transparency

The biggest mistake people make when it comes to building their social brand is blurring authenticity and transparency. They often end up in a social brand cycle where they never feel comfortable sharing so they sound like corporate speak 24/7. Or they may do the opposite and share everything including where they buy their toilet paper![read more]

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"There are some blog posts that are presenting this most recent reminder as highlighting that both advertisers and agencies should have a social media policy, which is valid, but there is more at play here; all that one needs to do is read the FTC's own blog post on the matter to see the more complete picture."[read more]

"Phil Buchanan, Center for Effective Philanthropy, talked about the nuances of transparency. He raised the question about the definition of transparency. “Are we settling for superficial transparency, about whether the inevitable push to create simple check-lists is resulting in good information – or misinformation."[read more]

Disclosure, Transparency and Ethics in Blogging In the blogosphere, it's not always easy to distinguish marketers from regular citizens. With the explosion of online marketing in recent years we've seen all sorts of ethically dubious practices, like PR agencies posting "impartial" product reviews about their clients and "independent...[read more]

Social media is the place to go for transparency in business. Customers, clients, and other businesses expect a level of openness from the brands and companies they follow on Facebook and Twitter. But there’s another type of transparency that many businesses overlook – being open with your social media manager. As more and more small businesses flock to the social media networks to get their brand out there many of their social media managers are facing a common problem. All too often, these managers are not kept in the communication loop as they should be and the result can lead to endless amounts of frustration.[read more]

I love Netflix.  I think their service is fantastic, prices fair, and their integration across a variety of hardware choices is top notch.  It’s one of those monthly fees I have no problem paying even when I don’t consume very much in a given month.  I’ve followed their ascent to greatness burying Blockbuster in the...[read more]

With the long Independence Day weekend tempting us right over there on the horizon, many of us are packing our bags, fueling up our cars or just getting ready for a holiday weekend close to home. Keeping the spirit of the holiday in mind, we dug up a few fun links about the Fourth and social media - have a look if you're searching for something to distract you from a holiday weekend that's only a day away.[read more]

Why is it that so many businesses lack what it takes to be successful with social media?  I think we can all agree that  social media marketing is extremely important. Yet so many businesses are coming up short of being successful and using social media effectively. I believe, one of the key factors which is causing most...[read more]

Everybody is doing it. Your neighbors. Your kids away at college. The restaurant down the road. Your favorite brand of peanut butter. Your alma mater. Even the White House is doing it. But why aren’t you? Why isn’t your company engaged in social media? Here’s what we think.[read more]

Recently on the news: “A company fires an employee after posting a negative message about his employer on Facebook”. What happened? An employee told his friends on Facebook how dissatisfied he was with his employer. The employer was reading along and, based on that message, decided to say farewell to its employee. To some people it...[read more]

The recent upgrade to Facebook pages has provided opportunities for companies to strengthen their brand. Unfortunately most have not taken advantage of one of the coolest new features… the opportunity to identify the person behind the page. Stop Hiding Behind Your Logo Successful social media strategies include having a transparent...[read more]

Last week my SocialMediaToday.com colleague Taylor Ellwood wrote a piece called "Transparency in social media."It was a very well-crafted post which tells of Intel's social media policy re: transparency. The column also has some excellent advice, such as this..."Transparency shows a willingness to take a risk and participate in a public...[read more]

I was attending a talk by Bryan Rhoads of Intel, and he mentioned that Intel requires their social media practitioners to be transparent about their roles at Intel. I think this is a good practice to follow, and one that might seem to be common sense, but as we know sometimes common sense is not so…common. But for any business engaged in...[read more]

I’ve been thinking a lot about online communities, specifically the more open ones that are public-facing and either for a company’s customers or for a certain niche. Some examples would be: Allstate’s Good Hands Community MyColts.net – official community for the Indianapolis Colts AARP online community Ovation Arts Community I assume...[read more]

I recently attended the Digital Media Conference in Washington, DC and participated in the Social Media Marketing panel (check out video from the panel here). One question Elizabeth Shea, the panel moderator, asked participants was about social media pitfalls to avoid. Here's a recap of my answer:[read more]

When approaching clients on objectives to begin social strategy, agencies focus on three things: consumer trust, brand engagement and transparency. Transparency can come in a few forms: the form of humanizing the brand; the form of understanding the consumer and responding; or the form of disclosing sensitive information. But, what...[read more]

Outsourced Social Media: Oxymoron?My guts tell me that a client should be doing their own social media content posts. My passion for transparency and honesty tell me that posting social media content for another business is a conflict of interest. After all, the power of social media resides in the ability to be oneself and gain the...[read more]

Transparency and openness are so 2008 and you're so 2000 late.. OK so I'm paraphrasing Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas a bit there.. But I have a simple point to make with a larger concern. look at these latest headlines. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Doesn't Believe In Privacy What Do New Facebook Features Mean for Your...[read more]

Recently an industry guru who is compiling a study/book on transparency emailed me and asked "What are the practices that you think an agency should follow when it comes to transparency in writing content for a client's social media channels?"  This is what I emailed back: I think if it is for the brand/company, then it is fine to...[read more]

The 2010 Edelman Global Trust Barometer released today might motivate you to take another look at your 2010 PR and social media strategy. For the first time trust and transparency rank as important to corporate reputation as the quality of products and services.  In fact, in the U.S. and in much of Western Europe, those two...[read more]