Most people default to aesthetics when thinking about design, but as a sociologist, Jessica finds the most fascinating designs in interaction; interaction between humans, between humans and externalities, and within the human mind itself. Overall, the most valuable assets in any professional endeavor are the relationships; those within an agency and between an agency and their partners. Jessica joins Social Tribe as an Account & Project Coordinator; an ambassador and a connector, a builder of meaningful, synergistic relationships. It is in this creative, collaborative space that she designs interactions and facilitates seamless project execution for Social Tribe and our partners.

Well, let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: this is *not* just another social media platform. Not only is it robustly packed with unique tools to help grow your business and connect with your audience, Google+ is seamlessly integrated with Google, the most powerful search engine on the planet, and arguably the best tool for website referrals—something no other social media platform has such intimate access to.

Simply put, everything you post on the network is immediately archived, searchable, and perhaps more importantly, contributes to your SEO. If this alone isn’t incentive enough to launch your Google+ profile today, let me break down the top five reasons why Google+ is smart for your business.

1. Increased click-through rates: A fan’s “like” on Facebook won’t do you much good outside the confines of Facebook. But unlike other social networks, Google’s analogous +1s and number of followers are together presented on relevant Google search result pages to demonstrate the trusted reputation your brand has worked to build. Studies show an average 5-10% increase in click-through rates when this social extension is enabled. That means more eyeballs, and ultimately, more dollars.
2. Hangouts: An exciting video chat room for up to ten computers at a time, Hangouts are a revolutionary way to connect and engage with your audience. Broadcast, present, and even archive your Hangout to your YouTube account for later viewing.
3. Less Noise: While others are still waiting to catch on to the distinct advantages of Google+, you have the chance to break out from the pack and cement yourself as an industry leader on the network. With less noise to compete with than other networks, it’s easier for your voice to cut through and be heard by the customers you’re trying to reach.
4. Listen in: See what people are saying about your business across the platform using relevant search terms. Be as specific or general as you like, since this is Google and their search capabilities can’t be beat. Bonus:comprehensive filters allow you to narrow your results to only the content you’ve posted. Along with Ripples, Google’s gorgeous data visualization that tracks the spread of your post across the network, these features are a great way to monitor campaigns, research trends, and quickly access pertinent information. To date, no other major social network provides you with these critical tools. Once again, Google’s search capabilities provide Google with the upper hand.
5.  Active, exploratory users: 80% of Google+ users log in every day, compared to only 50% of Twitter’s. And while Facebook may still have the “friends and family” market cornered, Google+ users are more focused on discovering content relevant to their interests—which is exactly the type of user you want. An interest-based network is the fertile ground your business needs to reach an audience primed to hear about your products and services.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Along with elegant integration with all of Google’s services, and continued rollouts of impressive analytics, Google+ is poised to be the dark horse your business needs to win the race to the top in an increasingly competitive market. Be on the lookout for more in-depth how-to’s from Social Tribe to help you get started.

Have you or your company adopted Google + for marketing? If so, what have you learned and how has your experience been? If not, what factors are holding you back? Share in the comments below so we can learn together. 

 Shades of Grey 

When I first started managing a team, giving feedback was one of the toughest lessons to learn. By nature, I want people to thrive and do their best work, but without actually having to tell them how. It took some “tough-love” experiences (and a business coach) to help me understand that my ability to provide both positive and negative feedback has a direct impact on both individual and team performance.

As a manager, your responsibility is to establish a path for performance growth and improvement for each member of your team. That requires assessing strengths, identifying opportunities for growth, setting appropriate benchmarks, and measuring progress. If you’re focusing too much on positive or negative feedback, you’re missing half the equation—and half the potential.

Why Are Both Types of Feedback Important?

If you had asked me this question three years ago, I would have been a major cheerleader for positive feedback. Shower people with compliments, build them up and let them soar, right? Not so much. The reality was far less idealistic. For one, I was focusing on positive feedback because that was an easier, more comfortable, conflict-free experience for both of us. Futhermore, I found that after I pumped people up with praise, they’d miss the mark, leaving me frustrated and disappointed. Why didn’t he/she meet my expectations? I’ll tell you why: I didn’t set them up for success. I failed to clearly communicate my expectations, provide constructive feedback on areas for improvement, and co-create a plan for success. I let them fly blindly, and as a result, we all failed.

