83% Say Social Media Not Essential to their Business!

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) released their 2013 Technology & Web Usage Report on Tuesday.

The report is 43 pages of information ranging from booking trends to websites utilized by their travel agent members.

My interest is in the Social Media results of the survey.  According to the survey, about 80% of respondents maintain a social media presence of some sort.  However, 39% of users view social media as "not useful or proven."

However, there is a growing percentage (not stated) that see social media as a useful tool.

“Agencies are finding that new technology can be used to their advantage with many using social media to connect with their clients, demonstrate personal expertise, and reach new consumers,” said ASTA CEO Zane Kerby. “Technology changes have always allowed agencies to adapt and grow and better serve the traveling public.”

The ASTA study found that a large percentage of agencies (75%) have passed the "learning" phase and feel that they have a good handle on the technical aspects of social media.

What is lagging behind, and telling, is how many respondents find social media to be useful. Only seventeen percent of those surveyed viewed social media as "essential" to their business, while twenty-two percent felt it was "nice to be there."

Why are these percentages so much different from other business models?

The social media section concludes with the statement that "Primary goals with social media are shifting from general awareness to expanding customer base and communicating with current clients."

If only 17% see a business benefit from social media, somebody has dropped the ball.

The survey was conducted with a research panel of ASTA agencies, the ASTA Research Family. The panel is comprised of a representative sample of ASTA member travel agency owners and managers. The report indicates a 95-percent confidence with an error rate +/- 5 percent.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

The article 83% Say Social Media Not Essential to their Business! first appeared on Confusingly Simple.

Facebook will Eat You ALIVE!

Everywhere you turn online, you'll find a blog posting about the "best times to post on Social Media."

Every expert out there has a formula for when to post to have "maximum impact," like social media is some sort of war game. For the social media marketing person, getting your message in front of your followers, when they are receptive to it, is a major concern. And rightly so, since screwing it up is $$$ out of their pockets.

But what about the average blogger, who just has a story to tell? Oh, and doesn't have 5,000,000 followers all over the world.

• Well, who are your followers?
• Where do they live?
• What do they do?
• When are they active online?

Pretty easy, right.  Yeah, sure.

There are lots of options out there for figuring out when to post on Twitter. Most experts recommend posting several times a 24hr day, taking into effect that your message is not limited to one geographic area. There are websites out there that will evaluate your Twitter accounts and tell you when your followers are active, who is active, and when the best times are to reach them. FollowerWonk is one of these sites.

Facebook

There isn't anything similar for Facebook, though. On Facebook, you have to dig out the pencil and paper, and figure out the best times to post on your own. Post often enough to keep people engaged, but don't post TOO often, or you'll drive people away.

LOLcats live on Facebook. Grumpy Cat reigns supreme. Recipes, family photos, and memes will scroll your news feed faster than you ever thought possible.

Take a look at your FB news feed, spinning like a slot machine wheel, and see when your target audience is active online. Mid-day for stay-at-home types, and early/late evenings for people who work all day? And this is only during the week.

Belle Beth Cooper (@bellebcooper), over at the Buffer Blog, found that the most interaction was seen in the later part of the week, and weekend.  Sorta makes sense, when you think about it. The weekend is in sight!

Weekend postings on Facebook can be a bit elusive to pin down. The data shows that there is a spike in Facebook "Sharing" on Saturdays. But that may not hold true for you.  A lot depends on weekend schedules. Sports, family events, and yard work play a roll in messing up any sort of matrix for weekend postings.  Your target audience might not be there one weekend, but will be for the next two weekends. Or not at all. And your "Shares" may come later in the night than during the week.

So...?

I use Buffer to schedule most of my postings on Social Media. But I space them apart enough so that I can post topically current stuff in between the scheduled posts, and not overwhelm the average follower.

The folks over at the Buffer Blog have put a LOT of thought into posting schedules. For more insight into Facebook postings, check out this article from July, 2013. While it is targeted toward the Facebook Page user (normally businesses), the data holds true for the average user, also.

