TamTamy Blog

Going back to what we said in the previous post, here is the second part of “Do’s” about the netiquette that companies will have to follow regarding social media:

• Have a well-defined role and image

We underline again the importance of the role of the expert and of how to influence people, about which we have already spoken. Besides working hard to extend your acquaintances and connections, in order to reach these two objectives you must create a solid image of yourself. Being an expert means being specialized in only one subject, and not improvising as a know-it-all or opinion-maker with scarce bases on a range of themes whose root you do not know in detail. It is in this way that users or potential customers will recognize in you some know-how and will trust what you say, adding you to their network and following your updates. Be careful thus not to change your personality in other social networks where there could be an overlapping of users who, seeing you act a different role, would immediately lose their good opinion about you, which would end up in a fall of your credibility.

• Create real connections

Most people who use social media are there to make connections with people that they find really interesting, enjoyable, entertaining, … Thus, avoid going too quick and adding to your contacts only influencers with a plethora of followers. Remember to start from the bottom, create your own identity first, distinguish yourselves. It is likely that, at this point, these central characters you aim at being in contact with will be the ones who look for you. But should this not happen, come forward only when you are ready, or at least use well a part of the key contacts with the consumers who will not be significant to give you visibility as individuals, but on the whole, when they recognize in you a leader and also a sincere friend, will reward you with a single, sonorous unanimous voice.

• Be active

Being active on social media doesn’t mean simply bombarding the net with posts, tweets or status changes. Exactly as you do in real life when you cultivate a friendship, the same thing will have to happen here. Be reactive to the answers that are addressed to you, to the messages you are sent, to those who add you in their RSSs, to the people who join your group on Facebook, etc. Use one of the many tools offered by web 2.0 to keep track of all these precious elements and try not to miss anything.
If you decide to plunge into this experience, you must do it 100%, otherwise it will only be a waste of time.

We can conclude saying that using social media for business is a great opportunity for companies to deeply get into the habits and thoughts of their consumers but, as in any other relationship, you can not only take without giving anything. Establishing a contact means sharing, creating empathy, being always there. Summing up, for the first time after a year-long tradition, you will have the possibility to make your brand human. Take the opportunity.

In a recent post in Mashable, Sarah Evans (author of PR and social media blog) synthesizes a sort of guide on what companies must and must not do when they decide to take part in social media. As the company’s worker in charge will necessarily be one (or more) person, it is useless to try and be impersonal at all costs, particularly when you are entering an environment aimed at socializing.

Commenting what has been suggested and basing on this principle, in this and in the next post we will see what rules can be useful to companies when they want to create their own identity on the net.
Let us start with some guidelines:

• Always be sincere and authentic

Feigning a part in which everything is always alright, besides being tiresome, is not a good way to get into contact with people. Appearing more human, showing that you can have bad days and that you are not perfect is in fact a way to connect to other people and, consequently, to create a link between them and your business.

• Carefully choose your avatar

According to what you want to convey, it will be important to choose an avatar which represents the company (as the logo, for instance) or the people who work in it (as the smiling, friendly face of the president).

• Post constructive messages in order to strengthen your image

Let us remember that everything which is written on social media, even if it disappears from their homepage, stays on the net for quite a long time. It is important to always keep in mind that what you write could be re-read in a totally different context and months later, influencing the idea that customers have of your brand. It is thus fundamental to share elements, write messages, make comments that are always consistent with the company itself. It is the connection of all these elements (but also the single extrapolation of one or more of them) which influences people and create an image of your brand. Make it solid and unmistakable.

(Continued in the next post)

We have verified that blocking the access to social networks and 2.0 consumer services is not an appropriate solution, because it creates discontent among employees, who will look for alternative solutions and use them without permission. So, you can consider introducing enterprise 2.0 solutions to renew and improve your company, but also to focus your workforce’s attention using their same tools.

