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?

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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.

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Video: My Thoughts on Social Media Productivity

This video was made about a year ago when Brandswag was still working out of my apartment in Fishers, Indiana. Please ignore the dresser. I wanted to repost it because of the content relating to the productivity of social media.

Coming Back from the Dark

I am just now coming back from being unplugged for four days. I am still on vacation (until the 11th) but I couldn’t stand being away for more than a couple of days. It is hard to balance leaving a world that you use on a daily basis and be completed pulled away from it… for more than 2 hours. Many would say, “Kyle. You are absolutely crazy. Your life is rotting away because of the Internet.”

To that i say… actually… I wouldn’t say a thing. It is impossible to argue with individuals who insist on taking the Internet to the level of some type of brain rot. I don’t find an issue with having the inability to unplug for more than 4 days. There is something built into the nature of social media… a social aspect that keeps you from staying away for more than a 4 day period.

I gain thousands of ideas and insights from using social media. There is a reason for my use of this wonderful tool and it is knowledge. Knowledge from millions of people across the globe. Ayn Rand would be proud of my selfish nature while using social media.

I will be in touch soon. Time to go wake boarding

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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?

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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.”

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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?

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The Future of Online Communication : The Stats

I had the pleasure of speaking to the Indianapolis Public Relations Society recently and I promised them I would post some of the information I used in the presentation to the blog. Here it is my friends:

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 4th E of Social Media is Engage

Kat Jaib beat me to the punch! I had been writing this 4th step in implementing a social media strategy as engage and Kat beat me to it in a comment earlier on my morning blog post. Kat is right when pertaining to the 4th E in the social media strategy: Engaging the Community

After you have stepped through the 3 E’s of Embrace, Educate and Empower it is important to engage the community in conversation. If you think of it as an action point you are listening and learning. By engaging the community you are creating action steps to supporting relationships to the people using social media.

Engagement means you care about what other people are saying online. What happens when you actually listen and engage? You create a new lead generation and communication tool.

When people know you care… they return the favor.

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