When Should Business Engage in Social Media

The marketing and technology world is on fire with this new form of communication: social media. And yes… I did mean to say new. Many in the corporate and small business world have yet to set foot into this new communication platform. This is hard for many social media advocates to grasp. How could the business world not be ENTIRELY tuned in to the growing social avalanche that is happening in their front yard?

In truth… social media is not really in their front yard at all… more like an alley down the street… waiting to be swept up by an avalanche of customer opinion and buying patterns. We are talking about a flood gate collecting a force that will… soon… explode.

We are still in the infancy of social media adoption across a wide spread of the globe.

This is in no way degrading the idea that the tools of social media will not be a main form of communication in the years to come… we are just not there yet.

We (the business world) are going to see a significant change in how consumers buy and communicate with brands in the years to come. We will see a wide-spread use of social media tools in both the Internet and mobile environments.

So what should the business world do when debating the use of social media for communication and lead generation?

Take it from the words of Jay Baer at Convince and Convert:

“Social media is about fundamentally changing the dynamic between brands and their customers. From master and servant, to peer to peer.”

Now is the time to educate on how to effectively use the tools. Do not listen to a social media expert when they tell you that you MUST be using the tools. You must be educating on how to best use the tools and how they are applicable to your growth as a company.  PERIOD.

Yes… there will come a time when the Internet will unleash the flood gates of 60 even 70 percent of the globe… one unified community of customers, products, services, and brands…

The question is… will you be ready when your front yard is flooded… or not?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Are We Really Just “Students”? (altitudebranding.com)
• When Good Gets In the Way Of the Best (kylelacy.com)
• The Launch of Tech in Twenty Broadcast (dailyslackr.com)
• Joining Not Very Famous Social Networks And Communities Can Bring … (jonggunlee.tistory.com)

Social Media Selling to the New CEO

It is going to happen.

The Baby Boomer generation is going to slowly trickle out of the top spots in companies all over the world and Generation X is going to take thier place. How are you positioning your company to sell to the next CEO?

There are individuals who have different ideas on how to market directly to leaders of companies. There are direct mail campaigns, email marketing, event marketing, and offline networking. However, the world is slowly changing.. let me rephrase that.. the world is fast approaching a digital community of business owners and entreprenuers who are creating content and communicating on a level that was never possible… until now.

LinkedIN is posting 5% growth in July. Facebook is growing at an exponential rate among men 26-34. Even Plaxo and Twitter are making strides into the world of B2B selling. Are you supporting your company to market to the next generation of CEOs?

The next generation of CEOs are going to connect on an entirely different level than their predecessors. Email and newsletters are going to be a thing of the past and the new social economy will welcome them with open arms.

We have a global community of people presenting ideas and content on a daily basis to help run businesses at a smoother, more profitable rate. Why are you not involved in this process? Is valuable content such a scary proposition?

Share your ideas on a blog. Start a LinkedIN group for young professionals. Invest in the 25-38 year old demographic (both male/female) and watch the leads start to generate as they take positions of power in the company.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Social Networking Watch: A Map Of Social (Network) Dominance (jonggunlee.tistory.com)
• Balancing Perception and Reality in Social Media (kylelacy.com)
• Who Are You Targeting on Social Media? (kylelacy.com)
• Are We Really Just “Students”? (altitudebranding.com)

Search & Authenticity Are Key to Corporate Blogging

I was skimming through Chris Brogan’s posts and happened across a post called: A Counterpoint to the Branding Craze. This caught my attention because I am a huge advocate for branding, both personal and professional.

I have tried to use my blog to create a brand identity for myself and my company and it has been successful in more ways than one. In his post Chris talks about the concept of search being involved in the corporate strategy of most companies:

One of the reasons that I advocate content marketing, such as writing a compelling group blog, is that it’s an opportunity to build search equity. Writing about things that people might search for is a great way to find some new people at your door who might want a look at your product.

Content marketing should be in the corporate strategy plans of every business in America. There are a couple of reasons why I am strongly urge clients and businesses to dive into the realm of content marketing:

1. The Search

By blogging and writing about things that “people may search for,” you are creating a website (blog) that will hit the search engines with enthusiasm. When you have a site where content is changing regularly and you are writing about issues/services that people find important, you will find an increase in visitors to your site. And with an increase in visitors comes… more lead generation for your company and service offering.

