Social media jobs emerging: Get paid to tweet!

Came across this interesting job description posted on Twitter, highlighting a new, emerging niche of comms roles in social media. Digital natives get to it!

Social Media Manager /Writer

BCM is one of Queensland's largest and most respected communications consultancies, specialising in developing solutions for mainstream and interactive media.

We're looking for a 'web-mobile-social network' savvy person to join our ever expanding interactive team. Your role would be to assist in developing strategies to harness the power of social media. You are a digital native. This will be demonstrated by the fact (for example) that you have your own regularly updated blog, you tweet frequently and you're not afraid to share your thoughts by regularly commenting on other people's blogs and forums. You get how Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Flickr, Youtube, Twitter, Pageflakes, Delicious, Stumble Upon etc etc etc all work and you know your Tweetdeck from your Tweetie. You are sincerely passionate about interactive media and marketing and not afraid to expose your inner geek.

You will be charged with listening and responding to the virtual chatter about brands and campaigns within all forms of social media. You will need to identify online influencers amongst our clients’ target audience and build relationships with them in order to generate buzz. Importantly, you will also be responsible for reporting on your efforts to our clients.

The opportunity exists for the role to grow into a creatively focussed one where you are responsible for generating big publicity ideas that span the offline and interactive worlds.

You will need:

* a creative flair
* great writing skills (with some specific knowledge of writing for the web)
* experience in marketing, communications or journalism
* stacks of initiative and resourcefulness
* an eye for detail and great research skills
* a healthy respect for deadlines
* to love the idea of being part of a young team passionate about doing great and innovative work.

Currently you may work in advertising, PR, marketing, journalism or as an interactive specialist. If this sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you, so please send your CV to hr@bcm.com.au.

Media monitoring

The Power of the Avatar

I recently came across this blogpost by editor, Gina LaGuardia on how she used her social media avatar to spread the word about a fundraising cause she was supporting.

Gina changed her avatar from a simple picture of herself, to a mini billboard featuring along with her face, the name of the cause and a call to action.



She says that this one simple action created a ripple through her social media world, and she generated immediate interest in the cause. This tiny piece of online real estate started to show its value.

Recently many Australians on Twitter also changed their avatars to protest the Government's proposed compulsory internet filtering legislation, which raised the profile of the issue across a broad and diverse online audience. The legislation has recently stalled.

And of course during the recent US election, many people Obama-ed their avatars in a show of support for the now President.

The avatar has emerged as key ingredient in creating social media interest, and quite possibly an integral part of the social media marketers toolbox. Keep them fresh, simple and updated - this will go a long way to keeping people engaged with your message. Heck, you might even get bloggers writing about yours!

Media monitoring

Social media framework: 22 tools

Following up on the list of social media marketing examples posted last year, Mashable has put together a framework of 22 tools, or ways to use social media, with with notable brand examples:

1. Blogs (Johnson & Johnson, Delta Air Lines)
2. Bookmarking/Tagging (Adobe, Kodak)
3. Brand monitoring (Dell, MINI)
4. Content aggregation (Alltop, EMC)
5. Crowdsourcing/Voting (Oracle, Starbucks)
6. Discussion boards and forums (IBM, Mountain Dew)
7. Events and meetups (Molson, Pampers)
8. Mashups (Fidelity Investments, Nike)
9. Microblogging (method, Whole Foods)
10. Online video (Eukanuba, Home Depot)
11. Organization and staffing (Ford, Pepsi)
12. Outreach programs (Nokia, Yum Brands)
13. Photosharing (Rubbermaid, UK Government)
14. Podcasting (Ericsson, McDonalds)
15. Presentation sharing (CapGemini, Daimler AG)
16. Public Relations - social media releases (Avon, Intel)
17. Ratings and reviews (Loblaws, TurboTax)
18. Social networks: applications, fan pages, groups, and personalities (British Airways, Saturn)
19. Sponsorships (Coca-Cola, Whirlpool)
20. Virtual worlds (National Geographic, Toyota)
21. Widgets (Southwest Airlines, Target)
22. Wikis (Second Life, T-Mobile Sidekick)

Take a peek at the original post on Mashable here.

Media monitoring

List of social media consultants

Looking for a social media or PR2.0 consultant? Maybe you are a PR2.0 consultant already and want to increase your exposure?

Well here's the beginnings of a resource for those people looking for help with their social media strategy in 2009.



Social-Media-Consultants.com aims to be a ready reference site providing a geographical and specialty sorted list of Social Media and PR 2.0 Specialists and Consultants worldwide.

The site was started by Lonnie B. Hodge and Des Walsh who have also started a Facebook group called PR 2.0: Master Practical Tools for Digital Success.

If your goal is to get a red hot social media strategy revved up for 2009, this list could be a great place to get some help. Otherwise, if you're already a maverick at social media, get listed!

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

The Motrin Video Disaster: Learning about PR2.0 the hard way

As any good marketing strategist would tell you understanding your consumer is critical to getting the right messages and conversations with your target audience.

Unfortunately, US J&J/McNeil Consumer Healthcare rolled out an online video on the brand website for Motrin.com, which during only one day , infuriated thousands of people. The video talked about pain relief for mothers carrying their babies in slings or babypacks referring to it as ‘fashionable’ – the tone itself was highly condescending. Although the offending video was pulled from Motrin.com, someone else uploaded it to YouTube for all to see. View the video for yourself below:

(if you're getting this post via email and can't see the video, click here)

Today getting the message wrong has never been more brand-destroying. The reason: the blogosphere moves extremely fast and can be extremely damaging to a brand. For example, negative comments regarding the video were picked up by mum bloggers in the US who then spread the negative word throughout Twitter (view video capturing tweets). This naturally caused a large backlash towards both Motrin and J&J/McNeil.

