Businesses need to outgrow the "gangly teen-age" phase of social media and adopt best practices to best use the booming communications media, said top experts at the Social Fresh conference today in uptown Charlotte.
About 230 have packed the Social Fresh conference at the Holiday Inn, including reps from Bank Of America, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and others. Walmart sent three from its Arkansas headquarters.
Keynote speaker David Armano told a spillover crowd that businesses on social media today are like teenagers experimenting with sex: They don't know what to do, and then they're disappointed when they finally get to do it. Armano closed his talk by telling businesses to look beyond this teen-age phase. "It's time to grow up," said Armano, of Dachis Corp., a new social media consulting firm founded with $50 million in venture capital.
Charlotte's Kathleen Hessert -- famous for teaching Shaquille O'Neal to tweet -- told a crowd that knowing how to post on social media and knowing the right way to represent your company are two entirely different things. Below, see a video of Hessert, who runs the consulting firm Sports Media Challenge from her six-person office at N.C. 51 and Carmel Road.
Other highlights:
-- Bank Of America's Andres Echevarria told me he believes social media can help in "flattening the organization" so expertise can be shared throughout. "Tech guys aren't necessarily the most social people. So they can share knowledge and get a little chance to be in the spotlight."
-- Idek.net, a url-shrinking company in Raleigh is getting lots of buzz for the analytics it can provide. One tip they've discovered: Thursday at 2 p.m. is the best time to tweet -- big audience coming back from lunch, but not that many actually tweeting. Want to get rewteeted? Post then.
-- Carey-based David B. Thomas of software company SAS gave tips on using LinkedIn for business -- and specifically getting a job as we emerge from the recession. Use your expertise on LinkedIn to show you are a thought leader in your field, he says. Don't just go hat-in-hand.
Guess she knows how to DO IT!
ReplyDeleteThis entire push for "social media" seems like a strained effort reaching for something it can see, understand, and may find beneficial ....possibly.
ReplyDeleteBut ultimately is as necessary as debating the difference between K-Mart and Target while standing in line at the unemployment office because your boss caught you 'tweeting' about your morning constitution, when you should have been 'facbooking' about the casual dress day on every third Friday.
To much free time is a leading cause of carpal tunnel syndrome it would seem.