This document discusses the importance of social media monitoring for businesses. It notes that as social networking has become more important for business, the risks have also increased. It is no longer possible for businesses to ignore social media. The document outlines some of the major social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, blogs and others and highlights how they can both help and hurt brands depending on how the brands are represented and discussed. It emphasizes that brands need to monitor their online presence across various social media sites to protect their reputation and ensure their message is consistent.

1. FEBRUARY 2012 ISSUE
JANUARY 2011 ISSUE FEBRUARY 2012 BUSINESS NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2011 BUSINESS NEWSLETTER
News Online Xchange
serves to give up-to-date information on the products and services under the NMS brand, as well as
news involving the Web and Mobile industries.
PROTECTING YOUR BRAND:
SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING
As the benefits of social networking for business are becoming more clear, so, too, are the risks that go along with it.
With that said, it's no longer possible for businesses to hide their heads in the sand and hope social just goes away.
YOUR BUSINESS CAN’T IGNORE
SOCIAL NETWORKING
As the benefits of social networking for business are becoming more clear, so,
too, are the risks that go along with it. With that said, it's no longer possible for
+
businesses to hide their heads in the sand and hope social just goes away.
Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs,
social blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking. There
are also various technologies utilized like blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-
postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP,
to name a few. Social Media has been successfully exhausted as a new form of
strategic marketing considering its wide reach, especially on consumers as well
as a higher probability of repeat frequency on product/service recognition.
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The insistent use though of Social Media to drive Brand Recognition has its downfalls as improper and inconsistent management
of these sites can do the opposite effect on any company. As such, taking control and the properly handling of Social Media sites
through a highly efficient Social Media Management Service is the highly recommendable as it is a very significant factor in ensur-
ing that any brand’s integrity is constantly guarded.
Companies that have not ventured into social waters, either internally
or externally, typically name fears about security and productivity as
their main reasons for holding back. And these fears are well- Disclose Protect
Your presence in Take extra care to
founded, said Nick Arvanitis, principal security consultant at IT ser- social media must protect both Intel
vices provider Dimension Data Americas. be transparent and yourself
"While there are numerous benefits to social media, any astute CSO or
Use Common Sense
CIO will be quick to mention that there are serious risks," said Arvani- Remember that professional,
tis. "For instance, social engineering attacks, one of the oldest and straightforward and appropriate
communication is best
most difficult attacks to protect against, rely on trust and personal
information. People provide all sorts of personal information on social
media and sometimes even connect with a hacker unknowingly, granting them access to their interests,
preferences, activities, friends, etc. Social media is a goldmine for hackers. If one is able to exploit one
individual in a company, they will likely be able to infiltrate the company itself. Humans have always been
the weakest link when it comes to security, and this hasn't changed. Additionally, malware today can be
found in posts on Facebook, links on Twitter, or embedded in third-party applications."
SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING
Each website site employs its own guidelines in accepting articles, video clips, text comments and images from contributors,
unidentified visitors and even from its own staff. One site may support the uploading of any post, may it be derogatory or not;
while other sites tightly screen contributions to allow only the posts with genuine interests.
Others
Facebook has now more than 800 million As the world’s largest video-sharing site,
users worldwide, since it was created in millions visit YouTube daily. Visitors find any
2003. With its fast-rising number of kind of video uploaded into the site:
registered users, Facebook has been facing infomercial, viral, music, movie trailer,
Other Social Networking Sites
multiple problems. Fake accounts have been self-promotion, lyric, demo, editorial etc
TWIITER/MYSPACE, ETC
created to deceive the public. The site does videos. Registered members of the site may
For a comprehensive social media monitor-
not integrate pre-moderation. However, it leave comments as a reaction to the video.
ing, there are other social networking sites
relies to reactive moderation wherein users In the past years, YouTube has been known
that should also be tracked on. Included in
themselves report to Facebook if a post is to be one of the favorite destinations of
the list are MySpace, Twitter, DeviantArt,
offending someone or totally not true. trolls. Trolls post any video (like scandals) and
Orkut, CafeMon, Meetup, myYearbook and
Facebook may be an excellent site to comment to gain massive attention, at the
Bebo.
market products but also may pose a big expense of a brand or brands.
threat to brand reputation.
New Media Services e info@newmediaservices.com.au
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BLOGGING SITES
Five of the most used blogging sites are Blogger, WordPress, Tumbler, LiveJournal and
Drupal. Blogging sites allow people to discuss anything under the sun. Included in the
topics that a blogger can write about are the best and worst brands, the reasons why
to love or hate a certain movie, the smartest or the less smart people etc.
