In my efforts to mail in at least one blog post this week. I decided to throw a wordle together of some of the luminaries of Social South in Birmingham, Alabama this week.
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Social South Thought Leaders
Social Media Saturation Yes, Maturation No.
Not another post about social media…Yes and no, but indulge me.
Yesterday Jason Breed of Neighborhood America and I were talking about elevating our game with hashtagsocialmedia in the same fashion that #Journchat tried to do Monday night on Twitter. Journchat, if you were not aware, hosted some live sessions in a number of cities that coincided with their regularly scheduled Monday night session. It worked to a certain a degree if not for the sake of trying. They get props for trying to raise their game.
Meanwhile, I had been expressing to Jason that I would like to see that eventually happen with Hashtag Social Media as well-namely some type of larger more event like type of setting for #socialmedia; and it was then that Jason brought up a seriously major point.
“What could we say or do that people have not already heard countless times?”
Which led me to pause, reflect and nod my head in agreement. I think he’s right. Has social media or the writing and talking about social media reached a level of saturation? In my opinion yes. But with a caveat. Yes, for those of us on the front lines and in the bubble. What more can we read and or write about that has not already been said? What power list have we not seen? What 10 sure fire ways to do something in social media have we not bookmarked, read or saved a half dozen times? How many blog posts about social media measurement have resonated with you? Whose Venn diagram have you saved and shared with your colleagues? How many slideshares about social media have you embedded?
Saturation yes. Maturation no.
After Jason and I agreed that though much has been said and repeated about social media, we both then agreed that there is still much, much more to learn, share, and expound upon. If we were to look at the Gartner Hype Cycle for example or even just your traditional bell curve, and we were to determine where social media, holistically speaking, was located on the curve, we would both say we had not even come close to critical mass.
Why?
Before you can run you have to walk. before you can walk you have to crawl. The history of social media is but a mere blip on the radar that is social computing, networks and clouds. Its a starting point that we have to get beyond. Let’s quit spinning our wheels about what it is and get to, “What it can do and how”.
We can all continue to write about things that we have all read countless times in different forms, and then we can slap each other’s backs and share it amongst ourselves. or we can step beyond that monotone and truly start to think about social media on business levels and use levels and not adoption levels. Am I wrong or am I just too close to the subject?
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The Humanity of Online Social Networks Offline.
Call it the missing link, no pun intended, but after spending 2 days at Universal Studios in Orlando, and watching the mass of humanity at play, I was able to see a cross section of society that one is not afforded in the online world no matter how deep one is into it.
But one tends to think (or rather I start to think) how this crowd source spends its time online and in social networks-if at all. Yet, there were so many similarities between what occurs in an online social network and what I saw, that I just had to share 10 of them with you.
#1 What recession? With waits ranging from 2 hours to 15 minutes, The 2 theme parks we attended were not hurting for customers. $12 dollars to park and no less than $60-$75 per person to get in. Think of Universal Studios as this massive social network, and in a sense it is. But no walls and no silos. The point being- If people want it, they will pay for it and they will wait for it, they will walk miles for it, and they will suffer in the heat for it.
#2 People of all ethnic backgrounds, shapes, sizes, ages and color can some and be welcomed without judgment. Truly a melting pot, both literally and figuratively. A social network where anyone could come in and be themselves with others…Hmmm…
#3 People like to show their individuality, their uniqueness and their affinity to products, teams, people, brands, looks and passions. Their “niche” was in attendance and the park was their platform. This included tattoos, team jerseys, devotion to designers, bands and brands from head to toe, and everything in between. I could have easily segmented everyone there into specific groups, all with healthy memberships.
#4 Everyone was in a fishbowl. I watched, they watched, we watched. From people eating like pigs, parents shouting at children, couples young and old making out, people in wheelchairs, people in scooters, people who didn’t need to be in scooters, folks trying to scam to the front of lines, people not understanding directions, rules or each other, people helping each other with pictures, others letting others in front of them in lines, extreme acts of kindness and of course mean people. What’s my point? Everything and anything was there to be seen. I didn’t have to look too hard. Sound familiar?
#5 I saw zero tie in anywhere with any type of current social network-which led me to wondering…
#6 How much of this demographic was engaged online via a social network? My initial thought was less than 30% of the total attendees. They just didn’t seem to be the types. Maybe I am way off on this. I did see the potential, just based on the number of digital cameras present, that photo sharing would seem to make the most sense in tying in the activities within the theme parks into sites like Flickr or Facebook. Kodak are you reading this?
