With more than 200 million users on Twitter, it has become increasingly difficult for people and brands to break through the noise that exists between them and their target audience on this medium. While Twitter may not have a ‘groups’ functionally like LinkedIn or Facebook, communities across the platform are able to directly engage and collaborate with each other through regular Twitter chats.

Similar to other types of online chats and forums, a Twitter chat involves a group of online users who use a designated hashtag on a particular day and time to discuss various topics and trends. Whether you are participating as an individual or on behalf of a brand, these chats are an effective way to grow your following and increase engagement with thought leaders in your target community.

Although joining a Twitter chat may seem intimidating, it can really be a beneficial (and fun!) experience when done effectively.  For those of you who have never joined a Twitter chat before, here are 8 things should do to make the most out of your participation:

1)   Find the right chat. Each week, hundreds of groups and organizations host Twitter chats on a wide variety of topics. From event professionals to Justin Bieber fans, there is a chat out there for everyone. Not sure which chat is best for you? Check out this running public Google Doc that keeps track of all Twitter chat schedules.

2)   Do your homework. If you’ve never joined a particular chat before, it’s important to do you’re your due diligence in understanding the community you are joining. Many chat communities have established their own rules and best practices for participation, so you’ll want to make sure you are in the loop. It’s also a good idea to ‘silently’ observe a Twitter chat before you join it so that you can get a feel for the format and flow of the chat, as well as scope out the key contributors and thought leaders.

3)   Reach out to the chat’s moderator. If you plan on joining a Twitter chat, it’s extremely beneficial to reach out to the chat’s moderator beforehand to see what questions he/she plans on asking. Knowing the agenda of the conversation will help you to determine how you can best contribute to the discussion.

4)   Take the time to prepare. Although Twitter chat conversations happen in real time, the worst thing a person or brand can do is ‘wing it’. Prior to the chat, think about the message you want to get across and how you can do so using the chat’s topic and questions.

5)   Leverage a chat tool. There are several useful social media tools that are designed for participating in Twitter chats. For example, TweetChat and TweetGrid are just two of the many sites that allow you to monitor the chat’s hashtag in real time, while also posting tweets.

6)   Actively participate. Once you’ve introduced yourself to the chat’s participants, don’t just stand by and watch the conversation happen. Find a way to contribute to conversation consistently throughout the chat and take advantage of opportunities to engage with members of the community.

7)   Don’t abuse the hashtag. Keep in mind that the purpose of joining a Twitter chat is to increase engagement and expand your social network, not to promote your product or service. If you begin using the chat’s hashtag in a self-serving or irrelevant way, you will quickly lose credibility and respect among the community.

8)   Keep in touch. Although the chat may only last an hour, the new connections you make can last a lifetime. Therefore, it is important to follow up with those you’ve engaged with and thank them for their insight. If possible, try to take the conversation to another social media platform or offline at the next industry event.

9)   Moderate the next one! Once you have successfully participated in a Twitter chat, offer to be the moderator next time. Moderating a chat opens up even more opportunities for you and your brand (more to come on this in a later post!).

In addition to the quality of speakers and program topics, BDI focuses each of its event on a specific vertical or industry, allowing attendees to take a deep dive into their area of expertise. For this particular event, the topic was focused on case studies and examples of how leading B2B organizations connect with customers, prospects, employees, partners, and the media through social communications.

Between the speaker presentations and the closing panel discussion, attendees were offered tips, best practices and real-life examples on how to successfully execute social media for B2B brands.  Here are just five of the many takeaways I took home from the event:

1. Video + comedy = B2B social media success. Tim Washer, social media manager for Cisco Systems started off the morning with an insightful presentation on the importance of humanizing your B2B social media strategy. And what better way to evoke human emotion then with a hilarious viral video? Whether it’s for a B2C or B2b audience, when done correctly, videos allow brands to cut through the noise and create an instant bond with their target audience.

2. 75% of marketers do not have an ROI program in place for social media. Umm…what!? This was just one of the many interesting (and shocking!) statistics revealed by Robert Felsenthal, Vice President and Publisher, BtoB Magazine, from the magazine’s latest report on emerging trends in B2B social media marketing.

3. The total number of followers is mostly irrelevant, according to corporate communicators Paul Gennaro and Joe O’Neill, from AECOM. When it comes to measuring success for B2B social media, dialogue with potential customers and their constituents is much more valuable.

