Social Media is Not a Fad. Get Over It.

There is a new video on YouTube that takes many of the stats from the Did You Know 3.0 video and adds some new stats. There are some surprising statistics that keep the argument of the new social revolution burning red hot. We are experiencing a shift in communication whether you like it or not. With the video I created the list below of important stats that further support the notion of using social media for business communication:

1. Generation Y will outnumber Baby Boomers by 2010.

2. 96% of Gen Y use social media

3. If Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest in the world.

4. 80% of companies are using LinkedIN to search for job applicants

5. Boston college quit distributing email addresses to students in 2009

6. There are over 100,000,000 videos on YouTube

7. There are 200,000,000 blogs in existence today

8. Over 100,000,000 blogs post content daily

9. 25% of search results for the top 20 largest brands are user-generated content

10. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations

We are on the edge of a communication transition. 14% of consumers trust advertising… only 14%. Are you ignoring the changing landscape and risking the reputation of your company and brand? Is your PR company talking to you about social media? It is important to remember that new technology will always change the way business operates… and the new technology is here.

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Balancing Client and Social Interactions in Social Media

I was recently asked by Duncan Alney from Firebelly Digital on a recent Hoosier PRSA blog post to detail how I balance client interaction with social interaction in the social media realm. Here is the question:

“BTW Kyle – perhaps you should share with those that don’t know – how you balance client and your own social media interactions. I know how you do it (now) but clearly – there are others that are dying to know ”

With such a great question posed how could I not answer it? Duncan is a great guy and an awesome social media advocate. I would encourage you to check out the blog over at Firebelly.

I am going to take a stab at this question and form my own opinion on what Duncan meant by client and social media interactions. The idea of being able to balance personal social experience with client lead generation is a valuable commodity when using social media. It is extremely hard in the long run to balance both without taking to much time in both categories. I would venture to say that you shouldn’t try and balance the two… they should be intertwined.

Time is a huge commodity when using social media. How do you take the time to truly use social media without wasting the day away… because we all know… time is money. When the importance of productivity is realized

The social world is beginning to change the way consumers look at brands. Are they viewing the brand as a logo or as an experience? In my humble opinion… the user is viewing the brand as a person… as an experience… as an extension to their daily lives.

I use social media to show my personal side… to show that life is revolving around more than just a balance sheet, an income statement, and an accounts receivable report. Social media is about giving a perspective into the daily lives of the individuals that make up a company. People buy from people and the importance of showing more than just a product is being lost by many individuals using the communication systems provided on the Internet.

When writing a blog, using Facebook, or connecting on LinkedIN… you should be making it a point to deliver a half/half balance of life as well as business. Your potential clients want to know about your knowledge in your given industry but they also want to know about your daily routine… what makes you tick.

I try to balance the two by using Facebook as my social interaction tool and my blog as my business side of my life. How do you balance the two? Do you even try to balance the two?

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What the CRAP is Social Media?

I can’t believe it has been a year since Marta Kagan shared the “What the F**K is Social media?” slides on the now famous website: SlideShare. I know that many of you may be offended by the offensive language that is used in this slideshow and the only reason I am sharing this is because they (bleep) out the word.

If you are wanting to understand the concepts of social media (which are now a bit data) slide on through this slideshare. Better yet, if you are wanting to understand the concept of a viral phenomenon… you are going to need to slide through this slideshare. This presentation has been shared hundreds of thousands of times (if not millions).  Out of respect to viral marketing and Marta… I wanted to reshare this presentation.

If anyone is completely and utterly offended by the use of this slideshare… I apologize now.

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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.

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What The Top 10 Banks on Twitter Have in Common

ComputerWeekly released a detailed list of the top 10 banks on Twitter and what made them valuable to the end consumer.  I made it a point to go through each of the bank’s Twitter pages and figure out (at least) one thing they had in common. This one thing is based around the overall usage of the Twitter tool and how the banks communicate with current and potential clients. What was the overall theme for most of the Twitter bank pages?

Customer support and communication. To be more specific: customer centric.

The majority of the top 10 banks on Twitter use the tool to support customers with Q&A, idea generation, and live feedback on account information. From my viewpoint… the top banks are actually using Twitter in the right way when it comes to communication. Customer support and service is a huge pull when viewing Twitter as a business tool (whether you are a bank… or not). What other points did I take away from the bank pages?

