiki page will fit in with the existing content. Adding a page, or article to an existing wiki: -Figure out how this new material fits in with the existing organization. -Determine if any similar material already exists; it might be better to expand an existing article or add a subpage vs creating a new item. -Learn the wiki's preferred style for handling incomplete articles. -Example, on the wiki that contains the user documentation for the popular WordPress blogging software, contributors are discouraged from adding new pages until the content is "fairly complete and accurate." Revising or updating an existing wiki article: -Use the checklist found in Chapt 6 powerpoint or pg 157 to evaluate the content before you make changes. -If you don't agree with published content & plan to revise it, you can use the wiki's discussion facility to share your concerns with other contributors. -The wiki environment should encourage discussions & even robust disagreements, as long as everyone remains civil & respectful.

Internal Social Platforms

Enterprise Social Networks: -Social networking -Online meetings -Knowledge-management systems -Blogging -Microblogging (enterprise micro messaging) -Many businesses now rely on social media for internal communication as well. In the same way that public social networks bring together people with similar interests, internal social platforms, such as Microsoft's Yammer (see Figure 8.1) and Facebook's Workplace, can do the same for the employees of an organization. -These systems, sometimes referred to as enterprise social networks, typically combine elements of social networking, online meetings, knowledge-management systems, blogging, and microblogging or enterprise micro messaging (functions similar to Twitter).

Business Applications of Blogging (2 of 4)

(2 of 4) -Word-of-mouth marketing. often called viral marketing in reference to the transmission of messages in much the same way that biological viruses are transmitted from person to person. However, viral marketing is not really an accurate metaphor. As author Brian Solis puts it, "There's no such thing as viral marketing." Real viruses spread from host to host on their own, whereas word-of-mouth marketing requires "hosts" to spread messages voluntarily. The distinction is critical because you need to give people a good reason—good content, in other words—to pass along your message.

Table 8.1 (3 of 3)

(3 of 3)

Business Applications of Blogging (3 of 4)

(3 of 4)

Business Uses of Social Media (3 of 4)

(3 of 4) Building communities expanded:-Large and geographically dispersed companies can benefit greatly from communities of practice that connect experts who may work in different divisions or different countries. -Communities of interest that form around a specific product are sometimes called brand communities. -Some communities spring up spontaneously when product enthusiasts connect online, whereas others are more formal organizations established by companies to help customers use their products more successfully and engage with like-minded individuals. -The SAP Community Network, for instance, set up by the enterprise software company SAP, has more than 2.5 million members.

Business Applications of Blogging (4 of 4)

(4 of 4)

Business Uses of Social Media (4 of 4)

(4 of 4)

Understanding the business applications of blogging

-Blogs are a potential solution whenever you've a continuing stream of info to share with an online audience—& particularly when you want the audience to have the opportunity to respond. Here are some of the many ways businesses are using blogs: -Anchoring the social media presence. As noted earlier, the multiple threads of any social media program should be anchored in a central hub that the company or an individual owns & controls. Blogs make an ideal social media hub. -Internal company news. Companies can use blogs to keep employees informed about general business matters, from facility news to benefit updates. By reducing the need for grapevines to spring up, blogs can enhance communication across all levels of a company. -Customer support. Customer support blogs answer questions, offer tips & advice, & inform customers about new products. Also, many companies monitor the blogosphere (& Twittersphere), looking for complaints & responding with offers to help dissatisfied customers. -Public relations & media relations. Many company employees & executives now share company news with both the general public & journalists via their blogs. -Policy & issue discussions. Executive blogs in particular provide a public forum for discussing legislation, regulations, & other broad issues of interest to an organization. -Crisis communication. Using blogs is an efficient way to provide up-to-the-minute info during emergencies, to correct misinformation, or to respond to rumors. -Market research. Blogs are a clever mechanism for soliciting feedback from customers & experts in the marketplace. In addition to using their own blogs for research, today's companies need to monitor blogs that are likely to discuss them, their executives, & their products. Negative product reviews, rumors, & other info can spread across the globe in a matter of hours, & managers need to know what the online community is saying—whether it's positive or negative. -Brainstorming. Online brainstorming via blogs offers a way for people to toss around ideas & build on each others' contributions. -Employee engagement. Blogs can enhance communication across all levels of a company, giving senior managers a channel they can use to communicate with employees & giving employees the chance to offer comments & ask questions. -Customer education. Blogs are a great way to help current & potential customers understand and use your products & services. Doing so can also improve sales & support productivity by reducing the need for one-on-one communication. -Influencing traditional media news coverage. According to the social media consultant Tamar Weinberg, "The more prolific bloggers who provide valuable & consistent content are often considered experts in their subject matter" & are often called upon when journalists need insights into various topics. -Community building. Blogging is a great way to connect people with similar interests, & popular bloggers often attract a community of readers who connect with one another through the commenting function. -The business applications of blogs include a wide range of internal & external communication tasks.

