Dell continues to deliver on the promises it has made to its customers and to #DellCAP members. I write this one day after receiving a new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook to review, so bear this in mind as you read. I am currently happily and busily working on both a MacPro and an older Dell XPS so I will be interested to see how the XPS 13 Ultrabook performs.

Why me? And what’s #DellCAP?

In June of 2010 I was invited to become part of Dell’s inaugural Customer Advisory Panel (DellCAP) and flown in to Austin for a two-day panel. The meetings were divided into two groups: the first were the unhappy customers, the second were the evangelists. The meetings were productive working sessions and most of us left feeling that our input had been heard. We were skeptical that things would change, but hopeful.

Last year we were invited back to Austin for an update. We had the opportunity to see how our suggestions had been implemented and to preview some of the new directions in marketing and social media and to learn about new products. We also had an impromptu meeting with Michael Dell himself. I was impressed with him. I enjoyed hearing him answer questions off-the-cuff and talk about future directions for the company.

We were taken on a tour of social media listening command center, which is where I lost my heart. I found it exciting and inspiring to see the larger example of what can be done when a company of Dell’s size embraces social media and integrates it into the fabric of its operations. We had a chance, again, to provide input and to ask Dell to continue to use us, to allow us to help them continue to improve the products and services. They promised they would do so. And, they are doing exactly that.

Since the first DellCAP panels, the company has expanded its efforts to meet with customers and really listen to the feedback. They have taken the Dell CAP days to Germany and China. This newest outreach, on behalf of a specific product, is a change. One that I am delighted to help with.

I am not a geek (more of a geek-wannabe) and so what I see in a computer will differ from what many of the others reviewing this product will discuss. However, I live and breathe with my laptop by my side and am representative of a particular market segment (yep, women of a certain age, that’s us) and I am very sensitive to the marketing aspects of this exercise.

2011 DellCAP participants Ed Tittel, Claire Celsi, Allen Mireles and Michelle Brigman., courtesy of Dell

Imagine, really listening to customers and making changes based on their input? Incredible concept (I say that only partly sarcastically) and a demonstration of what can be done in today’s uber-connected world.

Creating a fan-centric company, as Dell is in the process of doing, is a solid example of what social business can look like.

What fun! Stay tuned for further updates. I only unpacked the little beauty last night and it sits beside me gleaming in silver splendor. Thank you Dell for this opportunity. I look forward to exploring the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook.

This post originally appeared on SpinsSucks.com on April 10, 2012

You Want Me? Not My Client?

Last month I was interviewed on a CBS affiliate’s public affairs program about the viral success of the Kony 2012 video. According to the Wall Street Journal, The Kony 2012 video has set the mark as the fastest spreading viral video ever.

The show’s host was interested in using the video to start a discussion about the power of social media and how it affects our daily lives.

My problem was on the day Kony 2012 was released, I was traveling to California with my younger son. We’d had a full day of hopping between rental cars, planes, and taxis before I even learned about the video. Subsequent days were filled with activity and, while I was peripherally aware of the video going viral, I simply hadn’t taken the time to view it or to learn much about it.

As public relations and marketing professionals, we understand the value of providing background information to the media. We’re accustomed to monitoring current events and coming up with creative links to our clients’ products and services. But we may not be prepared to do the interviews ourselves.

Yet those opportunities can, and will, present themselves. When they do, we should make the most of them. A successful broadcast interview can increase your reach and help build your professional reputation.

Following is how to prepare for a broadcast interview when you, not your client, will be interviewed.

Take some time to research the topic of the interview, the show, and the host of the show. Think through the “five Ws and the two Hs” of the situation and ask yourself:

1. Who is the audience?

• Who are they interested in hearing about?
• Who do you know locally that might tie into the topic you are discussing?

2. What topics does the host typically cover in this broadcast?

• What does he or she hope to accomplish with your interview?
• What are the facts about the topic you will be addressing?

3. Where will the interview take place? (Make sure you know how to get there–early)

4. When will the show be taped and when will it be aired? (Share that in social media)

5. Why does the host want to interview you, and why is the topic of interest?

6. How does the topic tie into the audience’s community (or does it)?

• How can you demonstrate your expertise and make the host look good?

