20 Reasons Why You Cannot Ignore Social Media

I will forever been an advocate for Social Media. If you want me to jump up on a soapbox and talk about social media marketing until I am blue in the face… so be it. What used to be a “fad” two to three years ago is fast becoming the premiere way to communicate.

I have been reading the Wave.3 Presentation from Universal McCann and they had the follow facts relating to the power of social media.

1. 394 million people watch video clips online
2. 346 million reaqd blogs/weblogs
3. 321 million Read personal blogs/weblogs
4. 307 million visit a friends social network page
5. 303 million SHARE a video clip (viral marketing anyone?)
6. 272 million manage a profile on a social network
7. 248 million upload photos
8. 216 million Download a video podcast
9. 215 million download a podcast
10. 184 million started a blog or weblog
11. 183 million uploaded a video clip
12. 160 million subscribed to an RSS Feed

Not enough reason to start the journey into connecting with your clients and consumers? Here are eight more reasons to continue on the social media marketing path.

13. Blog Reading has risen 66% on a global scale in a year
14.  60.3 million american have read a blog
15. 36% of consumers will think more positively about companies that have blogs
16. 32% of consumers trust bloggers opinions on products and services
17. Social Networking has an estimated 272 million users (Myspace, Facebook, etc)
18. 43% of online consumers belong to a social network
19. 74% of social networking users message friends as part of their daily routine
20. Video Uploading growth is 31% to 82% global reach seen in all markets

I am not sitting here writing this foaming at the mouth and demanding companies (both small and large) use social media marketing exclusively. It is important to combine both traditional marketing and new media marketing in your overall strategy.

If the numbers from Universal McCann do not convince you of the overall important of social media in the years to come….

I am at a loss for words.

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What I Am Reading and Focusing On

We had a great event tonight at the Confluence Networking Corporate Blogging Panel. Thanks to everyone who made it out to the event. It was awesome!

I wanted to link some posts I have been concentrating on lately. I thought it would be a good digression from my daily rants!

1. 123SocialMedia: Social Media Politics – How Fast Things Change

I have been fascinated with the social media and marketing extravaganza known as the recent political campaigns. Barry Hurd talks about the transition from traditional media to new media by politicians.

2. Andy DeSoto: Social Media Basics Provide Necessary Spice

I love reading posts about combining social media with traditional marketing strategies. Andy is a genius at giving helpful hints on combining social media with the “real world.”

3. Chris Brogan: Communications in a Post Media World

Nobody can say it better than Chris.

Put up your first signal. Get your voice out there. What happens next? Do people respond? Because what comes next, I believe, is that you gather together the people who share your views. You reach out and connect with those who understand your goals, who share them, who breathe them in the same pulse.

4. Megan Glover: Blog Content is King

Megan at Compendium always has excellent posts around blogging, seo, and social media. This post is outlines the steps that Compendium Blogware has taken to measure the important of content and driving blog traffic. Excellent Post!

5. Lorraine Ball: If The Answer Is No, You Haven’t Asked the Right Question:

Lorraine is a mentor and a friend. I always enjoy reading her daily posts about small business marketing. The post is about Kenneth Cole refusing to let the answer of “NO” stop him from pursuing his dreams. What about you? What is the NO slowing you down right now?

Confluence Networking Discussion of Business Blogging: Get Out To It!

Independent Blogging Compared to Corporate Blogging

I follow the writing of many of the staff at Compendium Blogware, a local company here in Indianapolis offering an extremely trackable and orangic seo based blog software. I was reading through a post by Megan Glover called Is Blogging In Your 2009 Marketing Budget?, and happened across a powerpoint presentation about measuring, tracking, and adjusting your corporate blog. You can view the ppt by clicking here: measure-track-and-adjust-webinar.

In the webinar they had a graphic from Google Analytics that show where the traffic to their blog was originating from  (image below). Of course being a search and keyword driven blogging platform you would

imagine that the majority of the sites traffic would be from search engines. I decided to check out my analytics to see if I was completely opposite, in the middle, or the same.

Below you will see my traffic sources from Google Analytics. Not surprisingly most of my traffic is driven through referring sites. It got me to thinking about the value of blogging and the underlying reason of why I am writing this blog. Without hesitation I can say that the main reason for blogging is my love for social media both here and in Indianapolis. I love the concept of building community on the web. I have met some wonderful people through my dealings   in Friendfeed, Twitter, and Smaller Indiana.

The other reasons can be contributed to my social media marketing and design company and becoming a trusted adviser in the city of Indianapolis. A blog is a great way to build credibility among your peers and collaborate with many individuals on a global scale.

Of course, another big reason for blogging is the organic search engine optimization I gain through posting and linking. I don’t know if I should be worried that my lowest referring center is search engines. I have been contemplating a way to switch that tables and even out my traffic sources. Any ideas on how to do that?

It is interesting to see the sources of traffic of certain blogs both on a personal and professional level. I would gather that the majority of corporate blogs have a higher search engine traffic rate than most independent blogs out there.

Do you find referring sites more valuable or search engine traffic?  Maybe you find direct traffic the most valuable of them all? I guess it is all based on  the goals and aspirations of the blog strategy itself. Any tips on blog strategy can more than likely be found at Chris Brogan, Chris Baggot,  Hutch Carpenter or Louis Gray’s blogs.

3 Reasons Why Search and Authenticity Should Be Important to Corporate America

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.

2. Authenticity and Personality

Consumers today want social media 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.