Business Applications of Microblogging

-Customer Service -Social Networking and Crowdsourcing -Integration with Other Social Media -Encourage Spontaneous Communication -Integral Part of Overall Communication Strategy -A microblog (such as Twitter) is a variation on blogging in which messages are sharply restricted to specific character counts. Twitter has a more distinct social component than blogging, which gives the system some of the advantages of social networking. -Customer service is also becoming a popular use for Twitter, thanks to its ease and speed and the option of switching between public tweets and private direct messages as the situation warrants. Even if a company doesn't want to use Twitter as a customer service channel, it should monitor the system to look for complaints or questions from customers, many of whom use Twitter these days to ask for help or publicize their disappointment. -The social networking aspect of Twitter and other microblogs also makes them good for crowdsourcing research questions: asking one's followers for input or advice. Finally, the ease of retweeting, the practice of forwarding messages from other Twitter users, is the microblogging equivalent of sharing other content from other bloggers via content curation. -In addition to its usefulness as a standalone system, Twitter is integrated with other social media systems and a variety of publishing and reading tools and services. Many of these make use of the informal Twitter feature known as the hashtag (the # symbol followed by a word or phrase), which makes it easy for people to label and search for topics of interest and to monitor ongoing Twitter conversations about particular topics. As Starbucks discovered, however, hashtags can turn into "bashtags" when members of the public use a hashtag campaign to ridicule or criticize a company (see page 205). -Although microblogs are designed to encourage spontaneous communication, when you're using the medium for business communication, don't just tweet whatever pops into your head. Make sure messages are part of your overall communication strategy. Twitter followers consider tweets that are entertaining, surprising, informative, or engaging (such as asking followers for advice) as the most valuable. In contrast, the least-valuable tweets tend to be complaints, conversations between the Twitter account owner and a specific follower, and relatively pointless messages such as saying "good morning."

Tips for Effective Business Tweets

-Define your purpose and maintain the theme. -Keep up with regular tweets. -Don't be careless in writing style. -Use hashtags. -Link Twitter with other digital channels. -Before you start a business-oriented Twitter account, clarify your purpose or theme and stick to it as you begin to tweet. Hashtags are a great way to find tweets on specific topics and to label your tweets so others can find them. Retweeting is the microblogging equivalent of content curation. -As with a blog, define the purpose of your Twitter account, and maintain that theme over time. -Keep up a regular flow of tweets so that you don't fall off your audience's radar. -Don't slip into careless writing; remember that it's still business communication. -Use hashtags if you are tweeting on topics that people are likely to search for, but use them sparingly—tweets clogged with multiple hashtags are not inviting to read. -Link Twitter with your other digital channels, such as using Twitter to announce new blog posts. -Curate content from other Twitter accounts by retweeting messages that your followers will appreciate. -Explore your followers' timelines to see what interests them and use these insights to shape your Twitter content plan. -Tag other users by including their Twitter name in tweets, but do so carefully; not everyone appreciates getting pulled into Twitter conversations. -Move conversations to direct messaging (private messages) when appropriate. Microblog: -Many of the concepts of regular blogging apply. - severe length limitations. -include short summaries or teasers that provide links to more info. -have a stronger social aspect that makes it easier for writers and readers to forward messages and for communities to form around individual writers. So Microblogging: -Like regular blogging, microblogging caught on quickly. -now a mainstream business medium. -used for virtually all of the blog applications. -frequently used for providing company updates, offering coupons and notices of sales, tips on product usage, sharing relevant/interesting info from experts, announcing the headlines of new blog posts, engaging with customers, and serving as the backchannel in meetings and presentations.

Four Content Strategies for Business Social Networking

-Developing and sharing original content -Responding to existing content and questions -Curating and sharing existing content -Facilitating user-generated content You have multiple options when it comes to content on social networking. -Responding to questions can be a great way to encourage conversations, build brands, demonstrate a commitment to customer service, and clear up confusion or misinformation. -Curating content for your readers can be a great way to add value and stand out as an expert in your field. -If you promote yourself as an expert when you curate content, people will expect you to do a competent job of finding and filtering materials. -Companies can encourage UGC submissions on their own websites or through other social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Burberry, Starbucks, and Belkin are among the companies that generated thousands of responses when they invited customers to submit photos and other media. -Yelp has become a major and sometimes controversial influence on consumer behavior at a local level by aggregating millions of reviews of stores, restaurants, and other businesses across the US. Voice of the Crowd: -focus on performing at a high level so that customers reward them with positive reviews -get involved on Yelp (the site encourages business owners to tell potential customers about themselves as well). Content Curation Sites: -In many fields of business, so much original content is already available that sometimes the biggest value a communicator can offer audiences is guiding them to the best of what's out there, rather than creating new content. -can involve sharing links to useful articles or video via blogs or social media accounts -Companies can also set up dedicated websites that publish links to original content in a variety of topic categories -The authors' Business Communication Headline News is one of the earliest examples of content curation in the field of business communication. -Alternatively, a number of websites offer ready-made content curation solutions. (Pinterest & Scoop it.) -can be a great way to add value and stand out as an expert in your field. -save readers the time it would take to find material on their own, but you can use your knowledge to locate and present the most useful articles, videos, and other media on a given topic. two key ethical concerns: -you must not plagiarize, which is presenting someone else's content as your own. -you are promoting yourself as an expert when you curate content, and people will expect you to do a competent job of finding and filtering materials. Community Q&A Sites: -a contemporary twist on the early ethos of computer networking, which was people helping each other. -Groups of like-minded people connected online long before the World Wide Web was even created. -include dedicated customer support communities -Responding to questions can be a great way to build your personal brand, to demonstrate your company's commitment to customer service, and to counter misinformation about your company and its products. -When answering questions-you are writing a type of reference material in addition to corresponding with the original questioner, so keep the long time frame and wider audience in mind.