(if you're getting this post via email and can't see the video, click here)

To their credit McNeil Consumer HealthCare did try to engage with bloggers after the fact, but the damage was already done.

Key Lessons:

1. Listen to the Consumer: The phama company could have engaged key mum bloggers (influentials) early in the campaign development via market research company to gain feedback from this audience. An ideal way to reach and listen to that segment would be via an online community – an interactive space set up where particpants converse about key topics.

2. Engage in the Blogosphere – ensure that you are tuned into blogs, Twitterers and forums that your clients are likely to participate in - this will give you better understand your segment, and create constructive channels for feedback on new products, services or campaigns

Thanks to Jenni Beattie, Director of Digital Consulting at The Digital Edge for this post.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Late on a Friday afternoon: Your social media face?

If you've been getting into social media and using sites such a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, MySpace you know that you're often required to publish a picture with your profile.

If you're a little camera shy, here's a crafty tool to create your very own avatar, or rather 'mangatar'. Face Your Manga allows you create a customisable 'virtual you' in the form of a 'manga' style cartoon for free.



While uploading a photo of yourself on social media sites probably creates a more personal connection with your contacts (particularly if you're engaging for professional purposes), creating an avatar might be a good way to ease yourself into this space while you learn the ropes of tweeting, posting and commenting. Or if you're like me and rarely finds photos of yourself you really like, it's a good stand in before that half decent shot turns up.



And if for no other reason, give it a whirl because it's fun, free and good for the ego. It's Friday afterall.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Aussies loving social media

At last! Some local research about how Australian's use social media! Thanks to Steven Noble, senior analyst at Forrester.

According to a summary of the findings of the Australian Adult Social Technographics Revealed study:

- Over 75% of online adults in Australia regularly use social technologies in some way;

-Online adults in Australia are more likely to be content creators than their US counterparts;

-Men are slightly more likely to use social technologies than men, though when it comes to joining social networks, the difference is negligible;

-Use of social technologies does tend to drop off with age, but not uniformly. Some social activities — such as creating content or joining social networks — fall away dramatically. However, others are common in all age groups. In particular, 46% of online adults in the Older Boomers and Seniors cohort consume some form of social media, whether it's watching other peoples' videos, reading other peoples' blogs, or looking at other people's photos.

Looks like our passion for new technology and reputation as early adopters has not diminished. And as the study suggests, Australia's small, but developed market is the perfect launchpad for brands engaging in social marketing tactics.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Blogs Influence Purchases More Than Social Sites

A new study has found that blogs can have more impact on purchase decisions than social networks.

A study, "Harnessing the Power of Blogs," sponsored research by BuzzLogic and conducted by JupiterResearch looks at how people are reading blogs, their reading patterns and how blog content is impacting other media platforms.

The survey found that consumers are influenced by blogs at the moment of purchase decision. Blogs play a greater role than social networks because bloggers establish themselves as an authority on a topic, especially in niche areas, and create a relationship with the reader/consumer.

Additionally, advertisements on blogs are an opportunity for marketers to reach consumers. The findings said 40 percent of people reading blogs have taken action as a result of viewing an ad on a blog.

Readership of blogs is also on the rise. JupiterResearch noted a 300 percent growth in monthly blog readership in the past four years. And readers look to links and multiple blog sources to extend the conversation.

Read the original release here.

So, are you blogging yet?

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

Darling, are you on Facebook?

If you're in PR and are not on Facebook, I'd really be encouraging you to sign up if for no other reason than research. Network with other PRs and see how they're using Facebook for themselves and their clients. A good example is PR Darling.



PR Darling specialises fashion, beauty and lifestyle PR. From their website they drive people to their Facebook page to manage their mailing list. Currently they have over 1,400 members in their Melbourne guest list and nearly 300 on their Sydney guest list.



PR Darling invites users to join their Facebook group to receive invites to events, such as launches, fashion parades and VIP parties. The events are then posted on Facebook, and invites are emailed to members of the group. All for FREE.



Seems to me that this is a terrific tool for PRs to use. But hey, don't take my word for it, get on over to Facebook and have a crack. Would love to hear your feedback.

And don't forget to visit the Slice Facebook page while you're there!

Tracking the media, monitoring the message

GetUp! and be Sorry

In what will be a monumental day in Australia's history, community organisation GetUp! is using an array of online, PR and social media tools to ensure February 13 engages as many people as possible.

Behind their 'Sorry is the first step' campaign is a massive email send to their 240,000 plus members, a campaign blog featuring Sorry Day articles and associated comments (more than 250 at time of writing), research and an associated press release on public opinion about the issue, and media coverage generated by the release. And using their Facebook page, GetUp! have created an event, encouraging users to change their status to 'sorry' on Wednesday.

GetUp! are also recruiting 'Mythbusters' to help dispel the myths which surround the apology. They're encouraging recruits to make just one call to talkback radio or to write a letter to the editor, and have created a Mythbusting pdf about what the apology symbolises.

They're also running an appeal to raise money to get Indigenous elders from the Kimberly- some of the first members of the Stolen Generations, to Canberra on Wednesday.

And where would a campaign like this be without a tshirt? As requested by one of their customers, Remo have created a Sorry t-shirt just for the day. A portion of sales will be donated to appropriate organisations.

Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation have also published a list of facts, events and other things you can do on Wednesday.

The apology will take place at 9am and will be aired on the ABC. In Slice land, we're personally very happy to be alive to see this day finally dawning.

Tracking the media, monitoring the message