If you’re not yet into social media, you’re not a part of 1/3 of the world’s adult population.  According to the Nielsen Company, the global average time spent per person on social networking sites is now nearly five and half hours per month (February 2010 data), with Facebook accounting for the majority of that time.  With all of the recent changes and innovations in social media (particularly with Facebook), that number has surely increased.  Some 1 billion people are accessing social media nowadays and it is no surprise that businesses are quickly following suit. The Forum of Private Businesses reports that 69% of SMBs (small-to-mid-sized businesses) currently access social media sites, again, with the majority of the usage coming from Facebook. Among businesses and consumers alike, social media use is becoming more ubiquitous by the day – however, there are stark differences between personal and company use.

The Intent

Social networking in business was founded on a completely different premise than personal social networking.  Businesses identified sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn as platforms for marketing and consumer engagement. Soumitra Dutta of the Harvard Business Review clarifies the reasons so many businesses have joined the social media bandwagon, saying social media sites “provide a low cost platform on which to build your brand, allow you to engage rapidly and simultaneously with peers and customers, and they give you an opportunity to learn from instant information and unvarnished feedback.”  Businesses access social media to share information, but generally only when it pertains to their company or industry. It is not so much about sharing opinions or thoughts as it is about engaging consumers and maintaining customer relationships.

Recommended: Attend our Free SugarCRM Series and learn more about Social CRM

Personal social networking began with something entirely different in mind.  It began as a way to keep people connected and to facilitate an easy communicative environment for information sharing.  Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook said in 2010, that his initial intent for creating Facebook was to create a “visual directory in which people with common interests could stay in touch.”  Today, it has morphed into not only a communication tool, but literally a way to rate the world.  With Facebook, if you come across something that you’re interested in on the web, you can ‘Like’ it or share it with a touch of a button. On Twitter if you like what you see, you can retweet it.  Every time you like, share, or retweet something, you are essentially boosting its popularity on the internet.  However, you can also attach negative comments to most things shared this way, fundamentally giving what you shared a negative “rating.”

Do You Trust Me?

The unfortunate reality is that for many businesses, both public and private, social media is a nuisance and is treated as such.  The culture of trust is all too frequently absent for many organizations. Employees are often reluctant to share information on their company’s behalf as not to offend any policy.  Many employees even go as far as blocking their employers in hopes that their disseminations will remain private.  This type of behavior more than likely stems from the fear of getting disciplined or in some cases even terminated.  There have, after all, been dozens of cases where employees have been terminated for sharing things on Facebook, including an employee of National Suisse who was fired for accessing Facebook at home while sick.

With personal social media use, trust is inherently given upon acceptance of the connection.  Most people follow, befriend, or ’Like’ a person/page based on a genuine or common interest.  It is easier to trust and engage with an entity that you have something in common with (and who is not responsible for your paycheck).

Russ Edelman of CNBC states, “in the corporate world, a proactive effort is required to build a culture of trust; one that allows participants to dip their toe in the social networking pool and see the benefits that are duly derived.” Some techniques for building trust with social networking in your business could include recognition of contributions and/or the inclusion of gaming theory (contests and group trivia are some examples) to foster a friendly sense of competition and to motivate the team.

To Regulate or Not to Regulate

Businesses generally have some sort of policy in place that outlines their expectations of social media use within the company.  These policies can often be restrictive, but a business must protect its interests. Consequently, social media use among businesses requires much more rigor than personal use. In the workplace, content disseminated via social media in many instances has to go through an approval process.  The trick to developing a social media policy is to figure out the perfect balance between too much regulation and not enough.

Believe it or not, personal social media use does come with its share of policies and regulations, though many are site-specific.  Facebook for instance has taken a strong stance against harassment of others and posting obscene or offensive material. Most people however have no issues with following these guidelines providing for an environment of basically-free expression.

The Verdict

It is clear that businesses are beginning to master consumer interaction via social media and people too are pros at communicating with or about businesses. It is much less rigorous and involved when using social media personally, and businesses have a lot more to consider when accessing social platforms.  The main issue with SMB’s and social media lies within the culture of trust.  If your own employees are not willing to promote you, consumers will probably have a difficult time doing so as well.

Download our extensive social media 101 guide today!

The post The Difference Between Personal and Business Social Media Use appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgSvRHzGdnk

At this year’s Sage summit, I was lucky enough to get to interview a few of the vendors that had booths at the convention.  This interview is of SalesFusion’s Chief of Marketing, Kevin Miller.  You can follow them on twitter here.

If you’re not yet familiar with SalesFusion, they are based in Atlanta, GA and was officially launched in 2007 as an integrated marketing and CRM solution designed to automate the entire lead-to-sales process.  SalesFUSION 360 is the flagship product of First Reef, LLC, the holding company for SalesFUSION, and is a SaaS marketing automation software solution that is specifically designed to integrate marketing and sales by connecting your marketing process and technology with your installed CRM system.