"While the best time to post is definitely important, there are some other things to keep in mind. I had a look at what kind of updates work best for Facebook pages to increase interaction and found 7 interesting statistics that you’ll probably find useful if you’re trying to make your page more engaging."

They base their recommendations on statistics, science, and psychology. And with over a three million posts processed per week (on average), they have the statistical data to back it up.

Scheduling posts for Facebook was/is a challenge. But I spent a couple of weeks studying the posting habits of others, and set my schedule based on their usage.  I work nights, so I would set up my laptop beside me at work, and leave FB up to scroll.  After a couple of days, I had an idea of when my friends are active.  This might not work for a business page, though.

If I want something to be seen, I post it early in the evening, or right around lunchtime.  Or post the same thing at both times, but a day apart. (Wednesday noon and Thursday evening, for example.)

Make It Work, or adjust it until it does

OK, you set up scheduled post times for Facebook, but they don't seem to be hitting the mark. Um, play with them? This is not "Set in Stone" scheduling.

Feel free to play with your posting times, and let me know if your personal experience differs from what the "recommended times" are.


Photos courtesy of ePublicist(CC) & Buffer(Used with permission).

Reporting Live from the Red Tape.

Are you a user, or a reporter?

That all depends. Do you just consume social media content, or do you contribute?  And what do you contribute?

The Smart Phone has made each one of us a reporter.  Gone are the days of Jimmy Olsen running around with a camera slung around his neck and a duffle-bag of lenses, looking for the next big story.

Every user of Social Media is now a potential reporter. We influence news on a daily basis. In fact, this aspect of the social media game has been embraced by the average user, as well as media outlets around the world.

How not to write a blog post

Generate original content!

It'll be easy!

Everybody does it!

Blah, blah, blah.  Everywhere you go online, there is a self-styled Social Media Guru telling you how to write the perfect blog posting, or twitter post, or (fill in the blank) link.

Great, I can do this!  When I'm not at the computer, I feel like Harvey Korman's character in Blazing Saddles.

Clarity and Continuity

I have been reading a lot about Social Media lately.  Most of it is directed toward making your business presence on SM more noticeable.

One particular blog posting has focused my attention on my Social Media presence.  Courtney Seiter (@CourtneySeiter), a Content Creator with Buffer, wrote about creating a professional bio for your four major Social Media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook & Google+). She packs a lot of excellent info into her article.

Some of the tips do not translate well to the casual user's personal profile pages, unfortunately.  However, the one thing that most social media sites have in common is the usage of profile pictures, or header/background pictures.

One Trick Pony?

For quite a while now I have advocated for Ham Radio operators to cross train and learn how to “do” Social Media.

I became interested in the American Red Cross as a ham radio operator. I saw the potential to use my skill-set to help as a disaster communicator. I joined as a volunteer in 1995.

The local chapters used Hams to provide communications in shelter work, and local emergencies, but that was about it.

When I went on my first National disaster assignment, I found that the emphasis for Disaster Communications was telephone installation and fax machine setup. Oh, and tracking cell phones that were issued. Radio communications were used at Mass Care kitchens, for Mobile Feeding coordination and communication, but that was about it.

There were computers for each function, but a network of any sort?  Voodoo magic for sure.  

As I moved up through the experience levels in the Disaster Communications function, and as the 90s passed by, we started to hear talk about “Enterprise solutions”, and combining the DisComm function with the Disaster Computer function. Keep in mind, that the majority of volunteers who deployed on national disaster assignments were retirees. Remember the adage about old dogs and new tricks?  Anything more difficult than a pager was out-of-bounds.

When I left the Red Cross in 2001, we had technology coming out of our ears. ECRVs, Push Kits, Satellite networking, etc.

Gone were the days of only needing linemans plyers, a punchdown tool, some RJ-11 jacks and a box of Twisted 4-pair wire. (I can still recite the 25-pair color codes.)

To remain in the function, you needed to adapt and learn new skills.

The ham radio operator who is interested in remaining useful in Disaster Communications needs to learn and adapt as well.  Don’t throw away the radio, but realize that it’s not the only method anymore.