#7 Zero tie in with SMS-This was glaring and seemed to have a huge upside as well as potential for either integrating with buying food or a Fast Pass or perhaps park, ride, wait, and show information. 95% of the people there had mobile devices. How was that leveraged?
#8 Tremendous potential to make the experience better for its most important asset, the people that shell out hundreds of dollars per day to attend. It can be even better but I think a certain aspect of smugness permeates the overall park experience for the sake of printing money. In other words, “We have a hot property, so though the experience could be better, we don’t need to really worry about it…”
#9 Some attractions had zero intuitiveness and thus getting lost even with the map was an issue. Directions were an issue. Assumptions in the capabilities of the attendees were perhaps over estimated. Hard to change? hard to upgrade? Hard to improve upon?
#10 Technology played a part in the design of each and every ride there to enhance the experience and the destination, but technology could be used even more effectively to enhance the journey all along the way.
My thoughts are this. What makes online social networks work is the individuality, yet the common thread that all people possess. This is obviously the key, or can be the key offline too. The struggle in both scenarios for marketers is trying to tap into that. The struggle for managers is how to deftly address the wants, needs and desires of every segment. The key might be right in the middle of the crowd. The crowd…It’ s in the crowd.
Note* Perhaps one way for us to reduce healthcare costs might be for Universal Studios to quit serving up the Western Diet to so many who obviously indulge in this far too often. More than 40% if not more who were at the park, were overweight..
“I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency that…”
I made a mistake. It took a a comment from a reader to point it out to me. A few days ago I wrote a post titled, “17 things that a social media consultant, agency or customer can’t do for you.” Though the premise was correct, I just couldn’t quite wrap my arms around the delivery. It happens. I’ve written enough blog posts where some feel right and some don’t. The reader was right. The original post sucked.
This original post was born out of frustration and that might have been the root cause. It’s now in it’s 6th rewrite, but thanks to Rob Laughter, who’s just getting started in this business, I was able to see the error of my ways and have tweaked the post considerably.
Though the original post was not meant to be snarky, or bitter, I can see how it might have come across as such. I still maintain it to be somewhat of a cautionary post as well, but I now have changed the phrase, …”Can’t do for you” to “I’d like to see”.. So I have softened it to almost a wish list of sorts.
See if you agree.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency takes the time to show companies how to blog. Not just set them up and set them free. The assumption can’t be made that everyone is capable of writing a compelling blog with compelling content..
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency that can teach you how to write for SEO, the User, AND for Social. It’s not easy, it’s time intensive, and not for the faint of heart and probably not in their DNA. You’d be surprised how many can not do it.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency articulate to you the relationship between search and social. Why? It’s an art as much as it is science and to be honest, why should they? Most have a baseline knowledge of that to begin with. Should you take the time to at least understand the dynamics? Yes.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency tell you when it’s appropriate to not to do something with social media. Why? because even though it’s not in their best interests, it is in the best interest of the client. Some aspects of social media are just not right for every business. Let’s not jam round pegs into square holes just for the sake of getting the business. As a decision maker always ask why. It’s you’re right. Which leads to #6.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you to understand the why. Why? Because it helps to understand theory. You need to take the time yourself to understand the why. Preferably before they come calling. Make them squirm before they get there. Dazzle them with your knowledge.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you to know when not to pimp your stuff. Why? Because if you think it’s the right thing to do and you’re a traditional marketer, chances are, you’re going to do it anyway.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you how to be yourself. They can tell you, they just might not be able to teach you. It’s really up to you. You will figure out that being authentic goes a lot further than #7.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you how to have real conversations. You know the difference, really…you do! You have them at the dinner table every night. That’s real.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you how to have real online conversations that result in business. Slightly different from #7 but no less impactful or important. The gist being that you can’t force the action.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you how to not be disingenuous. You’ll find out real quick how this one works. It’s generally when you learn what the word flame means in the online world and the only voice you hear is your own.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you how to not be overt and blatant with your marketing message. Why? You’ll think that it’s the right thing to do to, until you see otherwise. See #10
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you how to have or create your “ah-ha” moment, you’ll know when it happens. You will have it. Though they may have the skills to set up a moment for you, they’re more fun when you have them on your own time.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach patience and perseverance-because it is a cornerstone element of social media.
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you to want it-the only problem is, if you don’t want it, then you won’t want it…this speaks to #17
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you how to write FBML why? Because chances are they don’t know what it is. That’s ok, just outsource it
- I’d like to see a social media consultant or agency teach you how to “be social”… but they can’t. You just have to try.