Managing the Organizational Challenges of Social Media

-Don't overload with social media tasks. -Limit unproductive time on social media. -Prevent sharing of private or inappropriate material. -Create a cohesive social media voice. -Discourage private groups on internal networks. -Making sure employees aren't overloaded with social media tasks, such as being expected to develop content or respond to incoming messages while carrying a full load of other tasks. -Discouraging employees from spending too much unproductive time on social media. -Preventing employees from sharing inappropriate material or confidential information. -Making sure the company has a cohesive voice in social media, where the messages going out on various channels don't contradict one another. -Discouraging the emergence of private groups or channels that use internal social networks specifically to exclude some employees.

How Businesses Use Social Media for Internal and External Communication & (Fig 8.1)

-L O 8.1 Discuss six common uses of social media for business communication. -Many companies now use social media for internal communication in addition to the more visible uses in external communication. -No matter what media or compositional mode you are using for a particular message, writing for social media requires a different approach than for traditional media. -Social media have changed the relationship between sender and receiver, so the nature of the messages needs to change as well. -Remember that it's a conversation, not a lecture or a sales pitch: One of the great appeals of social media is the feeling of conversation, of people talking with one another instead of one person talking at everyone else (see Fig 8.1). For all their technological sophistication, in an important sense social media provide a new spin on the age-old practice of word-of-mouth communication. As more and more people gain a voice in the marketplace, companies that try to maintain the old "we talk, you listen" mindset are likely to be ignored in the social media landscape. People generally join social networks for the chance to interact, and you can help stimulate conversations by asking followers for their ideas, options, and feedback. -Write informally but not carelessly: Write as a human being, not as a cog in a faceless corporate machine. At the same time, don't get sloppy; no one wants to slog through misspelled words and half-baked sentences to find the message. -Create concise, specific, and informative headlines: Avoid the temptation to engage in clever wordplay with headlines. This advice applies to all forms of business communication, of course, but it is essential for social media. Readers don't want to spend time and energy figuring out what your witty headlines mean. Search engines won't know what they mean, either, so fewer people will find your content. -Get involved and stay involved: Social media understandably make some businesspeople nervous because they don't permit a high level of control over messages. However, don't hide from criticism—it can be valuable feedback. Take the opportunity to correct misinformation or explain how mistakes will be fixed. -If you need to promote something, do so indirectly:Just as you shouldn't impose on people with a sales pitch during an informal social gathering, refrain from blatant promotional efforts in social media. -Be transparent and honest: Honesty is always essential, of course, but a particular issue that has recently tripped up a few companies is hiding behind an online persona—either a fictitious character whose writing is actually done by a corporate marketing specialist or a real person who fails to disclose an affiliation with a corporate sponsor. -Think before you post!: Individuals and companies have been sued because of careless Twitter updates, employees have been fired for inappropriate Facebook posts, vital company secrets have been leaked, and business and personal relationships have been strained. To be safe, assume that every message you post will be read by people far beyond your original audience. -Readers—and search engines—don't like spending time trying to figure out clever puns and other wordplay; make your headlines clear and direct.

Strategies and Tactics for Successful Social Media Use & Establishing A Social Media Strategy

-L O 8.2 Explain how to develop a social media strategy and social media content. -Social networks, online services that help people and organizations form connections and share info, have recently become a major force in both internal and external business communication. -In addition to Facebook, a variety of public and private social networks are used by businesses and professionals. -Socializing a brand is becoming an increasingly important element of marketing and public relations strategies. -Why: Setting Social Media Goals. -Who: Identifying Target Audiences and Content Developers. -What: Choosing Message Strategies and Content Types. -How: Figuring Out How to Create and Distribute Content. -Where: Choosing Social Media Channels and Connections. -When: Scheduling Posts and Ensuring Rapid Responses to Incoming Messages. The social media rule of thirds divides your time equally among -Content that promotes your business directly or indirectly -Content shared from other sources -Interaction with your audiences -Today's audiences prefer brief messages that are directly relevant to their interests and easy to consume. -Employee advocacy in social media involves encouraging employees to share company-approved content via their personal social media accounts.

