I have been consulting with Norfolk Southern for several years on developing their social media communications strategy. It’s taken a lot of training to get the corporate communications department on board. I put together several social media 101 presentations and training sessions with along with Amber Karnes of Chop Chop Design (Norfolk Southern’s Webmaster at the time).

Shortly after, the company put together a New Media Team, composed of employees across the company to advise the company’s social media and new media strategies. Karnes and I offered more training sessions and presentations, and with the support of the New Media Team, launched these social media initiatives.

Our biggest challenge was not gaining the buy-in from management (the widespread adoption of Facebook and Twitter eventually made that case for us), but ensuring the legal department there would be no problems. The best way to handle that obstacle was to approach social media cautiously and show success through baby steps. For example, Norfolk Southern’s first YouTube video was a 30-second commercial that had aired nationwide on television. Once the lawyers could see there was little need for concern, we began slowly posting more content.

Check out Norfolk Southern’s social media profiles, for a first-rate example of how social media can work for a large B2B organization. The Thoroughbred of Transportation is taking the lead on social media engagement in the freight rail transportation industry. So far, NS has more than 9,000 fans on Facebook, more than any other railroad. We’re engaging with rail fans across the country, and this is just the beginning as we are continuing to set forth a strategy to enhance our community outreach. In fact, Norfolk Southern has recently added a position to the Corporate Communications department that handles Community Outreach, both online and offline. I look forward to sharing more as Norfolk Southern continues engaging stakeholders online.

Well, I figured out part of that reason was my web hosting provider. I switched providers to Dreamhost, and that problem is solved.

But the point is, this scenario offers another great reason for multiple social media profiles. If you are relying on one site on the web for all of your marketing and public relations exposure, you are putting yourself at risk.

I recently encountered an ad agency that, I suppose in an effort to be cutting edge, has no website–just a facebook page. Would you really want your business hinging solely on facebook’s success?

In a crisis –your site is down, facebook is down, one of your profiles or your website has been hacked, the Twitter fail whale has come up for air–you should be prepared to communicate with multiple alternatives. Even when my website is down, clients can see that I’m actively engaging online by following my social media profile links, which I post everywhere online as well as on my e-mail signatures, business cards, resume and invoices.

As you develop your web presence, consider multiple avenues for content distribution. Go beyond your own website, and post everywhere it makes sense for your business. You’ll be better prepared to handle whatever mishaps the Web throws your way.

Reina Communications is helping Gumdrop Lane step up its social media marketing efforts. Gumdrop Lane is an online children’s clothing boutique, somewhat new to the social space. Here are some tips I offered Gumdrop Lane to get social. Hope they help you as well. Also, please check out Gumpdrop Lane’s twitter and facebook pages as well as their new blog. Let us know what you think!

• People should tweet, not businesses. Twitter is about personal communication. Consumers know there is a person behind each business, and we want to see who they are. While you are representing a brand, tweet about personal experiences — those experiences are what make your business unique! Just make sure the people representing your business have fun personalities and you can trust them to represent your brand.
• Share information and promote interesting finds, even if it doesn’t directly relate to what you’re selling. You want to be an information resource for your customers. Read other blogs and seek information your customers would seek. If you see something that would be helpful for them, blog about it or retweet it without the expectation of sales in return. You’re building a relationship, and that’s a two-way street.
• Don’t underestimate the power of blogs. Good bloggers know their audiences and can recognize when your products or services are a good fit for their readers. Word-of-mouth advertising can be as effective as Google Adwords in gaining exposure for your business. Identify the influential bloggers in your market and use sites like Alexa to see what kind of traffic they get. Bloggers love hosting giveaways for your products, but if you have limited resources, you need to be sure you offer products to the most influential blogs first.

It’s okay for people to write bad things about your brand online. While it can be intimidating to know that someone can write malicious comments about your business, you have to remember that there is a greater world of participation. If your organization is doing what’s right, there will be far more positive comments to follow the negative prick who wants to vent and spread lies about your brand. If your organization is doing what’s wrong, monitoring social media will offer you a red flag warning before the situation gets out of control. There are far greater benefits than risks when it comes to opening comments on social media (e.g., obtaining feedback, sharing information, improved customer service).

Even still, I find that argument is not enough to convince executives to consider opening comments and relinquishing their perceived control over the Web presence. Perhaps then, an alternative approach is to post a “Code of Comments.” One of my favorite blogs, The Consumerist, posted a Code of Comments this week, and I think it’s a great example. I’ve shared it with my clients in hopes that with a little time, I’ll gain their buy-in and we can start getting them to participate in social media the way it is intended.

I’m meeting with a client Friday to help her more effectively engage using online social media. She knows she needs to be on Twitter — and with Twitter’s exponential growth who shouldn’t be? But she’s smart to ask for advice before jumping on the bandwagon like so many other companies do. Twitter is like any other community you want to engage, you need to know the culture. As someone who has been addictively using Twitter everyday for the past three years, I thought I’d share some quick tips for Twitter success.

1) Don’t follow others simply for follow backs. Twitter users love to see their follower list grow, but we recognize spam when we see it. Many companies entering the Twittersphere will simply follow 2,000 random people (the limit before Twitter catches on that you are spamming) with the hope that some will follow back. This may seem like an easy way to get followers, but it is actually quite annoying to those of us who are using Twitter to genuinely engage with other community members. We recognize these faux-followers as clutter. Further, what is the point in following people who are not relevant stakeholders for your business? Just don’t do it.

