Posted in Social Media Community, social media

17 comments

9/01 2009

Don’t Delegate Social Media. Embrace It.

**Disclaimer: I am very much in favor of using Interns because they are plenty of experienced and energetic college students who do great jobs for companies. This post is merely something to talk about a company developing a social media strategy and not throwing it off on the first person.***

Let me run you through a scenario from my days in college.

I was an Intern, an inexperienced and cocky Intern. This was my freshman year of college and my Father wanted me to complete an internship at his radio stations in Terre Haute, IN. Believe me, I wanted to go. I thought it would be a good experience to learn about sales, marketing, and the world of traditional advertising.

And that lasted about… 3 weeks.

Yes, 3 weeks into the process I started getting bored and wanted to do something else. Being a Freshman in college there is only so much you can do without wanting to go and… do what college kids do. With all that said, I helped the radio stations move more into the Internet world and I sold a few ad spots. But I wasn’t really that involved in the organization because of the short time I would be there.

Guess what? I didn’t really care much about building a brand or contributing to the overall five year plan the company had in place.

Believe me.. this story applies to social media.

Jay Baer said it best in Delegation Equals Death in Social Media:

Almost every time I work with a public relations firm… “Us old dogs don’t really understand all this new social media stuff, but we’ve got this brilliant young guy right out of school….” Bang Bang.. You’re Dead.

I am getting tired of hearing about companies throwing social media strategy and tools off on an Intern. To be honest with you, I get tired of hearing about brand building and extremely important communication tools being used by someone who is not OVERLY invested in the growth of the company.

Social media allows you to directly communicate with your clients. It allows you to increase customer support, increase customer interaction with your company experience, and allows for truly grou-breaking information gathering potential.

Would you put an Intern in the front lines of your top customer support center? Probably not.

An entire company needs to be involved and be on board with using social media tools. The company use of the tool needs to be PLANNED and EXECUTED.

Jay asked the question, “Are you a social media cheerleader? Are you ready to drop the pom-poms and get your hands dirty?”

I say, “Burn the stupid pom-poms and throw some dirt. Let’s start using social media to transform communication.”

Posted in Marketing, Social Media Community, small business, social media

2 comments

7/01 2009

1 of 4 Customer Types of Social Media: The-Lost

I had a post a couple of days ago talking about the four customer types of social media which was a piggy back post off of Jason Baer’s 7 Critical Elements of your Social Strategy. I wanted to start focusing more in-depth on each customer type.

First on the list is “The-Lost.”

The-Lost can be categorized as a person or user that has either maybe heard of you or has not heard of you at all. Jason calls this section of a social media marketing strategy the Awareness phase. This is very much brand development on the part of the marketer.

You want to gain the mind-share of a web browser or potential client. We all know that this individual is lost because they haven’t discovered the beauty of your product or service.

We have described what it takes to become a member of the Lost. I guess the question is now: How do you market to an individual that is “lost”?

Using Social Media to Capture the Lost: Join the Community

This is not rocket science. There are many level of an individual in the Lost category. Let’s focus on the Generation Y Lost. If you are seeking to gain acceptance into the social media world of a Lost Gen Y it is important to become involved in the community. Community acceptance is huge for this demographic and Social Media type.

I am a part of Generation Y and I can tell you first and foremost… we are not brand loyal. By joining a community there is an aspect to being transparent that needs to be obtained. You cannot join a Gen Y community as a logo and business name. Go ahead an be disingenuous… and be killed.

Slowly start to work your way into the minds of the Lost. Their friends will help them along the way.

Posted in Social Strategy, branding, social media marketing, twitter

2 comments

6/01 2009

A Look Into The Brand of Twitter

Today’s guest post is by Jon Gatrell of Spatially Relevant

———————————————————

I’m always appreciative to meet good folks and develop relationships with folks online and this post is by way of one of those relationships. Kyle was kind enough to reciprocate with an opportunity to do a guest post in a response to my offer which started as part of my examining my Twitter network. Yup, Kyle and I met virtually by way of Twitter, so I think I have to make a confession based on the recent content around here. I use an Auto-DM capability which isn’t high on Kyle’s respectometer, but I do this for two reasons:

I’m fairly confident folks just click and add with no additional context, so I want to engage them in some fashion so they can potentially start a conversation. Net-Net – It works.
I travel a good deal, do a fairly large amount of tweeting from my phone, so I’m not always able to engage “in person” for a while and Auto-DM’s help validate that I’m “there”, if not in person.

The important point is I’m not trying to sell anything, just provide a snapshot into my views and to provide access to me while providing an introductory insight into my personality. In the end, I agree that it is about emotion, which is why Twitter is such an interesting topic for many.

Twitter is essentially an ecosystem with continuous growth and increasing capabilities which are core to the platform, but also market driven by the users. Twitter more so than any other online community does generate emotional responses from some and I think the graphics help do this while reinforcing the brand. That little bird is just something we all want to be free, open and happy. Right?