1. Communication is Key. Do not broadcast a message. If you are wanting to use Twitter for another RSS feed to share PR releases and company news, you have the wrong idea.

2. Listen to Customers and then Respond. It is important to take personal time and invest it in the use of the tool. If you are communicating with your clients it is important to reply back to their inquiries. The same concept applies to a missed phone call or email. Put major emphasis on replying back to questions and comments. Do not let any tweet go unanswered.

3. Every Follower is Important on Twitter. Let me rephrase that… Every follower is important on Twitter if they are REAL and actually MATTER. A Twitter user being real or fake is pretty easy to measure over the long run. We do not want to be communicating with spam accounts. You can tell is a user matters if they are actually sharing content and communicating a universal message to their followers. If they have something to be excited about (new content)… help them by sharing that content.

Take the top 10 banks examples and use Twitter effectively.. both for customer support and communication. Remember that social media is a two-way strategy… listen, speak, and then repeat.

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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!

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Taking an Online Relationship Offline and Going Deeper

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25 Ways to Fit In with Your Competition and Fail

(disclaimer: this is tongue-in-cheek, otherwise known as sarcasm)

In light of my post yesterday about fitting in with the competition… I wanted to make a list of 25 ways you could fit in with the competition and use marketing/design/communication the wrong way. There is a ton of this going on and it doesn’t make any sense to me.

1. You use an email with an ending of @aol.com or @comcast.net or @hotmail.com

2. Microsoft Publisher was used while creating your brochure. Oh that clip art looks nice!

3. Your website hasn’t been changed in 6 months to 5 years.

4. You send out direct mail the same way you did 5 years ago without changing any strategy.

5. You chose to use a WORD font for your logo instead of investing in good design.

6. You wont touch social media or the Internet because you “don’t have time.”

7. You are reactive to competition instead of proactive.

8. You send out an article for your e-newsletter instead of up-to-date content and information.

9. You send out an e-newsletter once a month… same day… same time.. same content.

10. You sell the same thing your competition sells.

11. You care more about selling than listening.

12. You don’t ask questions… just sign contracts.

13. You will not invest any money into marketing because you fear wasting “resources.”

14. You do not spend time investing into your education and do not read because it is “boring.”

15. Your employees hate going to work.

16. Your brochure has 5,000,000 words about your company and 10 about how you help the client.

17. You think Facebook is just another “college kids” hang out.

18. You don’t attend networking events or community events because you have “better things to do.”

19. Your best client is described as…. everyone that owns a small business.

20. You refuse to write a blog. Period.

21. You create seminars you know nothing about but only because it is the “cool thing” to do.

22. Use a billboard without tying to the Internet.

23. Use the same stock photography as everyone else.

24. Ignore market trends because what “you do” worked in the past.

25. You talk about what you offer instead of what YOU do.. it is about personality and human quality… not service offering.. to an extent.

Well there you go. If you want to fit in with your competition… by all means.. follow the 25 steps.

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Small Business Loves Social Media

I had the pleasure of leading a break-out session at the Indiana Small Business Fair and it was pretty awesome! The one enjoyment (out of many) that I get from speaking to groups of business owners is the look of pure astonishment when they finally connect all the dots. I can usually see the light bulb going off over the top of many heads when talking about social media. It is important to educate as much as possible in this “fantasy state” of marketing through social media. Educate. Educate. Educate.

And if you think small business owners DO NOT like social media… watch the video below.

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The Brains Behind Social Influence Marketing

If you are running a social media company or  thinking about implementing some type of social media strategy into your business… there is no better company to track than Razorfish. They recently released a report called Fluent which examines the possibilites of using social media influencers (like Chris Brogan and Douglas Karr) to market a product or service. The definition of social influence marketing is as follows:

Social influence marketing is about employing social media as part of the entire lifecycle of a marketing campaign, even beyond the campaign.

There is also a deeper understanding to the concept of social influence marketing (SIM). The idea that marketing has turned away from the company and now is in control of the customer (or at least soon will be) is the basis of SIM. How do you create a market when in reality… in the not-to-distant future… marketing campaigns may not exist. How do you empower certain evangelists to spread the word about your product or service and seem absolutely genuine at the same time?

Razorfish is leading the way in deciding the right form to tackle social media as part of a marketing process. I would encourage you to read the report and experience the world of social influence marketing.

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