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Soulati-'TUDE!

Social Listening Is Key To Engagement, Long-Term Business Growth

03/20/2020 By Jayme Soulati

ALT="Soulati Media blog post image on social listening with 2 toddlers talking on a string phone"

Social listening has risen to the top of the ladder as a critical component in program strategy for every business affected by COVID-19. Where before, you surfed social media and merely brushed against key conversations in your stream. Now, deeper dives into conversation provide the pulse of the conversation that not only builds awareness but also opportunity.

What Is Social Listening

What does social listening mean to you?

As social media engagement tightens up into niche groups and smaller streams, these “virtual dinner chats” provide meaningful conversation with a lot of emotion and feelings bared in more comfortable channels.

Perhaps you invite 10 people to join you in a video conference on Zoom, Skype, Whereby, Calendly, or other really cool app. You ask two questions, “So, how is everyone coping?” And “What are you putting in place to ensure you don’t collapse from stress?”

And, the floodgates open widely as people isolated in their self-quarantine want to share with others and feel the strength of community. During these conversations, your job as host is to find the pulse of the conversation. To help, you don your PR strategist hat, you determine how to address the problems with solutions.

Solving the issues surrounding COVID-19 seems particularly impossible. Therefore, building relationship and community solve the immediate issue of isolation. Within that relationship building, you invite everyone to chat about their business. What do they do on a normal business day? Ask about products and services they offer others on a normal business day? What tips can everyone offer that others can adopt?

Social Media Does Offer A Solution During Isolation

Social media, in my book, has always, always been about engagement and NEVER a one-way street. Frequently, many peeps lazily post on channels and rarely respond or share one-to-one. Connectivity with true humans softens the chaos and jagged edges of our own psyche.

And, if you don’t mind me asking, how is yours? Psychologically, COVID-19 wreaks great havoc on the psyche. Mine is suffering greatly with enormous stress as a self-employed business owner. I worry for my daughter working in a grocery store as a cashier. My thoughts go daily to my 80-year-old mother hoping she copes well through quarantine. Even more, shuttered businesses I used to frequent for my livelihood and clients with closed doors due to the pandemic contribute to my stress. That means I worry for the health of my business and ability to pay my bills and mortgage.

In conclusion, I am turning to social listening to see that I’m not alone in this global crisis. I am reaching out to connect with old friends and business peers. I am blogging more frequently and having fun designing Instagram posts on Canva for the first time. Will this help me bring in money to my dying business? Perhaps or perhaps not, but, no one said Rome was built in a day, right?

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: business growth, Digital marketing, Jayme Soulati, Public Relations, social circles, social listening, social media engagement, Social Media Strategy

TikTok Is Owned By China But Teens Don’t Care

01/07/2020 By Jayme Soulati

ALT="Marketing Charts TikTok Spend Increasing, Graphic for Marketing Expenditures"

Do you TikTok? Honestly, I tried to join in on the fuss, but I’m obviously not of the age group that watches stupid pet tricks on 15 second repetitive videos. Remember Vine? Yeah, that was short-lived, too, but TikTok may have more staying power with marketers now paying attention.

And, why do marketers suddenly care about TikTok? Because it’s all the rage with teens, exactly as the data say: early teens and even my 18-year-old daughter spend hours guffawing at the ridiculous simplicity of the stunts people pull to get a claim to fame.

I applaud Heidi Thorne for putting up a TikTok to promote her videos. She is reachable on Instagram and TikTok @HeidiThorne. I love this woman for putting herself out there to tell her story and marketing tips.

Back to business…

Marketing Charts says 1 in 3 agencies will increase spend on TikTok in 2020.

Is TikTok Worthy Of Your Time?

Granted, we can dissect every piece of data like this. The fact that an emerging channel like TikTok is making the grade enough to even chat about is noteworthy. Case in point, TikTok’s owner is ByteDance of China. That raises so many red flags about privacy, hacking and tracking of our teens that it’s something to think about.

This week, I attempted to find an international conference calling app to set up a meeting with China. In one year, the U.S. and China no longer communicate on conference calling tools like Skype, What’s App, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Free Conference, and many more. I found DingTone, but to get the app to work, you need to earn free points.

Further, the U.S. military seems to think that TikTok is a danger to armed forces. This is likely due to data collection from the video app accessible to the Chinese government. The Committe on Foreign Investment in the United States initiated a national security review of ByteDance in 2019. It cited concerns about TikTok in espionage, censorship and foreign influence, according to Slate.com.

