Last week I attended a meetup for Creative Village NYC, featuring presentations from VYou and Squidoo (more to come on VYou in a later post).
While I’m sure that you’ve all read a number of ‘top tips for social media’, I really like this list presented by Squidoo’s VP of Partnerships, Lauryn Ballesteros, on how to do social media and business well.
Although each individual step/tip involved in the below requires its own planning, research, integration and execution with the others, I think it’s a great list to keep saved and front of mind when planning and evaluating social media and communication activities.
So, without further ado, here are Lauryn’s five ways to do social media well – I hope you find them of great use.
Thanks to Lauryn and the teams at Squidoo and Creative Village NYC for the great event.
1. Be generous.
Provide value to your community on an ongoing basis – not just during a single ‘push’ or campaign.
2. You need to have a story.
Use social platforms to tell your brand’s story. This is the heart and soul of the brand, and what it represents.
3. Be strategic in your use of platforms.
Each channel has its own codes, engagement and audience. Research where your audience is, and the content they are engaging with to develop and execute your social media activities. The platforms you utilise need to have ease of access, use and reach.
4 + 5. Trust and Authenticity (Lauryn grouped these two together)
To succeed in the social space, brands needs to show themselves to be both trustworthy and authentic not only in the content they share, but the manner in which they engage and communicate with the community.
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What do you think?
Would you add any tips to the above list for doing social media well (or not so well)?
Cole Haan's Subway Stories advertisement on the New York subway
In my first week here in New York I’ve been blown away by the use of social and digital by brands and the connectivity of people in this city (it’s been a real connectucation!).
Riding the subway up, down and across town, one particular campaign captured my attention – Cole Haan’s Subway Stories.
Behind the scenes of Cole Haan’s Subway Stories campaign shoot
Why has it captured my attention (and that of New York)?
As noted in this great overview of the campaign from Luxury Daily, Cole Haan uses New York City’s iconic subway lines to spell the brand’s name (see picture attached) and showcase its products in the never-ending fashion show that is the New York subway system.
Cole Haan's facebook page
Couple these images with poetic story-telling verse and distribution across outdoor, social, mobile, online and print, and you get a brand that weaves itself into the very fabric of the city and allows consumers with an empire state of mind locally and internationally to shop according to their subway line of choice (content + communication + commerce).
It also launched a new hybrid men’s wingtip shoe and initially released it exclusively in its Soho store in downtown NYC (might have to try and get my hands on a pair). You can’t get much more New York than that!
The new Cole Haan mens shoe
What I love most about this campaign is that anyone who has taken a ride on the subway can relate to it. We all have our favourite subway encounters (some less memorable than others) and can picture or embed ourselves in one of the Cole Haan narratives.
Whether you prefer to get lost in the whimsical tales of New York commuters in Cole Haan shoes, or actively upload images of your individual style to contribute to the wider style storyboard of your neighbourhood, Cole Haan’s Subway Stories empowers the consumer to connect not only with the brand, but with the heart of the city – a maze of tracks and trains that carry more than five million people and their individual stories each and every day.
More than that, the campaign is accessible simultaneously across multiple platforms – whether you wish to purchase a pair of shoes or just escape for a few minutes.
When it has millions of people making trips daily around this city, Cole Haan’s work and ability to tie its brand to the daily space and ritual of this world below New York’s surface is invaluable.
Hat tip to Cole Haan and the team at BBH New York on their work with this campaign.
I know that each time I ride the subway I find myself thinking about Cole Haan and it’s only a matter of time before I head downtown for a visit to one of the New York stores.
What do you think?
Has this campaign captured your attention either online or around the streets and trains of New York? Do you have favourite examples of fashion brands utulising social media for storytelling?
After more than three years reading and consuming blogs across a range of interests in my life, and guest posting on other sites, I wanted to mark the start of 2012 with my own site dedicated to sharing my thoughts and hosting discussions across media and communications.
Reading and participating in blogs and social media channels has been a huge learning experience and opportunity, and has enabled me to connect with and learn from an incredible community of people both personally and professionally.
More than that, social media continues to have an immense impact on the field of professional communications – and what better way is there to grow and learn as a communicator than to practice what the industry preaches?
I’d like to thank all of those who have shared their thoughts and connected with me during my time as a blog consumer. You can find a list of the blogs I love to read regularly here on my blogroll.
For those of you I’m yet to connect with, I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you here, and to continuing the conversation and learning from your insights and opinions.
If you have any particular topics or issues you’d like to discuss, I’d love to hear from you.
Last week I attended a meetup for Creative Village NYC, featuring presentations from VYou and Squidoo (more to come on VYou in a later post).