Social Networking for Business Communication & Categories of Social Networking Platforms

-L O 8.3 List the most common types of social networks used in business and four content strategies for social networking. -Social networks allow members to share info and media as part of the networking experience, but a variety of systems have been designed specifically for sharing content. Though the field is diverse and still evolving, the possibilities can be divided into user-generated content sites, content curation sites, and community Q&A sites. -Public, general-purpose social networks -Public, specialized social networks -Private social networks -User-generated content websites -Content-curation websites -Community Q&A websites Social communication platforms include several types of social networks plus content sharing services with a significant social component. -User-generated content (UGC) is any social media content about a company or its products that is created independently by customers or other outsiders. The social aspects of these sites, including the ability to vote for, comment on, and share material, encourage enthusiasts to spread the word about the companies and products they endorse. -Content curation is the process of collecting and presenting articles, videos, and other material on a particular topic in a way that makes it convenient for target readers.

Successful Business Blogging

-L O 8.4 Discuss the role of blogging in business, and offer tips for successful blogging. -Blogs, online journals that are easier to personalize and update than conventional websites, are a major force in business communication. To maintain a positive connection with target audiences, business bloggers follow these guidelines: -Communicate with personal style and an authentic voice. Traditional business messages designed for large audiences tend to be carefully scripted and written in a "corporate voice" that is impersonal and objective. In contrast, successful business blogs tend to exhibit the personal style of their authors. Audiences relate to this fresh approach and often build closer emotional bonds with the blogger's organization as a result. -Deliver new info quickly. Blogging tools let you post new material as soon as you create or find it. This feature not only allows you to respond quickly when needed—such as during a corporate crisis—but also lets your audiences know that active communication is taking place. Blogs that don't offer a continuous stream of new and interesting content are quickly ignored in today's online environment. -Choose topics of peak interest to audiences. Successful blogs cover topics that readers care about, and they emphasize useful info while downplaying product promotion. These topics don't need to be earthshaking or cutting edge—they just need to be things that matter to target readers. -Encourage audiences to join the conversation. Not all blogs invite comments, but many bloggers consider comments to be an essential feature. These comments can be a valuable source of news, info, and insights. In addition, the relatively informal nature of blogging seems to make it easier for company representatives to let their guards down and converse with their audiences. Of course, not all comments are helpful or appropriate, which is why many bloggers moderate comments, previewing them before allowing them to be displayed.

Twitter and Other Microblogging Systems

-L O 8.5 Describe the business uses of Twitter and other microblogging systems, and offer tips for writing effective business tweets. -A microblog is a variation on blogging in which messages are sharply restricted to specific character counts. Twitter is the best known of these systems, but many others exist. Some companies have private microblogging systems for internal use only, either as standalone services or as part of broader collaboration systems.

Collaborative Writing on Wikis & Management and Design Considerations for Wikis

-L O 8.6 Identify four considerations when setting up a business wiki, and explain how to become a valuable wiki contributor. -As Chapter 2 points out, using wikis is a great way for teams and other groups to collaborate on writing projects, from brief articles to long reports and reference works. The benefits of wikis are compelling, but they do require a unique approach to writing. Understanding the Wiki Philosophy:To be a valuable wiki contributor, keep these points in mind: -Let go of traditional expectations of authorship, including individual recognition and control. -Encourage all team members to improve each other's work. -Use page templates and other formatting options to make sure your content matches the rest of the wiki. -Many wikis provide both editing and commenting capabilities, and participants should use the appropriate tool for each. In other words, don't insert comments or questions into the main content; use the "talk page" or other commenting feature if you want to discuss the content. -Take advantage of the sandbox, if available; this is a "safe," nonpublished section of the wiki where team members can practice editing and writing. -Being an effective wiki collaborator requires a different mindset when writing. -Wikis often have guideline pages to help new contributors integrate their work into the group's ongoing effort. -Think carefully about the purpose of a wiki and any necessary restrictions on its use before you launch it. -Public or private access. With public wikis, such as Wikipedia, anyone who registers can edit existing entries and add new entries. Corporate wikis, in contrast, are typically private, meaning access is restricted to approved contributors. -Moderation and validation. A big appeal of the wiki approach is that new or modified content usually goes "live" as soon as contributors create or edit their material. However, to ensure consistency or quality, companies may opt to moderate content by having it approved by management or technical experts either before or after it goes live. -Ongoing contribution. Like other shared communication efforts, wikis sometimes launch with a burst of enthusiasm and a lot of fresh content from multiple contributors, only to fizzle out over time. -Design and ease of use. A potential drawback of wikis is the difficulty of finding information, particularly if a wiki grows to hundreds or thousands of entries.

