Author(s) :

Author(s) : Réseau Femmes et Développement Durable (FDD)

Crédit Agricole has launched a project to integrate students with disabilities easier in companies. The goal is to find new ways of collaboration with disabilities and learn to work together, to improve communication for the generations coming. Social networks appear as the most effective and viral communication tool.

Crédit Agricole has proposed a challenge to 50 students by asking them to imagine a strategy of integration for the disabled people. The results showed that social networks are fundamental; it allows multiple sources of inspirations and sharing.(example of a tutorial about social networks and sustainable development. Please see the Youtube link)

There is another example with WiserEarth, a vertical network serving the collective intelligence. There are many associations, communities or organizations dedicated to sustainable development in the world. We must come together to achieve objectives more easily and quickly. It also can help to promote partnerships. Once again, social networks appear to be the ideal solution to get there! Its model is similar than Wikipedia, the internet user can propose its own content, becoming an activist and participating to the changes of communication tools.  The new trend is to be connected, to gather, to collaborate and to grow! It then come an obvious change of the society through the use of new communication tools. This phenomenon is called “connectivism”.

 

2. Social networks are changing the behavior of society.

 

As shown by the phenomenon of “retweet”. We are becoming a zapping generation, because everything is and must be shortened (Example: Twitter and its tweet about 140 characters like a SMS). It is obvious that the information knows an incomparable speed. However, we can wonder about the content’s quality.

Nowadays, what seems to be more important isn’t the accuracy but the quickness of the exchange. The media “Down to the Earth” from Danone can be an example to understand the issues of professional social networks. This social link was created by Danone and operates on four themes (Nature, Nutrition, and Social Business Ecosystem) on the reputation of the company, in order to be more credible to its consumers. The aim is to have influence thanks to the users’ interaction and to make the platform a reference on the issues covered.

3. Benefits and risks of using social networks

Advantages: Using social networks also allows professionals to develop their reputation, and to support or develop expertise on a subject, and to manage their after-sales service (Example: a customer who complains via Twitter is visible by everyone). In addition, a social network can also help to federate its employees and for recruitment. These networks can create new modes of communication such as carpooling, as it facilitates exchanges and also to develop new services. Sustainable development also encourages users to choose virtuous communication. There is the phenomenon of “crowd sourcing”, the content creators have the power to influence business companies (Example: restaurants’ rating, 70% of Internet users rely on it while they don’t know each other). These new means of communication show that the consumer first!

Risks: There are still some risks associated with this communication. Company credibility cannot be defined by the number of followers or subscribers. The company must continue to listen and accept conversation whatever happens. That is to say, to be reactive and to should remain humble. In addition, it is important to be “transparent” and to accept every comment. It is not recommended to use fake profiles because it is very badly received.

 A facebook page static and “non-living”, for example, can be seen as a company non reactive, with a lack of dynamism.

To conclude, the use of social networks is very beneficial for sustainable development and to improve the image of a company. However, it is necessary to know the advantages and the risks, to define communication objectives, and to manage its presence on selected media.

Using social networks as an amplifier is a very difficult art but is becoming essential in an era when Internet, “that’s our world”.

In short, companies who want to use social networks should:

 – Be transparent

 – Accept the conversation / critics

 – To be humble

 – Create content relevant, innovative and authentic

Author(s) : StrongMail Systems

StrongMail is a platform which proposes e-mail marketing solutions of personalized according to the advertising campaign and to the message to be delivered. It is used to increase the interactivity with the subscribers. According to a leading study, the use of StrongMail increases the participation of the subscriber by 52 %, and improves the segmentation and the targeting by 49 %.

 

 

I)    The interest of StrongMail

In 2011, increasing of the number of subscribers is an absolute priority for e-mail marketing. By integrating StrongMail into your system you will be capable of defining AND MEASURING the commitment of your subscribers. Then to develop the contents of your offers to DRIVE AN interaction with your subscribers and to motivate the subscriber to supply relevant information. And in the end to have a creative design of the offer to attract attention.

Then customers can use these studies to maximize the efficiency of their email campaigns of and finally to make a better marketing. Of From this experts’ department, you could reduce the cost of your marketing program of, and better target your customers. And thus of increase your income. StrongMail allows understanding the numerous factors which influence the performance of your e-mails.

II)    The solutions of e-mail marketing

This white book describes several methods advised to increase the efficiency of advertising campaigns by e-mail. You will find thanks for the subscribers with promotional lotteries a special offer to share with his friends, to insert links towards the social networks so that the subscribers remain constantly informed of the offers. But also rewards for the customers who express their opinions, e-mails so that the customers confirm their subscription, titles with concentrated but clear messages, a visual performance with dynamic messages.

To hire your addressees, it is necessary to supply a relevant e-mail which incites an interaction. The subscribers want to be understood and to feel unique. This is why it is necessary to personalize the e-mail, to be creative and to attract attention. It is also necessary to adopt a relevant segmentation so that the e-mail campaign is effective.

Author(s) : ComScore

 

 

 

With the widespread adoption of the Internet around the world came the rise of social networking as a global phenomenon.In March 2007, Social Networking as a category had a global audience of less than 500 million users, representing just 56 percent of the world’s online population.

Author(s) : Hugo Grillat

 

 

 

Author(s) : Jan Lauren Boyles and Lee Rainie

Mobile Phone Problems

Despite the many benefits they can bring, cell phones are causing many disadvantages for the personal life of their users. 

