Technology Social

Today, part of a brand’s job is to act like a town hall meeting, a secular and informal public meeting. Everyone in the community is invited to attend, not always to voice their opinions, but hear responses from others.

We have come full circle, making communication on the Internet more human, and less fragmented, with a rich flow of interactions, like you would find in a large city, but more on a granular level like a small town or village, the most important element being spontaneity of free human exchange. They evolve through an ecosystem that includes your technology, potential customers, and employees.

Almost by definition, a brand’s Social CRM can be great only at the expense of a company’s employees, executive leadership (all should have the vision to realize its ROI), and competitors who are less effective at branding and collecting their customers’ social interactions. Money can buy a great SCRM platform, but it cannot buy a brand’s social interactions off the shelf.

So, how can a brand gain control of its consumer data, marketing, customer service, and PR efforts in light of the widespread use of social media? Social CRM (SCRM) is one answer (Facebook likely to be the largest), but it can be expensive technology, and still evolving.

At the present time, it is an evolving technology that effectively manages a brand’s demographics, preferences and communications with its audience. It involves fully integrated real-time listening, engagement and measurement workflow process to collaborate with customers, prospects, influencers and employees.

Let me briefly take you through the evolution of the CRM to the SCRM. Earlier CRM’s were involved in social media monitoring and research, and physical listening of digital conversations. These CRM’s could also capture a brand’s social presence and gather research. It helped build a brand’s social presence by helping companies figure out where and how to engage socially on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. It also supported the development of SEO strategies, customer services and marketing channels, while building brand attraction, helping control attrition, and stimulating customer conversations. Read the rest of this entry »

Cell phones and the Internet are few of the latest technologies. When kids turn eleven, parents usually gift them a mobile phone or a laptop. Parents give phones to their children because they want to be in touch always but what parents don’t realize is that kids cannot handle so much responsibility. Kids need to be monitored and guided in the right direction.

Currently there are a lot of problems due to mobile phones and internet. Kids are exposed to a lot of things they are not supposed to. Various reports state that kids are not able to handle such technologies. Problems arise as kids are not monitored. When I was a kid, I was not even allowed to talk over the phone when no one was around me. I use the internet only with my parents’ permission. I used to think that it was humiliating and that I was old enough to handle all these things on my own. I was treated this way till I was 15 years old. Well as teenagers, we all think we know everything. I used to fight with my parents a lot. But my parents were always strong with their decision. None of my friends had any such restrictions. When I was sixteen, one incident happened that made me realize that my parents were right all along. One of my friends had given way too many details about herself on the internet. She had given the details thinking she was talking to another school going person. She was misled into believing that. The person started stalking her and then she realized that it was a middle aged man. She was scared to confront her parents but she had no other choice. A lot of drama happened after that which I don’t want to get in to. But it was a scary incident. I was grateful that I did not do anything stupid like that. I would have done it if I had the freedom. I did not because I knew I was monitored.

So at that age kids do not know what is wrong and right. So it is better to keep mobile phones and other consumer electronics away from the kids till they can be trusted. The computer should be placed in a common room so that they can be monitored always. Give them the mobile phone only when they are going out with their friends. Strictly no phones allowed in the nights. Tell them about the various incidents that happen if they are given the freedom. I recently read an article about how a girl had killed herself. A humiliating photo of hers was passed around the school through MMS. All kids made fun of her. She couldn’t stand the humiliation. Even her friends stopped talking to her. So such situation happen every day and many girls are affected due to certain mishaps. Girls are the victims always. Read the rest of this entry »

Social media or more correctly social technologies bring to mind FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn but there are literally hundreds of different networking and blogging sites out there and as a small business owner how do you decide which social site is right for you?

So you are in the position to start some online marketing for your small business and someone has mentioned social media but where to begin?

This depends on what kind of small business you are in and what level of web presence you have already achieved. You may have had a website designer build you a flashy, all singing, all dancing, expensive website but that is as much use as a billboard in the Antarctic…who will see it?

No matter how slick and professional your site is if it has not been fully optimised (been made search engine friendly) then it wont appear anywhere near the top of a search engine listing and potential clients simply wont see it.

If you don’t have a website then it is important that you seriously consider investing in one. Consider carefully who you get to build one for you, as creative and talented as some website designers are, by their own admission they are not marketers. Having an online marketer build your site means not only do your get a great looking site but right from the beginning your site will be search engine friendly.

With a website under your belt let’s tackle social technologies. Social technology is the umbrella term for social media, social networking and social relevancy. Social media are sites such as YouTube, Flickr and Photobucket, social networking includes FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn and social relevancy is all about how people perceive you and your small business on the internet.

Social media is primarily all about sharing information in video and photograph formats so while any business can use social media it is perhaps more suited to and enjoyed by more creative industries.

Social networking is all about keeping in touch with clients and reaching out to prospective clients. Any small business can really make use of sites like Twitter and FaceBook and as long as it is done correctly they can really build good customer relationships. Read the rest of this entry »