2. Authenticity and Personality

Consumers today want communication authenticity and personality behind a company. If you are a stoned face corporation sitting in a corporate park somewhere and are NOT listening to your customers needs and wants: YOU WILL FAIL. By blogging and creating an area for dialouge you are telling your customers: I trust you. I want to hear what you have to say. This goes for both big business and small business.

3. Brand Identity and Value

People want to connect with brands on a level that has become as personal as a relationships between two people. A blog/content marketing allows you to start the romantic courtship of a consumer. This courtship can turn into a seasoned consumer that will spread your good message across the valleys and streams. Maybe even through their email.

There are a multitude of reasons to start a blog and create a space where content marketing is king. Read more of Chris Brogan’s posts if you get the chance. He is a genius at laying out what it takes to create great, authentic content.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Screw Stats. It is about Portability and Experiences (kylelacy.com)
• Translation Marketing (myventurepad.com)
• How To Increase Membership Sales: 7 Ways To Gain More Members To Your Membership Site (slideshare.net)
• See You at eMetrics Next Week! (marketing.blogtanker.com)

Balancing Perception and Reality in Social Media

Is social media everything we really make it out to be? Is there an imbalance between perception and reality when it comes to social media? I would venture to say yes. Before we get into the underlying argument of the two terms… let’s define them (from dictionary.com).

Perception: a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.

Reality: something that exists independently of ideas concerning it.

There is probably a universal argument of perception versus reality in terms of marketing. We are going to touch on that briefly. The majority of marketing communication exists in order to balance the worlds of perception and reality among consumers… among your clients. When it comes to social media  there is an imbalance of the two worlds. There seems to be more perceived value of the tool than the the actual reality (at this given moment).

We can talk about the growth of networks and the stats surrounding the baby boomer adoption of Facebook. We can talk about the growth of Twitter and the role it plays in international foreign policy. However, the fact remains that only 22% of the globe (350 million) has adopted social media as an  avenue for communication.

We are still in the infancy of this communication medium. That is the reality.

However, I am not discounting the value of perception. If a tool is perceived to have high value… it is my belief… that mass adoption is going to come much, much quicker than previously anticipated. What happens when perception turns into reality and your company is left behind because you didn’t change… you didn’t adapt?

There will always be the balance of perception and reality in any form of communications advancement. Did anyone really perceive the true value of television before mass adoption? What about radio? Newspaper? We tend to only leverage a communications medium after mass adoption.

It only makes true business sense to stay ahead of the curve. It is your job as business owners, marketing directors, and C-level employees to watch for the perception turning over to reality.

What do you think? Do we actually have an imbalance?

Related articles by Zemanta

• TWEET SUCCESS: Why We Love Twitter’s 140 Character Limit (mashable.com)
• What is Social Media, How can it help my business? (insights-group.com)
• Value is key – is social media worth it? (rchurt.com)
• Is The Real Time Web A Solution In Search Of A Problem? (regulargeek.com)

Screw Stats. It is about Portability and Experiences

I am co-hosting a webinar tomorrow with Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware entitled Getting a Grip on Social Media. The first slide of my presentation simples says: Screw Stats. The whole concept behind the slide is the idea that we can run around statistics and figures all we want but the most important thing to understand is the future of portability and experiences in social media.

Portability

Portability is mobility. The mobile phone domination is going to grow even larger in the next couple of years and social media will be right behind it. There is no better way (other than text messaging) to utilize the iPhone or Palm Pre than securing applications that can be used to strengthen a users social media experiences. I don’t think the concept of social media is going to die because of the power of being mobile. Customer service is going to be dependent on securing social media because of a users ability to automatically tweet or post an experience the moment it happens… that is powerful.

Experiences

Selling is now almost completely dependent on the experiences of the customers. Peer recommendations have always been a staple to sell your services… referral and word of mouth marketing are inherently connected to success. Social media has made experiential marketing and referral marketing extremely powerful because of the ease of sharing a message. Social media is strengthen by the experiences customers share online. It is extremely important for a business to understand the ability and the important of using social media to empower your customers to share your message.

There are other reasons to join, research, and implement social media but the future of tool is in the ability to leverage portability and customer experiences.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Social Media Marketing to Increase by 48% (kylelacy.com)
• The New Marketing Funnel (adamhcohen.com)
• 10 Sun Tzu rules for the networked world (flowingmotion.wordpress.com)
• Americans are going wireless Internet big time, report says (news.cnet.com)

Should a Not-for-Profit use Twitter?