Indeed, because of some intrusions into their mobile phones, owners cell may find them faced with unwanted services.

The Pew Internet Project (PIP) decided to do some search upon this subject in order to discover what are the main problems caused by mobile phones.

This is an organization which explores the impact of internet on children, families, communities, work place, schools, health care and civic or political life. It’s an initiative of the Pew Research Center that provides informations on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

In a survey of April 2012, the PIP has identified the major problems faced by mobile phone users. This study was conducted only within the United States population through phone calls.

In responding to this survey, the American public has allowed PIP to list several negative factors, but four of them are cited by most Americans. These four main problems are:

• dropped calls

• unwanted sales and marketing calls

• spam and unwanted texts

• slow download speeds

To detect these problems, the questions asked by the PIP were really focused on the unwanted aspect of intrusions.

According to this survey, some 88% of American adults have cell phones, some 79% of cell phone owners say they use text messaging on their cells and some 55% of cell phone owners say they use their phones to go online to browse on Internet, exchange emails, or download apps.

This study also showed that the users of smartphones are more affected by these problems. This is particularly because these phones have more functions and possibilities.

Moreover, the survey revealed a difference between the different populations of the United States. Indeed, the results show that African-Americans and Hispanics are more affected by these problems than white people. This could be because they are more likely to use only their cell phone to call and get on the Internet (based on PIP).

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, we can say that cell phones have become essential tools for everyday life. They are part of the technological revolution of the 21st century and evolve more over the years. However, the disadvantages of technical and personal orders also made their appearance.

Now the challenge is to ensure the safety of users while minimizing the problems they face with their cell phones.

Author(s) : Scott Brinker

Author(s) : Silverpop | Engagement Marketing Solutions

Buzz Building – 7 Steps to Social Media Marketing Success

Introduction: In 2012, customers and prospects spent more and more time on social networks,
which are now a major marketing method for companies. If you can gather customers and
prospects around your brand, it means that you are doing your job well and you can be optimistic
about future sales. If you can’t be, Silverpop brings you 7 steps to teach you how to build the
right “buzz” on the Internet.

Hypothesis: What do you need to create a great social marketing campaign, bring new customers
and gather them around your brand to keep them and help you to sell ?

1 – Determine your goals and your strategy
Stop focusing on tactical metrics: don’t believe. Think about the reason why you’re using social
media: acquisition or retention tool? Start small and surely: when you feel comfortable with
social media, then you can look for a precise objective. How to do it right? Don’t communicate
like a robot, with untimely ads (you can hire a community manager) but involve people who are
enthusiastic and driven.

2 – Understand your market
Choose your social network according to the habits of your prospects/customers. The key to marketing success on social media is the ability to target communities and customers that align best with your content.
Allocate your resources wisely by understanding customer social behavior. Directly ask the
customer their preferences via surveys or go directly inside the community (not only the big ones,
small ones are important as well). Also look for resources on the web.

3 – Align execution with key channels
Go further than “Twitter or Facebook?” debates. Integrate messages in every social channel.
Invite customers to choose their preferences, push them to be involved on every social network
you’re on (use their emails, spread the word on twitter…) because this how you’re going to get a
maximum impact. Customers are going through different networks all day long and by taking an
integrated multichannel approach, your message will have many more chances to reach them. Just
be careful to maintain a focused and uniformed message. Encourage sharing, make specific and
global campaigns.

4 – Create content that connects (with people and networks)
Content is king in the way that the more it’s relevant, the more it will be effective. 100,000
fans who can’t share valuable content are not as useful as 50,000 fans that can. To optimize this
content, follow these three rules: lose the corporate speak (stop selling, start being human and
transparent when you’re speaking), deliver valuable educating content and be consistent (have a
regular cadence, tweet/post everyday to be sure to be seen).

5 – Engage the marketplace
Going viral is the dream of every marketer and here are a few tips to maximize your chances of
doing so: build a solid seeding social network and community with the help of your valuable/
fun (a social network needs to be fun and not boring. It’s meant to be time-consuming) content.
Listen and respond to the community that you’re monitoring, don’t forget to seed to content with
articles which will generate reactions and conversation around the topic!

6 – Identify and Enable Influencers and Fans
Social media is at its best when you have customer to customer relations and the company isn’t doing anything in appearance. Identify brand ambassadors (Track them by key data) who are going to tweet or respond to questions instead of you. Ninety percent of people are going to trust them (it’s a study), so these ambassadors can have a huge impact. Obviously you’re not going to meet only brand enthusiasts and in this case, you need to resolve problems on a case-to-case basis. Also, don’t forget to treat your ambassadors well if you want them to become more loyal and invested.

7 – Monitor social activity
It’s great to be invested in social networks, but it’s important to know how effective your effortsare. You need to quantify your performances, improve your understanding of customers andprospects, learn to be more efficient in your programs (for example if something worked in acampaign especially on twitter, you can try to make a twitter-only campaign with this thing). Use analytics tools from your social network provider to monitor your efforts Question yourselves:where have we made mistakes, what’s efficient? Asking yourself these types of questions willhelp you to evaluate your progress and go to the next level.

Conclusion: The key to succeeding in social networks is to retain the customers who are goingto help bring new ones. This goes by several important points to never forget: the content is thepriority, you have to push the customers to “work” for you. Monitoring social activity also gives you a competitive advantage.

Author(s) : Khrysti Nazzaro

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Author(s) : Alexandra Knezevic