Thanks Rob.
Does the tail wag the dog?
I often wonder who calls the shots. Some how the older I get the more important that is to me. I like leadership. I also believe in followers too. There’s nothing wrong with people following. Thought leadership? I like that term too. People that push the envelope of thinking in marketing, social media and technology are leaders.
I love “what if” questions too.
But in social media, though leadership is needed and is important, except that it’s the crowd that steers the ship. The mob dictates. Viral determines. On Youtube, sensationalism seems to rule. Humor dominates. Getting hurt drives traffic. Perez Hilton is a must read. Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington shift the tide. Why is that? No longer does big media/ mass media call the shots. The fourth estate is and was the dog and yet it no longer wags its own tail. The user calls the shots. The tail wags the dog.
That isn’t such a bad thing except…
Our thirst and their thirst too, is now satiated by the envelope that was once here and now is here…
Which begs the question, “Where will this put us in 5 years?” I’m not afraid of the tech aspect of that question. That is exciting. I’m just wondering where the standards and where our ethics, morals and norms will be in that time. The more that UGC( user generated content) explodes on the scene and continues to permeate every pore of our online being, the more desensitized we become, which means, we’ll want more. Our expectations and our needs become greater. Almost to the extent that even governing bodies might start letting down their guard.
Face it, we’re becoming UGC users and junkies; and where our fix comes from next (the technology) is not as important as how strong the next fix will need to be just to function or satisfy our demand.
There’s not a thing we can do about it either.
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17 things that a social media consultant, agency or customer can’t do for you.
This started as a post that was born out of frustration. After about 4 rewrites, I have softened it enough that it now speaks as a document that the client, the consultant and the agency can speak to when they begin talking to each other. I have not even covered strategy, objectives, scope or expectations, but at least we have a starting point.
This is not meant to be snarky, ok maybe a little, but it is meant to be somewhat of a cautionary post as well. Part of it being that I have made most of the mistakes myself. I’ve learned from them and yet, I still make them, because what I am still learning is that no two clients are alike. The dynamics are not called the dynamics for nothing! Feel free to add to them as well.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you to “do a blog”.-Just because they want you to do it, doesn’t mean you can. It’s not right for every business but let’s say it is. You just might not have been built for it. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just that the assumption can’t be made that everyone is capable of writing a compelling blog with compelling content.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you to do “social media”. You don’t do social media. If you’re an SMB or department head and you hear that, look at your phone and say you have to take this call..
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you how to write for SEO, the User, AND for Social. It’s not easy, it’s time intensive, and not for the faint of heart and probably not in their DNA. Though it is a great quality to possess. If they are asking or expecting you to, be afraid, be very afraid.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you to understand the relationship between search and social. Why? It’s an art as much as it is science and to be honest, why should they? It’s not what they do! Should you take the time to at least understand the dynamics? Yes.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t, won’t, or might not teach you to understand when it’s appropriate to not to do something with social media. Why? It’s not in their best interests. What you might not hear is that some aspects of social media are just not right for every business. Let’s not jam round pegs into square holes just for the sake of getting the business. As a decision maker always ask why. It’s you’re right. Which leads to #6.
- A social media consultant or agency won’t teach you to understand the why. Why? Because they don’t really care about theory, they might not get it, nor do they want to spend time educating you. You need to take the time yourself to understand the why. Preferably before they come calling. Make them squirm. Dazzle them with your knowledge.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you to know when not to pimp your stuff. Why? Because if you think it’s the right thing to do and you’re a traditional marketer, chances are, you’re going to do it anyway. Like the analogy of the actor who thinks he always has to be “on” when he’s in public. You don’t always have to pimp your stuff.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you to be yourself. They can tell you, they just can’t teach you. You will figure out that being authentic goes a lot further than #7.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you how to have real conversations. You know the difference, really…you do! You have them at the dinner table every night. That’s real.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you how to have real online conversations that result in business. Slightly different from #7 but no less impactful or important. The gist being that you can’t force the action.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you how to not be disingenuous. You’ll find out real quick how this one works. It’s generally when you learn what the word flame means in the online world and the only voice you hear is youw own.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you how to not be overt and blatant with your marketing message. Why? You’ll think that it’s the right thing to do to, until you see otherwise. See #10
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you to have your “ah-ha” moment, you’ll know when it happens. You will have it. Though they may have the skills to set up a moment for you, they’re more fun when you have them on your own time.