Thanks again, Kevin for the interview be sure to look out tomorrow for another vendor interview.  Click here to discover more about SalesFusion.

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It’s almost here!  Sage Summit that is. And I simply cannot wait.  There’s so many ways to get involved with Summit socially, and if you don’t know how to yet, you can find out here.

This year, we’re throwing a 3-part contest at booth #517 and there are many ways to win prizes such as Kindle Fires, $100 gift cards, and business book series.

Throughout the day on August 14th, 15th, and the 16th we will have a drawing based on the number of Foursquare check-ins, tweets using the hashtag #blyDEA, and number of @BlythecoLLC mentions. Each form of participation gets you a ticket for the drawing.  The more you participate, the better your chances of winning. It’s gonna be a competition guys so make sure to tweet away and check-in away!

When using Foursquare to check-in, be sure to include your twitter handle or contact info in the ‘shout out’ section so we can correctly tally your participation.

See Also: How to Use Hashtags

In order to check in on Foursquare you’ll have to search for ‘Blytheco Booth #517′ with your mobile device which should populate when you are near the area.  You can also find the booth info here on Foursquare.

Recommended: Foursquare 101

On the last day,  there will be a final drawing and the person who has garnered the most tickets will have the greatest chance to win the grand prize: A Kindle Fire!  Also, whoever is deemed the Booth #517 Foursquare Mayor by1:00PM on August 16th will also win a Kindle Fire!  Sounds like fun, right?

Click here and/or here to find out how you can become a Mayor of a Foursquare venue.

You can download the Foursquare mobile app on your app store or here.

Winners will be notified via twitter so be sure to regularly check @BlythecoLLC so you can claim your prize.  Good luck to all and can’t wait to see you there!

Note:  This contest is for Sage Summit attendees only.

The post 3 Ways to Win: Twitter and Foursquare Contest at #SageSummit appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

The countdown to #Sagesummit 2012  continues and we’re continuing to share business ideas with our readers and followers as we encourage everyone to do by using the hashtag #blyDEA on Twitter.  By doing this, everyone can see and follow your posts while hopefully contributing to the start of a trending keyword. I can’t wait to see the outcome and your responses.

#blyDEA No. 48 is focused around the concept that ‘the organization and structure of your business data relates to the success of your organization.’ This may sound a little off at first glance, but think about it…access to the right information at the right time is pricessless. So how do you make that happen?

We spend significant time with our customers on both the CRM and marketing side of consulting and  the question of how to properly use collected data often comes up.  Many are unaware of the resources available that outline how CRM can be used to harness this data. The answer begins with identifying what your organization’s goals are and how it plans to use client-related data as this can be directly related to how the data is organized. What I have realized is that it is a skill to understand how data should be used in the future as an organization grows vs. how it needs to be used in the present [as many companies are just now beginning to implement CRM strategies].

On a recent engagement, while speaking with a client who will be implementing CRM for the first time, but has had ERP for a while, the topic came up of the different types of communications they may want to send in the future that may impact how we set-up data in CRM. In fact, you should even think about what information points you want to collect from a customer and how that will be used. If you can’t think of a use for the data, we recommend not collecting it.

User adoption is critical too. If your teams do not buy-in to updating and keeping data in the system – you won’t be able to use that data effectively in the market. Being able to slice and dice data to target your marketing efforts appropriately increases your response rates, decreases your opt-out rates, and will increase overall leads and sales from marketing initiatives. That in itself directly impacts your bottom line.

For more information on how you can make your CRM solution stick inside your organization visit our whitepaper here.  Or if you are interested in general marketing consulting that can help you understand how to better organize your data for better market penetration visit our Advanced Marketing page.

The post #blyDEA No. 48 – Good Data Structure = Good Business Success appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

By now it should be old news that the strength of social media depends entirely on the connections that are established.  As each day passes though, more and more companies seem to be realizing that having a good social CRM strategy can improve their bottom line too.

For a prime example of how combining your CRM and social media efforts can help make you money, all we need to do is look at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The company’s preferred guest program provides hotel guests with a plethora of goodies if they engage with the company on social platforms.  Just last week they announced a social media contest that allows one lucky winner to bring five friends to free VIP LiveNation music events. Starwood goes further and also awards guests who check in with their Facebook or Foursquare accounts ‘Starpoints,’ which can be redeemed for free meals and upgrades.

These social CRM campaigns have aided in doubling the loyalty program’s membership since 2007, though, perhaps most importantly is that members have spent 60% more in that timespan as well!

That sounds pretty good right?  And understandably so!  In fact, the sale of social CRM software is expected to boom as time goes on: Gartner expects social CRM sales to surpass $1 billion by December 2012, up from $820 million in 2011.

