Social Media and Traditional Advertising Are Similar and Different

Lorraine Ball has an excellent post today talking about consistency in advertising, blogging, and social media.  She talks about the similarities between social media and blogging compared to corporate advertising. She cites Mitch Joel when talking about the best practices in social media.

1. “Repetition, repetition, repetition”.  His point was simple, if we wanted to get noticed, we could not take a one shot approach to our marketing.  Multiple ads, multiple pieces of direct mail would be required to break through the clutter. And the same is true today!  Using blogging and social media as an integral part of your marketing mix.

2. He also makes a great point about creating a consistent online image.  Just as you wouldn’t consider changing your brand color or font every time you print a new brochure, don’t change your identity when you blog.

It made me think about my own paradigm when it comes to push marketing, bomber marketing strategy, and traditional advertising. I have come to despise the constant bombardment of direct mail and email blasts. There is something to be said of a company who can connect with a niche group of people of an emotional level. It is true that repetition and consistency is key in traditional advertising, as well as social media. I wanted to take it a bit further and explain why social media is an upgrade to the traditional advertising platform.

There always needs to be repetition and consistency in social media but not necessarily in terms of “repetition” in the advertising world. In my opinion, repetition in advertising means creating a marketing strategy for a large demographic base and then trying to hit that base as many times as possible with that message (bombing). Social Media has a way (wether you like it or not) to create an extremely niche listener base in your community outlets.

Friendfeed is a great example of this. When you “like” something on Friendfeed you are paired and grouped with people who tended to “like” the same thing. If you are subscribed to a person and he/she likes another post, you will see it in your timeline. This creates a network of niche individuals who share a certain connection in terms of information.

It is hard to pinpoint a specific niche market in your daily social media meanderings because you truthfully have little to no control on how your listerner base in built. That is the difference between social media marketing and traditional advertising.

We choose what we want to read. We choose what we want to see and experience. There has never been such a powerful consumer centric platform in the history!

Yes, you need to be repetitive and consistent in your social media use but if you don’t tack on the content your clientbase wants to read… you might as well be dropping bombs on yourself.

Losing Content Confidence in Friendfeed? What A Load.

I am a huge fan of Alexander van Elsas’s thoughts on new media and technologies pertaining to social behavior. It is always a pleasure to read his views on how social media plays a role in the day to day communication between people. Recently he wrote a post entitled: The Idiocy of Social Media Conversations. We will dive into that in a second.

I have been playing around with the idea of writing a post about the content creation from members and the value it has to the FriendFeed audience. There has been a lot of talk lately about the content being generated on Friendfeed and how some of it is not “desirable” to a few people. Robert Scoble recently wrote a post about the idiotic comments on some of the FriendFeed conversations surrounding the economic crisis. In the post he states:

The downside of this new media world is that you’ll hear a lot of opinions. Which one is right? I’m not always right. In fact, I’m often wrong. But I’ve counted on YOU, the audience, to help me correct that when I’m off in the deep end. Now, though, I’ve seen so much idiocy that I’m not even sure of my audience anymore. That’s how deep our loss of confidence in each other has come.

It is bewildering for me to believe that Scoble is blasting the entire development of content in Friendfeed based around the opinons of a certain crisis. Isn’t it all relative?

Alexander responded to Robert by saying:

Secondly he complains about the idiocy within the discussions on Friendfeed and the loss of confidence in his audience there. For some reason Robert assumes there are experts hanging out on Friendfeed that are engaging in thorough, deep discussions.

I am on Alexander’s side. It is hard for me to connect good content and in-depth conversations with FriendFeed. I know that most of the early adopters use FriendFeed and great content is SHARED but it isn’t necessarily STRIPPED. A good content site has the sharing aspect intact but also the stripping aspect where meaning dialoug is shared amount the users.

I love FriendFeed. I love the photo memes, when Mike Fruchter shares blog posts, when democrats become pissed off at Republicans (or vice versa), I love the random things posted by Mona and I love the conversations.

If you are looking for a place to share ideas and collaborate in a knowledge capital heavy environment, I wouldn’t recommend FriendFeed.

If you are wanting a wide variety of content and personality, FriendFeed is the place to be.

Hating on the FriendFeed Lists

Recently the social media community site Friendfeed released a new design that helped users better manage subscriptions, rooms, and content. I have been hesitant to manage my subscriptions into lists because I feel like it takes away from the multiple levels of content you can recieve from friends.