2) Encourage your customers and stakeholders to follow you. Rather than looking for random followers on Twitter, inform your own customers and stakeholders that you have a Twitter account and ask them to follow you. Include your Twitter account on your website, blogs and e-mails. If you really want to drive followers to your account, consider doing a giveaway or offering special discounts and promo codes via Twitter. You also can offer rewards to people who tweet about your company.

3) Don’t over tweet. If you have something helpful or important to communicate, Twitter is a great medium for marketing. However, hourly tweets can be overkill. I’ve left a lot of people I was following simply because they were cluttering up my Twitter timeline. If you have a high volume of news that you want to communicate in real time, offer an RSS feed. Keep your tweets to no more than three to five per day and make them count.

4) Interact with followers. Follow your followers and interact with them using @replies. By following your stakeholders, you are able to learn more about their attitudes and opinions. This will help you better understand your target market and offer valuable feedback for product development.

5) Use Twitter as a tool for customer service. Use Summize to find out who is tweeting about you and what they are saying. Then, tweet them back. You may find someone is griping about customer service and that there is something you can do to remedy the problem. Or you may be happy to see someone is pleased with your company, in which case, a quick thank you reply goes a long way.

techPresident, a site dedicated to analyzing the use of Web 2.0 media in the presidential candidates campaigns, posted an interesting comparison of McCain and Obama YouTube viewership. (If you are curious, YouTubers have spent about 14 million hours watching Obama’s videos versus just under half a million hours watching McCain videos.)

Interestingly, the gang at techPresident quantified the value of each candidate’s YouTube exposure by comparing the number of views times the length of each video to television  advertising rates. A step-by-step approach to the math is provided on the blog. Using similar logic, public relations practitioners could assign a montary value to successful YouTube campaigns (and ultimately report ROI).

A few caveats about this method of measurement. Comparing online video to television does not take into account the key differences between the two media. A unique characteristic of YouTube is that viewers actively search for the content they view and watch the videos by their own choosing. Television commercials are less targeted and often are disruptive to the viewer. For example, I’m not suffering from Restless Leg Syndrome, I don’t need to sell an ugly home and I don’t eat fast food, yet advertisers for these products are still paying for my eyeballs when they purchase television slots. Also, this type of calculation does not take into account measuring attitude or behavior change the way measuring a specific call to action would.

However, this type of calculation does translate YouTube viewership into the language executive leaders speak. Converting online video views into a number that can be factored into the bottom line might be  just what we need to get buyin from executive leadership when proposing YouTube campaigns.

Over the weekend, I  posted a comment on a public relations blog and received notification that the comment would be posted after the moderator approved it. While I applaud the practitioner’s effort to embrace new technology by starting the blog, this is the perfect example of how many PR practitioners do not fully grasp the underpinnings of Web 2.0. The new Web is all about trust and mutual, two-way communication within the Web community. Using the tools of Web 2.0 (e.g., blogs, podcasts, social networks) is a start, but without understanding the collaborative spirit behind Web 2.0 there is very little to be gained from the
effort. In this case, a blog without an open comments forum does little to facilitate discussion and fails to achieve communication goals.

For PR efforts to be successful online, you have to do more than setting up a blog or building a Facebook page. You have to be brave and let go of your perception that you control the message. The reality is we cannot control the message. We only can
be an active participant in a community, facilitate information exchange and hope to improve communication. Yes, it’s scary. Yes, some idiot probably will post something really mean and incorrect about your organization. But realize that anyone can write anything they want online about your organization at anytime and share it with the masses, whether you facilitate it or not.

In regards to the blog I submitted a comment to, it’s been 4 days and my comment still has not been approved and posted. How is this helpful to anyone? How can there be relevant discussion with that kind of lag time and monitoring?

Well then, how should we handle those negative blog comments? Anticipate them and deal with them appropriately and swiftly. I’d like to share an example of how Scott Lockhart of Regator.com recently did this. The company received awesome exposure from Mashable.com, but some readers of the blog left uninformed and erroneous negative comments. In response, Scott did all the right things. First, by monitoring the comments, he was made aware of the communication problem. Second, he addressed the problem. Third, he responded quickly with information that cleared up the confusion. Just how it should be done.

Online opinion leaders are not going to call you for
information. And if we have to call you, we’re not happy about it (see last
week’s rant for more on this). We want the information online, right where we
can find it. For example, I even make my massage appointments online. I chose
the spa based on the fact that they offer the convenience of checking the
schedules of all the massage therapists online.

When we do obtain information online, we expect it to be
completely on our terms. We want our own freedom to decide how and when we will
use the content. We have different options and preferences on how we will
consume media online. Some of us may want a video, while others may want an
article on blog, a podcast or another form of virtual interaction. We might
want to play it on a portable device, share it with friends, have it pushed to
us via RSS or sms or have the ability to modify and create new content with it.
When it comes to online PR, consider these multiple formats and make sure each
is an easily accessible option.

We’re also in our own Internet time zone. Time shifting is
essential to our ability to consume all of the content online that interests
us. Live feeds are great if we are sitting at a computer or on the go with
high-speed wireless, but ability to play back information on our own schedule is
very important.

The take away from this: if you don’t give us what we want,
how and when we want it, we will get it from somewhere else or create it
ourselves. A successful online media campaign must consider the mindset of
online community opinion leaders and adapt the communications strategy
accordingly.