Also, if you are interested in starting a corporate blog I would suggest checking in with Compendium Blogware. They have a blogging tool that allows for AWESOME search results.

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.

What Would Seth Do? Seth Godin and Compendium.

Most of the readers of my blog know that I am a huge Seth Godin fan. I have devoured every single book he has released, as well as, keeping updated on his blog. Whenever there are videos or blog posts about the brilliance of Seth Godin, I try to prop them up or comment. It just so happens that a company here in Indianapolis has started a video series on corporate blogging. It also just so happens that Seth Godin is featured in the first video!

Chris Baggott, Co-Founder and CEO of Compendium, is featured in the video talking about his WWSD way of life: What Would Seth Do?

Check it out. See what you think! I would love to know what everyone loves/hates about Seth Godin.

Rebellion! Personal Branding and Social Media?

Social Marketing Journal had a post today called, Is Social Media Starting to Rebel. In general the post talks about the deletion of accounts at Facebook and the changing of names at Bebo.

Andy Beal was one of the members who brought the ‘profile changes’ on Bebo to the limelight.

He is quoted saying,
“Let this be a warning. Don’t ever rely 100% on your social networking profile for brand building. Bebo-and perhaps others-can and will change your profile without warning”

The Social Marketing Journal goes on to say that bloggers and social media users should be wary when it comes to using social media as a branding tool. At least not as your major tool.

I don’t completely agree with the stance of the Social Marketing Journal. Just because a website or social media community has the ability to change your information doesn’t mean you should be wary of using social media as one of the staples to your branding strategy.

The truth of the matter is this:

If you are spending time on your networks and investing yourself into the community will you not have a problem with the branding behind your profile. The people who have problems (when their profiles are changed) are the individuals who start profiles just to be ON the site and not INVESTING in the site.

Being on and Investing in a social media community are two completely different concepts. Anyone can sign up for a social platform but not everyone can spend the time and energy it takes to invest in the community of the site.

When you invest in the community you shouldn’t have a problem with the changing of a profile or your brand identity.

This does not go to say that you shouldn’t worry about your profiles online. Whether or not you should be wary of social media for personal branding is up for question.

Duct Tape Marketing Missed: Part 2

Okay. So.

Blogging can sometimes be a humbling experience. I wrote a post yesterday about John Janstch post, If You’re Not Participating in Social Media. I am not going to link to my post.. just scroll down. Long story short, I went off on John for throwing out numbers instead of talking about writing authenticity and using a corporate blog as a communication tool rather than a social tool. John commented on the post:

A couple points of clarification – selling to “older” employees are your words, not mine – I simply said to folks who were not convinced social media made sense for an organization. Second, I agree with your point completely and have written about it often – so, in that context what I was saying was use the data to convince people that it’s worth developing a strategy around.

Okay, I will be honest. I felt a little bad. I decided to go back and research the Duct Tape Marketing Blog,to find examples of where John talks about being authentic in the social media/blogging world.

He has many posts talking about authenticity, “humanness”, and the importance of strategy/clear objectives in blogging.

Here are the excerpts:

Engagement Without Volume Is A Lot of Work

John: What matters always, always is the completion of meaningful long term strategic objectives. So, the discussion of who’s blog readers are more engaged or if 500 hyper engaged readers is better than 50,000 kinda engaged readers somehow starts sounding a bit like the discussion of the best college football team every year. Until there’s a playoff, and everyone has the same goal, the discussion is silly.

The Ultimate Social Marketing Question

John: When planning your social marketing strategies, tools and tactics the ultimate question you must ask is this – “What do I want the relationship with my customer to look and feel like?”

7 Ways To Get More Blog Comments

John: Show some humanness – No matter what your blog topic is readers like to know that the author is a human being. It’s okay to let that show and to add personal thoughts. Only you can determine how far to go with this, but I know that your readers will connect the more they know your story.

John caters more toward the small business market when it comes to blogging and online marketing ideas but his ideas can still resonate at the corporate level. Believe me, they resonate.

Duct Tape Marketing Misses On Corporate Blogging

I read the Duct Tape Marketing blog every once in awhile. It resides in my Google Reader, updating ever so often, giving me small tidbits of information. I usually get some good pointers from John Jantsch. Today he wrote about a new Universal McCann Wave3 research into social media citing it as a great example to help employees sell social media to their “older” (John did not say that. It was me) employers.

Here are the points of reference:

• 73% of online users read a blog
• 57% join a social network
• 45% have started a blog
• 83% have viewed a video online
• 39% subscribe to RSS Feeds
• 36% think more positively about companies that have blog

John uses the research to give advocates of social media key points to throw out at corporate board meetings. “I don’t think we should be doing the whole blogging thing.” “Well, check out these stats from Universal McCann Wave3! We should do it.”

In my humble opinion this is completely the wrong approach. There is a reason why 73% of people read blogs. They want authentic information from individuals and companies. Can you truly create authentic communication when the only reason a corporate culture decides to blog is because of a stat?

“OMG. People are reading blogs and joining social media? We should be a part of that social media stuff! Wait. Bright shiny object. Where?”

Strategy. Strategy. Strategy. Don’t do something because it is the new best thing! Do it because you have a planned approach. Do it because you want to communicate in a REAL way with your clients. Do it because it is a part of a communication PLAN.

If you jump into social media with a fractured plan, you will get a fractured response. Everyone needs to be on board, from top to bottom. It need to be from the mail room student to the CEO.