Hot Off the Press: Social Media Marketing Lessons You Can Learn from the News
Posted by Samantha Coren
It seems like just about every day you hear news reporters taking aim at the most outlandish events in social media. With every infidelity or cyberbullying case uncovered on Facebook or Twitter there's always something you can take away when it comes to social media marketing for business.
Don't believe me? Let's take a look at some current events in social media rocking the newswires:
An Ohioan mother of two discovers that her husband has a second wife on Facebook. Now she fights for the custody of her sons and to prove that her original marriage was lawful.
Marketing Takeaway: Don't let someone find out your business screwed up big time via social networking sites. Represent the same set of values on and off line and you'll find yourself avoiding a whole bunch of unwanted drama.
Chris Peterson, head coach of Boise State's football team, has decided to ban his players from tweeting during the regular season. Why? He thinks it's a giant distraction.
Marketing Takeaway: HubSpot's VP Mike Volpe has a unique stance on social media policy (or lack thereof). Forbidding your employees from participating in social media is like shooting yourself in the online marketing foot. It shows that you don't trust your workers to use good judgement, and cuts away any sort of beneficial interaction with your connections of supporters.
Us PullnotPushers tweet constantly throughout the day on @PullnotPush and our personal accounts: @s_coren, @jeff_machado, @justincambria, @czwolf, @timstansky and @danronken.
Swiss Pharmaceutical giant Novartis rattled the Food and Drug Administration's cage with language describing a drug to treat a form of leukemia. Apparently the FDA believes that the copy generated by a "share more information widget" on Facebook didn't properly reflect the risks of taking the drug.
Marketing Takeaway: It's always a good idea to make sure you aren't breaking any state and federal regulations with the content you publish on social media (or else where for that matter). Not sure if what you're putting out is safe? Have someone proof your work and run the research who's qualified.
The Week of Crazy Ways to Quit Your Job
In other news this week, PullnotPush would like to give a special Magnet award for "Cleverest Way to Quit Your Job" to Steven Slater. Slater was a JetBlue attendent who lost his cool after getting fed up with rude passengers and slid down the escape slide to freedom. Now he has a Free Steven Slater Facebook page set up by fans with over 25,000 likes to fund his legal fees.
The runner up? The folks on reddit sure did love the girl who decided tell her company via e-mail she was quitting with a series of funny photographs and a whiteboard. Too bad it turned out to be a hoax by a struggling LA actress named Elyse Porterfield.
Marketing Takeaway: Never underestimate the impact of a remarkable story and social media users spreading the word...however it's way better when that remarkable story is true.
What are your thoughts on these bizzare, yet newsworthy items?