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So your CEO wants to be on Twitter

Sunday, March 10th, 2013 by Ty Velde

Social CEO Risk and Reward
While social media has been a core part of the marketing landscape for several years now, one key group within Fortune 500 organizations that has been slow to adopt it is the C-Suite. While this group comprises the core of a company’s leadership, when it comes to social media many members have opted to sit on the sidelines rather than actively participate in the conversation.

Nowhere is this scenario better illustrated than in the use of Twitter among CEO’s of Fortune 500 brands. According to a study done by Brandfog.com, while 61% of Fortune 500 brands engage with customers via Twitter, less than 2.5% of all Fortune 500 CEO’s actively participate on the platform. Therefore, while it’s clear that Fortune 500 brands view Twitter as key to their marketing and communications strategies, it’s also clear that to-date it’s not been a priority for CEO’s to have a direct and active presence on the channel.

However, this is starting to change. While the numbers may still be small, more and more organizations are beginning to realize that the C-Suite, particularly CEOs, need to have a presence on Twitter. Whether it’s via customers, investors and/or partners, in todays connected and ever more transparent business environment, there is an expectation of being able to use social media to connect with an organization’s senior leadership. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that many CEO’s are now realizing the power of social media and starting to wonder and ask how they should approach creating a presence on channels such as Twitter.

So, when it’s decided that your CEO wants to be on Twitter what should you do?

When viewed in the context of a Fortune 500 brand, the answer is not so easy. Yes, it’s easy to set-up a Twitter handle. Yes it’s easy to start tweeting. And yes, it’s very, very easy for a CEO to get into hot water very quickly if things are not thought through.

First off, it’s important to understand both the risks and rewards of your CEO having a presence on Twitter. While many reading this blog post may say that it’s a no-brainer for a CEO to have a Twitter presence, when you are a talking about the CEO of a Fortune 500 brand it’s a much larger decision. It’s important to understand the risks, as well as the rewards in terms of evaluating the opportunity and providing context for how to proceed with your CEO.

Risks

  • A CEO’s words have power
    • No matter what they may think about a topic, when the CEO chooses to tweet, it’s not just coming from “a person” but rather it’s coming from “the CEO”
  • A CEO’s Twitter presence is a direct extension of their personal, as well as your corporate, brand
    • Do not think that you can separate the two, as the general public will see them as intrinsically interlinked
  • They need to have a filter
    • Unlike the average person, a CEO does (or should) not have the luxuries of talking about personal politics or controversy. As tempting as it is, they need to sit on the sidelines
  • They’re exposed and open
    • Many CEO’s operate in a very insular world, where access is controlled
    • A CEO who decides to go on Twitter must be ready for the fact that they will see not only the good, but also have to address some negativity

Rewards

  • Increased transparency and connectivity
    • Twitter offers a window into who the CEO is and provides a means to directly connect with them
  • Twitter can be used by the CEO to publically motivate and inspire employees
    • Acknowledge key efforts
    • Recognize key accomplishments
    • Great source for showcasing employee recognition from top leadership
  • Unique opportunity to leverage relationships with key partners and suppliers
    • Twitter offers a way for your CEO to interact and connect with key individuals and customers
  • Enhance your customer experience efforts
    • According to Brandfog.com’s recent survey, 89.3% of respondents stated that CEOs who participate in social media can build better connections with customers
  • Be perceived as a first mover
    • As noted earlier less than 2.5% of Fortune 500 CEOs are on Twitter
  • Identify and stay abreast of trends, conversation and key influencers
    • This can be done by just following and monitoring key topics and/or hash tags
  • Raises company profile, builds trust and brand loyalty
    • People are able to see the CEO in a human, not just corporate, light
  • Great opportunity to share CSR initiatives
    • Way for CEO to talk about the company and its values without directly commenting on the direct business or the category
    • Aligns the CEO with the company’s social endeavors

Ultimately when it comes to social media and the C-Suite, it’s not a matter of “if” they will get involved, but rather “when”. While less than 2.5% of all Fortune 500 CEOs might only be on Twitter today, that number is only going to increase. The option of a CEO sitting on the sidelines and not having a presence is soon just not going to be an option. Customers will expect it. Employees will demand it.

However, before your CEO decides to jump into the mix, its important that you take the time to understand both the risks and rewards associated with their participation on the platform. Because, when it comes to Fortune 500 CEOs, we’re talking about some very, very high profile indivduals, so its imperative that you take a managed approach towards creating their social media presence, and with Twitter in particular. By taking the time to understand and evaluate the risks and rewards of your CEO being on Twitter you’ll enable them to avoid the pitfalls and leverage its benefifts. Most importantly, rather than just having a “CEO who is on Twitter” you’ll have leader who is prepared to leverage the platform, understands its value and is ready to transition from being just a CEO, to being a truly “Social CEO”.

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Posted in Industry, Social Media, Strategy, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Google Announces Changes to Google Grants Program for Non-Profit Organizations

Friday, February 1st, 2013 by Shane Kelly

Google Grants is a program charitable organizations can take advantage of to serve ads via a limited version of AdWords, free of charge.