Tips for Successful Wiki Writing

-Let go of ownership and desire for recognition. -Look for opportunities to improve and update. -Determine how new material fits in with old material. -Use the discussion board to share thoughts and intentions. -Don't let pages get too long over time. -Being an effective wiki collaborator requires a different writing mindset. If others might disagree with a change you would like to make to a wiki entry, you can use the wiki's discussion facility to share your thoughts and intentions with other contributors. -The most important difference is letting go of the sense of ownership and desire for individual recognition that you may have about your contributions. By the same token, look for opportunities to improve and update the work that others have published. If you are adding a page or an article to an existing wiki, figure out how this new material fits in with the existing organization. Determine whether any similar material already exists; it might be better to expand an existing article or add a subpage than to create a new item. If you recognize that your planned changes might not meet with universal approval, you can use the wiki's discussion facility to share your thoughts and intentions with other contributors. Finally, take care not to let individual pages grow too long over time as people continue to add content.

Community Manager: Keeping a Company Connected to Its Stakeholders

-Narrow sense community manager, is the social media interface between a company & its external stakeholders. -Broad sense community managers, plan & manage corporate events & oversee customer support operations. -Smaller firms, might be the sole voice in a company's social media presence (running its Twitter account & Facebook pages, for example). -Larger firms often entail supervising a team of people who carry out a broad range of audience-engagement activities. -Skills, communication skills are essential from handling the ins & outs of effectively using social media to fostering a sense of community & inspiring people to be passionate about a company & its brands. -Is data-intensive job in many companies. -Expected to make full use of analytical tools to measure the effects of social interaction & to use those results to plan new initiatives. -Must be well versed in their company's product & service offerings. -Personal level, the job requires high energy, resilience, a thick skin for handling negative comments, & a willingness to be connected far beyond the limits of a 40-hour week. -You are "the face of the brand," as Adobe's community manager Rachael King describes it, & when major events hit, social managers are expected to respond in real time. Pg 215

Social Networks can be grouped into three categories

-Public, general-purpose networks. Facebook & Google+ are the largest & best-known of these networks. Additionally, regionally focused networks have significant user bases in some countries, such as China's Renren & Kaixin001. -Public, specialized networks. Whereas Facebook & Google+ serve a wide variety of personal and professional needs, other networks focus on a particular function or a particular audience. The most widely known is LinkedIn, with its emphasis on career- and sales-related networking. Other networks address the needs of entrepreneurs, small-business owners, specific professions, product enthusiasts, and other narrower audiences. -Private networks. Some companies have built private social networks for internal use, either as standalone systems or as part of broader collaboration and communication systems (such as Cemex's Shift, (Chapt 2). The Red Robin restaurant chain, for example, uses the Yammer social network to share information across the organization nationwide and up and down the corporate ladder. While many companies have found success with internal social networks, a recurring problem is getting enough people in an organization to use them. When top executives are visible participants and use the networks to share vital info, employees are more likely to stay active on them as well. Pg 208

Communication Close-Up At Starbucks

-Worldwide Locations pushing 20,000. -Online communication strategy- is everywhere customers might be. On Facebook: -biggest presence. -more than 50 company-sponsored pgs. -local pgs in more than 40 countries. -posts include contests & other special promotions, enticing photos of various coffee drinks, instructional videos on making a great cup of coffee at home, updates on community involvement projects. -Two of its most popular drinks (the Frappuccino & Pumpkin Spice Latte) have their own social media accounts. On Twitter:-Several dozen accounts (many are country specific and tuned into local interests). -Example Netherlands (fresh pastries are popular with coffee, so employees alert customers on Twitter whenever a fresh batch is ready). Other media presence: -Youtube -Pinterest -Instagram -Foursquare Careful Strategy: -Not to annoy patrons. -posts new info relatively infrequently vs many other major consumer brands. -"They're not cluttering up your newsfeed," notes one industry observer. -Many companies use social media to offer digital coupons and sponsor online contests. Starbucks Grabs Attention: -online puzzle/scavenger hunt featuring Lady Gaga -an augmented-reality smartphone app that triggered animated movies when a phone was pointed at specially coded coffee cups. Alexandra Wheeler: -Starbucks's VP of global digital marketing. -emphasizes the social media efforts are about more than gaining fans & building awareness. -"They can have a material impact on the business," she says, citing one social media campaign that brought a million customers into Starbucks stores. Starbucks Stumble: -holiday Twitter hashtag campaign in the United Kingdom. -company used a big-screen monitor at a national museum to display any tweet that included #spreadthecheer. -embroiled in a public controversy over corporate taxes at the time. -some people used the opportunity of the unmonitored Twitter channel to post angry and occasionally obscene messages about the company. core dilemmas in social media: -How much control should companies exercise over the social media channels they sponsor? -Too much control stifles social engagement. -Too little control even well-intentioned efforts can spin out of control and lead to embarrassing public spectacles Social media continues to reshape business communication: -finding the right balance of conversation and control promises to be a never-ending challenge.