With that said, recently I have been starting to wonder whether or not I should take on the task of organizing my Friendfeed lists. As I have been subscribing to more and more people I find that I have lost the value in some of the posts that REALLY matter to me.

Shel Israel had a great post yesterday about the new features on Friendfeed and his view of the list management. He was bothered on what the management of friends into certain categories meant for the community design of the site. From the post: FriendFeed & Dividing Personal and Professional Relationships:

I believe that we should be transparent, credible, generous in both categories. I believe social media culture contributes to eliminating the differences in language, topics of conversation, apparel and so on. I just hating having to figure out which box to put anyone in so I avoid using any boxes at all friend.

Shel was focusing on his reaction to seeing the template list of Personal and Professional in FriendFeed when he first signed onto the new design.

I happen to agree with him to an extent. I am glad Friendfeed gave the users the opportunity to create their own lists to place friends in. It gives you, as a member, the opportunity to manage the hundreds of subscribers you may be following.

I have still not taken the step to managing all of my subscribers. I find it refreshing to scroll down and see everything from politics to cheezburgers.

When I get overwhelmed with all the information then I may choose to start organizing my FriendFeeders. Until that time I am going to blame it on laziness.

Online and Offline Networking: Connect the Two

The past couple of posts at KyleLacy.com have been about the value of a relationship driven model of social networking. The process of connecting to individuals on and off the web is an extremely important idea that needs to be embraced.

Chris Brogan has always done an excellent job at giving tips on connecting to your readership, as well as, social media friends and acquaintances. He wrote recently on the Five Ways to Connect and Add Value to your networking practices. I thought I would add my own spin on connecting on and offline.

1. Combine Online and Offline Connections

In any business centered social networking group in an offline environment being a connector is a huge priority to most members. In Indianapolis we have Rainmakers, the Chamber of Commerce, and BNI (plus many more).

Personally, I am a member of the Rainmakers Marketing Group. We have hub meetings all over the state of Indiana and we are approaching 3000 members in the community. The group has recently launched a social media platform for the members called: Let’s Make It Rain. The community has allowed for members to network online and move the relationships to an offline meeting (whether lunch or coffee). This has increased the potential for strategic relationships because of the power of connecting 24/7 in an online environment.

I use the sites Let’s Make it Rain and Smaller Indiana to align myself with professionals I may not meet at a Rainmakers Marketing event. If you can use both networking mediums (web and events) to grow your network you have a better chance of connecting with the right people!

Combine the two models to get the most out of networking (whether business of personal).

2. If You Want To Be Interesting, Be Interested

This follows the second guideline on the Chris Brogan post, Connecting Other People. A fellow FriendFeeder, Mona N. (check out her blog), posted a feed that had this image.

This image speaks volumes when pertaining to the concept of the value of connection in social media and networking.

If you want to be interesting to other people you need to be conscious of what they are needing in return. If someone sends you business, write them a note or send them a gift card!

Always be thinking about the individuals who helped you get to where you are today. In the small business world and even in social media this is the most valuable concept you can and SHOULD remember.

Pay it forward. Always, pay it forward. Take interest in what your friends are posting. Take interest in what your clients are doing (other than your project.

Be Interesting. Take value in what others are offering. Connect with your online friends in an offline environment. Make the community a rich combination of community and influence.

Social Media has huge potential to help companies all over the world connect with each other. It is our place to help that dream become reality.

Redefining Innovation in Social Media: Adaptation

Social Media Innovation is a huge topic among early adopters of technology in cyberspace. Talk about an over-used phrase! The term social media is already dieing in the minds of the technologically savvy. And innovation?

First, let’s define the terms from Wikipedia:

• Innovation : may refer to both radical and incremental changes in thinking, in things, in processes or in services (Mckeown, 2008).

• Social Media : the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings.The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.

It makes sense to couple the terms together to create a definition for beta products, new platforms, and applications on the web. However there is a new way to look at innovation in Social Media. I read a post from Brandon Coon titled: Redefine Innovation. In the post Brandon talks about the concept of innovation in business and technology:

“We relate the word innovation with companies like Google and new products like the Internet, Social Networks, or Blogging and innovation is all of these things.  But innovation can also be different ways to do business.”

“Always be trying to invent new products, services, ideas.  But almost more important is that we always find a way to make our business model better, more profitable, and more (invent a word to go here).”