Despite this, whatever your business’s goals are for social media, it’s important to remember that success does not occur overnight.  In order to gauge and truly utilize the full potential of social media, organizations must be willing to embrace collective change.  Change in any organization requires appropriate planning and management – particularly when implementing a new CRM platform.  As with any change or new implementation, one of the biggest barriers to success is the capability of employees to accept and understand the importance of the innovation and change.  In Community Roundtable’s “State of Community Management 2011” report, 28% of survey respondents said organizational culture was the greatest barrier to social technology usage.

Paul Greenberg, president of  the 56 Group and author of CRM at the Speed of Light, once said “[E]nterprises are large and their cultures are well-defined. They are legacy cultures—cultures of habit. And breaking habits, when the world is changing as dramatically as it is in such a short period of time, is not easy.”

With the proper planning and insight, your CRM implementation doesn’t have to fail. Read on for the 10 top social CRM deployment Tips.

10 Social CRM Deployment Tips

1. Know the risks.

2. Identify the reason(s) for deployment.

3. Create a list of mutually agreed-upon goals.

4. Communicate the value.

5. Understand your organization’s structure before altering it.

6. Compensate accordingly.

7. Train for the necessary skill sets.

8. Listen and respond to customers.

9. Get support from the top brass.

10. Stay focused; don’t let setbacks derail your plan.

To manage your company’s change effectively, and to see how easy it is to implement social CRM with sugarCRM, download our free whitepaper.

The post Change Management and the Top 10 Tips for Social CRM Deployment appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

We have just 51 days to count down to this year’s #SageSummit conference in which we will be making a big splash encouraging others over social media to share their ideas that they have either learned in their business or that they will learn at the Sage Summit conference. You can share your idea by tweeting with the hashtag #BlyDEA at anytime. If you follow and watch this hashtag it will allow you to see the culmination of ideas emerging in the Twittersphere.

Today we are starting with #blyDEA #51 – If you’re a CEO or business owner, your company’s brand is what your employees think your brand is, not what you think your brand should be. Have you asked your employees lately what they think about your brand and what it stands for? Maybe this would be time well spent as they are the facilitators of your brand to the end consumer. Understand the gaps in what they think your brand stands for and what your true intention is as an organization and that will be a good indicator on how your brand is being perceived in the market place.

Making sure that your employees understand your brand’s mission, vision and core values is important to how that message will be translated to your customers. This isn’t a one-time communication, but something that needs to be reinforced on a regular basis and measured often.

Your employees are the perfect way to start your messaging. You might want to develop a social media policy if you haven’t already, but don’t make it to restrictive. And when you have a good handle on that – start measuring what your customers think. It will save you money in the long run and help you perfect the messaging that translates well.

For more help with marketing your business in this day and age, check out our free Summer Webinar Series and don’t forget to share your #blyDEA on your learning experiences with us on Twitter.

The post #BlyDEA No. 51: Your Brand is What Your Employees Think, Not What You Think! appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

2012  hasn’t exactly been the year for Facebook — its stock price has been on a downfall since it went public last Friday with many calling the IPO a failure, and the new Timeline profile look has been panned everywhere, particularly amongst baby boomers. It may be tough turning around the crashing stock price, but Facebook isn’t exactly helpless when it comes to Timeline. So, with all of the controversy surrounding Facebook’s latest feature, it seems like someone at FB headquarters got the status update and decided to make a change.

The changes to Timeline aren’t grandiose and all that different firstly. In the new version, your name, job, education history, and location will be superimposed over the cover picture in white, rather than below the image in a separate area (see above image).  The look is a lot more streamlined, and while there’s no guarantee that it will appease those who are unhappy with the functionality of Timeline, it does so far, look a lot better!

Presently, this redesign is only being tested and no one outside of Facebook really knows when it will go live for everyone — if it ever goes live. Will a new version of Timeline help rescue Facebook’s plummeting stock value? Probably not. But turning around public opinion on Timeline might be a great first step.

To stay ahead of the constant changes with social media, check out our upcoming webinar on May 24th about how you can make social networking easily work for you or your business.  You can also sign up for more webinars in our Summer Marketing Series.  Enjoy!

The post Facebook Redesigning Unpopular Timeline Feature appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

If you’re like me, you might sometimes feel overwhelmed with all of the new social platforms popping up all over the place.  In the past year we’ve seen Google +, Pinterest, and Instagram [just to name a few] all make a surprising boom and are now social networking brands that are virtually known in every U.S. household.  So, how does one wade through all of these?  How do you productively leverage social media to work for your business?  What’s a tweet!?!?