Bloggers are influential in convincing public minds. Consumers and customers read
reviews and blogs about a certain brand during decision-making times. Monitoring
about a brand is crucial in maintaining a marketable brand. Among the most influential blogs that can put a brand to fame or to
shame are Huffington Post, TMZ, BusinessInsider, Engadget, PerezHilton, Gizmodo, Mashable, TechCrunch and Gawker.
Indeed, the internet provides both success and failure to a brand. It has been a good tool in acquiring presti-
gious name as well as a notorious image. Good thing that great minds continue developing both free and paid
services and software to help brands monitor their online presence.
RISKS OF NON-MONITORING
There are obvious risks for brands which
don’t moderate the content posted onto
their own branded channels on social
networks (i.e. on a branded fan page, company
profile page, group or channel).
The most important is the safety of their users, particularly
brands which are marketing to children or teenagers. The
importance of providing a safe environment for children
goes without saying, and brands have a duty to ensure
that children are not exposed to abuse, bullying or even
illegal content posted by unscrupulous users of their
social network pages.
There is also a reputation risk. Like it or not, content
posted on a branded page will be associated with that
brand. No responsible company wants to be associated
with bullying or inappropriate content on their social
network pages.
On a practical level, users won’t come back to a site that
is rendered unusable by people posting comment spam,
or irrelevant messages.
New Media Services e info@newmediaservices.com.au
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AIR FORCE WEB POSTING RESPONSE ASSESSMENT
AIR FORCE PUBLIC AFFAIRS AGENCY - EMERGING TECHNOLOGY DIVISION
DISCOVER WEB POSTING
Has someone discovered a post about the
PRODUCED BY
Air force Public Affairs Agency
YES
organization? This product is public domain and may
Is it positive or balanced? be used freely.
NO
EVALUATE MONITOR ONLY
“TROLLS”
Is this a site dedicated to bashing and Avoid responding to specific
CONCURENCE degrading others? posts, monitor site for
A factual and well-cited response, relevant information and
which may agree or disagree with YES
NO comments.
the post, yet is not factuall errone-
ous, a rant or rage, bashing or “RAGER”
negative in nature. Is the posting a rant, rage, joke or satirical
in nature? FIX THE FACTS
You can concur with the post, let
stand or provide a positive review. Do you wish to respond with
NO factual information directly
Do you want to respond?
on the comment board?
“MISGUIDED” YES
NO Are there erroneous facts in the posting?
“LET STAND” NO
Let the post stand -- RESTORATION
no response. “UNHAPPY CUSTOMER” Do you wish to rectify the
Is the posting a result of a negative YES situation and act upon a
experience? reasonable solution?
NO
RESPOND
SHARE SUCCESS FINAL EVALUATION
Do you wish to proactively share Write response for current circumstances
your story and your mission? only. Will you respond?
YES
BEFORE YOU RESPOND...
BE CLEAR IDENTIFY YOURSELF DON’T RUSH BE CONSISTENT
Be honest about the issue. Make sure the user knows Take the time to make sure Apply the user content rules
Use plain English. Write in who is responding your response is a good one. in every case, even if you
short, active sentences. Test your reply on a disagree with what the user
colleague. says.
New Media Services e info@newmediaservices.com.au
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5. FEBRUARY 2012 ISSUE
JANUARY 2011 ISSUE FEBRUARY 2012 BUSINESS NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2011 BUSINESS NEWSLETTER
ALL ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING TOOLS
WHO IS BUYING SMM TOOLS?
10% of respondents 42.9%
said that they were a 10% “Social Media WHAT FACTORS AFFECT THE
“Marketing Executive”. Manager”
10.7% SELECTION OF A SMM TOOL?
10.7% 42.9% Survey participants were asked to rate different factors according to
“Small Business 19.3%
17.1% how important that particular factor affected their selection of a SMM
Manager” “Agency
Professional” Tool. On a scale of 1 to 4. With 4 being the most important factor. The
19.3%
17.1% data for each “factor” is represented as an average rating.
“Consultant”
2.47 2.33 2.29 2.13 1.82 1.42 1.39
3
HOW MUCH DO PEOPLE PAY FOR SMM TOOLS?
2
4.4% 2.2% Say that they spend $10,000/month or
between $5,000 and $10,000/month more on SMM Tools
1
What metrics Integration with Ability to Ability to
between $500 and
19% it offers different social schedule schedule
$5,000/month networks updates updates
Interface Price Firehose Access
54.7% $100/month or less
between $100 and
$500/month 19.7%
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