hello, (i'm adding rep) and maybe even a small paypal payment for GREAT EXPLANATIONS! i am considering a SEO / Web Brand Management position with a LARGE corporate/government organization. I guess it could be best described as a "crown corporation." CANADA. the one area i'm not overly strong in is... the social networking space. they are going to ask me about this in a bit more detail in the near future. 1) are we talking about using FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, LINKEDIN etc.? 2) if yes, how do we harness these technologies to "grow the brand?" 3) what else can you tell me? what do i need to know?? P.S. their website is PR6, listed in EVERY MAJOR DIRECTORY on the planet including DMOZ, and ranks HIGH or NUMBER 1 for targeted keywords. so, how do we utilize the social networking space, keeping in mind, this is a LARGE corporate/government org.?? THANK YOU!
Social networking is where it is at, and will only become stronger. Kids don't talk, they don't watch TV, they sit on the Internet and watch YouTube, and go to MySpace. They get their recommendationss from their Internet friends before considering Consumer Reports. As far as how to harness, I almost want to have you hire us as a consultant, and we can get you running. It is difficult to suggest exactly what to do, but since movies, TV shows and others have MySpace accounts, I would suggest that your new employer should start there. I am sure they will get plenty of invitations for new friends, no matter what they are selling. If a person is going to create an account for your company, make sure that it is not mixed with personal stuff. You don't want to have a bunch of dumb comments that could violate company policy sitting out there. Linkedin is a good one for businesses.
I would make sure any company policies are enforced if employee's do setup any accounts to help promote the company. The company should also create any new policies that are needed for this type of activity being done on the behave of the company. And of course have legal advise on the new policies or to suggest other policies.
Encourage all your executives to post profiles at LinkedIn.com. It's a great networking site for professionals. The company name can be featured, and you get three links from your profile, all of which can be strategically pointed back to the company website (any three of its chosen pages).
Thank you very much! May I ask... what would you consider the TOP 5 or 6 "BEST SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES" - again considering that we are talking about a LARGE CORPORATE/GOV. org. Thanks.
I don't know about the top5/6 social networking sites. But I do have a response to your first question: specifically point number 2 "how do we use them to grow the brand" Well maybe these 2 examples of using facebook would help. 1) We are currently in the process of launching 'yourmusicfestival.co.uk' a UK based site that sets up coporate parties with tribute bands and lookalikes. The idea is that it's like your own personal music festival. One of our ideas is to create a facebook page that we format to fit the branding of the main website, the page explains a little about ourselves and that we are holding a competition for a free music festival and some runners up prices (ipods, laptops, mobile phones, anything desirable really). The only requirement to enter is to simply become a "fan" of the page. For facebook users, this is as simple as clicking a "become fan" button. When they do that, all of their friends on facebook (10 to 100 is normal) will get informed that their friend just became a fan of "Win a free personal music festival for your mates" (or something to that effect). Some of those friends will checkout the page and may also become fans, which means all of their friends will also be informed automatically. It is such that a large number of people connect with the brand virally in a short time. After the competition is over, all fans that did not win are sent a commisorations message through facebook which also contains a coupon code to give to their employer should they be thinking of setting up a corporate party in the future. At the same time, adverts in human resources, business and trade magazines are sent out. This acts like a reminder for those managers who may have recently heard of us through the facebook "buzz" The event itself can also be used to attract media attention from local newspapers and magazines. 2) This is not a real live example, but consider the National Health Service in the UK. They are always broadcasting anti smoking campaigns. In the same way as previously mentioned, facebook pages can be used to hold a competion to 'help spread awareness'. For the price of a few IPOD's the NHS could virally spread it's help lines, website and other contact details to several younger and older people. If you're looking to get backlinks for SEO. Sometimes a competition can be adapted slightly so that entrants are required to write something on their personal pages - either facebook page or blog or whatever. You could say something like: To enter 1) become a fan of our page 2) write a few lines on your blog, website or facebook page saying "What would you do with a music festival" (for example) 3) Put in a link back to our website using the following code 4) Fill in your entrant details at "yourmusicfestival.co.uk/competition" I hope that helps!
LinkedIn has to rank up there, but rather than try to list all the options, how about checking this list, and look for the ones that say business next to them?