Providing negative feedback is an essential tool for growth and development. Performance will not improve if you don’t tell people they’re missing the mark. Some of the key ways negative feedback improves performance are by:

• Grabbing attention and guarding against complacency
• Clearly outlining where an individual or team is falling short of the mark
• Defining performance expectations and benchmarks

Sometimes managers unconsciously adopt a “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” mentality, forgetting to recognize what works effectively. This is a huge missed opportunity, because positive feedback can stimulate employee performance by:

• Motivating continued improvement
• Promoting creativity, innovation and enthusiasm
• Articulating a path to success and providing a model employees can recognize and replicate in other areas of their work

The Right Feedback Ratio

The key is to find the right balance of positive and negative feedback that will fuel growth, motivate and encourage employees to strive for maximum performance. What’s the breakdown? According to research conducted by academic Emily Heaphy and consultant Marcial Losada, the factor that makes the greatest difference between the most and least successful teams is the ratio of positive to negative comments.

The average ratio for high performing teams was six positive comments for every
negative one. For low performing teams, the average was nearly half of that—three positive comments for everyone negative one. What does that tell us? A little negative feedback goes a long way, and should be paired with positive feedback for the best results.

A Symbiotic Relationship

As a manger, the secret to success is to understand there’s a symbiotic relationship between positive and negative feedback—both are essential to optimize performance. Everyone has areas for improvement andyou’re not doing any favors by avoiding problem areas. Simultaneously, positive feedback is fuel that keeps people motivated and should not be left out of the feedback loop. Identifying and applying the right praise-to-criticism for your team will empower your people to thrive!

Do you react better to positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement? What’s your recipe for success?

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This blog was originally written as a guest blog for Levo League, a social good startup designed to elevate young women in the workforce by providing the career resources needed to achieve personal and professional success. Click here to read the original post. 

BAM!

Ok, so it doesn’t look that hard. But it does take effort and ingenuity to create a post that’s this effortless, casual, and “cool”. The trick is to not appear as if you’re: 

1. Selling
2. Pushing
3. Advertising 

This post is a perfect example of effortless marketing. As the time of publication, the post above had more than 20,000 likes. Over 400 people have asked: What is that beverage? What is that taco? “You are so cool, Taco Bell.” It got people asking questions, wondering, and talking. The messages were inbound. The only outbound message was “cool”. And a taco.

The fact is, there’s a very delicate balance between saying too much or not saying enough. As a marketer, I notice the things that Taco Bell left out:

• They didn’t put a price on it.
• They didn’t say it’s “now available in stores”
• They didn’t tell you to buy it.
• They didn’t say “LIKE THIS IF YOU LIKE TACOS.”

They simply shared an image with personality. Taco bell said “cool,” just like a text you might receive from a friend. People wrote back. Taco Bell wrote back. This is the beauty of social.

It’s not a commercial. It’s not a billboard. Social is a house party, a dinner party, a work party. Sure, you can occasionally network and sell yourself to friends, and friends of friends, at a birthday party, but you also have be fun to be around. Be likeable; make people laugh, be genuinely interested in others. Does this tactic work? It sure does. This Business Insider article reported back in 2012 that Taco Bell set a new record by selling 100 million Doritos tacos in just 10 weeks. It’s obviously not because of this Facebook post but I’ve been following their social for quite some time- and they’re killing it.

Now here’s what it looks like when you do all the wrong things.

 This post is far from being interesting. The proof is in the numbers. Kmart has 1.2 million followers and, after 5 hours, only 10 people like it.

Why? Because it’s confusing and not conversational. I had to read it 3 times to understand the sale and I still don’t want to go to Kmart. I still don’t even get the sale. This is because Kmart is not thinking about what is interesting- they are only concerned with coming up with the most complicated sale this world has ever known. 

