What is Social Relationship Management?

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We have something a little different for this week’s post!  Our friends at Astute Solutions sent us this great explanation of Social Relationship Management. Hope you find it useful!

What is Social Relationship Management?

by Nicole Prairie & Dennis Schiraldi

Every hour of every day, millions of conversations are taking place on social sites. In fact, not surprisingly, social sites and blogs account for 23 percent of all our timespent online. No matter your generation, or what business you are in, you have most likely heard about the importance of social media for branding and customer relationship management (CRM). Social relationship management (SRM) has become a mainstream term, but you may still be wondering exactly what it means and how it impacts your organization. Here’s our take on it:

Keeping a finger on what is trending, discussions on your social media pages or a competitor’s site is great, but by itself, it’s simply not enough. An SRM solution, such as Astute SRM, helps you filter through the noise and focus on topics and trends relevant to your business. From there, SRM helps convert the information you gather into stronger customer relationships through successful campaigns and features, such as:

  • Monitoring millions of social media sites, blogs, and review sites (e.g. not just Facebook and Twitter, but also Instagram, Google +, LinkedIn, YouTube and Amazon Reviews)
  • Analyzing relevant comments and categorizing them as positive, negative, or neutral, and also taking Sentiment Analysis a step further by detecting specific emotions such as anger, disdain, affection, etc.
  • Routing priority issues to the appropriate email or queue in your CRM responsible for maintaining your social media or quality control
  • Engagement that ensures you respond to relevant tweets, posts, comments and discussions at the right time. This is especially crucial in an era where 42 percent of consumers expect responses to social media complaints in 60 minutes or less.

Using these tools, your marketing team gains real-time intelligence that reduces the need for costly market research and focus groups. Additionally, SRM can: make your messaging and branding more effective; identify and correct a problem with your product or service before it goes viral; uncover gaps in your service model; and gather feedback about new product rollouts. In other words, SRM puts you far more in control of your social media presence and overall brand image than ever before.

SRM is the future of customer retention and creating more engaged audiences ready to become loyal brand advocates, so what are you waiting for? For more information on Astute Solutions Social Relationship Management solutions, click here.   

How to get in shape at the office!

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No dumbbells required for actual workout!

We all want the ripped abs, toned arms and strong legs that we see on celebrities. But getting in shape takes time… Time that many of us simply don’t have.

At McConnell Marketing we’ve come up with a solution. A workout plan that costs nothing, takes only a few minutes and can be done in the comfort of your office!

So don’t waste any more of your precious time and money. Get in shape while staying productive at work with the McConnell Marketing Office Workout! 

 

 

 

 

Clean the World Co-Founder Inspires Students

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From left to right, Mark McConnell, Shawn Seipler, Katie Hively, Calvin and Olivia Hively. 

Clean the World Co-founder and Executive Director Shawn Seipler spoke at the University of Mount Union last week as part of its Heffern Business Lecture series. Afterwards, students assembled 500 hygiene kits as part of a ONE Project hygiene kit build.

Clean the World holds a special place in our hearts for us here at McConnell Marketing. They are a pro-bono client with a cause that we truly believe in.

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Luckily for us, Mount Union is only 30 minutes from our office so a few of our associates were able to take this opportunity to enjoy Seipler’s presentation, and even help build  hygiene kits.

The event was especially rewarding for McConnell Marketing owner, Mark McConnell who teaches at Mount Union and helped organize the event.

“One of my university colleagues asked if I knew anyone who could speak to our students about corporate social responsibility or social entrepreneurship,” said McConnell.“I immediately thought of Shawn as one of the few people with expertise in both areas… and the entire campus community was inspired by his visit.”

The other McConnell Marketing associate to attend, Katie Hively, had positive remarks about the event as well, calling it “inspiring” and adding that “Mark and Shaun are truly men of integrity, honored to have such mentors”.

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Katie and kids building kits!

About Clean the World

Since 2009, Clean the World has worked with hospitality industry partners to recycle soap and send it to parts of the world where having adequate hygiene supplies can save lives. It’s estimated that 9000 children a day die from diarrheal disease and pneumonia, diseases that can help be prevented when access to soap is available.