You are hip to the beat if you are on the next best thing in social media. Beta applications and products are released on a daily basis and become slightly overwhelming (except for Louis Gray who has the uncanny ability to be on all networks).

The only thing I hear sometimes is innovation, new applications, and beta tests.

This may be an old thought. This may be something that has been discussed in the community driven world of social media. Perhaps… I thought I would expound upon it: Turning to Adaptation instead of Innovation.

I have found it difficult to keep up with the countless number of social networks out there. I have decided to become an adapter instead of an adopter.

• Adaptation: are traits that have been selected by natural selection

The concept of traits being selected by natural selection can be applied to social media. When we are investing time into a social community we are building respect among members, as well as, sharing information back and forth. By natural progression, as users, we start to single out certain traits of a site that could be changed or improved. This is the beautiful concept of adapting a process into something better.

The concept of becoming a continuous adapter instead of an early adopter could be a post in itself.

It is encouraging to see members taking the necessary means to help make a site better instead of joining and spreading out over new platforms.

We don’t always have to be radical. The concept of being rational can make that much MORE of a difference.

When a social media community helps the site adapt, in my opinion, that is when the magic happens.

A New Level to FriendFeed: Confessions Room

Currently on the Confessions Room: 360 posts, 2815 comments today

I have been preaching about a new level of relationship building on social media. There needs to be a deeper connection between individuals on social platforms. Enter the Confessions Rooms.

Friendfeeder Shawn Farner started the confessions room as a way to share some deeper things in Friendfeed and post it anonymously. At first I was hesitant, shrugging the room off as just another way to spread myself farther across the wide expanse of FriendFeed. I decided to join the room after hearing a couple of excellent comments crossing the feeds.

I have not been disappointed. Other than the random meanderings of some complete idiots, the FriendFeed confessions room has been an excellent way to really get deeper with friends on an online platform.

Some Examples of the feeds in the Confessions Room:

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind not having kids. It would really not be a big loss to me…”

“I was drunk the night I asked my wife to marry me. She was as well…and also on the other side of the country at the time. That was 10 years ago October ”

“I just had a terrible fight with my girlfriend. And now i feel like shit.”

“I want to make a big difference in this world, but my career goals and the fact that I’m lazy means I never will.”

The Confessions room is an excellent way to get to know your FriendFeeder’s in a more intimate way. Join the group. Start a conversation. If you want to do it anonymously you can sign in to the Confessions account and post.

I encourage everyone to check in and see what is going on. What a great way to make social media have deeper meaning!

My Social Media Mission 2008: Collecting Genuine Relationships

There has been a small buzz going around in the social media community pertaining to the quality of relationships being built online. What is the difference between on online friendship compared to an off line friendship? Can you build genuine relationships online?

I recently found a video from Gary Vaynerchuk via the ProBlogger post called, How To Get Noticed [The Art of Positioning]. In the video Gary talks about the importance of connecting to people and building relationships rather than building a bank account or a subscription list. As always, Gary never ceases to inspire. The video:

I have always been under the assumption that you can only build true, strong relationships if you combine online and off line activity.

So… here is what is going to happen. Social Media Mission 2008-2009. Maybe this has already been done, maybe it hasn’t. I am going to make it a point to meet with a social media contact, in person, once a week until the end of the year (week long Holidays may be out…we will see). I will be posting about the meeting and conversation either here or at another blog.

I am craving the leap to connecting my online with the off line. I figure this is going to be the best way to do. It starts next week. Got any ideas let me know! First one, Chris Hadley who I met on Seesmic.

When Does Subscription Turn into a Relationship?

Recently this has been an ongoing thought in my head:

Do online relationships have the same depth as relationships off line? Can they obtain the same meaningful purpose as your friends you see in day-to-day life?

I have had some interesting conversations recently with people on Seesmic and Friendfeed about the friendship dynamics between online and off line relationships. I have only been debating this because of the increased time I have been spending on social media platforms over the past few weeks. I have had the opportunity to ‘meet’ some interesting and extremely intellectual people through feeds at Friendfeed.

The problem that exists, for me, is the overwhelming urge to know more. The desire to get deeper into a persons psyche and actually understand where they are coming from and where they have been. I have had fun debating and sharing in conversations over the communications platforms and yet I am left with this undeniable longing for something more.

