57 Channels and There is Nothing On. What is On in Your World?

By: Ike Eicher

Some of you reading this probably don’t remember this Bruce Springsteen hit or how 57 channels seems so “pre-U-verse” when this was released in 1992.

“Well now home entertainment was my baby’s wish

So I hopped into town for a satellite dish

I tied it to the top of my Japanese car

I came home and I pointed it out into the stars

A message came back from the great beyond

There’s fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on”

So almost 20 years later we have every kind of multi-media, social media, mobile media, blank-blank media to keep our shortening attention spans occupied. But to a certain extent, is there really nothin’ on?

In some cases I do feel that this sensory overload has warped our sense of time. We want instant gratification and short message spurts to communicate our wants or needs. We rarely watch “live” TV and the thought of having to actually wait for our online streams to load and play is crazy. And we want to take this all with us, all the time. So we have mobile devices now that are essentially super computers in our pocket.

I am guilty with all of the above, but it does make me think. From a communications standpoint is this bad? How has this changed how we deliver our message, brand promise, and call to action?

And that is where I find peace. All of these tools are simply new channels in our arsenal. And all the old rules apply. Know your brand and what it promises, know your audience and what they want and need, and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

The other big message here is that in the past, for the most part, we had to only deliver a message. Now we can engage our customers, create a two-way street, and even remedy a problem… right now. The power of instant gratification goes both ways. If the customer tweets a bad experience and you are there immediately to fix it, everyone wins. No calling a 1-800 number, no filtering through an FAQ section of a website, and certainly no sending in the UPC code in a self-addressed mailer. So when the customer feels supported on their channel and we are listening and then reacting, what a brand champion we have created.

So, I’d change the Boss’s classic to 570 channels and yes, there is somethin’ on, let’s just hope we are sending a signal.

What’s on in your world?

Facebook Blasts North Korea and Uriminzokkiri

Have you heard of the new group on Facebook?

A group on Facebook belonging to to Uriminzokkiri, a Web site that provides Korean-language news and propaganda from North Korea’s central news agency.

The group had been previously deleted due to violation of Facebook terms.. A replacement account has appeared and carries similar content as the original. The profile is described as a single male who has interests in Korean reunification and lactose free milk… no joke… lactose free milk.  He describes  himself as wanting to network and meet friends. The group is listed on the Uriminzokkiri site, which is essentially… North Korea’s official home on the Internet. The Facebook group links users to articles on the Uriminzokkiri Web site and videos on the site’s YouTube channel.The Facebook group was drawing attention from mainstream media but became “unavailable” on Friday.

Facebook deleted the group because the account was violating the terms of use. As stated on PCWorld the terms in this situation are stated in section 16 putting usage restriction on the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control list that reads: “If you are located in a country embargoed by the United States or are on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals you will not engage in commercial activities on Facebook (such as advertising or payments) or operate a Platform application or website.”

North Korea is listed as being under U.S.government.

The Facebook group isn’t the first attempt  in social media by the Uriminzokkiri Web site. Before Facebook… they started a YouTube channel and a Twitter account. The Twitter account has more than 10,000 followers.

The issue with this Web site is the restrictions put on it by the South Korean government. which has blocked the site for many years and is blocking access to the Twitter account. The blocking only affects the homepage so the Twitter page is accessible. The Web site also features information on software and techniques that show users how to bypass the blocking.

Restaurants and Social Media

Restaurants using social media is not a new concept. There are certain things restaurants should and should not do. Many of the ideas by the food and beverage industry are creative and unique, which they should be.

The restaurant business is a form of entertainment. You go to a restaurant to enjoy the environment, the food and the service. I mean… let’s be honest… who doesn’t want to be waited on for the rest of their life? If you don’t… you are lying.

When planning a restaurant communication’s strategy using social media… keep in mind that your plan should be entertaining, captivating and should keep your patrons coming back for more. So what should be done?

1. Use Twitter for More than Customer Service
It’s a great tool to use for listening to your customer base. If you have a following then more than likely those followers consist of your customers and they like to be rewarded. Be creative… you could start promotions on Twitter and get your followers involved in redeeming the coupons. Offer exclusive prizes to followers. Be entertaining by giving them a reason to come back.

2. Utilize Your Facebook Fan Page to Drive Traffic
The fan page can sometimes be a second thought due to the high traffic of conversations happening on Twitter. It’s important to engage on Facebook to keep the fans visiting. You can also use the same creative approach to attract more fan involvement. Create a place for fans to visit by adding pictures, asking for fan photos, sharing updates and offer incentives for fans to visit page.

