Should You Use Social Media? Ask Your Customers.

There is one common thread that holds  the worlds of customer management and marketing together. There is one common practice that drives every live event, direct mail campaign, email marketing push, and billboard ad. It is pretty simple in the world of business communication… you go where your customer goes… you (try) to speak how you customer speaks… you live where you customer lives… you are on their turf.. you want to be in their living rooms… you want to be in their thoughts.. you want to be first thing they think of when the pain point arises.

How do you decide which avenue to use when you are developing a strategy campaign to reach your customers? Chances are… you are going to decide based on market reach and campaign costs… Your organization is going to ask itself: How do I reach the largest amount of people for the least amount of dollars? Period.

Is social media right for every business? No. However, you need to ask yourself… Are my customers on social media? Do not take advice from your own personal experiences. You may be a baby boomer business owner who has never used social media tools but you are in the minority. Baby boomers are the fastest growing demographic using social media.

The best way to find out? Ask you customer. Engage in a conversation. Do they think it would be helpful to communicate one-on-one with your employees or maybe even you?

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The 3 E’s of Social Media: Embrace Educate and Empower

I had the pleasure of talking to the Indianapolis Public Relations Society yesterday about the evolution of technology. The concept of the presentation is to shed light on the ever-changing landscape of communication. How is technology changing the way we communicate? How are WE (as communication experts) transitioning into the new age? Are we allowing for a paradigm shift?

The people attending the presentation are stoic figures in the public relations community in Indianapolis and while talking with them I realized three important principles to implementing social media into your organization.

Embracing. Educating. Empowering.

Embracing: The first step in implementing a social media 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.

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233 Million Hours Spent on Facebook in April

(Stat courtesy of the Seattle Times)

Nielsen recently reported that there was an average of 233 million hours spent on Facebook in the month of April. 233 Million HOURS! Let me repeat that.. Americans are spending 233 million hours a month on Facebook. That is unbelieveable.

I would like to think that the majority of the time spent on Facebook is productive and not a MASSIVE time suck but that is not what is important. The important thing to take away from this Nielsen Online study is that the online communication platform is still growing. There is a massive shift happening in how people communicate. Whether you like it or not…

People are moving online to share ideas, thoughts, opinions, and their lives.

What does this mean to the business owner? Your customers are experiencing a new way to communicate. They can now connect to individuals through their daily lives! Get your sales people on Facebook. Teach them how to interact with people in the REAL sense of true interaction. This is not a hard sell environment… this is a relationship based environment.

Create relationships and win… and maybe… you will find that 233 million hours spent on Facebook can actually drive leads to your door.

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Is Social Media Changing Lead Generation?

I was reading Jeremiah Owyang’s post about social networking and corporate sites connecting and he makes a general reference about the changing landscape of lead generation:

“Because brands will let users login using their social network identity (like Facebook or Twitter) they are increasing their chances of user interaction and engagement –but miss out on lead generation in the traditional sense.”

This was an interesting proposition from one of the leading minds in the Internet interaction world. Is the entire definition of lead generation changing in the business environment? I would venture to say… maybe a little bit.

There are plenty of lead generating activities that will not change the overall concept when it comes to search engine marketing or e-mail list buying. There are still ways to produce lead generation using content through software services like Compendium Blogware or an awesome organic search firm like Slingshot SEO. But there has been a slight shift in how small businesses and corporate brands are building lead generation through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIN.

We are talking about  lead generation activities built through relationship development. Let me be clear that you need both strategies when developing a marketing strategy for the Internet but it is important to recognize that consumers may want more interaction than previously believed.

Through interaction and engagement you can build a different type of list than in the “traditional sense.” This is the whole concept of customer evangelists… empowering people to share your brand. You may find that sales may be longer but they are sales just the same.

Connect both strategies of search lead generation and social networking interaction when connecting your brand to the marketplace.. you may be pleasantly surprised!

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Who Are You Targeting on Social Media?

This is an old post but has been adjusted based on conversations over the past 6 months.

Jason Baer has a great post over at Convince and Convert called the 7 Critical Elements of Your Social Media Strategy. The post is brilliant for the small business owner wanting to get more involved in social media.

Why is his post brilliant?

It talks more about the internal business development than what TOOLS you should be using.

I am all for using Twitter, Plaxo, Myspace, Facebook, and LinkedIN but if you don’t have the traditional elements of your company connected… you are going to fail.

In the post he lists the third step in the seven step process as: Where is the Audience Cyclically? This explains that there are four different relationship patterns inherent in the promotion of your company.

Awareness: Maybe heard of you. (The-Lost)

Interest: Heard of you. Visited your Site. No Purchases (Stumbler)

Action: Made a single purchase (One-Time Charm)

Advocacy: Raving Brand Lunatics. (Jackpot) (Lunatic)

I decided to re-name them and go over how they fit into the overall social media marketing strategy.

