Among the first free tax-supported public libraries in Canada, the Kitchener Public Library (KPL) opened in 1884. Its vision is To inspire and enrich for life. In 2017, they rolled out a new strategic plan which will focus on four goals : Work Together Ignite Community Conversations Foster Belonging Bold Leadership I met with Charlotte Prong, Social Media Editor of KPL a few weeks ago to talk about their use of social media. As an organization without a traditional sales model, their use of social media is used primarily for brand awareness. The community needs to know that the library goes beyond books; it’s a place where people connect with each other and to the resources they need.

“Social Tools are not just about giving people a voice, but giving them a way to collaborate, contribute and connect”.  – John Stepper, MD Social Media and Collaboration at Deutche Bank.  The Whole Enterprise Social Media is the integrated approach to the use of social media for business performance improvement.  The use of social media in various organizational areas is beneficial however, even greater benefits are possible if we can link them together and synchronize its use across the organization. Loyalty Digital Solutions Inc. understands the importance of social media and not only using it through its different functions but also integrating it to help connect and collaborate with each other.  Loyalty Digital Solutions is a digital solutions provider, specializing in web, mobile and e-commerce platforms. They maintain, host and drive traffic to your site, all by using the latest techniques in design and development. Their digital marketing solutions focuses on building loyal customers for your business.

TELUS is a Canadian communications company that was officially founded in 1990. Since then, the company has grown to become Canada’s fastest growing national telecommunications company. TELUS provides services to 8.6 million wireless subscribers, 1.7 million high-speed internet subscribers, 1.4 million residential network access lines subscribers and 1 million television subscribers. Telus also provides communication products and services, which include wireless data, Internet Protocol, voice, television, entertainment and video and it’s also the nation’s largest healthcare IT provider. The success of TELUS can be credited to their company ideology. The TELUS slogan is “The Future is Friendly” and the company incorporates this ideology into each aspect of their brand. TELUS is known for their cheeky use of ‘cute’ animals throughout their branding and marketing campaigns to emphasize their slogan; but they also take many other measures to ensure the continued success of the company and to demonstrate their loyalty in providing excellent service to their customers. TELUS is active on a number of different social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn. They also have a company blog and an online discussion forum for customers called the Neighbourhood, that allows customers to “Share thoughts, ask questions, and get answers. All in one place.”

Love them or hate them, The Real Housewives franchise is undeniably in your face.  The franchise which originated with producer/host/personality/media guru Andy Cohen, has been unapologetically sashaying its way into living rooms globally since 2005. Viewers are provided with the opportunity to peek behind the curtains and gates and business women from Beverly Hills, Orange County, and most recently Toronto (!). What we see is not always funny – it can be emotional, heartbreaking, or downright embarrassing. But no matter the situation, viewership continues to embrace the popular television series, which has led Bravo TV to create more and more methods for their viewers to engage and consume programming content. Bravo has taken a dynamic approach to consumer engagement, including generating dynamic social media strategies to a continually thirsty audience. Bravo’s whole enterprise social media formula is nothing more than a well-devised strategic assault on the senses – and it’s bloody genius.

Your whole enterprise social media strategy should be simple and practical.  It should complement the overall organizational goals, but it deserves its own plan and measurable objectives.  I have been through numerous planning processes where the end result is a plan and no action.  Why did that occur?  I think it happens because many planning sessions fail to start with the end in mind.  Much like a trip, the first thing to know is where you want to go. If you don’t know where you are going how will you ever know that you have arrived?  Seems pretty simple but many planning processes are started chasing the latest craze without any regard to what the business is actually trying to achieve.  Given the benefits of social media and its exponential growth in business use, it is hard not to get caught up in trying to implement social media quickly.  Why wouldn’t you want to try to reap the benefits enjoyed by so many other organizations and businesses?  Well, with some patience and planning you will be able to gather better results and more importantly avoid potential costly issues.  

Social media is gaining greater traction in the corporate world. Yes, you read that correctly, your employer wants you to use MORE social media in the workplace. Unfortunately, they are less interested in your mirror selfies and cat photos than they are in the implementation of strategically aligned social media applications for cost savings and business benefit. On March 13, 2017, IBM released a product offering with new capabilities for enterprise social networks. It offers a more simple collaboration across the organization and the employee ‘on-boarding’ experience. IBM Connections 6.0 now links with IBM Cloud Object Storage to provide the option of storage scalability. Other features include ‘Orient Me’, a new form of API-driven construction that pulls information by relevancy for the end user. Another feature – ‘Touchpoint’ – helps new employees get acquainted with their colleagues and facilitates a streamlined orientation process. Touchpoint also reduces the amount of time needed to set up new workspaces. IBM Connections helps employees access files and data in addition to syncing workflows. The platform also helps employees access a variety of data streams, including blogs and wikis and can be delivered via cloud, on-site or as a hybrid solution.

When you’re an airline that receives 35,000 social media inquiries per week, you need a fully engaged team to be able to pull off your commitment “to respond to every user comment or question within 60 minutes” and resolve every issue within 24 hours, but this is exactly what  KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is doing. The airline even updates their social media banners every five minutes letting customers know the approximate wait time for a response.

Are you hungry yet? If not, take a look at the amazing recipes from The Two Purple Figs food blog. Creator and blogger, Mahy Elamin has posted hundreds to choose from, in many popular categories, over the past 18 months. Her passion for food has earned Mahy significant momentum with foodie followers. By creating useful content showcased with professional photography she has registered over 1,400 subscribers to her blog. Even more impressive is the traffic to Mahy’s website, which now attains more than 70,000 visits per month. Her content is featured on MSN food, The Huffington Post, Yummly, StumbleUpon, Yahoo Food, foodgawker, tastespotting and findingvegan. Two Purple Figs was created when Mahy merged her love of cooking with her food science degree and decided to share it simply as a blog. But, about a year ago Mahy began social media marketing efforts, which resonated with a much larger audience. The Two Purple Figs blog has since become an actual business.