Healthy Blog Reviews

Despite the fact that the average customer wants to interact via social media, 30 percent of companies don’t have a program in place to handle the demand. That’s according to a study by Yankee Group and it’s not really surprising. Many companies still see social media as a time-waster that keeps their employees from getting their work done. Some companies have even gone so far as to block sites such as Twitter and Facebook, but in cutting off their employees, they could be cutting off their virtual noses to spite their user profiles. The Yankee Group study found that nearly 60% of customers feel company outreach via social media would improve their loyalty to a company . 70% said they want and trust company information that comes to them through social networks and most respondents said companies should monitor social media for customer feedback. On the other side of the login, 70% of the employees surveyed felt that their company didn’t have the proper tools, stats and protocols in place to make social media useful and manageable. For businesses, the only thing worse than being behind the times is jumping into social media without a plan. Back in January, P&G found itself in the middle of a social media uprising over their new not-so-improved Pampers. The company claimed all would be resolved once they launched their official media campaign, weeks after the products hit the shelves. In the meantime, angry moms were using their Facebook and Twitter accounts to instantly slam the company in a very public manner. Social media isn’t going away. The companies that succeed will be the ones who set down proper policies and procedures for marketing and dealing with the consumer feedback across all of the channels. That also means installing tools to monitor stats and taking those Facebook blocks off their employees’ computers. My advice. Stop worrying if Fred in accounting is Tweeting about the burrito he had for lunch, and start worring about the customer who just posted a Facebook photo of the poor quality product he bought with your name on it.

Tags: consumer, customer, employees, facebook, flickr, Research, Social, yankee group
Posted July 19, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Google just shut down Google.cn . There are three things you should know. First, the decision: …earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to  Google.com.hk , where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Second, the Chinese government could block access to Google.com.hk at any time. Third, Google appears to be concerned that the Chinese government could take retaliatory action against its employees in China: Finally, we would like to make clear that all these decisions have been driven and implemented by our executives in the United States, and that none of our employees in China can, or should, be held responsible for them. The ball is now in the court of the Chinese government. I’m expecting a swift response!

Tags: China, chinese, decision, employees, executives, google images, google-china, google-cn, google-com-hk, google-news, our-executives, Search, these-decisions, United States
Posted March 22, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

It sounds like a cross between Tomorrowland and a college dorm: Google wants on- (or near-) campus housing for their employees . Yes, the free on-campus laundry, free on-campus eateries, on-campus childcare (I’m just assuming that’s not free, but you never know) and free on-campus exercise facilities (making them 75% more free than where I went to college, but anyway) are just not enough to keep their employees at the Googleplex enough hours of the day. I don’t think the housing will be free, but you never know. This doesn’t necessarily mean Google has any plans to get into real estate development . Remember their wireless spectrum bluff ? Google may be appealing to make the change, hoping if you “rezone it, they will come.” It’s not a terrible theory—potential builders would have a built-in set of potential renters/buyers for the residential properties, which would make office retail space desirable there, too. So Google probably isn’t trying to take over every aspect of their employees’ lives (despite what it seems like with the on-campus oil changes, doctors, masseuses and dry cleaning drop off—which are not free, I assume). In fact, it started as the exact opposite—housing and services convenient to the Googleplex are virtually nonexistent. No, they’re not just coddling their employees so they can attract those recent college grads who’ve had Mom do their laundry for the last 20+ years . In fact, Google may be trying to save money with this move: some employees live so far away (and the Googleplex doesn’t have a lot of public transit access) that Google provides luxury buses with Wi-Fi for employees commuting from San Francisco. So what’s a multi-billion dollar corporation to do? Well, first, they start off with the proper legal channels. Last week, they wrote a letter to Mountain View, preparing to ask for zoning changes to allow housing in the nearby area. Naturally, they’re also being careful to plan sustainable development: Our goals for Google’s HQ are to provide a future redevelopment that is nurturing and regenerative to the environment provide a vibrant community and worklife balance [I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry there] for all and efficiently manage transportation and pedestrian access needs. This must include mixed uses office retail and residential along with the kind of land use development described in the Final Report by the Mountain View Environmental Sustainability Task Force. So their plans aren’t just to build apartment buildings—they want strip malls, too. Ah, yes, then life will be complete . The current zoning is for commercial use only. The city is preparing to discuss zoning changes, but don’t expect to move into your Google-themed housing too soon. TechCrunch also has the full memo from the Mountain View City Planner to the City Council, preparing to discuss the zoning changes: What do you think? Will Google get its real estate dreams? Will they be building, or will they step back and let others do the heavy lifting? Photo by Joe Penniston Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

Tags: city, council, employees, environment, googleplex, make-the-change, marketing, mountain, mountain-view, plans, real-estate, residential, Search, zoning-changes
Posted February 19, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media