The first step in utilizing a social tool like Twitteris to understand the human element in relation to social media. The human element can be referred to as an underlying form of authenticity when using social tools for communication. When consulting with a company, I tend to recommend two separate accounts. You should always have social media tools for your personal life, which could be separate from your business. There are (of course) different argument for both accounts.We can go into that at a later date.

When a person is seeking out information on your company they want two things concrete information (hard data, contact info, about us, etc) and the human element (owner, employee, company mission, etc). Twitter, not to mention every other social media outlet, gives you the opportunity to show a more human side to your business/organization.

Next step: Just try it out. Start an organization Twitter account (ie. Comcastcares). Search for people in your area and start following. See what happens.

Put some HUMAN into your COMPANY. Believe me, it is worth it.

After all, an empty, heartless logo is the last thing a donor will give money.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Do You Really Want More Companies Using Social Media? (socialmediatoday.com)
• What is Social Media, How can it help my business? (insights-group.com)
• Mack Collier: Social Media Won’t Work if You Aren’t Social (mpdailyfix.com)
• What’s Really Killing RSS Feeds? Hint: It’s NOT Twitter (shegeeks.net)

Is Outsourcing Social Media Okay?

I have been debating for many moons on the topic of outsourcing your use of social media. I will be completely honest with you… I have not come to a conclusion. We have been through the process of completing projects for clients where we supported all the content creation and “fed” all of the social networks. The goal was to create a mass interest in a specific topic. There were some that worked but the majority of them failed. It was hard to look at a failing project that used the tools I loved so much.

What went wrong?

In the majority of the failed projects it was the issue of emotional empowerment behind a message. It was hard for an outsourced contractor to take the view of the actually company. It was hard for us to replicate the ideas and aspirations of another company without being intimately involved in the daily routine. This ultimately led to the creation of education and training materials to be used internally by corporations.

Implementing a successful social media strategy is inherently connected to the daily routine. Take Zappos for example: by empowering employees to tweet about their daily routine and add in information about the company… they found extreme success by creating a HUMAN identity (more about that later).

I am not going to sit here and condemn the act of ghost blogging. I can look at numerous examples where ghost blogging has worked to some extent. If you can find a company that intimately understands your emotional tie between your company, products, message, and services it may be an easy fit.  I do, however, condemn the act of ghost Twittering (more on that later).

In reality, the best social media communication is done by owners and employees. If you love what you do it shouldn’t be hard to scream to the heavens about your daily routine.

It is all tied to education. Educate yourself and your team on how to use the tools effectively and productively. If education and training are done the right way (with a great strategy)… you will see an increase in brand awareness and customer support without having to spend thousands of marketing dollars on outsourced implementation.

Although, it doesn’t hurt to have support it is important that YOU have a vested interest in the promotion.

What do you think? Is social media outsourcing a viable strategy?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Welcome to the Network Era – An Essay by Scott Davis (800ceoread.com)
• Can You Relate to The Net Generation? (hilarytopper.com)
• Only 8% of Advertisers Deem Twitter an Effective Promo Tool (marketingvox.com)
• Best Buy seeks marketer with at least 250 followers on Twitter (brandstrategy.wordpress.com)

3 Steps to Being Productive in Social Media

Everyone loves social media. That is not the issue. There is really one huge issue that keeps individuals from using social media and that is time. Time can be an ugly thing if you are not productive with the tools and time given to you. How are you productive and manage your time effectively? I use the four-touch point model.

Step 1: Use the 4-Points Model

When using social media you should keep in mind the 4-points model. There are 4 points social media applications should touch in regards to your daily life: Business, Local Business Networking, Social, and Information. Choose four main networks where you spend the most of your time.

I use LinkedIn for business applications, Smaller Indiana for local business networking, Facebook for social application, and Twitter for information. LinkedIn can be described as my connection Rolodex. Facebook is to keep me updated on my friends and acquaintances from college and high school. Twitter is a wonderful information aggregation tool where you can follow influential people and the information they share. Smaller Indiana is a great place to connect to local professionals and share ideas on how to make Indiana a better place.

Step 2: Commit Yourself

You get what you put in. How many times have we heard that? When using social media commit to a set amount of time a week to using your applications. You will find yourself spending to much time on your applications if you fail to designate a certain amount during the week.

I try to designate an hour of each day to information sharing (writing blogs, commenting on blogs, perusing my Google Reader) and an hour a day to using my other networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Smaller Indiana).