We have seen how companies were in a way forced to modify their technological structure introducing social media of different kinds, as the generational change of the workers involved required it, more or less explicitly.

As a company decides to adopt the very tools that its employees have been using only for their personal interest, it makes a profitable use of a new form of collaboration in which people will take part more willingly and with less effort.

The language becomes more familiar and workers, besides being more encouraged and reactive in concentrating with tools they are familiar with, will hardly look for further recreation with other social networks.

Of course, the form of entertainment that communities such as Facebook or MySpace offer is very different from the one offered by companies, aimed at social collaboration in the work environment and not allowing any waste of time. As a consequence, it is unthinkable that there can be a total replacement. But no doubt, a decrease in the use of the mentioned consumer communities can increase the productivity of the individual workers without creating too much stress.

Sometimes companies adopt the repressive policy of discouraging their employees from using chats or other tools which would make them waste their time. This, instead of increasing productivity, can have the opposite result. Let us see why.

First of all, we should distinguish between those tools which are born and exist only to make people socialize and have fun and those which can have also implications for their work.
Let us see the case of Skype, for example. The use you make of it can have different connotations. For sure it can be used to “waste time” with friends, family or external people who have nothing to do with your job activities, but it is still also a very good tool to communicate with partners, colleagues and customers who are far and with which otherwise a neverending exchange of emails or phone calls would be necessary.
What has a higher impact on a company’s budget? The waste of time of a limited number of employees who spend few half-hours chatting with friends, or the real difficulty for the whole staff to keep in touch with other parts that are fundamental to carry out their job?

Skype makes communications easy, whatever they are. And even if an employee decides to say hi to a friend during working hours, the time he will use will be still shorter than the time he would need if he made a phone call.

Together with this, one of the most important aspects to analyze is the climate that follows. Using too repressive methods, such as inhibiting Skype, blocking the access to social or external networks, keeping your employees under 24-hour control has the only effect of making them live in an unpleasant, tense environment. Particularly if the company hopes to receive creative and constructive ideas from its resources, this is the way to completely annihilate them.

In the next posts we will go deeper into the importance of a healthy environment for workers, but I would like to underline already from now that imposing a code that is too strict and aimed only at productivity often has counterproductive effects starting from the lower levels, that is, manpower, essential for any kind of development.

As we have seen in other cases, also here dialogue is the winning key to boost the employees’ morale, keep them happy to work and put them in the condition to produce at their best, but also to lower their stress with tools of any kind: from a recreational centre inside the company, to well-equipped halls to take a break, to a gymnasium and, why not, also some online entertainment without the fear of being “caught”.

A happy worker will also be a worker who doesn’t need to look for subterfuges while pretending to carry out his duties. On the contrary, he will be willing to do some overtime, if necessary, because he is sure to receive some reward in exchange.

Nike+ is the Social Network that Nike has created to collect all the information connected to its customers’ training in running. A sensor installed inside the shoe records information such as time and distances covered, sends it to the iPod or to a special bracelet and puts it at the user’s disposal for upload on the site. With this idea, Nike has created a Social Network of lovers of running: a well-defined target, with huge possibilities to grow.

Every subscriber has the possibility to “compete” against the others, confronting his/her results or simply registering them for future statistical analyses.

Nike has managed to turn a synchronous sport such as running (to compete in a race you have to be in the same place at the same time) into an asynchronous event. Users can decide whether they want to compete on the best time, the longest distance, etc.

The idea was born in 2006, and since then about 93 million miles have been uploaded on the site. Nike has sold 1.3 million “Nike+ iPod Sport Kits” and 500.000 Nike+ SportBands (Source: How Nike’s Social Network Sells to Runners).

In this way, Nike has managed to delegate its sales to the Social Network. If you are a lover of running and you want to be part of this fascinating and winsome Social Network, you have to be Nike’s customer, that is, you have at least to buy its shoes and its sensor.
The community has become its sales force.
Today Nike is experimenting with a new Social Network to promote its basketball shoes.