- Agencies can’t teach patience and perseverance- they don’t care. That’s not their business model. Though that is a cornerstone element of social media.
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you to want it- if you don’t want it, then you won’t want it…this speaks to #17
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you to write FBML why? Because chances are they don’t know what it is. They will just outsource it
- A social media consultant or agency can’t teach you how to “be social”…You just have to try.
Hopefully you can’t take these nuggets for what they are-lessons learned.
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10 social sites I bookmarked last week and why.
Yes there are lots of websites and blogs to read; and for that reason a lot of times I bookmark them and hope to get back to them later. There’s a method to my bookmarking and it usually revolves around learning. I’m an infofreak and my thoughts are that I need to share more of this these bookmarks. So here goe…
Disclaimer* None of these companies paid me to do this and these are not in any kind of order.
1) Objectivemarketer seemed like an interesting site, though the description was ambigiuous but certainly worth trying out.
2) Evernote– Ive been meaning to check this out I just haven’t pulled the trigger on it. Anything that simplifies, I’m all for.
3) Lazyfeed– this seems pretty cool and is exactly what you might think. It’s a real time feed of topics that Lazfeed finds, sortable, searchable, findable, realtime monitoring. I believe its in beta, follow them On Twitter for a reg. code.
4) The Spinks Blog Not that David needs any help but he has an interesting read here and glad I finally went over to see what he had to say.
5) Eventful Find share and promote events- This could be a useful site. The jury is still out though.
6) Hubpages Still checking this one out too-Publish online with easy to use, non-techie tools
7) The ultimate list of basic SEO resources– This is pretty self explanatory no?
8) What the fuck is social media one year later- this slide deck is a follow up by Marta Kagan from her immensely popular first deck on the same subject. Great to read and share, lots of useful stats.
9) The Ultimate list of Twitter tools Ignore the annoying popup and check this list. You never know what you might not know.
10) Why social media marketing fails This is really good, listen to the audio podcast featuring Peter Kim , Jeremiah Owyang and Charlene Li.
I love The filter aspect of Twitter and believe it or not, a lot of these originated from tweets. I just amassed them into an uber tweet for you 🙂
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WOM
I highly suggest this site as a resource http://www.womma.org/casestudy/
Gartners Hype Cycle 1 Year Later
There’s so much to comment on here and I’m not sure where to begin. One thing is for sure, alot has changed between the 2009 Hype Cycle and 2008’s. What’s your first thought? Mine is, “Have things changed that much in one year?” No. What it appears, is that in 2008, they were painting the social software landscape with a roller and now they are doing it with a mechanical pencil.
Don’t be a Social Media Dick…
Wanna know something great about social media? If you’re a dick (in the slang sense), eventually people will know it. Why? Because of the transparent nature of the platforms and its associated tools. You see, if you hang yourself out there far enough, your personality starts to show. Take Twitter for example. If you Tweet long enough, patterns start to form. Just like in grade school, high school and college and at your work. You start to see the personalities of the people that you “hang with” every day.
I used to say and still do, that you can determine the true personality of someone by how they carry themselves in sports. Be it on the basketball court, the golf course, a pick up game, anything. If you act like a jerk, then it will show. If you bust your ass, people notice. if you’re a team first type of person, people notice. If you’re a dick, people notice. Well guess what? The same holds true in social media.
Here’s the thing though. In this uber networked world we now live in. You really don’t want the tag of being “the dick”, or even “that bitch”, for that matter. No one wants to work with those types of people, no one wants to hang with those types of people and no one certainly wants to hire or refer that kind of person.
For those that might be the aformentioned, It’s not about trying not to please everyone either; and it’s not about being hard or cool or contrarian. Or trying to have this badass persona. You don’t have to. it’s boring and childish. It’s about being real. and being a realist. Look, we’re all scratching and clawing for the same things here, but if I felt the need to write this, well then you can pretty much figure out that something must be awry.
There’s a term that we should all strive for and one that I think is the ultimate compliment that can be given to someone. If someone says that you are “good people”, consider it the equivalent of being knighted. For someone to say that you are “good people” means that you treat people fairly, you’re generally nice to everyone, and everyone is on equal footing with you and vice versa. It doesn’t get any better than that. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have your moments, we all have them. But for the most part, you’re a solid citizen. In this case, the offline world can and should mirror the online world.
In social media, you can tell pretty quickly and pretty easily who the good people are. Even more so, you can eventually tell who the dicks are. Don’t be one.
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Direct Marketing Observations 