Chris Klaehn, Partner and Director of Brand Strategy at Corey McPherson Nash (Corey) joined Dave Fish, CEO, IMN, to discuss the role social media plays in branding in this podcast. Klaehn references several thoughtful relevant examples of brands engaging in social media and also offers up tips on developing a social media strategy for your brand. Do you agree or is Chris full of soup?

A presentation by Michael McPherson at the 2010 CASE District 1 Conference in Boston on January 28, 2010

Learn how independent schools are leveraging online communities such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Ning, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo to support recruiting, fundraising, and alumni networking efforts. The session will review the most popular networks, explore ways to connect and engage your audience and discuss how to make the most of social media with limited resources.

When David Letterman sat behind his famous desk, faced his viewers, and told them he had had confessed to having several affair with his female staff, the news media and blogosphere went wild. Media analysts, feminists, workplace experts –all weighed in with what this would mean for the late night fixture’s career. But those of us who practice and follow social media, could predict the outcome: the scandal would not hurt, the talk show star’s ratings.

This old media king took a page from a new media playbook. In admitting his transgressions, Letterman was following the new rules of social media:

Direct communication with your “followers”: Letterman did not hide behind an official statement issued by his spokespeople or the studio. He sat in front of the camera, made eye contact with the millions of people who, in essence, “follow” him every night and he told them what was happening. Direct communication is key in the new media world. Followers, fans, customers all expect direct interaction with the people and the brands with which they interact via social media. PR reps, intermediaries and corporate spokespeople don’t fly in this new world.

Transparency: the new rules require complete transparency. Customers know the brands they love have flaws and they can forgive them, IF, their brands come clean. Social media is not about hiding; it’s about honest dialogue. If there’s a problem with customer service, admit it, fix it and move on. That’s exactly what Letterman did on national television.

Trust: social media is all about building trust. Letterman inherently understands that. He cashed in on the trust he had built with his loyal viewers and it paid off.

Regardless of how you feel about Letterman’s behavior, there is no denying that his actions paid off. According to the ratings, the late night show has seen little to no effect on its ratings.

Blogging for your company can quickly become a trap. CEOs who agree to blog regularly often run out of time or desire. Or you might delegate blogging to a lower-level marketing person who doesn’t really ‘get’ your company. If you follow a few simple rules, your blog can be on the road to success.

1. Don’t sell, sell, sell - Your social media presence needs to provide value to its audience. Think about what your desired audience wants to hear. Business advice? A peek under the hood of your product development team? Real stories from customers like themselves? A weekly advertisement for your company quickly becomes passed over and ignored. 37Signals’ company blog Signal vs. Noise is a great example of a corporate social media stream (over 100,000 RSS subscribers) that very rarely writes about their products. Instead they offer insight for Web developers, tips on UX design and respond to articles and blogs from across the Web.
2. Don’t tie your blog too closely to a single author -  Employees, even CEOs, change jobs. You need to make sure that your social media stream has value beyond a single person. One way to achieve this is to spread authorship among a number of authors at your organization. The Wells Fargo - Wachovia Blog is doing this to help customers make the transition while they merge the two consumer banks. Another way is to use a created personality, anthropomorphizing the author of the blog. This can be tricky to do without looking trite or feeling inauthentic, but it can work for some brands. The Chicago Tribune has been successful using their “web ambassador” Colonel Tribune as a face for blogging, tweeting and Facebook.
3. Be authentic - Readers can sniff out inauthentic content quickly. Write about things that are of real interest to you and your audience will gravitate to you. Watch out so you don’t get caught in a situation like the outing of Guy Kawasaki’s ghost tweeters. Even one situation like this can reflect badly on your organization for a long time.
4. Respond - Blogs feed on links. One of the best ways to get links into your blog is to link outside of your blog. Read other blogs and articles in your space and refer to them in your writing. Those links will be reciprocated when other writers respond to your opinions, building your audience. Listening works. Just look at authors like Umair Haque’s blog Edge Economy on the Harvard Business Publishing Web site. He listens and responds to his audience. In return, he gets more interest in his blog entries and more links from outside sites. Keeping up this ongoing conversation can be hard, but it can also be an endless source of ideas.

Share It, Digg it, Mixx it, Mash it, Flag it, Tag it, Tweet it, Friend me,
IM me or just call me? Geez, what happened to the telephone?

What is the allure of all these social media outlets? Are we desperate to
prove our lives are relationship-based vs. transaction-based? Or are we
caught up in some kind of ubiquitous narcissism? Doesn’t it all feel a bit
like high-school all over again - this counting how many followers,
friends, quitters, deleters you have? I keep hearing Sally Field say “You
like me, you really like me.”

I believe these tools are successful because they address the fundamental
human need to connect. But, I also think their relevance is threatened by
overuse and overexposure.

The brutal reality is I don’t want to hear your inner musings or how you are
going to Store 24 to buy a soda. But I do value your take on a recent
headline or an update on a major milestone in your life.

For a select few (preachers, evangelists, newscasters), social media is a
numbers game - the more followers the better. But for the vast majority of
us, social media is about being thoughtful. If you are someone I care about
and have a relationship with, then, please, go ahead and share with me your
insight, your careful contemplation, and your unique perspective. I will
reciprocate and share mine. But your trip to Store 24? I say no; don’t Share
It, Digg it, Mixx it, Mash it, Flag it, Tag it or Tweet it. Please, just
skip it.