4. Don’t mistake social media tactics for social media strategy. Several years ago, social media was viewed as just another channel for distributing content and messaging. However, as pointed out by Lori Feldman and Alexandra Tyler, Director and VP, branded & social media marketing of Citi Global Transaction Services, the medium is now the message. Therefore, B2B marketers need to look at the big picture of their social media efforts, not just the day-to-day check boxes.

5. Social media platforms are free but your time is not. Affect’s own president & founder, Sandra Fathi, closed the morning of presentations urging B2B marketers to focus on the goals & measurement of their social media efforts. In most cases, “we need to be on social media because our competitors are on social media” is not a good enough reason to just start aimlessly tweeting. At the end of the day, just like any other marketing program, marketers will need to address the ROI elephant in the room. Without a strong measurement plan in place, these same marketers will lose their social media budget just as quick as they received it.

Want to hear more takeaways and insights from the event? Check out the speakers’ presentations on Slideshare.net or check out the recap of the event’s Twitter stream.

Have your own thoughts on the topic? Leave them in the comments section below!

Photo via timesunion.com

Given my obsession with the royal wedding this week (well if I’m being honest, the past three months), it only made sense for me to find a way to actually learn from the event that has taken over every news medium across the world. As I sit here and consistently refresh the homepages of several news sites, I have been wondering what it is about this wedding that has the entire world, including myself, so invested. What makes this event different from all the other important, if not more important, situations happening around the world?

While I don’t have the answer completely figured out, the PR side of me has definitely picked up on some of the strategic moves made by the royal family that have made this wedding an event to remember. I have also realized that these strategies are the same ones that make a brand successful.

Here are just five of the many takeaways from the royal wedding that brands can implement in their everyday strategies:

1)   Love is in the details. From the impeccable timing of the ceremony to the meticulous preparation for the reception, the attention to detail is what makes the royal wedding unlike any other event in the world.  While the extreme measures taken to ensure that things are perfect may seem unnecessary, this attention to detail allows the royal family to express how important and special the event is to them. Whether it’s a large-scale event or a simple report you are sending, paying attention to the details of your presentation are key to winning the hearts of your clients.

2)   Be relatable. In the weeks leading up to the royal wedding, there was much speculation as to how the bride-to-be would act during the actual ceremony. While many suspected that she may be as reserved as brides in past royal weddings, Kate actually proved to be quite animated and engaged. She acted the way any other modern bride would act, making her relatable to the millions of women watching her in awe.  Expressing a human element can be just as beneficial for a brand as it was for Kate Middleton.

3)   Give back when you can.  When executing such an extravagant initiative such as a royal wedding, one of the first thing critics look at is the budget. Is it responsible to indulge in such luxury and excess when we are still making our way out of a global economic crisis? By asking well-wishers to donate to select charities in lieu of gifts, Kate and William were able to still have their dream wedding without coming off insensitive or inconsiderate. So next time you are planning a major campaign or big idea, be sure to consider how to incorporate social good at the same time.

4)   Keep your audience in suspense. There is no doubt that the most highly anticipated moment of the royal wedding (and the reason I woke up extra early this morning) was the unveiling of Kate’s wedding dress. These days, keeping any details of an announcement or event from leaking is nearly impossible given the extremely viral nature of today’s media. However, taking the extra measures to keep just one important detail top secret creates even more buzz, increasing awareness and excitement around your brand or event.

5)   Keep it classy. From Kate’s weight to William’s dating history, the couple has been inundated with more scrutiny and criticism than any other celebrity couple. However, despite the harsh comments and invasive questions, the couple never faltered and always maintained composure when speaking or interacting with the media. There are certain company spokespeople that can learn a lot from the royal couple’s tasteful approach to dealing with negative press.

What have you learned from the royal wedding? Leave a comment below!

Earlier this week, we made an exciting announcement about our partnership with video New York-based production company Landline TV!

Landline specializes in viral comedy and in recent years has quickly become a top source for humor on the web. The company has released hundreds of shorts both independently and for partners such as College Humor, AOL and MSN.

We have had the pleasure of working with Landline on several viral video campaigns, including an award-winning series for Regus, Absolute Software and Kony Solutions.

