Social Media and Community Mistakes I’ve made

Posted on February 10, 2009 by marc meyer

As the VP of Marketing for a dot com start up geared towards IT professionals and major corporations, I assemble multiple focus groups consisting of average Joes to get their opinion on the UI. Not realizing until after the site is built, that perhaps it might have made better sense assembling the typical actual user of the site in garnering user feedback. Huge error.

After having started my first user based community wrapped around a very popular consumer product, I manage the community as if I am a dictator. I say no to everything and listen even less. Big mistake!

These are but 2 of the mistakes I’ve made in my journey through marketing, communities and social media. Encouraged by my friend Mack Collier who has a similar post right now over on his site The Viral Garden, I decided to recount some of the mistakes I’ve made in social media, marketing and managing communities. I think this is a very viable topic right now for a number of reasons, as you will soon see.

Mack mentions that people who are entering the space for the first time-be it social media, marketing, managing communities, blogging, or whatever-may fear that doing anything, any misstep, will be met with criticism, or perhaps a stiff rebuke. Which is not the case at all, in fact Mack’s point is this:

When it comes to social media; no one knows everything, and everyone makes mistakes. I’ve made more than my fair share

Don’t buy into this ‘I don’t have anything to say/tweet/post about’ nonsense. Get out there and make your mistakes, because that’s the best way to learn. And besides, one of those ‘social media experts’ has probably already made all the same mistakes you will

So along with the other 2 mistakes I made above, let me highlight some of the bigger ones I’ve made.

2002 I set up a knowledge base, a BBS, and an instant chat function all to allegedly help our customer service dept. Results? Customer service didn’t know how to use the complicated KB and neither did the customer. The BBS was too complicated as well and the chat function crashed constantly. 0 for 3.

2002, I created an online community that instantly becomes popular and balloons to 3,000 users. At which point, I endear myself to no one as I kick out some of the brand champions for what were in hindsight, petty transgressions. It’s at this point that I am called out for the first of many times, and issued my first death threat as well. Major screw up on my part!

2003 I’m still not listening to the customer. Thinking that perhaps silence is golden as a community manager, I participate very little when the complete opposite was needed at the time. FAIL.

2004 A new product and business unit is created. I create new sites that get tremendous traffic but do very little analysis of the trends, the topics, the hot buttons and customer suggestions flowing in from email and I funnel them to Customer Service, because “I’m too busy!” Apparently, they never read them either. Product tanks. My fault for not listening, at all.

2005– I start blogging to create better brand recognition. But I know nothing and blog/spam with zero regularity. The only gain I see, is a minor SEO bump, but realize that it came from me commenting. So rather than genuinely read blogs, I decide to just lamely comment for hyperlink purposes. It works for SEO but I get nothing out of the exercise. At which point I’m just an SEO loser/hack gaming the system. FAIL

2006 I start blogging again but this time it’s out of a need to communicate with customers better. Obviously I’ve seen some light somewhere. But I read very few other blogs and comment even less. Not realizing that blogging is a 2 way street. It takes a full 6 months for that fact to sink in.

2006-2007 I engage in a full blown reputation management endeavor utilizing social bookmarking, blogging, and participating in multiple social networks. Only problem-I’m not engaging earnestly. Another problem, I create persona’s in the name of the company but not in my name. I’m not transparent, not even close. Apparently I realize the SEO implications but still don’t get that its all about you being you and the conversation. I’m everywhere and I’m not. The reputation management campaign has worked and yet I have zero traction. I still have not understood the basic principles of social media. FAIL

2007– The light is starting to go on a bit more, but it still has not dawned on me to come out from behind the curtain and be myself. It takes the last 6 months of 2007 to realize that transparency actually works in creating better conversations. In the meantime I start joining social networks on behalf of products instead of myself, and continue to push the message as a brand marketer instead of engaging and listening as a person. Mistake

2008– I was very active but not always in a good way. In 2008 I created “more” social networking accounts instead of concentrating on the few where I have become part of the communiy. I blog about too many different things not realizing that my traffic came from being consistent and on point. I also sometimes still forget that traffic comes from participating and reading other blogs. I also forget that the best way to create value and more long lasting relationships and perhaps derive business, is to go beyond thinking like a marketer and to think more like a friend, a peer, and a colleague. I realize now that from all of my mistakes that, as I told my friend Paul Chaney on his Blog Talk Radio show:

Active listening leads to active relationships that translate to real opportunity..

