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As we are coming off the vacation period (here in Europe anyway), I thought it would be fun to catch up with some social media statistics. So take a look at “The World of Social Media in 2011 – All The Statistics, Facts and Figures” with social media stats updated for 2011, a fun video put together by the folks at Omobono.

There is now 152 million blogs and 77% of UK consumers would use information from blogs to influence their purchasing decision.

Time to re-think your stance on social media? Give us a call.

Recently, we have been engaged in developing social recruitment strategies for clients based in different industries. What has been interesting is looking at the different tag clouds and how they portray a particular industry.

What is a tag cloud; Wikipedia describes it as a visual depiction of user-generated tags, or simply the (key) word content of a site, typically used to describe the content of web sites.

How do you use a tag cloud to help your social recruitment strategy? Begin by analyzing it.

A quick way to review how an industry is perceived (or blogged) about is to look at it’s collective tag cloud (and if not available, review a number of blogs looking at the list of categories). Patterns start to emerge such as positive/negative or neutral sentiment, key companies, common words and themes, as well as the overall (current) image of that industry i.e traditional or future, etc.  This information can be very useful for human resources to tailor their organization’s social recruitment strategy and overall approach/campaigns to attract prospective candidates.

Below is the the tag cloud for the Swedish industry, what do you see?

Swedish Industry Tag Cloud 2011 (source Västsvenska Industri och Handelskammaren)

If you would like to know more about social recruitment or how tag clouds effects your business, contact Awoque.

The ongoing struggle
Many companies have an ongoing struggle with communication. In larger companies, the gap between the CEO and the subordinated employees might be so big that it creates second-, third-, fourth- and fifthhand information. Which in turn can result in the company miscommunicating and not achieving set goals. In smaller companies, the problem might lie in too little dialogue between the employees, due to the closeness of the company and focused roles.

Get social
Much of what companies do today involve some kind of information technology. More and more of today’s technologies provide secure social media platforms that allow you and your company to create a better way of communicating and opening up new dialogues. For smaller companies this could mean, bringing in aspects from other companies using the same social platforms. For larger companies, social media can be a new platform to increase more direct communication within your company, allowing the most subordinated employee to communicate directly with the CEO, increasing the understanding and decreasing the hierarchical gap within the company.

If you want to know more about why you should and how you can effect the communication within your company to make it more effective and productive?
Contact us at Awoque!

I recently put a post on LinkedIn, “Too many organisations are starting with “How to” in social media, when they should begin by answering their “Why”? It seems that social media is in-undated with people, agencies and conferences telling organisations HOW TO: use social media, develop a strategy, engage with customers, create a Facebook page, start a blog, etc.

I obtained the following from Mashable (a top source for social media), when doing a general social media query:

– HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy
– The 10 Stages of Social Media Business Integration
– 18 Online Productivity Tools for Your Business
– HOW TO: Choose a News Reader for Keeping Tabs on Your Industry
– HOW TO: Use a Start Page to Stay Organized
– 5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest
– HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI
– HOW TO: Use Social Media to Connect with Other Entrepreneurs

As Simon Sinek advocates, “All organizations and careers function on 3 levels. What you do, How you do it and Why you do it. The problem is, most don’t even know that Why exists.” The same is true for social networking. Instead of asking “How to”, organisations should begin by asking themselves, “Why?”. Why social networking? Why do we want to engage with people? Why would fans want to engage with us? etc. This process helps organisations to understand and clarify their social networking purpose. For most companies there will be clear reasons, for others it may take more work. But companies that begin their social media activities with “Why”, will be better set to develop an appropriate social media strategy suited to their specific requirements, objectives and goals.

Has your company asked itself “Why”?

Time to sum up another “High Five-week” at Awoque. Each day, we learn new things and evolve with them. That is what an entrepreneurial company does. We try though, to stay focused on great people, gathering positive energy, to deliver fantastic results . Then we shorten the link between our client’s and their fans through appropriate communication channels, social media tools and technical devices. But sometimes, just sometimes, funny things happen.

If you use a smartphone, you will know what I mean, especially if you have auto correct on. Sometimes the function helps a lot but sometimes (or even most times) it creates fuzz and misunderstandings. I have been frustrated many times since I recieived my Iphone on this point. However, I finally got the hang of it – simply tripple check everything you write

Here are some stories that show my point, enjoy and happy weekend ; )!

I met with Katja Avenstam, Director of Sustainable Business Development at Chalmers for a Swedish “fika” last Thursday morning. We had many common issues to discuss. I wanted to find out more about the organisation she is a board member of, CSR West Sweden, and her reasons for being involved. “As a member of CSR West Sweden you increase your competitiveness,  the value of you employees and your brand. In our network, you can do business that improves your person, company and your community.” She also told she has four criteria that always must be met when getting involved:

1. “Personally, I want to learn something”
2. “I want to be a part of something bigger and be able to contribute”
3. “I want to be involved with projects that opens doors for the future”
4. “The projects must have sufficient finacing”

It is my priviledge to have her in my network and follow her work progress. She is a great role model. I proudly announce – one more member enrolled. How about you?

Lighting candles and making lunch for your clients is inspirational and we do this sort of stuff all the time. We do these things to evoke our fans (clients) passion. Why? Because we believe that passion is the underlying foundation for a great Social Media strategy.

Connecting with your passion and what drives your company (and yourself) to do what you do makes it much easier to communicate and engage with others. It also makes it real and genuine. It attracts others to your work, hobby, cause, etc. It’s what drives people to be creative and produce fantastic products and services.

When you want to find the fuel to drive your corporate social media strategy, ask what your company is passionate about. “*When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.” (anonymous)

Below is a list of 8 (out of 10) companies that use their passion for what they do to connect through social media

1. Ford

2. Coca Cola

3. Blendtec

4. Zappo’s

5. Saltå Kvarn

6. SAAB

7. Lindex

8. ?

9. ?

10?

Which other three companies would you recommend?