Trafcom News

Reasons to keep LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter updates separate

Social media sites are converging. Now you can easily update Facebook and Twitter at the same time, or LinkedIn and Twitter, or… You get the idea.

Speed and simplicity are wonderful, but what about communication? When I teach business writing, one of the first points I discuss with the class is the concept of knowing your audience and your goal. So I think of my online audience's needs and my own goals before I publish any status update anywhere.

In my world, LinkedIn relationships are the most formal; this place is strictly for business. Facebook is more social; many of my “friends” are actually family members and old schoolmates. Recently on Facebook I wrote about my aunt’s 95th birthday party and commented on someone’s new baby pictures.

Twitter is my online water cooler, research department and referral engine, all in one. Most of my Twitter updates are business-oriented (such as an invitation to my upcoming Podcasting 101 Webinar), but some are more personal, showing my authentic self, as they say. (I heard a great quote last year, and I wish I knew the author: Facebook represents the people you used to know; Twitter represents the people you’d like to get to know.)

If I posted the typical Twitter update on Facebook, most people would be flummoxed. The RTs and @ signs don’t contbribute much to readability when you’re not used to them.

Each of us uses these social networks slightly differently, but I doubt that many of us are speaking to the same audience in each arena.  At least for the foreseeable future, I’ll continue to update each site manually, with rare exception.

April Dunford discusses social media and product marketing

I was fortunate to meet the well-known product marketer April Dunford at ProductCamp Toronto last month. In the latest Trafcom News Podcast, April shares her thoughts on social media for product marketers.

We also get into an animated discussion  about who should be blogging about products – the PR department or the product people.

Hop on over to the Trafcom News Podcast to listen to this 15-minute podcast and read the show notes.

Photo of April Dunford by Calum Tsang. For more of Calum’s photos from the event go to Flickr.

How authentic should the CEO be on Facebook?

Here’s an interesting story for a Friday afternoon.


After Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre, a chain of boutique hotels in California, attended the Burning Man festival, some photos of him shirtless (and in one, wearing a tutu) appeared on Facebook. His blog post about the contretemps that followed is a great study in authenticity.

To me, the photos show the real Chip, and he is proud to be that guy. Most CEOs would not be too comfortable with such candid photos on Facebook, but he is. What do you think?

Why should your event be social-media friendly?

In a recent post, I wrote about HOW to make your meeting or conference social-media friendly. A commenter then asked for more information about WHY you would want to do so.

I have covered the “why” elsewhere in my PodcastYourConference site and in various presentations and Webinars, but here is a quick list of the reasons why you should consider incorporating social media into your event planning.

• Running an event blog, or blogging about the event on your regular blog, will help to publicize the event among potential registrants.
• Tweeting about the event can do the same. In fact, Twitter, which encourages re-tweeting, may help your message spread even more quickly than will your blog. Of course your content has to be interesting. You can’t keep rebroadcasting the same “Hey we’re having an event” message.
• Ditto with building your presence on Facebook or any other venue where your audience gathers online.
• Pre-event podcast interviews with key speakers offer potential attendees, exhibitors and sponsors a glimpse of what they might be experiencing in your event's keynote presentation, workshops, breakouts or other sessions. You’d be amazed at how much interest you can generate with a 10-minute audio podcast.
• Suppose you’re running an annual event, and your members, employees or customers are traveling from all over the world to be there. Do you think this is an opportune time to capture audio and video conversations, presentations, event feedback and so on? In my humble opinion, YES! The cost of recording, editing and publishing this content is likely to pale in comparison to your total event budget. USE this content now and in the future. Repurpose it. Repackage it. Make the most of it!
• If you take a few minutes to create an event hashtag (such as #iabc09), you make life easier for those who are blogging and tweeting about you. You also simplify your own tracking of the conversations about your event. Do you care what people are saying before, during and after your event? You should. This feedback is real and unvarnished, and can help you to organize even better meetings in the future.

Social media can help you to create buzz, boost registration numbers, foster a sense of community among attendees, entice exhibitors, and create relevant content for your Web site and marketing efforts.

Remember: Conversations about your organization and your event are happening, whether you’re listening to them or not. Be a part of them. Doing nothing is not a viable tactic.

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