So you see, I’ve made a ton of mistakes, and those were just the one’s that come to mind immediately. The key though, is that I learned from them, and kept trying. But if you never step outside, you will never truly know what’s out there. Bottom line is don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I have to think that regardless of your backgrounds , you have all made mistakes. Don’t let the mob mentality, or some random blog comment or snarky tweet, sway you from trying and experimenting in social media. Let it be a motivator.

The only 2 questions an SMB will ask about Social Media

Posted on February 9, 2009 by marc meyer

I had been throwing the following around in my head after meeting with a quite a few business owners and talking with some respected thought leaders in the social media marketing space and I want to know what you think.

As an SMB you need to ask two primary questions when pitched with incorporating some aspect of social media in to your business and they are:

#1 What is in it for me and my business?

#2 What’s in it for my customer?

Simple enough right? But we’re forgetting someone. Someone as critical to the business as the customer is. Do you know who it is? One of the beauties of social media is that there are so many layers, aspects and dynamic components that allow it to address people it all levels of an organization. Including the sometimes forgotten and under appreciated employee.

So Mr. or Mrs. SMB, what we are really saying is that, if social media is pitched or considered then, the pitcher/social media practitioner, should be focusing on 3 aspects of the business:

The business owner
The customer
The employee

For the business owner you will want tangible hard core proof of “If I do this, this is what I can expect for my business and my employees and If I do this, this is what the customer can expect or will do, or this will be the customers reaction. It’s that simple.

If you are a social media marketing…person, show the SMB what the expected results will be. Give them examples of either what you have done, or… if you are in the majority and are just starting out as a social media marketing N00b, utilize the many URL’s that are starting to crop up citing examples of other companies using social media components within their organizations.

Here is a list of links that SMB’s can utilize that may help them in at least understanding more of what is going on should they be approached by a “social media marketing consultant” or are thinking about doing it on their own. At the least, you will get a better understanding of what’s in it for you, and whats in it for your customer!

Why Executives Don’t “Get” Social Media This is a good article on executive level mindsets as they wrestle with including social media into their companies.

The Ultimate Small Business Twitter List This is not only a great list but it also includes a list of Orgs. and their employees or Reps. that serve the small business market.

Here is a great link on Facebook titled, Social Media for Small Business that some of you should check out.

Why Social Media Is Worth Small Business Owners’ Time Taking advantage of all the Web has to offer is like eating your vegetables or getting exercise — most of us don’t do enough, and even those that do could always do more.

My friend, Amber Naslund, who now works at Radian 6 has 2 posts that I think are worth reading. here is the first Getting a social media foothold and The social media starter kit. Self explanatory right?

Lastly we’re going to finish with some video. I encourage all of you SMB’s out there to watch it, as well as newcomers to social media marketing. It includes a number of my friends and colleagues and thus, I would put a lot of stock in what they are saying. They are the genuine real deal: Brian Solis, Rohit Bhargava, Tim Ferris, Toby Bloomberg, David Alston, Liz Strauss, and Paul Chaney,

Lastly, let me say this. IF, you are a social media marketer, wannabe, or whatever… At the end of the day, you better do a pretty damn good job of stating your case. Because no one, and I mean no one can afford to screw up right now and the last thing an SMB wants is for them to be your test case!

3 Quick-n-easy ways SMB’s can start listening right now

Posted on February 6, 2009 by marc meyer

Inspired by David Alston’s (of Radian 6) marvelous interview on Blog Talk Radio I thought perhaps I could provide, 3 Quick and Easy ways an SMB could start listening online to what’s going on in their space right now, and it will cost them nothing! So let’s do this!

1) On LinkedIn, there’s an application called Company Buzz which lets you tap into this information flow to find relevant trends and comments about your company. You can install the application and instantly see what people are saying. You can customize and topics and add new ones to watch.You can see historical charts to track buzz over time and you can get the top words associated with your topic and quickly drill into see related tweets. There is of course an assumption here that you have created a LinkedIn account. If you have not, do that first.

2) Google Alerts I can’t say it any better than Google here, so let me quote them:

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

monitoring a developing news story

keeping current on a competitor or industry

getting the latest on a celebrity or event

keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams

The interface is simple, even more-so to set up and you are ready to go!