3. Create a Blog to Share Your Story
We all have a story. It’s easy to assume that a restaurant doesn’t need a blog. However, a blog can be give your customers an even greater sense of a relationship. The blog will reflect the restaurant in a more detailed way. Every blog post read can increase the chance for potential customers and current to visit the webpage and drive traffic through the doors.

4. Use Video to Capture the Action!
Take video of events or food and upload it to Flickr or YouTube. Words may not be enough for some people and actual visuals of food can intice customers. Video is also a great way to showcase the people behind the business. People relate to people and video allows for the customers to meet the people behind the food….which hopefully generates loyalty.

Food is something that interests everybody. It’s enjoyed… it sparks conversation… brings up memories…I know it sounds familiar. It should.

The ideas listed above are just a few essential “must dos” when beginning a social media strategy. These are just a few but there are so many more. Keep in mind mobile applications and location based applications.These are two applications that aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. What ideas do you have?

Essential Twitter Tips For Reaching Local Customers

Vince Robisch writes premium web content for businesses that believe their site is an extension of their brand. He believes keyword stuffing looks ridiculous and that Twitter can be used effectively by local businesses. You can find him at his personal blog Help Me Reinvent or on Twitter @vincerobisch as he feverishly prepares for the launch of his new site.

With over 100 million people estimated to be using Twitter, its worldwide reach is without question. Companies with an online presence like @DellOutlet and companies with physical locations around the world like @Starbucks have over two million followers collectively who can all be served via their computer or a short drive from wherever they are located. But how does a local business use Twitter? What if you need local customers and can’t do business with people outside of your limited geographical territory?

The answer is that Twitter can still be an extremely effective social media tool for a locally-based business. Regardless of your geographic reach, there are many techniques you will want to understand in using Twitter to grow your business. For a complete understanding of those techniques, you should just buy Kyle’s book, Twitter Marketing For Dummies and save yourself a significant amount of time trying to figure Twitter out on your own.

The goal of this post is to get you startedon a targeted local use of Twitter. This list will take you from creating your Twitter profile to actually converting a sale. Here are the essential Twitter building blocks for a business seeking local customers:

• Be A Person – People generally like to know who the person is on the other side of the Twitter account. At the very least, use your logo in your profile and have employees of your business be some of your followers. Many businesses have had success by an actual person (president/CEO) being the face of their Twitter account. You can still link your profile to your company website.
• Have A Conversation – Don’t just spam people with offers and tell them to come to your restaurant or store.
• Search For Your Company Name – Find out what people are saying (if anything) about your company and respond. Answering questions and responding to complaints can build serious goodwill in the Twitter community.
• Retweet – People really appreciate it if you retweet something interesting. It not only gives you more to tweet about, it builds a connection with the person you retweeted.
• Search For People To Follow Using Your Email Contact List - This will tell you who out of your actual customer base is using Twitter.
• Research Who Your Local Followers Are Interested In And Follow Them - If this is done in conjunction with the previous step, it’s almost like getting a free list of potential referrals.
• Use Search Tools To Find People In Your Geographical Area You can use the “Find People/Find on Twitter” tool with your Twitter account and search by city or state. You can also use tools like WeFollow, Twellowhood, and Tweepz, among others, to identify local accounts.
• Follow Local Businesses – Think of the local businesses that you frequent and follow them. They are likely to have a similar customer base.
• Don’t Follow Every Local Media Outlet – Many local radio and television stations have a HUGE following. The problem is that they also often don’t engage in a conversation. They simply tweet and don’t listen or respond. If you would like to possibly gain some media attention, follow specific individuals associated with the outlet that actually interact on Twitter.
• Follow National People That You Genuinely Like – It’s not a bad idea to show you have some interests outside of your neighborhood. One thing you might want to consider though is whether following certain people might alienate potential customers. For instance, do you really want to label your business with a certain political viewpoint based on who you are following?
• Let Twitter Do The Work For You – Twitter’s new “Suggestions for You” tool might make finding followers easier.
• Use TwitPics – Show some in-store and behind the scenes photos of your business. It gives people in the community a certain comfort level before they ever enter your physical location.
• Post Events – You might even offer a discount to your followers and tweet a specific promotional code.
• Promote Your Current Customers To Build Loyalty – Retweet their content or simply tweet something nice about @currentcustomer.
• Create An Event – Based on your research up to this point, determine the local influencers and invite them in for an event or give them a special offer.
• Wait Patiently For The Twitter Business Center To Launch.
• Send Out Instant Coupons – Gauge the responsiveness of your followers and encourage business on slow days.

