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  1. Twitter TV: The Future of Interactive Entertainment Posted in Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg November 30, 2010 2 comments

    Ellen McGrit recently wrote such an interesting post on Fast Company titled ‘I Want My Twitter TV!’ It’s all about “why everyone — CNN, MTV, Conan, and even Google — is tweeting about the future of interactive entertainment.”

    Here’s a quick snippet from Ellen’s post: Read Further

  2. Your Twitter Community – Be Nice, Think Twice: Twitter Etiquette 101 Posted in Community Management, Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Lauren Potgieter November 29, 2010

    All of us are impressed with good etiquette. Whether we are called by our surname when signing something at the bank or we are thanked for letting someone in whilst driving – we know that being polite pleases others, especially when you’re representing a brand or even yourself as a brand online. On Twitter specifically, it is imperative to be polite to your community, because even though etiquette is seen as somewhat old fashioned, it will encourage your current community to keep coming back for more. Read Further

  3. 5 Twitter No-No’s: Tips from the ANCYL saga Posted in Online Reputation Management, Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by LouisJvR November 26, 2010 3 comments
    A few weeks back, the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) expressed concern about fake Julius Malema accounts on Twitter tweeting misleading messages. The ANCYL’s militant tone of voice in conveying this concern however made for some nice headline-grabbing soundbites. Soundbites that lead to a barrage of responses from journalists, commentators and the Twitter community alike.
    But, taking a step back for a second and cutting through the ANCYL’s talent for their creative choice of words, their concern is valid. And one that many a person or organisation has flagged before. This the very same reason why Twitter introduced Account Verification in 2009: a lawsuit was filed against Twitter by the manager of a well-know baseball team in the US back then (details of the case can be found here).
    In fact there are a number of cases where Twitter was asked (read: threatened) to shut down fake Twitter accounts:
    · Kanye West posted a rant on his blog saying: “Hey Twitter, take the so called Kanye West Twitter down now.”
    · Ewan McGregor was considering legal action to remove a fake Twitter account that had attracted 20,000 followers
    · Actor/musician Vincent Gallo ordered Twitter to find and shut down fake accounts
    · BP asked Twitter to enforce a disclaimer on fake BP Twitter account @BPGlobalPR
    The list goes on.
    However, as the ANCYL has learned (or not), there are correct ways of dealing with impersonators and then there are the No-No’s that can potentially even exacerbate the problem.
    Here are 5 Twitter No-No’s when faced with a fake Twitter account:
    TIP #1: Be confrontational, aggressive, threatening in trying to resolve the problem
    TIP #2: Stand on a soapbox and rant to the whole world
    TIP #3: Failure to acknowledge your ignorance of the nature of the technology and community
    TIP #4: Stereotype and paint all Twitter users with the same brush
    TIP #5: Failure to setup your own Twitter profile (even if it is only a placeholder profile)
    To the last point, by saying that you should create your own official profile, I’m not saying you should now start using Twitter. Take Tiger Woods for example: he (or more likely, his communications team) setup a Tiger Woods Twitter profile back in mid-2009 which, barring 3 tweets promoting his website, stayed dormant for a year and a half. And until recently served its purpose as a placeholder for Tiger on Twitter. Nothing more, nothing less.
    Bottomline, if fake accounts are your concern it would be worth your while to at the very least have your own profile to inform the general public of, as well as point Twitter to when flagging your concerns with the company. It just makes for good practical sense.

    A few weeks back, the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) expressed concern about fake Julius Malema accounts on Twitter tweeting misleading messages. The ANCYL’s militant tone of voice in conveying this concern however made for some nice headline-grabbing soundbites. Soundbites that lead to a barrage of responses from journalists, commentators and the Twitter community alike. Read Further

  4. Twitter: Getting your first follower Posted in Digital Marketing Basics, Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Jason Bagley November 25, 2010 7 comments

    So you have finally joined the world of Twitter and have been tweeting for a few days, but it feels like an echo chamber. Nobody is listening. Here are a few tips to building that niche community of followers – the holy grail of Twitter! Read Further