I went to find Heidi Thorne’s handle for TikTok and noticed my comment about she being a TikTokker. She asked whether I was up there and what my handle was. I replied, “Well, what is the value of me talking to teens…on a platform owned by China?”

Heidi’s blog post on her foray into TikTok experimentation, references Vox, stating that in 2018, TikTok downloaded 1 billion times with 27 million U.S. users.

Ask About Marketing Value

And that, my friends, is the crux of the matter. When considering social media platforms in integrated marketing, look at the value each brings to that mix and audience reach. Determine whether your audience includes Gen Z, the teenagers, in this case, as that is the demographic of TikTok.

As with any social media, you need to be consistent with your content. If you don’t have content suitable for that audience, then you may just be talking to a wall.

So, what do you think? Does a social media app owned by a Chinese company bother you? Privacy concerns are rampant, and I know my email is on many breach lists by now. The bigger question: when will Americans feel threatened by damaging privacy attacks to make everyone take notice and then action?

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: baby boomer marketing, Instagram, marketing charts, Social Media Marketing, TikTok, value marketing

Celebrating Digital Birthdays With Milaap #Milaap4Hope

06/16/2014 By Jayme Soulati

ALT="Screen Shot, Milaap"Have you ever participated in a microloan program? It’s the coolest way to give back, pay it forward, and help boost the businesses of micro farmers and business people in all corners of the globe. I for one have been a longstanding Kiva.org supporter and have gifted loans to friends who in turn loan money to the folks in South America, Asia, the Balkans, Africa, India, and many other regions. That’s why I was glad to learn about Milaap and how it is celebrating its fourth birthday TODAY on an impressive global scale. Having just learned about Milaap myself, this infographic below may be the best and most efficient method to inform you. Here’s the scoop from the news release recently issued: On June 16, 2014, its fourth anniversary, Milaap invites change agents from around the world to join in a global, round-the-clock online conversation on sustainable giving using #Milaap4Hope. This unique 24-hour event will be hosted across three countries and a range of social networks, beginning at 6:30 am IST on June 16, 2014 (9 pm EDT on June 15, 2014). To learn more about and participate in this unique online event, please visit https://blog.milaap.org/digitalbirthday. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: Crowdfunding, digital birthday, Kiva, microlending, microloans, Milaap

I’ll Never Forget The Glory Days Of Twitter

05/09/2014 By Jayme Soulati

ALT="future, past, sign, Soulati"It’s time to have a retirement party and bid the glory days of Twitter so long. It was a good run. We made a lot of connections, met peeps IRL, bantered, and did a bit of business. It was the first check-in in the morning and the last check-in late night. It’s where blog jacks launched, and ‘raderie was born. We survived a recession on Twitter, and together we kept the ROFLs and LMAOs and LOLs rolling in the stream.

The Twitter Glory Days

Twitter used to be the gathering place for anyone who was anyone. Actually, let me rephrase that — Twitter used to be the gathering place for anyone who was no one! Twitter made us someone. It built our personal brands and the frontrunners, self-professed Twitterholics like moi, lapped it up and enjoyed the ride. We all launched about 2009, and didn’t know what we were doing, so we did anything. In these archives, you’ll find a sheep video with Danny Brown and Dino Dogan. It’s a gem, a keeper, and only the old timers know of it! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: Danny Brown, Dino Dogan, glory days, golden years, Social Media, Triberr, Twitter, Twitter IPO

Get @TheCityHourApp For Social Networking

04/17/2014 By Jayme Soulati

Soulati-Screen-Shot.jpgI recently had the distinct pleasure  to speak with Lance Seymour, chief marketing officer with CityHour, in this Google+ HangOut On Air. During that session, I also got to to send Alex Lubinsky, founder of CityHour, in the Ukraine some big love from we in the U.S. See what we get to do in sponsored posts? We can send hugs and kisses on a personal note across countries and oceans to those in strife. Big XO to you, Alex!

Now back to scheduled programming…

Hear About CityHour Here

CityHour is a new social networking tool with a big vision.

Have you ever traveled and had downtime in an airport or wandered aisles at a tradeshow wishing you were meeting someone instead? How about meeting someone totally new who also wants to do the same?

That’s what CityHour app does for iPhone users (coming soon to Android). Within minutes, and I mean minutes, you can hook into peeps you don’t know with your same interests and make connections happen. I’m impressed, and after seeing what Lance has to say below, you are going to be impressed, too!

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Filed Under: Business, Social Media Tagged With: Alex Lubinsky, Android, App Store, CityHour, Facebook, Google+, iPhone, Ukraine

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ALT="Jayme Soulati"

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