3) I know you have probably heard of Twitter, but one way to dip the toe in the water to see what the buzz is about, is by listening first. You can do this by developing searches that speak to your search terms, industry, company, you etc. Twitter Search helps you filter all the real-time information coursing through their platform. Which is, undeniably, a lot!

You can even take it to the next level by crafting your searches using their many advanced search operators, and you can also use the advanced search page to easily incorporate search operators into your queries.

Boom. That’s it. You have just set up 3 ways to start listening and it may not even have taken you an hour. Got another that takes less time and is free? Share it!

As social networks increase so does your margin for error

Posted on February 2, 2009 by marc meyer

This is a cautionary tale that I’ve been thinking about for awhile. Having noticed how much social networks and communities have grown exponentially recently, I’ve noticed that people do things within the context of what we consider New Media, i.e. social networks, and then ultimately regret it later.

The evidence is everywhere. We see the demise of relationships, axes to grind, pure anger, mob mentalities, bruised egos, bitterness, love, hate, and fraud all played out in glorious real time and beyond, thanks to digital footprints.

Some groups seem to be more comfortable with this aspect of Web 2.0 than others. Gen Y and millenials are used to, and comfortable with leaving their mark. They’re comfortable with the ability to express free form raw emotion on their social nets of choice. So much so that they take on the characteristics of an animal marking its territory. They do not care about the repercussion of what they do online. It’s all they know and it’s almost expected and assumed by their peers

Why do they continue to push the envelope? Why do they do “it” knowing that there could be major reverb from it? Some do not care and they are looking for the desired reaction and effect.

Maybe for others, they have no idea? I don’t think they do. At least Gen Y and Millenials don’t, nor do they really care at the present moment.

But that’s just one segment, what about the rest of us?

Some of us do it specifically for that purpose, to get under someone’s skin, to challenge and and to poke and prod what people say. Yet they regret nothing and apologize less. But for them, that’s their schtick.

Others do it and have no idea of the ripple effect it may have online. They have zero clue that their actions, their written word, their audio, that video, once it’s online, that content… ceases to be in their control anymore.

You see online, you lose that buffer of physicality. You lose the ability to “take it back”. Your margin to screw up is increasing and you know what? The statement, “Once it’s done it’s done” isn’t true. It ain’t done. You now not only have to deal with “it” when it happens, but you also have to deal with it every time someone finds it. For years to come.

My advice to you is if you want to use social networks as your primary means of communication, be prepared for any and all repercussions stemming from your interactions…. to now be public fodder.

The marketing of Pro football

Posted on January 30, 2009 by marc meyer

It’s no secret that Pro Football is a billion dollar business. As such this Sunday’s matchup of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl is as much a national holiday as any other day we have, with the exception that it is on a Sunday. Even those that do not like football, find themselves doing something that revolves around the game. With that being said, check out this viral Reebok spot. It’s been out since September, but not as a compilation.

Reebok was and is one of the few companies that understand the viral effectiveness of sports, Pro football in particular, and it’s impact with fantasy football. The series was created by Blue Room

One of the most common aspects of Pro footballs involvement in the fabric of our society is from a fantasy football aspect. A great example of this would be the UFN or Ultimate Football Network. Which melds social media and fantasy football into one.

Speaking of social media, perhaps you want a MySpace page devoted to the NFL, the Super Bowl and Super Bowl Commercials? Look no further.

But perhaps you want your NFL information on the go? Then perhaps you would like your Pro football content piped right into your mobile device via Pro Football Weekly.

I’ve written in the past about what to watch out for, specifically 4 trends in the next 5 years. They are, mobile, social, search and mobile social. Well here you go.

Taking that a step further for this years Super Bowl, for the third year in a row, the NFL is asking fans to pick the pitch that will become its Super Bowl commercial. The pitches will be posted on www.nfl.com/superad and 48 of them will be eligible for voting. Fan participation, community and a built in audience-beautiful!

Building on that type of theme the NFL in an effort to trying to embrace the users and give them more reason to consume their content, NFL.com has been using feature over the course of this past season that enable fans to comment on articles archived on NFL.com. Fans can then post comments with social networking personas and rate articles they have read on the site.

