HOW TO: Master Social Media Engagement with Chris Brogan

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How to master social media engagement is a question asked widely by businesses and consumers.

Does your corporation or business know how market on Facebook or how to tweet and how to retweet compelling shares? 

Are you writing the best Facebook wall posts?

Do you know how to use Twitter for business?

Do you find yourself asking the question why use new tools when you’re still getting the hang of Facebook and Twitter? And how on earth do you please managers and clients who want to control the message and earn the trust of the online community at the same time? 

Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), best-selling author and renowned blogger, discusses how to author and share social media content from a business perspective and his experience as a thought leader in the rapidly changing world of digital marketing. 

With social media on the top of business minds everywhere, many are confused by how to share engagingly.

Chris discusses why public relations professionals need to show their bosses that it’s better to be authentic and why the best Facebook wall posts could be those that reference your competitor instead of yourself. 

How to share social media is becoming even more prominent in our lives and it’s time for people and businesses to start embracing and engaging with others, says Chris.

With new social networking channels arising, people find themselves asking questions like, why use Google+ when I already have Twitter and Facebook accounts? This podcast skims the surface of that question, and goes deeper into the concept of how to share social media content. 

Chris Brogan is President of Human Business Works; Co-Founder of PodCamp; New York Time’s Best-Selling author of Trust Agents and is this year’s keynote presenter at the PRSA International Conference in Orlando this October. 

Mastering Social Media Engagement: 

2:11 Trust agents are the voices or faces of businesses, but they aren’t at the CEO level, Brogan explains and shares an example of how this is happening at Google. The trust agent knows how to share twitter messages and posts and stays engaged on social networking sites. A lot of companies are using the social networking websites for business networking and to help humanize their brands. 

4:21 We have to learn we’re never right all of the time online and must show our managers and clients that one of the parts of how to share social media content correctly is using the Three A’s: Acknowledge, Apologize and Act. In PR, professionals are sometimes compelled by managers to try and spin a silver lining around even the worst news, but that isn’t working anymore. On social networks like Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter, people talk whether you like it or not, says Brogan.   

6:04 How to share social media as an organization authentically, understanding what legally what you can and cannot be said, acknowledging without endorsing negative status updates, wall posts, tweets, RTs, comments, likes and shares. 

7:02 When sharing via social media, is there a danger of being too available? It is important for PR professionals to social media train their clients to tweet and share on Facebook effectively?  Some people are avoiding their “handlers” and taking care of it themselves, like Kanye West who demonstrated how to share Twitter posts that reflect you in a better light. 

8:00 The role of a PR professional is to educate clients or managers on how to handle things themselves by giving them social media training. There is a risk of people or companies being overexposed and it’s important to be able to explain the pluses and minuses to the client or manager and be able to handle the situation if that does happen. 

8:50 What makes the best Facebook wall post? Joe Ciarallo (@joeciarallo) of Buddy Media discussed a study his company did on what makes an effective wall post and found that promotional language is usually the kiss of death. Brogan agrees with Ciarallo’s statement by saying that always promoting your own brand is not necessarily the best option. When in doubt use the 12 to 1 rule, promote other people’s or companies things 12 times more than your own, this is the best way to build and earn relationships. 

9:19 Frank Eliason (@FrankEliason) of CitiBank has said that you can earn the right to sell once people know you. Because today is such an opt-in world with Facebook and Twitter, and all of the social networking sites, you have to earn the right by building relationships first. 

9:58 The best Facebook wall posts or the best twitter posts are sometimes those where you recommend your competitor because your product isn’t the right product. When a company or person can do that it’s a huge opportunity to win the trust of the community and become an influencer. 

10:45 What if your company is so large that there isn’t a lot of choice on the consumer side, does social media even matter? What if the company is essentially too big to fail? You have to take a different approach on how to post tweets or how to share Facebook wall posts in general. You don’t necessarily need to build relationships but you can use it to build future credibility and get positive press. Brogan points out Comcast as an example of this. 

14:25 In social media, it’s not just about how to share new media content but who you are sharing it with. The problem of one-way intimacy arises for people who are successful on social media sites. You may follow someone on Twitter but they may not follow you back. It’s hard for people to keep up with everyone but there are some celebrities who find the time to get back to people, which in turn gives them a big payoff and helps improve their credibility online. 

17:18 How to share social media without oversharing can be a problem.  Exclusivity increases desirability.  Many people don’t know what is ok to share and what isn’t. A lot of it depends on your business. If you work for a financial company or pharmaceutical company for instance, you have to work with your legal team to know exactly you can and can’t divulge.  That happens by accelerating digital literacy by setting boundaries. 

18:44 The most value in sharing comes in customization. If you give away as much as possible you will get the longer win. PR people should start…

Photo by Tyson Goodridge.