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Ike Pigott

The Most Bogus Metric

by Ike Pigott · April 26, 2013

I love Twitter. I really do. Even when I have a beef with it, I recognize that it is an amazing tool connecting people and businesses and cultures and organizations and thoughts and ideas and revolutionaries. And it was built by a small conclave of guys who had no idea what it would grow up to be.

But there is a gap in our measurements, and it’s one that Twitter might make some real money while fixing the most bogus metric of all.

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6 comments

Threads That Entangle Your Crisis Communications

by Ike Pigott · April 19, 2013

Facebook is rolling out its Threaded Comments for brand pages, and on the surface it seems to be a great tool for engagement.

However, not everything that is good for the one makes sense for the many.

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4 comments

Some Solutions to Social Media Hijacking

by Ike Pigott · March 1, 2013

The recent hacking of two major brand accounts (Burger King and Jeep) should have prompted some conversations and concern among those of you who manage a Twitter account for your brand. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 multinational or a local small business armed with Tweetdeck and a prayer, it’s time to do some deeper thinking about security.

The Good News First

  • Fortunately, for both Jeep and Burger King, no permanent damage was done to their reputation or the value of their respective brands.
  • Twitter issued a security fix!
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13 comments

Livefyre Torched As Spam – Are You Next?

by Ike Pigott · January 18, 2013

Words like “Engagement” and “Conversation” have been drilled down to the point of self-parody. Anyone putting together a Social Media Bingo Card would be foolish to ignore them — and in some businesses, those words represent real business. So much so that there is an entire industry built around comment management and making the activity around online interactions as “sticky” as possible.

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19 comments

What Charter Doesn’t Understand About Social Media

by Ike Pigott · December 13, 2012

In a move that surprised even the most jaded customer, Charter abruptly pulled the plug on its social media customer service team. But why? A brief statement from the company:

“We believe speaking directly with a customer is a more personal, effective and consistent way to answer questions, solve an issue or provide information, and we will focus our efforts on these means of communications. We’re committed to treating our customers with great care, and we believe that person-to-person interaction accomplishes that in a more meaningful way for more of our customers.”

…and some analysis from SME’s Ike Pigott:

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16 comments

Five Reasons to Blog Offline

by Ike Pigott · November 9, 2012

Ike… you’re crazy, man! The whole purpose of social media is being social, right? Why would you have a blog and not share it with anyone?

Great question. So let’s answer that by going back to the roots of the word “blog.”

Blog = (we)blog, or “web log.” Technically speaking, a blog is any online tool that you update frequently. Preferably, it has built-in resources and features that make updates easy. There’s nothing inherent in that definition that assumes “community,” or “comments,” or for that matter, “visibility.”

So here are some reasons you ought to keep on offline blog:

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8 comments

The Reporter’s Guide to Customer Experience

by Ike Pigott · August 22, 2012

Congratulations! You did all the hard work, studied your options and embarked on a social media program for your company. You’ve already accomplished the second most-difficult part of maintaining a social presence that will keep your customers informed and engaged. The hardest part?

The rest.

We often got lost in the bright and shiny glare of the tool-of-the-day, and lose track of what’s important.

Now that you’ve launched, you need to take a critical eye and examine what seems to be working and what isn’t. And while there are so many variables for small/medium/enterprise and retail/service that a checklist isn’t really viable, there is a way to make sure you’re asking all the right questions about how you are maintaining your program.

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12 comments

How Long Should Your Blog Post Be?

by Ike Pigott · July 20, 2012

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of people asking this question. The answer varies quite a bit, so let me be more definitive.

A blog post is as long as you need it to be to make your point, and no more.

But what about the search engines? What about the research about most clicked posts?

Forget them. They measured content that you didn’t write, for people who you don’t care about. It’s like averaging the height of the top 100 chess Grandmasters, and telling you that the optimum player is 5′ 7″.

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12 comments

The Balkanization of The Parking Deck

by Ike Pigott · June 14, 2012

I work in a building with a rather large parking deck. Seven floors, if you include the roof, yet all is not as it seems. Unlike many such structures, getting to the top doesn’t require seven rounded upward turns — ours could best be described as a double-helix. (Efficiency in our DNA.) What this means is that your trip up (or down) doesn’t go past every single vehicle: you only see half. The twin spirals do connect at top and bottom where one can cross over to the other side, but few do.

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About Ike Pigott

Ike Pigott

In his previous life, Ike Pigott was an Emmy-winning TV reporter, who turned his insider's knowledge of the news cycle into a crisis communications consultancy. At the American Red Cross, serving as Communication and Government Relations Director for five southeastern states, Ike pioneered the use of social media in disaster. Now -- by day -- he is a communications strategist for Alabama Power and a Social Media Apologist; by night, he lurks at Occam's RazR, where he writes about the overlaps and absurdities in communications, technology, journalism and society. Find out how you can connect with Ike or follow him on Twitter at @ikepigott. He also recently won the coveted "Social Media Explorer contributing writer with the longest Bio" award.

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