We’re thrilled to officially welcome our friends at Landline to the Affect Strategies family!

Here at Affect, we are constantly looking for ways in which we can better connect with journalists through social media in order to build/maintain relationships and secure meaningful coverage for our clients. While it certainly requires a bit of research and strategy, we’ve had success in proving that social media is an important component of any PR professional’s media relations toolkit.

On Wednesday, November 17, our own Sandra Fathi will be presenting a webinar for Bulldog Reporter’s PR University titled “Using Social Media to Pitch the Press: An Insider’s Guide to Generating Story Placements and Online Buzz”. This 90-minute webinar will include up-to-date examples and case studies of social media pitching successes and offer tools and tips on how to take your social media PR plan to the next level.

To sign up for the webinar, please visit: http://bit.ly/cZ5w2S (Use our discount code pitchpress and receive 25% off the registration price!)

Therefore, we’ve decided to host our first WOMMA Wine Wednesday event on October 27 here at the Affect offices. This event is a free networking opportunity designed to bring together word-of-mouth marketing professionals and the WOMMA member community to discuss ‘Driving Sales through Social Media: The B2B Case Study’.

In addition to the delicious wine and cheese that will be served, the evening will include remarks and insights from industry experts, including Affect’s own Sandra Fathi and Leslie Campisi, on how B2B companies can use social media platforms to support their sales initiatives and increase their bottom line.

We’d love for you to join us for this evening of networking, wine and engaging conversation with other marketing and communications professionals!

Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Time: 6PM – 8PM EST

Location: 60 West 38th Street, New York, NY 10018

Registration: http://wommawinewednesday.eventbrite.com/

We’ve all seen that dreadful interview in which the spokesperson gets his or her company into hot water with just one misguided word or comment. And with the viral nature of online media, media blunders don’t ever truly go away.

Here at Affect we often provide media training for our clients’ spokespeople so that they can prevent such situations from occurring and can maximize the success of media opportunities. I thought I’d share some of our best practices & tips on what a spokesperson can do prior and during the interview to ensure a positive outcome.

Prior to the interview:

• Determine goals and objectives – One of the main reasons poor interviews occur is because the spokesperson did not take the time to think about the purpose of the interview. Prior to any engagement with members of the media, its important to prep talking points and ask yourself the following questions: Why am I being asked to talk about this topic? What is my desired outcome? What message(s) do I want to get across during this conversation?

• Do your homework – The worse thing a spokesperson can do is go into an interview without a clear understanding of the media platform, audience and reporter’s history. It’s important to become familiar with the publication and read previous articles by the reporter so that you can get a feel for his/her interview style.

• Gather stats & figures – Reporters love numbers and offering valuable statistics and research give your statements in an interview more credibility. Even if your company doesn’t have data of its own, be prepared with a recent industry study or third party data that can support your message.

During the interview:

• Know your role – When working with reporters, it’s important to understand that they look at you as a subject matter expert and a source for them to learn more about a particular topic. Although they may specialize in a certain industry, it is not their job to know what your company does. You are there to teach them so it’s important to remain patient and offer as much clarification as possible.

• Keep control of the conversation – Even though the reporter is the one asking the questions, its important to keep the interview focused on your goals and objectives. It’s easy to fall off track, and before you know it, the interview will be over and you will miss the opportunity to get your message across.

• Be credible and honest – One of the biggest traps company spokespeople fall into is making assumptions before they know all of the facts about a situation. Especially when it comes to crisis situations and investigations, it’s natural to want to give the reporter the information they are looking for. However, this can later come back to hurt you and can get your company into a sticky situation. Instead, admit to the reporter that you are still looking into the facts and that you cannot answer the question at this time.

• Show some enthusiasm (but not too much!) – Especially when it comes to on-camera interviews, its important to appear passionate and excited about the topic you are speaking about. Looking stoic and uninterested will bore the audience. On the other hand, being overly animated will make both the reporter and audience comfortable.

• Don’t slam competitors – Asking about a company’s competitors is a common question that comes up during media interviews. Its okay to briefly mention who they are, but many spokespeople make the mistake of criticizing or bashing the competitions while on the record. While it makes for a juicy headline, it will only hurt your company’s image. Besides, why give your competitors the free air time?