Also, Hams need to know how to interact with others in disaster operations.

Recently I ran across a posting over at Rakesh Densaer’s blog, The Digital Responder, that discusses this issue, but from a different angle.

Densaer advocates for the creation of a Disaster Technologist:

This calls for a new kind of technology responder, one whose core competency is adapting a range of technologies to the emergency environment.  This is the area of the disaster technologist.

A disaster technologist should have the following skillsets…

1.  Understanding of the emergency environment (e.g. FEMA NIMS/ICS courses, or others depending on response).  This is a fundamental building block since a lack of this understanding means the technologist is operating out of context.

2.  Expertise in multiple technology domains – equally comfortable using multiple methods and multiple modes for communicating.  Why multiple domains?  Because if all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.  What you need are people who have a toolbox full of tools.

3.  Expert collaboration and problem solving skills.   Disaster communications often involves improvising solutions in the field…it will be essential that these individuals are comfortable in the “Iron chef” mode where “making it work” may involve a lot of different sorts of technology and duct tape.  It helps if people play well with others…

But with the aging demographic of Ham Radio licensees, are we again looking at the “Old Dog, New Trick” problem?

It we want to remain relevant to our served agencies/organizations, we owe it to them to learn their procedures and expectations.

True, we have a unique ability to communicate over both long and short distances, but is that enough anymore?  If we stubbornly remain a square peg on a board with round holes, eventually they will find other pegs to plug into their planning holes. Pegs that are adaptable and easier to use.

Hams should put away their hammer of “When All Else Fails” and work on add more tools to the toolbox. How about being relevant before everything fails? How about being KNOWN to your clients beforehand?

Otherwise, we will be the One Trick Pony. The ones they only call for parades.

Get inside your agencies and learn their needs.  Learn how to fill those needs.

Or be relegated to the supply box, next to the Biscuits, POTS and RJ jacks.

Conflict Resolution, or Ham Radio vs Social Media

I am reposting blog entries to my new blog account from the old one.

During a recent Twitter exchange with a Emergency Manager in Oklahoma, who is also an active Ham and a major proponent of SMEM, I asked him if he was worried about a backlash from the ham community regarding the ongoing integration of Social Media into Emergency Management and Response.

He answered “No”, and asked me why I might think that way.  Here was my response: 

"Hams have had the corner on damage assessment for a long time, with ATV and such. Now the "kids" come along with their Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, etc, and can send back high def images of the area in 1/10th the time that Hams can. You ask why hams would have a conflict? Why does a small town have 2-3 separate radio clubs? Why are online ham forums filled with "spirited debate?" Pettiness, pride, no longer being the "only one who can help," etc.

"The ARRL promotes "When All Else Fails," but a lot of hams out there think that they should be the ONLY "else."

"Now, once the cell grid overloads, or goes down, then 2-way radio comes into it’s own, but until that point, there will always be the potential for friction.

"The trick is for the ham to master social media so that they can indeed "do it all" in the field, and leave the ego/pride/attitudes at home."

For this blog post, I have elaborated on what I mean with the following information.

Ham Radio has always been on the cutting edge of technology. But now, with cellular 4G speeds and wi-fi hotspots, we run the risk of being relegated to “second string” in emergency response circles.

Your average smart phone owner can snap a high definition picture of a scene, or damaged house, upload it to a number of different photo sharing sites online, post it to Facebook and have it show up on the EOC’s Facebook page before you could pick up your radio, give your call sign and your current location.  In addition, most of the pictures are GPS tagged with the location of the photo, so they automatically show where on the map the damage is located.

How do we stay current and relevant?  When disaster comes calling, and he takes out the cell phone systems, and the grid goes down, Amateur Radio will always be there.

But what about in the minutes/hours/days before everything “goes south,” if it ever does? How many disasters are there that occur, where the communications systems stay in place and our “last resort communications” are not needed?

Become Social Media Savvy! Learn how to use your smart phone. You don’t have one? Turn in your brick phone and join the 21st Century.

