The MarCom Strategist: A Free B2B Marketing E-Newsletter

July, 2009
Published by Dianna Huff
Volume 10, Number 07

Welcome!

While doing some research for a company, I came across the company’s Twitter account . . . only my client had no clue that someone within her company had started it. D’oh!

In this issue I give you the same advice I gave to this company on how to monitor what’s being said about your company online . . . strategies that take only about an hour each week.

For those of you in New England suffering through the rainiest summer on record, the sun has to come out at some point, doesn’t it?

Regards,

Dianna Huff

Six Easy Strategies for “Following” Your Company Online

By Dianna Huff

The one complaint I hear time and again from corporate and marketing professionals about social media is this: “How do we find the time?!”

I know, I know. You’re stressed, you’re overworked, you simply do not have time to waste on social media, reading blogs, etc.

However, it’s imperative that you follow what’s being said about your company online – not just by customers and the marketplace, but by current and former employees, too.

In today’s fast paced social media world, one negative comment or news story can quickly turn into a raging Internet firestorm. And too, you want to see what current and former employees are saying about your company or if your brand has been hijacked within social media sites such as Twitter.

Following your own company online isn’t that difficult if you use these easy-to-implement, easy-to-use strategies.

1. Set up Google Alerts.

If you already use Google Alerts, skip forward to strategy #2. Google Alerts are email alerts that Google sends you anytime a specific word or phrase – that you choose – is used online. You can set up Google Alerts for your company and brand names, the people in your C-suite, events, products, news stories, and even your competitors.

Once you have these in place, you’ll receive an Alert with a link to the citation. What I like about Google Alerts is that they’re timely. If someone posts something about your company in a blog, you can receive an Alert as soon as Google indexes the post – sometimes within an hour or two.

This is particularly useful in helping you quickly deal with negative publicity before it becomes a raging inferno.

To set up Google Alerts, you need a Google account. Once you register, you can select to have Alerts sent as they happen, once a day, or once a week. 

2. Run a Twitter search.

You don’t need a Twitter account to run a Twitter search – just use the Search link located at the bottom of the Twitter home page.

Let’s say you work for Geico, the insurance agency. Using Twitter search, you can see what people are saying about your products and services in real time. You can also see if anyone from your company has opened a Twitter account and is posting under your company name or product – or if someone has hijacked your brand.

3. Run Facebook and LinkedIn searches.

You’ll need a Facebook account to search Facebook to see which groups have been started using your company name i.e. alumni groups for employees or groups of current disgruntled employees.

Use LinkedIn’s “Companies,” “Answers,” and “Groups” search functions to glean valuable information. Geico, for example, has three Groups associated with its name, a robust company profile, and dozens of Answers/Questions concerning its products, services, and advertising.

You should check both sites at least twice a month (unless you’re a big name company who is often in the news where it may behoove you to check once a week or even once a day).

4. Don’t forget YouTube.

Once you’ve set up Google Alerts, you’ll be notified anytime a video is uploaded to YouTube that’s also connected with your company (whether you developed it or not).

However, you should also check to see if videos have been posted in the past by fans or customers, such as this video by Mysto & Pizzi using the Geico theme song, “Somebody’s watching me” – which Geico posted to their site!

5. Run full searches on Google, Yahoo! and Bing twice a month.

Each search engine presents its search results in different ways, so it pays to do a full search using your company name, brand and product names, etc. on all three search engines.

Also use the “Images,” “Books” “Maps,” and “more” links at the top of the Google search page to see how your company / product names and images are being used. And, be sure to click the “More options” link – this will give you a page that lets you see online reviews, forums, related searches, and Google’s newest search feature, the Wonder Wheel.

6. Check out Digg and Delicious, too.

Digg is the social site that lets users “vote” on news stories (including blog posts and articles) – and it’s often where a minor story gets its “legs.” The more votes or Diggs it gets, the faster it rises to the top of a Digg category or even the front page.

You don’t need an account to run a search – just type your phrase into the search box at the Digg homepage. Using Geico as our model company, you’ll note that an open letter from a fictional Geico insurance agent to Optimus Prime (a Transformer) garnered over 2,400 Diggs in 2007.

Delicious lets people bookmark sites – only these bookmarks are made public. Again, you don’t need an account to search Delicious to see how many people are bookmarking your Website pages, blog pages, videos, etc.

Do you have additional tips to add? Send them to me and I’ll post them next month.

Hire Dianna Huff to Speak at Your Company

Would you like your corporate marcom team to learn more about social media, search engine optimization (SEO), or results-based B2B marketing writing?

Hire Dianna to give a half-day workshop. I’ll develop a customized and interactive presentation geared toward your company and industry that will help your team learn how to implement practical strategies quickly and easily.

I love what I do and really get into my topic – which means your team gets an enthusiastic presenter who really knows her stuff! (See my testimonials for proof.)

To learn more, visit my Speaking page or view my LinkedIn recommendations. If you like what you see, give me a call at 603-382-8093 or send email to: info@dhcommunications.com

“Dianna presented a fast-moving, entertaining session to the VT-NH DMG that brought attendees ‘actionable’ suggestions they could put to work upon returning to their offices. At a time when so many conferences and workshops about Social Media are from the 10,000 foot perspective, attendees appreciated learning more about the nuts and bolts that they could put to work for their businesses right away.”
-- Susan O’Neil
President, @Website Publicity
VP, VT-NH DMG