  5. 5 reasons to Integrate Twitter into your website Posted in Social Media, Twitter, Website Usability, Concocted by Sachin Ranchod November 24, 2010 9 comments
    5 reasons to Integrate Twitter into your website
    As a standalone entity, Twitter is a powerful tool which allows companies to listen to what people are saying about them and actively engage with their community.  However, the advantages of using Twitter shouldn’t stop when you leave the Twitter website. By breaking out of the isolation of the Twitter website and extending your Twitter presence to an existing website or blog, you can begin to see some of the lesser acknowledged advantages of an active social media profile.The real benefits of integrating Twitter onto your website don’t come from just having a link to your Twitter profile on your website.  The link does show people that you do have a social media presence but unless they click on a link, it doesn’t show them what you are really about.  Below are some of the reasons you should make your latest tweets visible on your website:1)  It shows that you are realSeeing an active Twitter stream will help give visitors to your website the comfort that there are real people behind your website.  Proving your legitimacy is often a make-or-break problem for online businesses.  If a visitor is not 100% sure that they can pick up the phone and talk to a real person, then it is unlikely that they will convert from a visitor to a customer.There are many ways in which you can try communicate to the user that there are real people behind a website – you can make the phone numbers clearly visible on the home page, you can use live chat features and you can write an extensive ‘Meet the team’ section.  A live Twitter stream with real conversations between real people, is just another tool to help you immediately signal to the visitor that the website and company are real.2)  It will help keep your website updatedIt is often very difficult for businesses to keep their website constantly updated with new content.  Nowadays, a lot of websites incorporate blog functionality to allow companies to make sure that there is always something new on the home page.  However, writing blog posts and news articles can be time consuming and tedious.  Keeping new content flowing on a website is important as it shows a visitor to your site that you are still active and more importantly, that you are up-to-date with the latest industry news.Twitter updates provide you with the ability to quickly and easily publish content to your website on a regular basis.  However, it is important to note that tweets are not a substitute for blogging – 140 characters is not enough space to adequately discuss a topic and provide in-depth analysis (proving your expertise).3)  You’ll get good quality followersShowing your latest tweets on your website makes it easy for visitors to evaluate the quality of your tweets and decide whether they would like to follow you or not. It is often the case that the people who follow you via your website will be your most engaging followers because they have an interest in your business or industry.  These followers are therefore more likely to read your tweets, engage with you and syndicate your content for you.  Followers who are interested in what you have to say will prove to be much more useful to you and your community than those who follow you because of things like ‘follow our CEO to win’ competitions.4)  People can see that you are knowledgeableIf you tweet about your opinions on the latest industry happening or you tweet back to your followers with advice relating to your business then visitors to your website will begin to see that you are knowledgeable about topics surrounding your business and industry.5)  Visitors will see that you engage with your communityFinally, people visiting your website will see that you have a community or that you are trying to build a community around your brand.  They will be able to see that you take care of them by answering their questions, listening to their complaints and thanking them for their compliments.  Companies often assume that their Twitter profile is only there to accommodate people who are already on Twitter but the truth is that the tweets on your website can bring new users to Twitter itself.  As the Twitter network grows, your community will grow with it.A professional Twitter profile can be used as a powerful tool when it is integrated into your website – your tweets accentuate the existing content on your website and it will show visitors that you are knowledgeable, community-focused and real.
    As a standalone entity, Twitter is a powerful tool which allows companies to listen to what people are saying about them and actively engage with their community.  However, the advantages of using Twitter shouldn’t stop when you leave the Twitter website. By breaking out of the isolation of the Twitter website and extending your Twitter presence to an existing website or blog, you can begin to see some of the lesser acknowledged advantages of an active social media profile.
    The real benefits of integrating Twitter onto your website don’t come from just having a link to your Twitter profile on your website.  The link does show people that you do have a social media presence but unless they click on a link, it doesn’t show them what you are really about.  Below are some of the reasons you should make your latest tweets visible on your website:
    1)  It shows that you are real
    Seeing an active Twitter stream will help give visitors to your website the comfort that there are real people behind your website.  Proving your legitimacy is often a make-or-break problem for online businesses.  If a visitor is not 100% sure that they can pick up the phone and talk to a real person, then it is unlikely that they will convert from a visitor to a customer.
    There are many ways in which you can try communicate to the user that there are real people behind a website – you can make the phone numbers clearly visible on the home page, you can use live chat features and you can write an extensive ‘Meet the team’ section.  A live Twitter stream with real conversations between real people, is just another tool to help you immediately signal to the visitor that the website and company are real.
    2)  It will help keep your website updated
    It is often very difficult for businesses to keep their website constantly updated with new content.  Nowadays, a lot of websites incorporate blog functionality to allow companies to make sure that there is always something new on the home page.  However, writing blog posts and news articles can be time consuming and tedious.  Keeping new content flowing on a website is important as it shows a visitor to your site that you are still active and more importantly, that you are up-to-date with the latest industry news.
    Twitter updates provide you with the ability to quickly and easily publish content to your website on a regular basis.  However, it is important to note that tweets are not a substitute for blogging – 140 characters is not enough space to adequately discuss a topic and provide in-depth analysis (proving your expertise).
    3)  You’ll get good quality followers
    Showing your latest tweets on your website makes it easy for visitors to evaluate the quality of your tweets and decide whether they would like to follow you or not. It is often the case that the people who follow you via your website will be your most engaging followers because they have an interest in your business or industry.  These followers are therefore more likely to read your tweets, engage with you and syndicate your content for you.  Followers who are interested in what you have to say will prove to be much more useful to you and your community than those who follow you because of things like ‘follow our CEO to win’ competitions.
    4)  People can see that you are knowledgeable
    If you tweet about your opinions on the latest industry happening or you tweet back to your followers with advice relating to your business then visitors to your website will begin to see that you are knowledgeable about topics surrounding your business and industry.
    5)  Visitors will see that you engage with your community
    Finally, people visiting your website will see that you have a community or that you are trying to build a community around your brand.  They will be able to see that you take care of them by answering their questions, listening to their complaints and thanking them for their compliments.  Companies often assume that their Twitter profile is only there to accommodate people who are already on Twitter but the truth is that the tweets on your website can bring new users to Twitter itself.  As the Twitter network grows, your community will grow with it.
    A professional Twitter profile can be used as a powerful tool when it is integrated into your website – your tweets accentuate the existing content on your website and it will show visitors that you are knowledgeable, community-focused and real.