If you are part of an ARES group, or a RACES group, or SkyWarn, or whatever, learn if your served agencies are using Social Media, and interact with them! For example, some NWS locations are now taking storm spotter reports via Twitter! The American Red Cross has a major Social Media presence.

When you’re the only contact they have with a site, because of your radio gear, you are a default “Trusted Resource”. They have to believe, and act on, what you relay to them from the field.  You need to become that Trusted Resource on social media, too.

They should have the confidence to look at what you send in and think, “Oh, that’s (your name). He/She always sends us reliable information.” Or if not you, personally, then your radio group.

Too many times I have heard hams say “I only do radio.” Why not be the guy who also does YouTube video from the scene? Or, if you have good signal strength, maybe Skype Video, or one of the Instant Message video services?  Just like Fast Scan (Amateur) TV allows front-line hams to send back video to the EOC, cellular technology allows you to do the same, but with higher resolution and faster transfer speeds.

“In these really big disasters, the initial response is generally not government. It’s individuals helping each other, trying to find out what’s going on. … we kind of have this barrier, because the public isn’t official. It’s not an official source of information… But we’ve seen now in the U.S., from wildfires in California and Boulder to the recent ice storm and snowstorms…the public is putting out better situation awareness than many of our own agencies can with our official datasets.”

Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator

More and more, Emergency Managers are using social media not only to deliver prevention and mitigation messages, but also use these platforms to engage the public in a dialogue and encourage feedback on efforts to keep the public safe and secure.

By becoming active in Social Media, you are just adding to your disaster response skill set.

When all else fails, Amateur Radio will stand in the breach. But, don’t you want to do your part in advance of that? Make yourself as relevant in the small situations as you are in the big ones.

Social Media in Emergency Management

Some key reasons on why Emergency Management needs to participate in Social Media, and take it seriously.

If the primary mission of government emergency management is providing service, achieving outcomes, and stimulating participation in emergency management efforts, then some of the key benefits that social media may provide towards this mission are:

• Saving lives through rapid communication.  

• Communicating (more) effectively and directly with constituents.


• Reaching a larger group of constituents.


• Building situation awareness.


• Responding to new, incorrect or conflicting information.


• Building community resilience through prevention, mitigation, and preparedness efforts by the promotion of government participation and building mutual trust in the community.


• Fostering transparency and accountability.


• Reducing call volume (wired and cell) to call centers (non-emergency and emergency).

Social Media in Emergency Management

Social Media & Emergency Management

I came across a blog article related to trying to get local government emergency management types to integrate Social Media into their public interaction strategies. 

This article, along with others on the same subject, started me thinking about how one would present the pro-Social Media argument to local agencies and groups.

I’m one of those people who mentally pictures completed concepts, and then has to go back and try to figure out which steps to take to make it happen.  It’s great fun…not.

The one thing that keeps coming up in my mind, over and over, is the need to pick your props carefully!

If you ask 10 people what Twitter is all about, you’re likely to get 15 different descriptions. Facebook? The same.  FourSquare? Well, “that’s only for the egotistical who want people to know what they are doing every single minute of the day”, etc.

There are so many Social Media platforms available anymore, that it’s scary for a techno-neophyte to even contemplate sticking their big toe into the data stream.

You can counter this fear with some well prepared props, to use in your discussions with them.  Screen captures of Twitter posts that directly relate to what you want to accomplish, are a good start.  Learn how to create lists based on Hash Tags, so that you can show only the tweets that you want.  Nobody is going to buy into Social Media when all they see is a random timeline of “I LUV #JustinBieber” tweets, and similar.

Also, do some research on other agencies who utilize Social Media. For every agency who is not on Social Media, there are 3 more, in the same line of work, who are…and doing it well.

So, read up, bone up, prepare well and then head off to that meeting with the local Emergency Manager, Police Chief, Fire Chief, etc.  The worst that can happen is they “take it under advisement.”  ”No, thank you,” isn’t really an option anymore, in this day and age.