If you find yourself frustrated or asking any of these questions, don’t fret!   The answers are here.  The Blytheco Marketing Team has actually created a summer webinar series and the first topic just happens to be “social media made easy.”  So, if you find yourself still asking certain questions about getting you or your business started up in the social marketing game, you just might find this helpful.

The ‘Social Media Made Easy’ webinar hosted by Apryl Hanson (@AprylHanson), will review the essential strategies and best practices a business or organization should understand in order to successfully get started with social media marketing.  In this series premiere, which occurs Thursday May 24^th, the following topics will be discussed:

• What Social Media Marketing Really Is and Why it’s Important

• Various social media networks and tools and how they interact, ways to leverage their strengths, and how to evaluate them for best use for your business or organization

• How other businesses are using these low-cost tools to gain visibility, develop relationships, and drive sales with engagement

• How to Incorporate Social Media into your business life without losing productivity

 To check out our free summer marketing series go here to sign up! Space is limited.

The post #BAM Summer Marketing Series: Social Media Made Easy appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

For those of you not yet familiar with Netsuite or Quickbooks Online, you should know that at their core they are both cloud ERP platforms and with their frequently discounted pricing, QBOL might seem like a more viable option (Online Plus package is now going for $16.95 down from $34.95) – but that should tell you more about QBOL’s sales and satisfaction rate more than anything else.  Where Netsuite and QBOL majorly differ is that one is a scalable complete accounting, inventory, CRM, and e-commerce cloud system with a simple user-interface and the other is primarily used for accounting purposes and offers complex bare-minimum options.  After reviewing the top ten differences between Netsuite and QBOL, it’s kind of easy to see why so many more seem to be more pleased with the former.

• Quickbooks Online doesn’t include a dashboard, making user interaction more difficult and less visual. Netsuite on the other hand, has a dashboard, a tailorable interface, plus the option of role-based presentation. For a product demonstration to see exactly how this looks, click here.
• Netsuite has the ability to link with and support campaigns within teams while QBOL does not.
• There is no keyword marketing support within QBOL.
• Unfortunately, QBOL lacks any inventory management.  That’s a shame really as so many require inventory management as a part of their ERP platform – particularly when those risk having lost, damaged, or unaccounted-for inventory.  Netsuite is complete and offers inventory tracking and support.
• Quickbooks Online lacks a native CRM system.  Many people nowadays want a one-stop-shop for both their ERP and CRM needs and understand the importance of integrating the two. Netsuite is that one-stop-shop.
• You need a third party integration program called AccountDynamics (extra $39/month) to synchronize between salesforce and QBOL.
• You cannot track purchase or sales orders within Quickbooks Online. In Netsuite, you can.  D’oh!!
• QBOL doesn’t have change orders.
• Nor do they have work orders.
• And last, but certainly not least, the customer data you’ll find in Quickbooks Online is scarcely limited.  While Netsuite gives you a ton of demographical and marketing info, QBOL only offers customer name and contact details.

Check out this free recorded webinar on why next-generation sales professionals leverage Netsuite for cloud ERP.

@BlythecoLLC

The post The Top Ten Reasons to Choose Netsuite Over Quickbooks Online appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

Before entering into the world of social campaigns, you might ask yourself if running a social media type of campaign will be the right thing for your company. If you’re asking this question you might also be wondering how you run a social campaign that is successful enough to warrant the time and expense.

Visa knows a little something about the social campaign world as it is on the verge of launching one of the biggest, world-wide social media campaigns for the 2012 Olympic’s. In an interview with Visa chief marketer, Alex Craddock, he  explained the details of a global campaign in which fans will be asked to socially participate and to “cheer” on their favorite athletes all in a race to win tickets for life to the Olympics.

What I found interesting is that when asked how Visa, Inc. would know if this campaign was successful it sounded like a general anecdotal “We have KPI’s and we measure them” response.

So if you are a small organization, how can you take a similar idea, and make it work for your company? How will you know if a social media campaign is successful?

We know that it is more about likes and activity. Although this is one measurement of success, tying your campaign to a theme that relates to your product so that you can effectively get your message out is key. When first dipping your toe into social media we recommend that you:

• First take time to listen to what is going on regarding your brand. If there is relatively no noise out there, you need to create some.
• Create interesting content around your brand.
• Develop a fan-base that likes you and wants to listen to what you have to say.
• Start tying your content to a “call to action” – Do this, get that. Contests are great for doing this activity if you have interacted with the “right” fan.
• Measure what is working. Know where your fans are coming from, what they like the most, and if they are buying or referring people to you. Hubspot is a tool that can help you do this.

Many of you might be curious how you track information on where fans are coming from and if they are turning into potential leads and customers for your company. If this is something brand new for your organization, check out our social media guide and our advance marketing tools which can help you get started planning your activity to drive customers.

The post Do Social Campaigns Work? appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.