    As a standalone entity, Twitter is a powerful tool which allows companies to listen to what people are saying about them and actively engage with their community.  However, the advantages of using Twitter shouldn’t stop when you leave the Twitter website. By breaking out of the isolation of the Twitter website and extending your Twitter presence to an existing website or blog, you can begin to see some of the lesser acknowledged advantages of an active social media profile. Read Further

  6. Heavy Chef November: Engagement in the Online Environment Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg November 19, 2010 4 comments

    At last night’s Heavy Chef session, we were intrigued and fascinated by speakers Walter Pike and Tiffany Markman. Tiffany and Walter talked about engaging and interacting in an online environment. They looked at how companies can reach out to their customers and using the ‘new tools’ (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) to actively build a community around a brand. Great talk guys, it sure was enlightening! Read Further

  7. What’s Trending on Twitter? Posted in Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg November 18, 2010 5 comments

    Today’s trending topics on Twitter would include #PrinceWilliam, #KateMiddleton and many more hot topics that people are talking about around the world. What’s trending on Twitter would change every day and perhaps a few times a day. In other words, trending topics on Twitter are subjects people are talking about. The more popular a subject, the more likely it will be trending. Read Further

  8. How to get your campaign trending on Twitter? Posted in Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Ettienne Mostert November 17, 2010

    Trends on Twitter is a quick snapshot of the most tweeted about topics. From sporting events to movie releases to political events trending topics collect what is newsworthy at that present moment. Trends for those of you who may be new to Twitter are created when user’s add hash tags to words relating to a topic. For example, the Formula One championship was decided in a final race on Sunday. Topics such as #Vettel, #Alonso, #F1 started trending because of the global popularity of the sport. Read Further

  9. The Real Value of Twitter Posted in Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Fred Roed November 16, 2010

    Something I do regularly nowadays is explain to friends, family, clients and team mates “the real value of Twitter”. My purpose in this post is really to crystallize my presentation in a succinct manner.

    Disclaimer: this article assumes you follow people you respect, aspire to, trust or find entertaining in some way. Thus, some of the people that follow YOU, are people that you respect, aspire to, trust or find entertaining in some way. Read Further

  10. How to create a trustworthy Twitter profile: What do the experts say? Posted in Community Management, Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Lauren Potgieter November 12, 2010 5 comments

    There are numerous articles surrounding Twitter and how beneficial or useless it might be to individuals, businesses and brands. The Twitter versus Facebook fiery debate will never end – but the truth is that they cannot be compared because they are so incredibly different.

    Read Further

  11. Heavy Chef November: Engagement and Interaction in the Online Environment Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Fred Roed November 11, 2010 3 comments
    As CEO of a digital agency, I get involved in a lot of discussions these days about “engaging with the audience”. For this month’s Heavy Chef Session, we’re investigating what the heck it actually means.
    After the sheer, ludicrous excitement of last month’s Heavy Chef Session in the Mother City (watch the video featuring the speakers, Seth Rotherham and Rich Mulholland here), we’re back in Jozi for another bumper event.
    This month, we’ve invited digital marketing maven Walter Pike, and digital copy maven, Tiffany Markman, to get to the bottom of engagement and interaction in the online environment .
    We will be exploring how companies can reach out to their customers and using the ‘new tools’ (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) to actively build a community around a brand.
    Walter will also be focusing on the unfolding case study within Cell C’s strategy around its Trevor Noah YouTube debacle.