The Bird is the Brand

Brand is the culmination of many things, but it is often considered what is conjured up in your mind when you think about a brand. For Twitter, at least for me, it is the bird. I suspect I’m not alone and that this imagery is intentional. When you think of twitter there are probably 3 images you think of and probably in this order, depending on when you started using twitter:

The Bird
The Whale
The Robot – I think the robot is gone, so here is what it looked like

While I cite three different images, the common theme in all of these images is a bird. Twitter has from the beginning focused on delivering a simplified user interface and a single visual. The bird has become so integrated that the developer community has embrace iterations of the bird. Magpie (arrgh), Tweetlater, Twitterfeed, Twittad and Qwitter all have integrated a bird into their core visuals and UI. You go to these sites and the first thing you know is they do something for Twitter, you don’t even need to read a thing. Each of these platforms and their use of birds are riding the brand tails of Twitter and the promise of Twitter.

At some point in time, Ev and folks made a conscious decision: Develop a single creative which can represent the community and integrate it throughout the user/community experience. This isn’t an accident. Creative represents a key brand element that if contemplated as part of the original brand roll out and subsequent activities can drive increased visibility of the brand and develop a promise visually. While I don’t know what the official brand promise is for Twitter, I will take a guess based on what I think of:

Quick, easy and simple – “Effortless enagement, like a bird in flight”
We try real hard – “look our birds are trying to pick up a whale”We are different – “I know that teal/weird blue is odd, but the bird looks better in this color and we respect our bird”
We are everywhere – web, SMS, mobile apps. “No matter where you go you can see/hear a bird”
We are open and free – API and dev community. “When was the last time a caged bird sang?”

Brand and creative go hand and hand, so as you look to develop a brand, you also need to put together a strategic creative roadmap/plan.

Viral Marketing, blogging, small business

4 comments

5/01 2009

10 Tips for a Great Video Blog

I am a regular contributor to Smaller Indiana. FYI (I am Obsessed with it too). I was reading through some of the blog posts and found a great one by Ellen Dunnigan called Really? That’s Your Company Video?. Ellen owns a public speaking and support company call Accent on Business and her tips are brilliant. I added three on the end to make 10.

Ellen’s 7 Tips to a Great Video

1. “Shakey Cam” may be good for personal videos to friends and family, especially if you and they are young(ish). Not so much for business. Seriously, think about that. Do you want your business partners, clients, colleagues to see you that way? Do you want them to see how little you prepared for your oh-so-important message to them? Put some preparation into it. And if your paid professional videographer insists that you try “shakey cam” (or a digital camera on top of your computer screen, or loud noise in the background, or poor lighting) because it’s all the rage…find a new professional who really has your best interests in mind.
2. Position some lights on your face. Around you. Above you. Not in sight of the camera, but on you or your product. We want to see you if you’re talking to us.
3. Smile. Having a deadpan look doesn’t allow your personality to come through. Remember, in your video blog you are selling you.
4. Look at us. I mean, look into the camera. Pretend your audience is right there in the camera. Don’t look at your assistant who is off camera and to the left. The eyes are the window to the soul. When you look at me, I’m more likely to believe you. Better said, looking to the left or right or down is almost always seen as disingenuous. If you’re telling your staff that you appreciate them and they’re the best, but you won’t look at them (through the camera), they won’t believe you – nor will your customers.
5. Keep your head straight. Stand up straight. Sit up straight. Casual, yes. Sloppy or stiff, no. Use gestures to support your message.
6. Be professional. Don’t dance around, wag your index finger at the camera, make faces, or use poor grammar. And you’re not a nighttime talk show host, so don’t move into the camera like you’re seriously invading your viewer’s space.
7. And, one more item, be mindful of what’s behind and around you. Find a contrasting (and fairly blank) wall; well-painted or stained wood might be nice. Not too much background please, but a small picture or company name might be okay. Make sure you’re not in front of broken or crooked miniblinds, or a white wall (you’ll look washed out), or that there’s a flower pot or something else just above your head. Try not to have others who are not on a microphone talk or yell in the background.

Kyle’s 3 Add On Tips

1. Write Down a brief synopsis on what you want to talk about. I received this advice from Erik Deckers and have used it. It will keep you from stuttering and saying “um.”

2. Use an HD camera if you are going to start doing a video blog or company video. I use the Flip MINO HD. This will keep your videos looking crisp. I also recommend using Vimeo as a video upload site. You get some AWESOME quality.

3. Always write something underneath your video blog post. Gary Vaynerchuk does this and you should too. This helps if people cannot upload your video (whether from a mobile phone or a terrible blog reader). They get a synopsis of what the video is about.

blogging

2 comments

4/01 2009

What I am Reading This Sunday: January 4 2009

There are times when I would rather not write a post and it is usually on Sunday. So I thought I would list some blogs I have been skimming today and I have found really useful.