The sharing of information and idea generation has always been a staple in the increased support of social media. I started using social media as a way to gain more insight into technology, entrepreneurship, and the overall aspect of viral marketing. What I have found is (while all the information is great) there is a point where a person stops and wants something more from a relationship or an acquaintance.

I have had extreme success in meeting people in my area off line whom I had the first interaction online. The relationship factor grows exponentially when you are sharing both online and off line forms of communication. I am relating more to the people I have met online who do not live in my vicinity.

I know research and data is a prerequisite to have in blog posts pertaining to an opinion. In order to support an idea it is always better to have others opinions to strengthen your own. Unfortunately, I am running off the cuff here and spouting words over a virtual page.

When is the right time to want more from an online relationship? Is there a need for it? I love the information super highway sometimes more than the road outside of my house and that is what bothers me the most.

How do you strengthen online relationships to the point where you can say they are a friend? Where does a follow or a subscription turn into a relationship?

Are we meant to delve deeper? We should be.

It’s 3log Day! My 3log Day Links.

Well. This is my first year participating in Blog Day. I have been pushing through my google reader and making a detailed list of the top blogs I have read in the past couple of months. It was extremely hard for me to cut down the list to 5 but here it is:

1. Mike Fruchter at My Thoughts on Social Media: I have been communicating lately with Michael over FriendFeed and rest assured, he never leaves you disappointed.

2. MooshinIndy. Ahhh Casey. I met Casey at the recent blogIndiana conference and she is absolutely delightful to be around both online and off. Her rants and musings are centered around her family and the city of Indianapolis. She caters to the mothers of the net but she has a little something for everyone.

3. Erik Deckers. The Laughing Stalk. If you ever want a chuckle, Laughing Stalk with Erik Deckers is the place to be. Also an Indianapolis native, Erik writes humorous columns about news events, as well as, “repressed memories that have recently resurfaced.” Always gets a laugh out of me.

4. Hutch Carpenter of I’m Not Actually A Geek. Another FriendFeed acquaintance, Hutch brings a detailed approach to his writing that is hard to match. His views on Social Media and breakdowns of certain communities goes much farther than the “how to” guidelines.

5. The Marketing Technology Blog by Douglas Karr. Doug is one of the premiere bloggers in the Indianapolis area and someone I look up to when it comes to the blog-o-sphere. Doug has helped me numerous times on my blog with optimization and idea generation. He breaks down technology and has some awesome applications he has designed for the web.

There are many more who should be on this list. Other blogs you should check out and subscribe to:

Sports Marketing 2.0 by Pat Coyle
Roundpeg by Lorraine Ball
MacroLinz.com by Lindsay
Justin Korn’s Blog
Squaredpeg by Brad Ward

Still more are on the list. I would encourage everyone to visit two places to find GREAT content.

1. SmallerIndiana.com: An online social network for Indiana residents. We have surpassed the 3000 member mark and are a collection of creative, entrepreneurial, blogging, and business minded fanatics.

2. FriendFeed: Add me as a friend and follow the people I am sharing content with. You will not be disappointed.

The Beautifully Disturbing Aspect of FriendFeed and Social Media

I have been reading recently about the psychological aspects of social media and the online medium of communication (I will be posting in the next couple of days my thoughts and research). As many of us can attest to, we have created some relationships online with people across the country and on the other side of the world. You can categorize some of these relationships as relatively strong compared to your offline friendships.

I have always been under the assumption that online friendships can be just as strong as their offline counterparts. They become even stronger when you combine the two (meet offline after meeting online or vice versa).

I have been spending a lot of time recently on FriendFeed. I have communicated with some amazing people, sharing in some laughs and conversations that have been extremely satisfying. There has been something that has been bothering me though and that is the beautiful disturbing aspect of Social Media: not being balanced.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I have a self-diagnosed case of an addictive personality. I become literally obsessed with certain things for unspecified amounts of time. It has been a good thing for my business and a ‘not-so-good’ thing for my personal life. I have been addicted to social sites like Friendfeed, Facebook, and Seesmic.

It is beautiful (I have met some great people) and yet disturbing (I have neglected offline relationships). I have finally figured out that the name of the game is balance. Isn’t that true in everything we do in life? Balance seems to be the name of the game when trying to magnify experience and learning.

Balance your offline and online relationships. When the opportunity arises to combine the two, don’t hesitate. You will not regret it.