    As CEO of a digital agency, I get involved in a lot of discussions these days about “engaging with the audience”. For this month’s Heavy Chef Session, we’re investigating what the heck it actually means. Read Further

  12. ORM And Building Your Community Online – It’s All About Hanging With The Cool Kids Posted in Community Management, Online Reputation Management, Concocted by Lauren Potgieter November 8, 2010 2 comments
    Recently, our Heavy Chef girl Yolandi, wrote an article on the fiery Gossip Girl series and how to create and maintain a community in an environment that is cut-throat and competitive. This made me think about my days back in high school and how reputation was a key ingredient to teenage politics. Just as every girl or guy had their own reputation to manage in high school in order to have more friends, so do brands have their online reputation to manage in order to have more followers/likes/interest. One of the ways in which you can build your community and more importantly, maintain the trust of your community is by using online reputation management and keeping an intently close eye on what others are saying about your brand. Let’s take a trip back to our high school days and see what the popular kid had to do in order to be so adored.
    The popular kid isn’t always the bad seed.
    Do you remember that one guy or girl that represented the epiphany of rebellion in your high school years? Sure, he or she was great for a few weeks, but when they got into trouble, there was no one around to help. It is true that brands get more attention when they are being criticised, but the term “all publicity is good publicity” is not necessarily true when it comes to online reputation management.
    The popular kid always knows what is going on in his or her school
    Bad or good news, the queen or king of the school knows exactly what is going on in their territory. In order understand and follow your ORM, you must be omnipresent and make sure you have tabs on everything that everyone is saying about you. There are various ORM tools that will make this job easier and when you know what others are saying about you, you are able to take in this praise or criticism and transform it into something that can work for you, just like the popular kid in school makes sure that all news concerning them is turned into good news.
    The popular kid encourages “gossip”
    In terms of high school politics, gossip has many negative connotations, but in terms of building your community online, gossip can merely be conversation. Just like the kids in the school yard listened to a piece of information intently and passed it on to others, so does an ORM strategy let you listen to what others are saying and pass that information on. An online community is built by sharing of information and engagement – just like the popular girl or guy grows their followers by providing them with juicy tales and encouraging them to pass on the message.
    The theme that revolves around building a community and maintaining an online reputation boils down to terms such as relentless engagement and fierce interaction. Strive to be the popular kid – maintain your reputation, keep people talking and keep your followers happy.

    Recently, our Heavy Chef girl Yolandi, wrote an article on the fiery Gossip Girl series and how to create and maintain a community in an environment that is cut-throat and competitive. This made me think about my days back in high school and how reputation was a key ingredient to teenage politics. Read Further

  13. The secret to building a sustainable Online Community Posted in Community Management, Concocted by Fred Roed November 5, 2010 9 comments
    The secret to building a sustainable online community
    There are so many online community campaigns popping up across the globe right now. It’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Facebook pages, Twitter promotions, everyone seems to be doing it.
    Take a closer look though and you’ll be able to spot the ones that will work over time. The secret? Sustainable online community campaigns have a cause.
    At World Wide Creative we’re working on a wide variety of campaigns right now – from Virgin Mobile to Honda, Exclusive Books to The Just Cause. The first thing we try to do with each client is to figure out what is the ‘emotional driver’ of the target audience. Without knowing this, it’s very hard to create a sustainable community campaign. The fact is, you can create as many tactical maneuvers as you can muster, but they will fizzle out unless you can tap into the real heart of your customer.
    The cause is not always obvious. This is what I mean:
    ·If you’re marketing cars, your cause is not mechanical (it’s the feeling that car evokes)
    ·If you’re marketing alcohol, your cause is not the booze (it’s the lifestyle that the booze conjures up)
    ·If you’re marketing phones, your cause is not technical (it’s the freedom of communication that you’re given)
    ·If you’re marketing cologne or perfume, your cause is not smell (it’s the confidence or empowerment that the cologne induces.)
    As a brand, if you can tap into your cause effectively, you may achieve the ‘Holy Grail’ of community management… where your audience doesn’t just interact with you, but with each other.

    There are so many online community campaigns popping up across the globe right now. It’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Facebook pages, Twitter promotions, everyone seems to be doing it. Read Further

  14. Heavy Chef October: Is Blogging Dead? Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg November 4, 2010 3 comments

    Last week, at our October Heavy Chef Session, we had the pleasure of being entertained and educated by presentations master, Rich Mulholland and super-blogger, Seth Rotherham. We posed the question ‘Is Blogging Dead?’ by which Rich and Seth broke it down for us and illustrated very creatively how blogging is not dead; won’t die anytime soon; and who’s asking this question in any way! Read Further

  15. Is Blogging Dead? Posted in Community Management, Social Media, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk November 4, 2010 3 comments

    The dynamic duo, Seth Rotherham and Rich Mulholland (not sure which one is Robin?) asked the question “Is blogging dead” to a packed crowd at Deloittes in Cape Town. Check out the Heavy Chef Video. Read Further