1. Ribeezie: Social Media Tirage

2. Holly Hoffman: Do Your Job Like It’s Your Business

3.Erik Deckers: : IRS Demands Their Five Cents, Reluctant to Pay Four Cent Refund

4. Douglas Karr: Mobile Marketing Strategies Launching in 2009

5. Rouge Puppet: Old School.. Does Not Rule

6. Jacob Leffer: Eight and a Half Minute Audience Engagement

Marketing, small business, social media

34 comments

2/01 2009

The 4 Customer Types of Social Media

Happy 2009. Okay. Now that we got that over with.. Let’s dive into something of more importance… Social Media Marketing for your Small Business! YAY!

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.

Interest: Heard of you. Visited your Site. No Purchases

Action: Made a single purchase

Advocacy: Raving Brand Lunatics. (Jackpot)

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.

Next up we will be talking about how to target each of the groups.

Social Media Community, organic search, social media

4 comments

30/12 2008

Social Media of 2009 – Keep An Open Mind

I am always try to browse 123 Social Media and there was a great post by Barry Hurd called Social Media Benefits – Marketing Comes With a Warning Label. In the post Barry talks about the disconnect between Customer Engagement and Customer Service in the graph shown on this page. There is also a huge dissconnect between business owners and the use of social media marketing.

The entire graph makes a lot of sense except for the bottom of the graph where Customer Service is listed at 17.5%.

We could go into an entire post about the benefits of Social Media to customer service but I wanted to focus on what Barry was talking about in his post.

The Concept of Having An Open Mind with Social Media

As you can tell by the graph, customer engagement is the top reason why Marketing Executives would use Social Media Marketing. I have been preaching this ever since I started my blog. Social Media is very much a “brand development” tool for small business. It is hard to use Social Media for lead generation sources (though it is starting to shift towards the positive on this subject).

As we enter 2009, marketers of all shapes and sizes need to be more open to the idea of adding an element of social media into their marketing mix. With the Internet growing and sites like Facebook and Myspace churning millions upon millions of people daily, it is the time to start focusing on using this medium of promotion.

So why is it hard for marketers to have an open mind about social media?

It isn’t fully explained!

Marketers and Social Media Mavens need to work together in order to focus on a workable model for ROI and brand development on the Internet. Both parties need an open mind to work together in order to keep the “Integrity” of the tool while building a tangible benefit.

Social Media Community, social media

1 comment

29/12 2008

Social Media Trends of 2009

I found this via Jon at Spatially Relevant.

Trendsspotting had a great post on Christmas eve called Influencers, Predictions slides collection. Issue 1. Social Media Trends 2009. You can view the Slideshare

Social Media Influencers Predictions 2009 By Trendsspotting

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: social media)

I wanted to re-post and share it because it is a wonderful breakdown of the future of social media.

Marketing, social media, social media marketing, twitter

6 comments

27/12 2008

Social Media Marketing is about Emotion not Automation

Doug Karr at the Marketing Tech Blog has a post this morning called You Know Your a Smippy When…

Before we get started into the Smippy world. I’ve known Doug for quite awhile and would count him as THE one that helped me get into social media specifically blogging. I pretty much take everything Doug says as fact and trust his judgment without fault. He is def. one of my SM mentors.

Part of his post is a rebuttal against my Twitter Auto DM Petition.

Now… I am not going to take offense to the Smippy comment. I actually think it is pretty hilarious. The beauty of social media is that you can freely express your opinions and other people have the right to disagree.

There is one thing I am NOT against and that is social media marketing. My company’s future is built off the concept that you can use social media for brand exposure, as well as, increased sales. Though I think there is a fine line with taking a marketing medium and bastardizing it by setting up direct responses without any regards to the person on the other end.

I’m going to cite an article by Seth Godin called The Rapid Growth (and destruction) and Growth of Marketing.

Social media, it turns out, isn’t about aggregating audiences so you can yell at them about the junk you want to sell. Social media, in fact, is a basic human need, revealed digitally online. We want to be connected, to make a difference, to matter, to be missed. We want to belong, and yes, we want to be led.

The business owners and marketers that were focused in mass marketing in the past try to systematize processes, “How can we take this tool and automate it to get the most BANG for the BUCK?” When you use Twitter Auto DMs you are not respecting the fact that I chose to follow you. I don’t want to know about your new e-book. I will find it on my own if you were that compelling to follow in the first place.

Any product that automates social media tools is slowly sucking the personality out of your brand (personal or corporate). You cannot try and automate a tool that is rooted in permission based marketing.

If you aren’t taking the time to personally thank people for following you…

Aren’t you just collecting another mailing list?

social media, twitter

83 comments

26/12 2008

My Twitter Auto DM Petition. Sign up!

I am not a huge fan of Auto DMs. To be honest with you I hate them. There are a few times when Auto DMs on Twitter should be used but most of the time the answer is no. I wanted to start a Twitter Auto DM petition.

Reasons Why You Would Sign

1. You find Auto DMs completely void of personality.

2. You find Auto DMs are not genuine.

3. You just dislike Auto DMs in general.

Sign below in the comment form if you dislike Auto DMs. Steal the logo and put it on your page. Spread the wealth. Spread the info.

Or if you completely disagree with what WE are doing..

That works too.

Sign below in the comment form.