The Future of Communication (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality)

-starting to change the way employees perform a variety of job tasks, from training to research & development to customer service Augmented Reality: -provides a layer of digital information that enhances the immediate physical reality a person sees -info can be as simple as text that displays on a mobile or wearable device pointed at a particular location or item, or elaborate as 3D graphics that overlay whatever live scene the user is looking at through a device -example: using an app technicians can point a smartphone or tablet at a machine and get info about its operation and repair -Travelers can use mobile devices to get additional info about environments they're moving through—everything from reviews of a restaurant they're walking past to details about the various businesses in an office building. Virtual Reality: -creates a simulation in which the person experiences the sensation of being in an environment, even though that environment is entirely computer-generated -Holograms, in which 3D representations of real people are projected into a physical space -For training applications, for example, if it is difficult, expensive, or dangerous to put trainees in a real-life situation, a VR simulation can let employees experience the sensation of being there and doing whatever tasks are required -can also help people experience a product or structure before it is built. -Ford: uses it to get feedback from drivers by letting them sit in and experience prototype designs before the cars are manufactured -Audi: lets buyers experience a virtual car with the options they'd like to order -Lowes: uses it to let customers walk through rooms they want to build or redecorate in their homes.

Chapter 8 Vocabulary

Blog-An easily updatable online journal; short for weblog. Brand Communities-A measure of how effectively a company engages with its various online stakeholders in a mutually beneficial exchange of info. Brand Socialization-Groups of people united by their interest in & ownership or use of particular products. Community Q&A Sites-Websites on which visitors answer questions posted by other visitors or by company representatives. Content Curation-The practice of collecting, filtering, & republishing material on a particular topic. Microblog-A variation on a blog in which messages are restricted to specific character counts; Twitter is the best-known example. Social Networks-Online services that enable individual & organizational members to form connections & share info. Tagging-Attaching descriptive terms to blog posts & other articles to facilitate searching. User-generated Content (UGC) Sites-Websites on which users, rather than website owners, contribute most or all of the content.

Strategies for Business Communication on Social Networks Pg 212

Guidelines to make the most of social networks for both personal branding and company communication: -Choose the best compositional mode for each message, purpose, and network. As you visit various social networks, take some time to observe the variety of message types you see in different parts of each website. Example, the informal status update mode works well for Facebook posts but would be less effective for company overviews and mission statements. -Offer valuable content to members of your online communities. People don't join social networks to be sales targets. They join looking for connections and info. Content marketing is the practice of providing free info that's valuable to community members but that also helps a company build closer ties with current and potential customers. -Join existing conversations. Search for online conversations that are already taking place. Answer questions, solve problems, and respond to rumors and misinformation. -Anchor your online presence in your hub. Although it's important to join those conversations and be visible where your stakeholders are active, it's equally important to anchor your presence at your own central hub—a web presence you own and control. (Control is important because trying to use Facebook, Twitter, or another service as a hub leaves you at the mercy of changes in design, terms of service, and other variables.) The hub can be a conventional website or a comb of a website, a blog, and a company-sponsored online community, for example. Use the hub to connect the various pieces of your online "self" (as an individual or a company) to make it easier for people to find and follow you. Example, you can link to your blog from your LinkedIn profile or automatically announce new blog posts on Twitter. -Facilitate community building. Make it easy for customers and other audiences to connect with the company and with each other. For instance, you can use the group feature on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networks to create and foster special-interest communities within your networks. Groups are a great way to connect people who are interested in specific topics, such as owners of a particular product. -Restrict conventional promotional efforts to the right time and right place. Persuasive communication efforts are still valid for specific communication tasks, such as regular advertising and the product info pages on a website, but efforts to inject blatant "salespeak" into social networking conversations are usually not welcome. -Maintain a consistent personality. Each social network is a unique environment with particular norms of communication. As a strictly business-oriented network, for example, LinkedIn has a more formal "vibe" than Facebook & Google+ which cater to both consumers and businesses. While adapting to the expectations of each network, however, be sure to maintain a consistent personality across all the networks in which you are active. -Products can be promoted on social networks, but it needs to be done in a low-key, indirect way.

Company Uses of Social Media

Here are six examples of how companies use social media for internal and external business communication: -Integrating and expanding company workforces. Social networking is also fueling the growth of networked organizations, sometimes known as virtual organizations, where companies supplement the talents of their employees with services from one or more external partners, such as a design lab, a manufacturing firm, or a sales and distribution company. -Fostering collaboration. Social networks and other systems with a strong social component can play a major role in collaboration by identifying the best people, both inside the company and at other companies, to collaborate on projects; finding pockets of knowledge and expertise within the organization; giving meeting or seminar participants a way to meet before an event takes place and to maintain relationships after events; accelerating the development of teams by helping team members get to know one another and identify individual areas of expertise; and sharing information throughout the organization. -Building communities. Social platforms are a natural tool for bringing together communities of practice, people who engage in similar work, and communities of interest, people who share enthusiasm for a product or activity. Large and geographically dispersed companies can benefit greatly from communities of practice that connect experts who may work in different divisions or different countries. Communities of interest that form around a specific product are sometimes called brand communities, and nurturing these communities can be a vital business communication task. -Socializing brands and companies. Brand socialization is a measure of how effectively a company engages with its various online stakeholders in a mutually beneficial exchange of information. In today's networked world, socialization is often as important as product quality and customer experience in establishing and maintaining a company's reputation. -Supporting customers. Customer service is another fundamental area of business communication that has been revolutionized by social media. Social customer service involves using social networks and other social media tools to give customers a more convenient way to get help from the company and to help each other. -Understanding target markets. With hundreds of millions of people expressing themselves on social media, smart companies are listening. This listening often takes place automatically with text analytics systems.

