Zappos: Microblogging with Twitter
Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about Twitter. Twitter is a new social network application where you can ‘follow’ people and be ‘followed’ by those you may or may not know personally. Information is updated by answering the question, “what are you doing?’ Answers can range from a simple, “I am eating a sandwich” to providing breaking news on any type of situation. There are many opinions on whether this microblogging site really can be useful in the corporate world. Some people think the 140 character limit is too restricting, while others think it is a chance to really learn to write concise and relevant material. Twitter has only been around for three years, yet there are many companies who have turned to Twitter for extra support with their social media objectives.
According to a cision-twitter-conversation, Twitter should be used to establish relationships and create dialogues with audiences. Public relations can benefit from using Twitter because the format makes conversations simple and direct. Listen to your audience and decide if and when you should pitch an idea. If you are not trying to pitch a story, just try to find out what your audience is interested in and improve the way you communicate with them.
One company that has really explored Twitter is Zappos. An online shoe and clothing retailer, Zappos.com, has found a way to excel as a company with the help of social media. Tony Hsieh, Zappos’ CEO, uses Twitter regularly to update on anything from work travels to what he is eating to company news. The way Tony writes, as well as the links he provides, gives a personal insight into the company. On his blog, Hsieh lists the reasons he loves and appreciates Twitter.
The Zappos CEO is not the only one ‘tweeting.’ All of the Zappos employees are allowed to join Twitter and/or write for the company blogs. On Twitter, the picture identifies them as employees, so they are immediately showing transparency and authenticity with their followers.
Marshall Kirkpatrick on Read,Write,Web discusses how Zappos is using Twitter to engage with customers and provide personalities for the people working at Zappos. The post is from almost a year ago and the numbers of employees using Twitter and CEO followers has increased by a huge margin since then. Kirkpatrick discusses in depth the importance of Zappos including public brand mentions, employee tweets, employee twitpics, and employees who Twitter. Also, Hsieh has created an introduction guide for using Twitter.
As I have discovered in my previous posts, it doesn’t matter who blogs (or tweets) for your company as long as that person is willing to take on the commitment and deliver relevant information to their audience. Twitter presents a chance to really show a personality and have fun with the character limit. Zappos has found a strong personality and is recognized as an innovator in social media technology.
HP: Employee Blogs
Blogging is essentially a community media, so it makes sense for companies to include their employees in a blogging initiative. Each department in a company offers unique perspectives into the company’s thought process.
HP is one of the company’s with employee blogging. Blogging allows HP to personalize their brand and connect directly with stakeholders. Globally, HP’s blogging has offered audiences the opportunity to join communities with different interests. Blogging has enhanced and improved the brand and reputation of HP.
When HP began blogging, they had to find a way to encourage employees to buy into the blogging initiative. Without prior experience with blogs, the idea of blogging may be scary because of expectations regarding maintenance and readership.
Internally, blogging can help promote an event and support the use of social media. According to Leticia Gow, internal and HR communications manager for HP EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), a communication plan was based around the Cannes Film Festival to create a contest generating buzz about the festival and blogging. The goal was to make blogging fun! Employees did not have to start their own blog and maintain it, instead the first step in the contest was to post on an internal blog. The bloggers followed guidelines and were rated by their peers. The best rated bloggers attended the Cannes Film Festival and posted their experience at the festival on an external blog.
Along with several other companies, HP has promoted employee blogging. HP employees can participate in group or individual blogs on company specific business topics. HP business blogs cover topics ranging from photography, IT management to innovation. There are blogs in several languages including Russian and French portraying HP’s presence in the global community.
What sets HP apart is that employees can blog on a company specific topic, but they also have the option to start a personal blog for fun. Both blogs can be linked to the corporate webpage. The personal interest blogs allow employees to write about their family or personal hobbies. Ashley Sanichar, a client manager in South Africa, uses photos on his blog to share his life and links to the corporate HP website. Other blogs deal with hobbies such as computer programming, cooking, and living with a disability. HP gives the audience an opportunity to see the personalities behind the large company improving brand reputation.
HP prominently lists the blogging code of conduct on the community website. Clear blogging guidelines are given for blogging and commenting.
Rubbermaid: Communications Bloggers
A successful example of a corporate blog maintained by a communications department is Rubbermaid. Rubbermaid is a brand that represents durable products made to simplify life, mostly to help organize consumer’s homes. Rubbermaid started their blog about a year ago and the blog is managed by seven employees. The seven bloggers represent different areas in the communications department at Rubbermaid. Jim Deitzel, the Senior E-Marketing Manager, found the blogging platform to be a chance to communicate with consumers and professional organizers in a less formal tone than the main corporate website. Deitzel monitors posts before they are submitted, but because of the no controversy organizational content, he doesn’t really have to edit or adjust the posts.
A few months ago, John Cass interviewed Jim Deitzel from Newell Rubbermaid for a case study on his blog. Deitzel explained to Cass that they experimented with who would blog. Now only employees write for Rubbermaid, but in the beginning an outside writer was used for a few posts. Deitzel informed Cass that Rubbermaid chose people within the communications department to write for the blog even if they did not offer to help. Fortunately, he found that they ended up enjoying writing in this new medium. He did notice that even though there are many employees at Rubbermaid signed up to blog, not all of them post regularly.
I value the posts at this blog because they incorporate the Rubbermaid products in a way that shows how they help organize in real life situations rather than just saying how great they are and that you, the consumer or organizer, should own them. The communications writers have found a good conversational tone with their audience leading to interesting and varied responses.
In my first post, I discussed how consumers are wary of corporate blogs. With this is mind, do you agree with Rubbermaid’s practice of choosing people within the communications department to write for the blog? Could other Rubbermaid employee bloggers increase the trustworthiness of the blog?