The Grants program is open to approved charitable organizations with 501(c)(3) status in the US, although charitable organizations based in other countries can also apply if the international requirements are met.

The program allows approved organizations to serve ads valued at up to about $10,000 per month (via a $330 USD daily budget cap), although there are some limitations to the program. Most notably, ads are limited to the Google Search Network, only text ads are eligible, and keyword bid amounts are limited. As a result, it can be difficult to actually reach the $10K monthly allotment for clicks on relevant terms; however, the Grants program can still be a big traffic driver for NPOs and charitable organizations.

Recently, Google announced changes to the program that impact the application and approval process, and could also impact how much traffic search managers can garner through the free program.

Program Changes: Structure & Integration with Google for Nonprofits

First, the Google Grants program will be rolled into the Google for Nonprofits suite. In order to be approved for a Google Grant, US based organizations must meet the Google for Nonprofits guidelines.

Program Changes: Keyword Bids and Ad Serving

The second set of changes around bids and ad serving include an increase in the maximum keyword bid, with a corresponding limit to ad serving.

The good news is that the limit for keyword bids has been increased from $1.00 to $2.00. The ability to bid higher in auctions should help in many cases where $1.00 is below the minimum bid threshold required to serve an ad for a particular search term.

However, the changes also involve a new limitation on ad serving and ad position. Google is now mandating that all Google Grant ads appear below ads from paying advertisers. This change will likely result in a decrease in average ad position, which can lead to lower average click-through rates, and ultimately less traffic for some targeted keywords.

At this point it is hard to gauge how the program changes will impact results. With a higher cap on bids, Grant accounts can likely serve ads against some keywords that were previously too expensive. However, the limitation on ad position relative to paid advertisements could result in less traffic for some targeted keywords.

Search mangers should certainly take advantage of the changes by increasing keyword bids, but it will also be important to monitor traffic levels to understand how the new limitation on position will impact traffic metrics. In addition, search mangers can try to offset the potential drop in traffic on competitive terms by reviewing search query reports, and adding new long-tail terms that paid advertisers might not be targeting.

Google for Nonprofits Resources:

Join Google for Nonprofits: http://www.google.com/nonprofits/

Google Grants Overview Video: http://www.google.com/grants/index.html

Google Grants Details and Requirements: http://www.google.com/grants/details.html

Google Grants on Twitter: https://twitter.com/googlegrants

Google for Nonprofits on Twitter: https://twitter.com/googlenonprofit

Google for Nonprofits on Google+: https://www.google.com/+GoogleforNonprofits

Google for Nonprofits Blog: http://googlefornonprofits.blogspot.com/

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Posted in Advertising, Google, Industry, POV, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), online marketing | No Comments »

Design Trends in 2013

Friday, January 25th, 2013 by Nick Jackson

Here at Overdrive Interactive, we like to keep our finger on the pulse. We try to stay ahead of the trends in web design, as well as pioneer trends that we believe will push and set higher standards in the world of web. Listed below are trends that are popping up, and we feel the world should keep an eye on. The trends may not work for every project but when used correctly, will push higher web standards.

1. Responsive Web Design

Responsive Web Design

If you are not already obsessed with responsive web design like we are, then here are some links to help get you up to speed. Mashable has some info to help prepare for going responsive, as well as this great article from Net Tuts. It’s important to be able to deliver the best experience possible regardless of screen resolution.

2. Single Page Web Experiences and Landing Pages

As the world becomes more complex, its important to ease your users into a more pleasant experience. With a one page design, you can help users find information without becoming lost or overwhelmed. The idea is not to get rid of content, or have a page that scrolls forever, but to create a fun interactive page, that allows users to open and close content and access it from one page. For more on this we suggest you check out this article from Smashing Magazine.

3. Flat Design

Flat Design

With single page design reaching a trend, we also notice flat design becoming a trend. This not only furthers the idea of simplification of an experience, but it helps battle screen resolution exchanges. Flat design allows CSS to do even more of the work to speed up loading time rather then images. For more on this we suggest this article from Abduzeedo.

4. The GIF image is making a return in design

GIF IMAGE

I’m going to split this up into two sections. The first is “The GIF image in design” while the other section will be about “The benefits of GIF images for mobile compatibility”.

Today’s standard in web design for moving images, is either a video file, or a flash file. Both of which might have loading problems, slowing down your experience, as well as issues with browser and platform compatibility. Paul Boag over at baogworld wrote a great article on this, as well as this article by Rob Carlson.

The other use we see for the animated GIF is its ability to add small file size animation that is visible on mobile devices and emails unlike flash. This not only adds some fun animation to an email, but it is compatible with all devices and all browsers!!!! For some great examples check this out over at campaignmonitor.com.

We encourage our readers to take this information and see how it might fit with your current work flow. Each trend, used in its own appropriate way, will push higher web standards as functionality, cross-browser compatibility and overall better design.

Posted in Creative Services, Industry, Marketing Trends | No Comments »

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