Now imagine if they’d just posted the image of the bag with “Cute pattern? – maybe add a link to their website where it explains the sale on their homepage. Another headline I might have chosen: “Cute pattern? Get yours: bit.ly/FreeCuteTote”

At SMMW 2013, Sally Hogshead captured the audience’s attention with examples and hard facts behind what captures attention in a 9-second world. She offers valuable insight into what makes humans tick on social: by being fascinating. Here’s a synopsis of her keynote:

“The average person’s attention span is roughly 9 seconds. Are you connecting? When you fascinate people, they become completely focused on you and your product. They are more likely to buy what you have to sell, remember your message and act upon your ideas. 

What’s the ROI of Fascination?

I’m glad you asked. When fascinated, people are more likely to pay more, take action, be loyal, and participate and share on social media, according to Kelton Study of Fascination. Below is a screen grab of Sally’s presentation.

If you can fascinate your audience with a Facebook post that doesn’t sell, push, or advertise, then you, my friend, have created a fascinating Facebook post. And that = $$$.

Social media is changing the business landscape. Brands, businesses, and individuals are redefining how they communicate and build relationships. How can leaders effectively navigate and embrace new frontiers as social leaders?

5 Key Strategies to Fuel Social Leadership

Amplify

• Leaders have an unprecedented opportunity to extend influence and reach
• Hone in on the people and communities that matter
• Cultivate brand awareness, promote thought leadership, cultivate key relationships

Listen & Curate

• Monitor: use Google Alerts to keep your ear to the ground
• Listen: cut through the clutter by using lists, groups and/or circles to hone in on the relevant people and conversations
• Twitter lists
• LinkedIn Groups 
• Facebook Groups
• Google Circles
• Organize: use content curation and aggregation tools to save time
• LinkedIn Today
• Smart Brief - Industry eNewsletters for professionals 
• Feed.ly - Organize your favorite blogs, news sites, podcasts and Youtube channels and access them all in one place

Engage

• Relationships are the most valuable social media currency
• Use the same engagement strategies you would in a person to person context to build online relationships
• Ask questions, encourage questions, share opinions, be relevant, recognize & appreciate

Humanize

• There’s no cookie cutter formula for how much you should share – it’s a personal decision
• Personalizing your brand creates connections points that people can relate to
• Share experiences strength relationships

Nurture

• Once you’re on the social media train – keep nurturing those relationships!
• Participate consistently
• Engage proactively
• Stay focused
• Be genuine

Recipe for Success

• Be realistic: set goals & expectations for your social media participation
• Focus: choose 1 – 2 platforms (to start), get comfortable and build from there
• Commit: block 15 – 30 minutes to participate everyday, find a time when you 
• Collaborate: ask for ideas and support for the communities you want to engage, incorporating their feedback will get the best results
• Be curious: social media is constantly evolving, make time to explore and discover

Do you have other questions about how to leverage social media to enhance your impact as a leader? Post them in the comments below and I’ll be sure to answer them!

 I immediately honed in on Jay Baer’s presentation “How to Create Customers for Life by Informing More and Promoting Less.”

This topic was top of mind after a recent conversation with a client who had serious anxiety regarding a new content marketing strategy we proposed, in which we recommended they create a series of online webinars andGoogle Hangouts to promote the launch of an upcoming program.

Their problem wasn’t with the idea (which they loved); their problem was that I wanted them to offer it for NO CHARGE. “But Tatiana,” they wondered, “isn’t that giving the milk away for free?”

As a matter of fact, it is! While the idea of giving something of value away for nothing (“shouldn’t we be charging for that?”) might seem nonsensical, even anti-business to some, this principle is being used ever more frequently in marketing.  Jay Baer explains the concept in his book, Youtility, and used the term frequently throughout his presentation.

Youtility is the idea that it’s more effective to help your customers than sell to them. The concept is to provide your audience with information that adds value to their lives, thereby becoming a trusted resource to whom they will turn when they are in need of your products or services. 

As Jay stated: “If you sell something, you make a customer today. Help someone and create a customer for life.” And isn’t that what we all want? Customers for life? His presentation was chock-a-block with marketing wisdom, but there were four takeaways that are the most critical lessons in how to execute Youtility as a marketing practice for your company:

1)   Discover customer needs: It’s critical to learn what they’re looking for. Research keywords put into search engines, internal search trends on your own website, web analytics to understand what information they’re most attracted to, social chatter to hear what challenges and obstacles they’re facing, and customer surveys and interviews to get a better read on what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.