• Be careful when using humor – While it’s important for spokespeople to have character and relatable qualities, trying to be funny can easily offend the reporter and audience if it’s taken out of context. What is intended as sarcasm can be easily mistaken for fact (especially in print).

By being prepared and conscious of the task at hand, company spokespeople can prevent the occurrence of a media faux pa and take advantage of the opportunity to promote their brand and products/services.

Have any tips to add to the list? Leave them in the comments section below.

Following the popularity of our Social Media Six-Pack earlier this year, the Affect team is excited to officially release the Social Media Successes Series- a compilation of top tip sheets on best practices and effective strategies for businesses engaging in social media. Each of these tip sheets focuses on a different social media platform or topic, offering strategies and tactics to help businesses leverage social media in order to boost their online presence, connect with target markets and ultimately improve their business’ bottom line.

The Social Media Success Series can be downloaded for free as a single unit or as individual tip sheets so feel free to share them with your friends, clients and colleagues. The series currently includes:

• 10 Ways to Enrich Your Company’s Facebook Page
• Tips: Using Twitter for Reputation Management & Crisis Communications
• 7 Simple Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Company’s YouTube Videos
• Tips: Maximizing Your Presence on LinkedIn
• 8 Ways Blog Commenting Can Boost Your Reputation & Web Traffic
• Simple Social Media Measurement Matrix
• 5 Ways Businesses Can Leverage Foursquare in Marketing Efforts

We will continue to add to the series so be sure to check back for some more social media success tips!

For this post, I thought I would share with you some of the Affect team’s favorite articles and blog posts that we have read in the past week. They cover a bunch of different topics in PR, marketing and social media and offer valuable insight into the latest trends and best practices in these industries. Check them out!

1. The Rise to the Top Blog- “5 Predictions on the Future of Marketing, PR and Advertising Agencies”

2. B2B Magazine Online- “Twitter worth the extra effort”

3. Fast Company- “Corporate Social Media Policies: The Good, the Mediocre, and the Ugly”

4. Technology & Science Blog (MSNBC.com) - “Privacy, schmivacy — Gen Y will keep on sharing”

5. You’re the Boss Blog (NYTimes.com) - “Nine Keys to Getting the Most for Your Marketing Money”

What fascinating articles/posts have you read recently? Add a link in the comments section below!

This afternoon I listened in on an excellent HubSpot webinar called The Science of Facebook Marketing which was presented by ‘social media scientist’ Dan Zarella. Dan’s presentation took a deep dive into how brands can effectively use Facebook to communicate with their target audience and what elements must be considered when using the platform. Here are some of the key business takeaways and overarching ideas that came out of the webinar:

• Facebook should be used to facilitate existing relationships- the platform gives brands the ability to strengthen these relationship and put their entire network in front of an audience.
• Emphasize social proof- people will not become your friend or fan on Facebook if they don’t have proof that you are great. Who wants to like a page that no one else likes or become a fan of a page with no fans?
• Ideas on Facebook do not spread because they are ‘good’- they spread because they are entertaining.
• Facebook is entirely performance based- people use the platform to portray themselves to others. Therefore, you should be offering them information and tools to make them look “cool” to their friends and fans.
• There is a hierarchy of Facebook contagion- in order for people to like your page, they need to be 1) exposed to it, 2) aware of it and then 3) motivated to like it.

What I felt was the most useful information offered during this webinar was the advice on how to enhance the content posted by a brand on Facebook. Here are some interesting facts and tips to help boost the quality and likability of your posts:

• When the word ‘video’ is in the title of an article or post it is 30% more likely to be shared on Facebook (and 30% less likely to be shared on Twitter!).
• Stats and numbers should be used as much as possible in your Facebook content. People like specificity, so content that includes numerical digits is more likely to be shared.
• “Sex” is the most shared word on Facebook while the word “negative” is the least shared word. Making your content language sexier can go a long way.
• The Facebook community likes simple and plain terms, so no flowery language is necessary. Content should be written with more nouns and verbs rather than adjectives and adverbs.
• Saturday is the highest sharing day on Facebook during the weekend and Tuesday is the highest sharing day during the week.
• Avoid using marketing buzz words like “leverage” or “optimize.” Facebook users are generally turned off by this type of language.

Have any other tips or insights to add? Leave a comment or shoot us a tweet @teamaffect