Jason suggested that you should only pick two of the 4 Customer Profiles listed above when you are planning your social media strategy. I can agree with the fact that two is more than enough but I would suggest picking only one for your social media marketing strategy.

Why Pick Only One?

If you have planned your SM strategy correctly it is a part of your overall marketing strategy. You only have a limited amount of time and resources to fully promote your business. If you can use SM marketing to only target ONE of the groups… the strategy will be stronger and more effective.

This is especially true for beginners in the world of social media. One is enough for now.

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Your Website is Your Social Media Hub

Our web-developer extraordinaire and overall genius at Brandswag, Stephen Coley, wrote in his post yesterday about the importance of centralizing your overall social media communication strategy. Stephen is a genius at php and has been building websites  for the company since March and I couldn’t agree with him more.

When you are building your online strategy.. please.. make sure that you are driving traffic to one source. We are developing content to reach a wider audience than ever deemed possible in the world of marketing and public relations. For this very reason it is important to have a centralized hub. This pertains to B2B and B2C strategies. Great content develops readers and followers.. which in turn.. develops trust and thought-leadership.

Now, this may not deem necessary for some early adopters. There may come a time when the entire social media world will be decentralized and a new form of strategy will develop… but until then.. spend time developing your hub (your website). Put deep thought into the content you are creating and then setup the necessary tools to drive readers to your connection point.

I welcome disagreement on this topic but this is what I have seen from multiple sources, our own work, and current clients.

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The Failing Marketing and PR World

I am becoming increasingly concerned with the lack of blog writing by public relations, marketing, and advertising firms in the city of Indianapolis and abroad. The simple fact that a communications company is not in-tune with the changing landscape of the consumer driven world is troubling… to say the least.

If there are any industries that should be on the forefront of social media and blogging it is the public relations and marketing worlds. YOU are the communications arm for major brands both large and small. YOU are driving them out of business because of your lack of knowledge pertaining to the changing world.

If you do not believe in social media as a valuable device for communication (two-way communication)… I am concerned for your company health and your clients bottom line. You may be riding the fair wave of strictly using traditional marketing and media buys… Don’t get me wrong… it is still extremely valuable to use and implement but only when integrated with new techniques.

But what happens when 6 to 12 months down the road… when you realize that you did not change in the right direction… What happens when you are surpassed by smaller, more agile firms and your market share is ripped away because of one thing..

THEY realized it was important to talk to single consumers instead of a HUGE demographic mix. They realized it was important to communicate instead of blasting messages over the airwaves.

It is important to understand that social media will be new medium of communication. It may be a new concept but in the next year it is going to revolutionize the way we communicate. Are you searching for the truth? Are you watching the trends?

Most are not.

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Your Customers are Changing. Are You?

This video has be circulating for quite some time and it is absolutely brilliant. If you want to understand how the marketing and communication world is shifting watch the video below.

Are you listening to your customer? Are you changing with the way they are communicating to each other? Where is the personality? Where is the love? Remember that the world changes and it is important for businesses to understand that their clients are people and not a demographic analysis.

What are you do doing to communicate more effectively with your customers?

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Are You Vomiting Ideas Through Social Media?

I know. I know. This is probably not the best title to read early in the morning. For that matter, it is probably not the best post title to read any time of the day.

When writing your blog, participating in social media, or just communicating (period) it is important to remember that your readers and participants are consuming your data. There is plenty of regurgitation happening on the Internet… an idea is started on one end of the world and re-written hundreds of times. Where does the original content come from? Is there really such a thing as original content? Yes, there is and it happens from the personal realm.

Many would argue that there is no such thing as a new idea. We all write and read marketing, accounting, financing, and business content that has been hacked a part and repurposed countless times… so where does original content come from? Your personal experience.

Remember to write about what you learn on a daily basis in your business. How do YOU help your clients and customers? How did “Mary” feel about your product? How did an individual experience your thought leadership? How are you building trust?

We are all trying to produce content that people will read and share. The most original content you can create is through your personal experience. Write about what you learn, know, and experience and we will love you for it.

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Marketing is Always Different

I think the beautiful thing about the web, social media, marketing, and the business world is that fact that everyone is different.

We would like to sit here and say that there are TONS of companies that are the same. There are 30,343 graphic design firms in Indianapolis. Not true, but you get the point. I am not talking about face value. The difference in each organization is the people behind the brand.

Each company has individuals that run every facet of the arms, legs, and head of the company. They are each an individual. They are each… different. They each have their own ideas, thoughts, and imagination on where the company is headed into the future.

This is an extremely important concept to understand. You need to utilize each individual under a common brand. We all have different ideas on marketing and that is why companies vary greatly on marketing potential… and (of course) disaster.

Utilize your employees. Utilize your customers (your brand). Create a sustainable future for your (their) company. Create a company that embraces change, ignites excitement, and takes full advantage of a trend.

Marketing is always different. Ideas are always different. It is the implementation… that moves mountains.

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