2)   Map needs to executions: This is a simple concept, but one that can be a challenge to deliver. We all have a certain comfort level based on our own proficiencies, but it’s critical to provide information in the easiest, most accessible and digestible context for your audience, whether it’s a mobile app, an eBook, by hosting an informational event, etc. If you don’t have the talent on your team to develop that content, go out and find it.

3)   Market your marketing. Content creation is not the end of the journey – it’s the beginning. Much of the time, content creators write blogs and create videos, post them, where they sit unread or unwatched for weeks. What’s the solution? Have a marketing plan for each piece of content you create. Jay explains that “content is fire, social media is gasoline. It’s one program with two dimensions, not two programs.” That means you should use social to promote your content first, company second.

4)   Make it a process, not a project. This is an ongoing journey, because what your customers need from you changes all the time. Stay on top of trends and consumer needs.

If you watched Jay’s presentation, what were your key takeaways? Which examples that he provided seemed like practices you could adopt in your own company?

I recently attended Social Media Marketing World 2013 in San Diego, a fantastic event packed with amazing content and important thought leaders. Two sessions that really hit home were talks given by Mark Schaefer, a consultant and the author of a popular blog called {grow}, and Dave Kerpen, the Chairman of Likeable Media. Both speakers distilled social media down to its most pure form: people and relationships. Mark Schaefer said it perfectly – “the new law of marketing is people to people.” With that in mind, here are four golden rules that will help you build strong, valuable, loyal relationships on social media:

Are you social media shy? You know you should be participating, but you hesitate – uncertain how to navigate the social world to support your professional goals. You may be a bold, influential leader face-to-face but if you clam up (or are simply non-existent) on the social media front, you are missing a big opportunity to enhance and extend your role as a leader.

There are now over 2.8 billion social media profiles, representing around half of all internet users worldwide. Social media is powerful tool to demonstrate thought leadership, cultivate relationships and drive business. And yet, so many leaders are reluctant to take the plunge without a clear roadmap to leverage social media in a way that is meaningful and manageable to their careers and businesses.

In this webinar, you will learn practical, hands-on strategies to build your digital brand. We will discuss:

• How to define your social brand
• Practical tools for building and managing a strong social presence
• The social landscape: review different platforms, industry best practices, examples of success
• Realistic expectations around the time, energy and resources required to be successful
• Barriers to adoption: risk of exposure, over sharing, managing the intersection between personal and professional personas

Join us May 1 to gauge the real potential of social media for your career, and learn how to put it to work for you.

Webinar: Empowering Leadership Through Social Media
May 1, 2013
10:00am – 11:00am PST
Register at www.wearewatermark.org

First things first, your website should be easy to access from your Facebook page. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t provide a very efficient way of doing this without losing your custom description. But if you add your website address to your Facebook page like I’m about to show you, you’ll not only solve this problem but should also see a spike in traffic from Facebook.

Here’s how. (It’s really hard, so easy)

Click edit page, update public info, and then look for this box to edit the Short Description:

Then add your website address to your short description like this.

www.canaryfoundation.com | The world’s first NPO dedicated solely to funding, discovery and development of early cancer detection.

I like to use the | symbol in between the website address and the description because it looks sleeker.

Here’s what it looks like when it’s done:

Bottom Line

As soon as I did this to client pages about a year ago, website traffic from Facebook increased 20% the month after the update. It’s as simple as that.

Have any questions? Tweet at us @socltribe or send me an email at alex@social-tribe.com – would love to chat!

There’s a great line-up of speakers and topics, tons of meaty content to fuel my social media belly. In fact, there’s so much to choose from I’m not sure how I’m going to do it all I’ve shared some of my personal goals for attending in this video – check it out! – and look forward to hearing what goals/plans other attendees have lined up. We’ll also be blogging and live tweeting all day during the conference, so stay tuned for  lots of social media “goodies” we’ll be sharing. More soon!