April Fool's from Vollmer Public Relations!

Moving the Needle with Social Media…It’s All About the People

by Mary Kate Smither, Vollmer Public Relations Dallas

Yesterday afternoon, I participated in a conference call hosted by Peter Shankman (@skydiver) and Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), two of the leading authorities in the world of social media.  Shankman is best known as the founder of HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, a Web site that acts as a conduit between reporters and sources to create stories, and which also sponsored the conference call.  HARO has been a great addition for PR people, helping us to connect more easily on a daily basis with reporters looking for specific resources for their stories. Brogan is a veteran blogger, entertaining speaker and president of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency.

Throughout their discussion both shared case studies and anecdotes on ways that various brands had elevated themselves among target audiences and found ways to generate ROI using social media.  For example, Shankman described how the Capitol Hotel, located in Little Rock, Ark., had increased visits from its target audiences by 20 percent over six weeks simply by using social media strategies. 

While this is fascinating and we hear many success stories like this every day, I was most interested in what they felt were the fundamentals for success, something I believe that a lot of companies and organizations sometimes take for granted as they jump headfirst into social media. What both Brogan and Shankman mentioned repeatedly was the importance of people in building and maintaining effective social media efforts.  I think that sometimes in today’s very online world we forget that the point of all of these sites – Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn and so on – is not to simply push out content, but to connect with people – real human beings.

A campaign begins and continues successfully by listening to your target audiences, asking and figuring out what they want and then giving it to them in the way that they like to see it and hear it.  All of this is done with the goal of continually building a trust bank with your customers, investors, donors, employees or whomever you may be targeting. 

Equally important was the idea of two-way interaction with target audiences. Both said that the benefit of social media is that people can feel like they’re participating. What I’ve always found fascinating about social media and what Brogan and Shankman emphasized for me again is the idea that what is old is never really old, it just might be evolving. The same ideas that we apply to more traditional communications, such as good customer service and interested interaction during phone or in-person discussions, are still true and have only been furthered in today’s online, day-to-day communications.

People still want to know that they’re being heard, they want to ask questions, they want answers and they want to provide companies with feedback that is acknowledged.  They want to know who they’re buying from, and the people behind the companies and products they’re buying.  Social media provides the best possibilities we’ve ever known for two-way conversations, as people are able to update, check in, ask questions, view videos, give opinions and find out information in mere seconds, while brands provide new and different connections to their organizations, people and inner workings that help customers feel cared about, excited and engaged for long-term brand loyalty. 

For more information on how we can help you listen to your target audiences and meet their needs via social media, contact me @mksmither on Twitter, at marykate@vollmerpr.com or 972-488-4790.

What the Heck is Foursquare?

by Mary Kate Smither, Vollmer Public Relations Dallas

Three years ago, Twitter became the “it” tool at SXSW. This year the name of the game is Foursquare. No, I’m not talking about that favorite play yard game that all of us of a certain age remember and love, but today’s latest hot tool. While Foursquare celebrated their one-year anniversary coincidentally with the kick-off of this year’s SXSW Interactive Festival on March 11, I’d really only heard of it a few months ago. Like my experience with Twitter, I signed up for an account and filled out my profile thinking that it was another tool that might or might not catch on but was newsworthy enough for me to check out the potential value for my clients. Witnessing the enthusiasm of Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley as part of Brian Solis’ panel at SXSW on Friday, I decided to jump in full force and give the site a real try during the festival.

If you’re not familiar, the premise of Foursquare is a city guide crossed with recommendations and tips from friends. The idea is to challenge ourselves to explore places on vacations and business trips, while also experiencing our neighborhoods at home in a whole new way. Similar to Facebook and Twitter, you “friend” and follow people on Foursquare. Where it diverges from these sites is that for every place you visit - a coffee shop, restaurant, museum, meeting room at SXSW, or basically anywhere you choose – users are asked to “check in” anywhere in the world, which notifies friends that you’re currently visiting said place. Additionally, users are asked to provide tips on places. For visiting locations and providing tips, members receive badges, and multiple visits can eventually lead to being named “mayor” of a location. Users also earn points for visits and while Foursquare is still experimenting with the rewards for points, past earned points have been converted to donations during a site charity drive.

What makes it fun is that it provides a quick way for alerting friends and colleagues to meet up, while also allowing you to share your opinions on spots you visit. Foursquare encourages tips to be unusual and out of the box. For example, instead of saying that a restaurant is great, users will note particular areas of a restaurant to be seated, a bartender to befriend or specific condiments to request on a dish.

The next question, of course, is how can Foursquare elevate a brand? With more than half a million users, Foursquare is still on the rise and growing quickly. Hotels can ask members to tout certain amenities within the hotel, such as the expertise of the concierge, comfort of certain chairs in the lobby or in-room toiletries. Bars, retail stores and restaurants have also begun offering Foursquare specials to members who check-in and provide tips. With the site’s continued growth, the possibilities are endless, and companies can sign up for Foursquare as a brand to friend, check in and provide tips themselves.