The possibilities are endless. By now though, you should have enough information to take steps in utilizing Twitter to grow your local customer base. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and tweet your business to another level!

Marketing as a State of Mind. Be Captivating.

Marketing is no longer a department – it is a state of mind.

I awoke with a start this morning with a single thought on my mind. It is a concept I heard randomly in the halls (or maybe on Twitter) from the company, ExactTarget. I’m not sure who said it (or typed it) but it was on my mind at 2:30am this morning. Stupid, I know.  At first the concept sounds easy to understand. “Yah… Kyle this makes complete sense! Do not think of marketing as a department with a CMO and a staff but think of marketing as an overall experience!” Easy.

However, there is a deeper meaning to the idea of marketing being a “state of mind.” It is more than your department or advertisement. It is everything under your brand… your structure that supports and influences the customer’s buying decision…. and their experience.

First, let’s explore the meaning of something being a “state of mind.” In researching for this blog post I ran across the teachings of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (I know… it is a mouthful). Mihaly is pretty much the master on the idea of the flow of the mental state of mind.

“Mihaly outlines his theory that people are most happy when they are in a state of flow— a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. The idea of flow is identical to the feeling of being in the zone or in the groove.”

Each individual can have their own understanding of what it means to be in the zone (or groove). When it comes to marketing it is extremely important to keep the customer or the potential customer in the groove. The groove is the process of captivation… a state of concentrating and complete absorption in an activity.

Your story is what makes you captivating. Your client’s success story is what throws people in the groove.
Can you imagine a customer being completely absorbed in your product and brand experience? You can look at any big brand and discover slivers of this idea worked into the product design, store design, marketing and employee training.

Tell the story and captivate your audience. Want a good example? Check out this marketing/recruitment/employee interation video from Twitter.

You may be reading this disgusted because you are the ONLY marketing professional in your company. Hell… you could be the only person in your company! But guess what? It is easier than you think to create a positive state of mind with your clients and potential clients. Tell your story and create the content that pulls potential customers into your mix. You are creating an experience to captivate them.

The Secrets of a Successful Blog

I am going to be speaking at the Re/Max of Indiana Sales Rally on September 20th in Indianapolis. I am extremely excited to be talking about the secrets of using a blog as a Realtor. Check out the short clip about what I will be talking about!

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Followers Closer

What’s more important:What you say or what others say about you? When it comes to your brand what matters most to you? Are you self promoting and only allowing good comments to be posted? Where do you draw the line?

Social media is a tool the should be used to help others speak about you. When there’s a negative comment do you delete it? My suggestion is to leave it. Although,  it may not be a good or accurate reflection of you it lets others see that you’re real. If all you ever read  is good content (about something) then usually you jump to the conclusion that something is not right with that individual. We’re not perfect and we can’t make everyone happy. The bad comment won’t ruin you. It’ll give you credibility. It shows that you can take criticism. You can deal with it and you can move on from it. However, do not mistake dealing with it as ignoring it. You want to respond to all negative publicity no matter how severe.

You can draw the line at slanderous material.

Self promotion is good when done in moderation. I would rather not go to your Twitter account and only see you patting yourself on the back. Yes, it’s good to read about your accomplishments and your other latest successes… However, there has got to be more to you than that. If not, consider yourself un-followed. Thank you very much. Spend time complimenting the successes of other people. Get to know your followers and give back by retweeting or engaging in conversations. Engaging with others fosters relationships, which will ultimately create community that you are apart of. This bodes well for you especially when a dreaded negative comment appears.

In times of trouble you’ll have all the friends you need to back you up  because of the community you’ve invested in. It’s  similar to the old saying “treat others as you’d like to be treated”. We may have grown up but childhood principles can always be applied.

4 Ways to Make Content Go Viral in Social Media

You’ve got you basics down when it comes to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and even Foursquare. So, what’s next? The next big thing to look into is going viral with video. This may either intimidate you or excite you either way there a few things you need to know. Before you dismiss this media channel know  some facts. For one, 180 million people in the U.S. watch online video for an average of 13 hours each month. Those numbers alone speak volume. There is a large market for online videos. This past May, American users watched nearly 34 billion videos, and 4.8 percent of the total American Internet audience watched videos online with 144.1 million viewers watching videos on YouTube, according to comScore’s Video Metrix service.

1.Quality versus Quantity. The average video is 5 minutes or less so in order to engage without boring your audience keep it short. Also keep in mind the quality of your video. I’m not saying you have to be Martin Scorsese but keep your production value in mind. This means checking your lighting, sound levels and your background. If you filming a 5 minute blog make sure we can hear you, see you and that your background is appropriate.