Step 3: Be Authentic

I get numerous e-newsletter in my inbox everyday, most of them vary from mundane to outright boring. When posting on your social media applications, try to add some authenticity and personality to the information you are sharing. When I am reading blogs and posts on social applications the last thing I want to read is an impersonal e-newsletter. I want to know that the keystrokes behind the information is an actual person. Be personal. Be Authentic.

There are the three steps I use to get the most out of Social Media. Cheers!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Google Reader: the first social newsreader? (bookmarkdevil.com)
• In the Mind of Damond Nollan: How to Share Interesting Stuff from the Web Using Google Reader and Friendfeed (damondnollan.com)
• The 4-Touch Points of Productivity in Social Media (kylelacy.com)
• FriendFeed Follows For A Change With “Recommend Friends” Feature (techcrunch.com)

Use YOUR Ideas When Writing a Blog. Period.

It is true… sometimes you get in a rut when debating on what you should write on your blog. The depressing thought-police come crashing through your door and stop any hint of creative musing… just because they can. How do you push yourself out of the mind block and towards creative thinking/writing?

When I personally find myself in a rut I tend to retreat to my Google Reader to find inspiration from other writers in my specific industry. It helps when there are hundreds of people writing about the same topic and feeding off each other to create content.

But that is where it stops or it should stop.

There are plenty of blogs out there that credit an author by linking to their post… but then continue to copy the content and paste it directly into the post. Be very careful when using content from another blog. Is there a right way to credit a writer and still build off their ideas while creating your own? Of course!

Linking

If you are building off of another writer’s idea be very sure that you link the title of their post in your content. By linking to their blog posts it gives the author the ability to visit your blog and comment on your idea. This is a great way to create a environment of co-collaboration. An even better thing to do is to email the author and let them know you are writing about their post.

Paraphrasing

It is okay to paraphrase an author’s work as long as you are giving them credit for the idea. This does not mean you can copy and paste their ENTIRE post inside of your blog. This does not give any credit and it just means you are lacking in the area of original thought.

Quoting

If you enjoyed a sentence or two from a blog post it is okay to quote that author if it supports your post. Be sure that you give them credit for the post and put the quote in italics.

This just happens to be a few personal ideas I have been building over the past year while writing. There have been times when I have made the mistake of borrowing a little more content than necessary and for that I apologize. The important thing to remember is judge the amount of content you are borrowing. Would you enjoy it if another blog borrowed that much content from your post?

There are many authors who could care less if you borrowed their content for a post but like mom always said, “Kyle. Better safe than sorry.”

Related articles by Zemanta

• What is worth it? (retailsmart.com.au)
• Dealing with Uninspiration (thewriterbabeseries.com)
• Create and share custom feed bundles in Google Reader (en.onsoftware.com)
• Blogging magazine articles (blogs.reuters.com)

I Do Not Use Correct Punctuation. So What?

I have had a couple of conversations over the past week or so pertaining to my use of correct (or lack of) punctuation in my blog posts. There are many that have lectured me over the correct use of punctuation and grammar when writing my blog… (there it goes) simply because of my so-called lack of professionalism.

To that I say… (there it is again) So what?

There is a method to my madness and I have felt the sudden urge to try and explain myself to the masses that may not appreciate my writing technique. I would like to call this technique: the pause affect.  Notice… look closely… I used the word affect instead of effect. There is reasoning behind the use of the word that we will discuss later.

I write as though I am speaking to a group or an individual. I tend to use three periods to show a pause in my mode of speaking or an influx of emotion pertaining to a specific topic or thought. The three periods exemplify the art of a pause when speaking… because it shows a pause in a person’s thought process.

I may not use correct puntuation but isn’t the value in the overall content provided? Did the post or article help you in your quest to alleviate a certain pain in your business? We try not to judge a book by the cover and the same concept applies to blog writing. Is the content valuable?

I use the pause affect to show emotion in my posts. If you were to talk to me on the street… I pretty much speak the same way as I write.

Remember…

Content is king and if the point is being portrayed with pause and affect… isn’t there still substance?

What do you think?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Symbolizing Tips (teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com)
• Better writing: Rhythm (billbennettnz.wordpress.com)
• Your Fourth Grade Teacher is Not Here (seattlepi.com)
• The Lie of Correct Grammar in Blogging (kylelacy.com)