Will Foursquare still be a hot tool this time next year? Only time will tell. But what I can tell you is that during SXSW what I’ve discovered is that, like Twitter, Foursquare easily becomes addictive. I’ve checked in everywhere from the Mmmpanadas street food truck to conference room D at the Hilton Austin and the #SXSWPR happy hour at B.D. Riley’s. Checking in has quickly become a part of my daily ritual as I go from sessions to events and meals, and I’ve enjoyed the fun of sharing my tips on locations where people can find a place to charge their electronics (a necessity at SXSW) to where the comfortable chairs are for working during breaks at the convention center. If you’re interested in checking out Foursquare, visit http://foursquare.com, and it’s also available to download on most smart phones, including the iPhone, Blackberry, Android and the Palm Pre. To find out more about my recent SXSW adventures, follow me on Twitter @mksmither or friend me on Foursquare at Mary Kate Smither.

Olympic Size Social Media - Going for the Gold!

by Mary Kate Smither, Vollmer Public Relations Dallas

Last month I was lucky enough to attend the XXI Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Not only had I never attended the Olympics before, but this was also my first adventure as a solo traveler. I can truly say that it was one of the most exciting and intense experiences of my life.

From the beauty of Vancouver to the people from around the world that I met each day and the exhilaration of seeing some of the most thrilling sporting events I will ever enjoy, it was amazing. As a huge hockey fan, there is no better moment in life than gearing yourself up with a U.S.A. T-shirt, American flag and very loud cowbell and cheering on your team to a 5-3 win over Canada in Canada!

Because I was traveling alone it was even more important to me to stay connected to the world around me as well as the world at home.  I also wanted to grab onto this once-in-a-lifetime trip and make it the richest, fullest experience possible.

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Months before I even left for my events, I began following the Olympics on Facebook and Twitter, as well as the pages of some of my favorite athletes I hoped to see like Apolo Anton Ohno and Lindsey Vonn. I signed up for text alerts that notified me about progress on Olympic construction and that helped me plan my daily transportation adventures.

Before I arrived in Vancouver I became a part of the Olympic experience. Even my local hockey team, the Dallas Stars, which I follow avidly on Facebook, provided updates about our players attending the Olympics. By the time I boarded my plane to Vancouver I was ready to jump into the Olympic fray full force.

During my stay, I kept in touch with family members, friends and my colleagues here at Vollmer primarily through social media. I made sure to post photos and details of my experiences, from the electrifying U.S.A. hockey win over Canada to watching Apolo grab the bronze and hanging with the Aussies at freestyle aerial skiing. Since I've returned home, I've run into more people who have mentioned to me how much they enjoyed my daily updates and how they enhanced their own Olympic experiences.

I loved every minute of the Olympics, including the challenges of long lines and crowds, and I will never forget the way it made me feel to cheer on my country and soak it all in every minute of each day I was there. Social media simply added another layer to those experiences and allowed me to share my enthusiasm with my family and friends.

A Song of Texas

by Helen Vollmer, CEO Vollmer Public Relations

See the YouTube video with Stephen F. Austin and Helen Vollmer!

I am proud to be a fourth generation Texan. My brother Ferdie (as in Ferdinand) would tell you we come from good German pioneer stock and from my love of bread and carbohydrates alone I know this to be true.

While I grew up as a city girl in San Antonio, some  of my earliest memories are of rural Texas:  watching Aunt Sally in a flour sack apron wring a chicken’s neck on the farm outside of Luling, playing bingo surrounded by  German matrons with their stockings rolled down below their pudgy thighs in the sweltering heat of summer at the Catholic church in Castroville, or sitting in the shade of a lonely oak tree in a field with my mama  to pluck the feathers off of doves that were brought in from the hunt outside of McAllen.

My parents gave me the confidence to believe in myself. But this self-esteem is rooted in knowing I belong to a place that is unique and belongs to me and those I love.  Texas is home.  Its smells, like the humid salty air of Galveston; its colors, like those found at el mercado in San Antonio; and its textures, like the patina of worn cowboy boots made by hand in Fort Worth are anchors that allow me to know myself and find comfort in big hair, Robert Earle Keene and the Art Car Parade. 

Luckily, through our Texas Tourism work (www.traveltex.com) I’m able to share how special this state is with the rest of the world.  Did you know that 194 million domestic visitors traveled to and within Texas in 2008?  Or that total direct travel spending in the state that same year had an economic impact of more than 60 billion dollars?  That’s right, pardner, traveling to Texas is big business. 

But forget about the facts.  Come to Texas to soak up the majestic canyons of Big Bend as they meet the Rio Grande or to dance the night away in Gruene next to cowboys in the starchiest white shirts you’ll ever see.  Go to an East Texas hole-in-the-wall to hear the best Zydeco around or sink your feet in the white sands in west Texas.  Ride a road bike over cattle guards and under railroad trestles to look up and find yourself in a sweet blackberry patch right before a Spring hail storm. 

There is no one Texas.  The Piney Woods are a world apart from the Gulf Coast.  The Hill Country is as culturally and geographically unique as are the wide open spaces of the Texas Panhandle.  And as Lyle Lovett sings, “Fort Worth and Dallas/ A million miles away,” even though it’s called the Metroplex.

Like life, Texas is what you make of it.  And the experiences you can have are as wide as the big blue skies here.  But before you visit, call me and I’ll give you some tips that will make you seem like a native.  After all, we can’t all be born under the Lone Star, but we’re happy to share.