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How to create Innovation in your Organization: Lessons from TEDx Youngstown

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Do you work in an innovative organization? 

Last week a couple of our associates learned all about innovation at the  first annual TEDx conference in Youngstown, Ohio. TEDx is an independently organized event based on the TED conference that brings together groups of individuals to deliver lectures on a chosen topic. TEDx Youngstown featured a panel of 18 local thought leaders who shared some compelling ideas about innovation.

Here are some key takeaways from TEDx Youngstown that any organization can use to become more innovative!

Respect the power of teams

Very few innovators show up as solo acts

-Tony DeAscentis

Don’t lose track of the fact that innovation isn’t a one-person job. Teams are a critical part of innovation. Take advantage of them.

In his talk, Tony DeAscentis from the Youngstown business incubator dispelled the myth of the “lone innovator”. Yes, there are the Steve Jobs or Bill Gates of the world, who seem to single-handedly change history, but even these master innovators had impressive supporting casts.

Remember that Size Matters… but not in the way you’d think

Innovation usually happens with small teams, off the beaten path

-Rob Gorham

Small teams, argued Rob Gorham, have a distinct advantage in terms of innovation over large ones.  Gorham, deputy director at America Makes, is in one of the most innovative fields in the world right now: 3D Printing.

A 3D printed logo is a great innovation.

3D printed logo made by America Makes

Small teams aren’t held back by organizational momentum, they can change rapidly and apply new ideas quickly. Look around your organization, has it become unwieldy?  Are there ways to organize into smaller teams?

Slowly but Continuously become more Innovative over Time

People tend to think innovative organizations were always that way. They weren’t. Organizations can work to become better at fostering an atmosphere of innovation.

Small wins every day matter, that is the discipline of organizational innovation

-col. Al Faber

Colonel Al Faber  made a great point about becoming an innovative organization. It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s important to recognize the value of getting a little bit better every single day.

Pay Attention to your Innovation Strategy

Faber also laid out some questions  that companies should be asking themselves in regards to their innovation strategy. Can your organization answer these questions?

  1. Is there a leadership strategy?
  2. How do you engage your customers to identify opportunities for innovation?
  3. How do you collect and integrate information in tracking daily operations
  4. How do you manage innovation processes?
  5. How do you develop and engage workforce innovation?

Look at the Familiar with a Fresh Perspective

One theme that several speakers touched on was the ideas of being open to new ideas and continually learning, especially from sources you wouldn’t normally think of.

Brian Sinchak, a local high-school president, advocated that the innovation our education system needs is the Passport. Traveling to a foreign country in his formative years was a major influence on his life, and Sinchak though exposing young people to different cultures, and ideas can have a drastic affect on learning.

What does a Buddhist monk and Congressman Tim Ryan have in common?  They are both passionate about mindfullness! Ryan’s speech about bringing mindfullness to the masses and simply practicing living in the moment is a powerful idea. Ryan is so passionate about this practice to the Western world that he wrote a book about it !

Finally, Jeff Hoffman , self described serial entrepreneur and founder of priceline.com, adamantly talked about a daily habit he labels idea sponging,   learning about something new every day even if it doesn’t seem relevant.

Hoffman also talked about the value of looking at the world with a fresh perspective.

The world’s most innovative people look at the world with a sense of child-like wonder

Jeff Hoffman

Try new ideas, find new sources of information, look in the least likely of places. Innovation is a skill that your organization can get better at through practice!

Enjoying the atmosphere of the Willard InterContinental

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Account executive Megan is wishing for a trip to the decadent Willard InterContinental In Washington DC. What better place to relax with a good drink?

One of the best (and historic) locations in all of Washington D.C. is the Willard InterContinental. They decorate their lobby with a gorgeous tree and some of the most beautiful decorations I’ve ever seen. Every year they have “Holiday Lobbying” where local vocal ensembles come from the surrounding areas and sing Christmas tunes in the lobby. I’d love to just relax in the lobby, listen to the singing and sip on a Hot Toddy from the Round Robin Bar. Sounds delicious!

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