Business Communication Uses of Social Networks

Here are some of the key applications of social networks for internal and external business communication: Integrating company workforces: -Just as public networks can bring friends and families together. -internal social networks can help companies grow closer. -helping new employees navigate the organization by finding experts, mentors, and other important contacts. -encouraging workforces to jell after reorganizations or mergers. -overcoming structural barriers in communication channels. -bypassing the formal communication system to deliver info where needed in a timely fashion. Fostering collaboration: -can play a major role in collaboration by identifying the best people inside the company and at other companies to collaborate on projects. -finding pockets of knowledge and expertise within the organization. -giving meeting or seminar participants a way to meet before an event takes place and to maintain relationships after events. -accelerating the development of teams by helping team members get to know one another and identify individual areas of expertise. -sharing info throughout the organization. Socializing brands and companies: -According to one survey of company executives, socialization now accounts for more than half of a company's or brand's global reputation. -Brand socialization -The game and doll maker Mattel engages its Twitter followers by answering product questions, reposting fan videos, and acknowledging enthusiastic praise from customers. Understanding target markets: -Smart companies are listening to social media. -When asked about the value of having millions of Facebook fans, Coca-Cola's CEO Muhtar Kent replied, "The value is you can talk with them. They tell you things that are important for your business and brands." -In addition, a number of tools now exist to gather market intelligence from social media more or less automatically. -For example, sentiment analysis and reputation analysis tools use advanced language-analysis algorithms to assess the reputations of companies and individuals, measure the emotional quality of online conversations, identify outrage "hot spots" on social media, and uncover trending topics of interest. Recruiting employees and business partners: -Used to find potential employees, short-term contractors, subject-matter experts, product and service suppliers, and business partners. -A key advantage here is that these introductions are made via trusted connections in a professional network. -On LinkedIn, for example, members can recommend each other based on current or past business relationships, which helps remove the uncertainty of initiating business relationships with strangers. Connecting with sales prospects: -Salespeople on networks such as LinkedIn can use their network connections to identify potential buyers and then ask for introductions through those shared connections. -Sales networking can reduce cold calling, telephoning potential customers out of the blue—a practice that few people on either end of the conversation find pleasant. Supporting customers: -Customer service is another fundamental area of business communication that's been revolutionized by social media. -Social customer service involves using social networks and other social media tools to give customers a more convenient way to get help from the company and to help each other. Crowdspeaking: -Companies, nonprofits, musicians, authors, and others can use crowdspeaking to "boost a signal." -Crowdspeaking services such as Thunderclap and HeadTalker work in much the same manner as Kickstarter and other crowdfunding sites. -Someone with a message to spread sets a campaign goal, such as recruiting 100 supporters to help share the message. -If that goal is reached, the message is "triggered" and automatically sent to all the followers in all those supporters' social networks. -By taking advantage of the social reach of their supporters, communicators can reach hundreds or thousands of times as many people as they could on their own. Pg 208

Figure 8.2

Info on figure: -Like many large corporations, Xerox has a variety of blogs. This menu give quick access to all of them. -The search box lets visitors quickly find posts on topics of interest. -A large photo helps draw readers in. -Readers can subscribe to future posts via email or RSS newsfeed. -The post title is brief and clear, and it incorporates key terms likely to trigger hits in search engines (Internet of Everything and energy). -These links provide access to other posts by this author and other posts tagged with "innovation." -Social media share buttons make it easy for readers to share this post with their followers. -The sidebar lists recent posts and recent comments left by readers. -The post positions the company as an expert in an important technology field, without overtly selling Xerox products and services.

Figure 8.3

Info on figure: -This tweet answers a follower's question about how to send materials to the company. -This tweet promotes the company's products in an unobtrusive way ("time to upgrade"). -This tweet takes advantage of Twitter's URL-embedding capability to provide readers with additional information.