So how did it go for me? Well, I watched the Kony 2012 video and other related videos, read every word on the Invisible Children website, as well as blogs, articles, and commentaries. I quizzed friends and family. I thought through the five Ws and the two Hs.

During the show, I mentioned a video project created by local high school students. Using social media, it had been viewed extensively throughout Ohio, which brought the topic back to the local level. The host was pleased and the feedback has been positive.

Remember, do your research. Practice answering the five Ws and the two Hs. Being able to answer the questions for yourself and speak knowledgeably about the topic will help you handle this with poise and confidence.

Then, just follow your own advice: Do what you tell your clients to do during interviews. You’ll steal the show!

Credit: Once Upon a Win

When you want to know what your employees think about social media and social media networking, there’s one easy way to find out: simply ask them. We typically find that the bigger the organization, the more unknowns there are when it comes to what employees think about social media in general and social networking in particular.

We also find that it’s not uncommon for senior leadership to assume that all employees feel the same way they do about social media channels – errr, that is that they’re a big time suck, not where “important people” hang out and really only for the young whippersnappers. Which, of course, we know is not the case at all. Not to mention some fairly dangerous assumptions.

That’s where surveys come in. Surveys are a valuable tool and allow you to move beyond assumptions and gather some data that might just be pretty insightful. And to our way of thinking, any time you can bring data into the equation and use it to drive your strategies instead of assumptions of a group of people who may or may not have their fingers on the pulse of anything related to the digital world … well, that’s a good thing.

How to Develop a Social Media Survey

Have we convinced you to quit guessing and start gathering data? Sweet! Want to know how to get started? Here are some good survey questions to consider posing:

Do you use social media networking sites?

Yes/No

If so, do you use them for:

- Personal use

- Business use

- Both

As an aside, here’s a screenshot of some recent results. As you’ll notice, a pretty hefty percentage of the respondents are using social media sites. No surprise to us, but perhaps surprising to senior management.

Do you think your clients (or prospective clients) use social media networking sites?

Yes/No

Do you have a LinkedIn profile?

Yes/No

Do you visit LinkedIn:

- Weekly

- Monthly

- Rarely

- Never

If you visit LinkedIn, how often do you post a status update or share a link?

- Weekly

- Monthly

- Rarely

- Never

Do you have a blog?

Yes/No

Do you read and/or comment on other people’s blogs?

Yes/No

Do you use Facebook?

Yes/No

If you’re on Facebook, how often?

- Daily

- Several times a week

- A few times a month

- Rarely

Do you use Twitter? If so, how often?

- Daily

- Several times a week

- A few times a month

- Rarely

Do you participate in industry or niche forums online or chat groups?

Yes/No

Do you find them professionally beneficial?

Yes/No

If you do participate in industry or niche forums, and only if you don’t mind sharing, which ones do you find to be the most beneficial?

Answer: _____________

Are there any social networks you’re curious about but don’t feel you know enough about them to participate?

Yes/No

If so, which ones?

Answer: ____________

If you identified social networks in the question above, would you be interested in learning more about how to more effectively use them – for personal or business use?

Yes/No

If you don’t currently use social media networking channels, do you have any interest in doing so in the future?

Yes/No

The thing we found most interesting about the above question is how many people responded that they are interested in using social media sites and potentially in knowing more. This not only shows us where their collective heads are at, it allows us to tailor our internal training programs to provide content that addresses this and helps us deliver content that helps our clients keep their employees happy. A win-win for all.

Take The Data, Use it to Formulate a Plan

These simple questions can go a long way toward helping you learn where your employees’ heads are at when it comes to social media and social media networking. Their answers to the questions posed above can help you formulate your own corporate social media policies and strategies, they can help you develop internal training programs and can help you avoid relying on assumptions – which I believe we mentioned is dangerous. We’d mention it less often, by the way, if we didn’t regularly come across people making those very assumptions on pretty much a daily basis. Sigh.

Do It. Then Do It Again.