2. The Power of a Web Series. If your only goal is to post a video blog then what are you waiting for? A video blog will reach to wider audience and may even attract new followers. However, don’t disregard the value of a web series. This does require you to get those creative wheels spinning and some writing. Once you’ve established who your target audience is and what you want to convey write it down, map it out and get to filming. This may seem like a lot of work but it will expand your brand and it may be a lot of fun.

3. It’s Not a Commercial. The value of a web series or video blog is in it’s content. It’s not meant to be commercial for you company or other services. If you hoping to educate or inform others do it in a creative nonabrasive way. Your goal should not be to sell something. Instead think of it as a way to engaging with your audience in a new, fun way.

4.Keep Your Audience Tuning In. What happens when your series ends? While in between shoots or blogs keep your audience engaged by filming off topic things. For instance, you could have a guest host or you could have news updates. This also allows you to market without using the same message over and over again. That doesn’t mean spam viewers into watching your video(s) instead let them find it the series organically. Try a more grassroots approach plus the people who then decide to tune it will most likely become loyal fans. It will take time to gather a suitable following but in the end it’s worth it.

Hopefully, this gets your mind ticking and your cameras rolling. What other ideas do you have when it comes to online videos? Is this something you hope to explore?

The Power of Social Media: Educate Embrace and Empower

There are things (thoughts, opinions, and ideas) that need to be talked about… hashed and rehashed over the course of months… to years. Implementing a successful social media strategy is one of those ideas. How do you implement something internally? How do you implement an idea… how do you push it to gain traction and succeed?

Educate. Embrace. and Empower.

Embracing: The first step in implementing a social media strategy (as part of your overall marketing strategy) for your business is to embrace the concept of communication in the online environment. It is simple. It means you recognize the change that is transforming the way millions of people communicate on a daily basis. As a brand, you are embracing social media as a way to create a marketing message and tell a story to thousands of potential clients. You do not need to be particulary comfortable with the notion of open communication but you DO need to understand the concept of implement a strategy into your business.

Educating: Once you have embraced the concept of using social media as a communication platform.. it is important to educate yourself and your staff in the philosophy and practical use of the platforms. Whether you are debating on using tools like Twitter or Facebook it is important to educate yourself in the simple and complex workings of the social media world.

The first step in education? Listening. Listen to what people are saying on the Internet about your company, product, or industry. By listening to the masses you will be able to adapt yourself to the world of online communication.  There are also great seminars and learning environments to immerse yourself into.. every city has them… search and you will find.

Empowering: After embracing the tool and educating yourself (and your team) on strategy and usage it is time to empower the actual implementation of a social media strategy. This could mean with money, time, and other resources. Use the strategy plan you have written (or had written from an outside firm) and empower your team to use the tools.

Remeber that pig headed discipline always wins out in the long run. Empower yourself to have the discipline to stick with the strategy you have crated whether it surrounds blogging or a use of a social network.

This is just the start to great journey that is unfolding in front of us. Use the Internet to communicate (both internally and externally). I think you could be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

Review: The Zen of Social Media Marketing

The book The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani for intellectual people who haven’t quite figured out social media. Her book is focused on how businesses can use social media and even how to behave in social media. The book starts at a beginners level but quickly moves to more advanced without becoming too much to grasp.   I found that the book offers a very  thorough guide focusing on three main channels,Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

There are a few things  I especially liked. One is how she teaches etiquette on the sites. It outlines what to do and what not to do in order to ensure success. She also touches on how businesses should implement a social media policy. The book is good at keeping it real. She doesn’t promise overnight success but insists that it takes time and patience. She also does a good job at showing the big picture then focusing on how to get there. You are able to see how it all comes together. She also does a great job in showing how successful her approach is. There is a section that  features 12 case studies plus the success of her company demonstrates how her approach works.

The book doesn’t lecture you. It focus on you and how you can benefit. The book walks you through each channel explaining how it works and why it may or may not work for you. She essentially helps you eliminate social media trial and error. Her empasis on you and you finding your own social media voice is powerful. Although her approach guides you it’s ulimately up to you to become successful.

Overall, the book is an easy read and offers a great deal of insight on social media.  Her ability to appeal fr0m beginners to the experts is worth noting. The book offers something to gain no matter what level your social media expertise is.  She offers an extensive amount of tools and techniques to learn all  while doing an extraordinary job of capturing the best practices. The book offers practical guides and useful lessons not just general concepts.Since social media is rapidly changing she offers access to a website where you can get continuous updates. If your hoping to master social media marketing then this book is definitely a step in the right direction.