Developing Social Media Content (1 of 2)

Planning Social Media Content: -Take a Conversational Approach: One of the great appeals of social media is the feeling of conversation, of people talking with one another instead of one person talking at everyone else. For all their technological sophistication, a key aspect of social media is providing a new spin on the age-old practice of word-of-mouth communication. -Support the Ways Your Readers Want to Consume Info: One major reason for the explosion of digital, social, and mobile media options in recent years is that no single approach works best for all readers. -Provide Info That Your Connections Are Likely to Share: One of the biggest benefits of social media is the "message boost" you can get from encouraging people who follow you to share your content with people who follow them. -Restrict Promotional Efforts to the Right Time & Place: Some companies use selected social media accounts for product promotion, but efforts to inject blatant "salespeak" into social networking conversations may not always be welcomed by the audience. -Promote a Sense of Community: Make it easy for customers and other audiences to connect with your company and with each other. -Be Transparent: Chapter 1 defines transparency as a sense of openness and of giving recipients the info they need to process messages accurately. Laws in the US and other countries require certain aspects of transparency, such as requiring that social media users disclose any financial incentives they have when promoting or reviewing products. (1 of 2)

Tips for Successful Blogging

Planning a Blog and Individual Blog Posts: -Audience-Except with team blogs and other efforts that have an obvious and well-defined audience, defining the target audience for a blog can be challenging. You want an audience that is large enough to justify the time you'll be investing but narrow enough that you can provide a clear focus. For instance, if you work for a firm that develops computer games, would you focus your blog on "hardcore" players, the types who spend thousands of dollars on super-fast PCs optimized for video games, or would you broaden the reach to include all video gamers? The decision often comes down to business strategy. -Purpose-A business blog needs to have a business-related purpose that is important to your company and to your chosen audience. Moreover, the purpose has to "have legs"—that is, it needs to be something that can drive the blog's content for months or years—rather than focus on a single event or an issue of only temporary interest. For instance, if you're a technical expert, you might create a blog to give the audience tips and techniques for using your company's products more effectively—a never-ending subject that's important to both you and your audience. This would be the general purpose of your blog; each post would have a specific purpose within the context of that general purpose. Finally, if you aren't writing an official company blog but rather blogging as an individual employee, make sure you understand your employer's blogging guidelines. IBM, for example, gives its employees 12 specific social computing guidelines, such as identifying their role as IBM employees if they're discussing matters related to the company and respecting intellectual property laws. -Scope-Defining the scope of your blog can be a bit tricky. You want to cover a subject area that is broad enough to offer ongoing discussion possibilities but narrow enough to have an identifiable focus. With a clear purpose in mind, you'll have a better idea of how wide or narrow your subject can be. •Writing Blog Posts •Completing Blog Posts -Before you launch a blog, make sure you have a clear understanding of your target audience, the purpose of your blog, and the scope of subjects you plan to cover. -Content curation is a natural way to expand the content you can offer on your blog. -Blog posts that offer immediately helpful, easy-to-consume information tend to be the most popular. -As with all social media headlines, titles for blog posts need to grab the reader's attention in a split second with promises of useful information. -After you begin writing, still plan carefully. Unless you're posting to a restricted-access blog, such as an internal blog on a company's intranet. -The ideal writing style for blog posts is personal and comfortable—but not careless. Successful blog content: -must be interesting -valuable to readers -brief as possible Expectations: -expected to be knowledgeable -If you don't know everything, provide links supplying relevant content -content curation is helpful Headlines: -attention grabbing -direct/clear -short as possible -present content as easy to read & use -"List" headlines are popular Message completion: -usually easy -evaluate the content and readability of your message, proofread, make corrections, & post it -Most blogging systems have built-in newsfeed options (often called RSS newsfeeds) and audiences can automatically receive new posts from you. Finally: -make your material easier to find by tagging it with descriptive words -audiences then select these "content labels" to find additional posts about those topics -Tags are usually displayed with each post & can also be grouped in a tag cloud display, which shows all the tags in use on your blog.

Developing Social Media Content (2 of 2)

Writing Social Media Content: -Choose the Best Compositional Mode for Each Message and Social Media Service: As you visit various social networks, study the types of messages that other companies post. In addition, keep on top of changes in system capability and audience expectations. -Write Informally but Not Carelessly: Write as an individual with a unique, personal voice. However, don't take this as a license to get sloppy; no one wants to slog through misspelled words and half-baked sentences to find your message. And remember that your posts may be shared and seen far beyond the people you consider your primary audience. -Write Concise, Specific, and Informative Headlines: In an environment of content snacking and info overload, headlines (or post titles, as some systems call them) are extremely important in social media. You need to grab readers quickly with the promise that you have something of value to offer. -Look for Opportunities to Include Visual Content: As Chapter 9 explains, business communication is increasingly a visual affair, and this is definitely reflected in social media. Completing Social Media Content: -Review for Quality: The amount of quality control that is appropriate for each message depends on the situation and context. Keep in mind that your company's internal social network probably archives all messages and may make them searchable by any authorized user, so don't let casual communication become careless. -Look for Opportunities to Improve Readability: Break up long paragraphs so that readers can consume the content in shorter "gulps." Add headings and subheadings to promote rapid skimming and to help readers avoid getting lost as they swipe through the material. Keep headlines and titles as short as possible. -Think Before You Post: Careless decisions on social media can have damaging consequences to companies, careers, relationships, and reputations. Remember that you share the responsibility of keeping your company's and your customers' data private and secure. (2 of 2)