Another thing we recommend is to not only survey your staffers, but that you do it with some regularity. Times change, people change, habits change. And when you can survey your team at regular intervals, you can use these data insights to show you how your culture is evolving and how their thoughts and opinions – on any subject matter, not only with regard to social media, change and evolve, too.

What do you say? Ready to find out what your team thinks about social media and social media networking? Do a survey, then come back and let us know if what you assumed was different than the data they provided as the result of a survey showed you.

ABOUT

Shelly Kramer is the CEO of V3 Integrated Marketing, a full service digital communications agency. She is a marketer, strategist, content creator, speaker and social media savvy geek focused on digital media and all forms of digital strategy, content strategy and creation and online marketing. To the astonishment of her many mathematics professors, she’s also become partial to stats, numbers, analyses and measurement of all kinds. You can find her online at V3 Integrated Marketing on Twitter, where she’s @ShellyKramer and on LinkedIn where she lurks often. 

“I had harbored a theory—shared by others— that Facebook didn’t work. But I tested that theory and found profits instead.”

STOP YOUR SEARCH! Brian Carter’s The Like Economy is just the book you have been looking for. And here’s why.

As a society we appear to have zipped through the “social media is just a fad” stage of development and run full tilt into the “just jump into it” phase. Today brands and organizations are falling all over themselves to use social media for marketing purposes, often without really understanding how to do so effectively.

What is a recipe for disaster? Using social media for marketing purposes without a clear understanding of:

• What you are doing
• Why you are doing what you are doing
• Who you hope to do it with
• How the social media tool you are attempting to use actually works
• How you will know you have been successful

Yet every day another organization gamely jumps into the social media arena and begins “sharing”; updating feverishly in the hopes of attracting more sales, more leads, more brand recognition, more…whatever.

Nowhere is this more prevalent than on Facebook, one of the largest social networks in the world with more than 800 million active users. Facebook looks easy and many organizations jump into it without knowing what they are trying to accomplish, only to abandon the effort, convinced that Facebook just doesn’t work for marketing.

Yet Facebook, used strategically and with expert guidance, can be an extremely effective addition to the digital marketing mix. The Like Economy provides that expert guidance. This book takes you by the hand and guides you through the process of using Facebook for marketing. It is ideal for the “marketing newbie” as well as the seasoned marketer or brand manager who is hoping to add successful Facebook marketing tactics to an overall program.

Author, Brian Carter is respected as one of the elite internet marketing experts in the world. His hands-on business experience, cutting edge insights, background in improv and stand up comedy culminate in a speaker and trainer who leaves every audience not only entertained, but armed with powerful strategies and tactics. Carter is the bestselling author of The Like Economy and co-author of Facebook Marketing. He also wrote an ebook called How To Get More Fans on Facebook.

With The Like Economy you get into the nuts and bolts of running Facebook ad campaigns; everything from understanding the power of Facebook advertising to identifying the type of ad to run, creating and testing the ads and understanding the ad reports Facebook generates. But you get so much more. The Like Economy addresses:

• The power of positive marketing
• Making the case for Facebook marketing
• How Facebook fits into your business and other marketing efforts
• Five ways to achieve profits with Facebook
• How not to fall on your face
• How to continuously get better results
• Going beyond benefits to arouse your fans desire for what you offer
• Setting up your Facebook page to get more fans and sales
• How to capitalize on the most powerful marketing tool
• Capturing qualified prospects as fans and group members
• How to get more likes and comments
• Achieving other corporate goals on Facebook
• Analyzing your Facebook results
• Sales and influence tactics for increased Facebook profits
• Principles for success

At this point I should disclose that I have been a member of Brian Carter’s Fanreach course and Fanreach Facebook group for more than a year. I consider him a friend. Brian has taught me things about using Facebook effectively that I have been able to translate into measurable results for my clients and for my own business. It is because I have learned from Brian Carter, and proven that what I have learned works, that I have been so eager to read “The Like Economy” (affiliate link). I recommend it highly and am certain you will find it a essential tool in your marketing toolbox.

To your Facebook marketing success!