There’s also a live chat function that was activated at the start of the season that has been letting people interact with a fantasy football editor every Sunday, and also engage in cyberspace dialogue with NFL officials.

They have also incorporated a multimedia feature called the Replay Recutter in which visitors can select from a menu of game clips the league uploads to the micro-site weekly and self-produce edited versions. The program also gives fans logos and music from the NFL Films archives, Now that is cool.

In short there is not a technology or marketing endeavor the NFL does not utilize in trying to empower it’s brand and it’s fan base. Whether its RSS feeds, blogs and personalized sites for each team, mobile & video and or audio which can be uploaded onto your social sites, your blogs, and your phones along with customizable widgets that continue to promote and extend the brand at every turn, the NFL leverages it’s brand better than any corporation in the Fortune 500 or Inc 1000.

15 reasons why companies may fear social media

Posted on January 28, 2009 by marc meyer

Last night I was talking with Rachel Happe and Leigh Duncan-Durst on Twitter and we were discussing the following statement I made:

Some industries have built in fan bases and thus are naturals for social media implementation, so .. why the delay? Fear? Lack of expertise?

Fear of social media. It’s more prevalent than you think. Sure some will say they are waiting for the true ROI to shake out. That might be true, but I doubt it’s the main reason.

Leigh brought up some great points: “Is it Fear? Resources? Ignorance? Unwilling to be transparent?” She goes on to add without mentioning industries, “that some large orgs. are terrified of the VOLUME of feedback and detractors so much they can’t see upside.”

Can you imagine being so burdened with the fear of negative press or negative reaction, that you, as an organization, are paralyzed into doing nothing?

Leigh concludes: “They are just not comfortable with that level of transparency. Turning a blind eye negates the opportunity to turn around negatives…Treat customers with respect, respond – and identifyadvocates too!

Rachel then adds: I think the biggest inhibitor of adoption of new tools is that people are overwhelmed and don’t have time to play with them. Sometimes I think you have to drag people into a room and make them play around with the tools until they are comfortable.

I couldn’t agree with them more! So lets review this. Are these the things that are holding companies of all sizes back from utilizing social media?

Fear
Lack of experience
Ignorance
Waiting for ROI
Lack of Resources
Unwilling to be transparent
Lack of time
Confusion
No Money
Unawareness
No expertise
Lack of leadership
Terrified of feedback/truth
The “newness” of it, going to wait.
High degree of skepticism

What else can we add to this list? How many of these are really legitimate?

Your success is determined by one thing

Posted on January 27, 2009 by marc meyer

I know this is going to ruffle some feathers, but right now your marketing initiatives, your social media efforts, your email campaign, your DRTV campaign and more- all of it will rely on one thing in the end. Consider the following scenarios:

You are going to launch a new product. You build a website but how are you going to drive people to the site? How do they find it?
You launch a new product with a new company, that no one has ever heard of before, how will people find out more about you, your company, and your product?
You launch a new social network, how will it grow? How is it found? You start a new blog and you want people to read your kick-ass content? How will they know you’re out there? You join a new social network, how do you meet others?
You launch a new brick and mortar business, how do you drive business? Newspapers? Radio? Magazine? What is a person’s first knee jerk reaction to your advertising?
Your reputation? Where can you find it? How can you find it? Do you know if anybody is talking about you, your company and your product?
Your friends? Your family, How do they find you? Old friends? How do they find you?
You need a new job. How will you get your next one?

I could go on. But I think you get the point. Everything. and I mean everything that you do revolves around…

Think about it.

The Virtual Street Cred of Twitter

Posted on January 24, 2009 by marc meyer

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about virtual credibility. I guess because a lot of the people that follow me on Twitter have some interesting bios. Some that would have you thinking or believing, “wow this person is impressive.” They say they do this and they have x amount of followers etc. etc.

Simply put, at some point your bio, your connections and the number of followers you have are going to mean nothing unless you can back it up with true hands on experience and knowledge. I will venture to say though, that you can learn a lot about someone via 140 characters or less. Consider that the ice breaker or the get to know someone phase if you will. And you know what? It can become pretty obvious after awhile, when actually talking to someone whether they have the “chops” or not. That’s the difference between virtual credibility and “virtual street cred.”

“Virtual Street Cred”

I could refer you to the urban dictionary for the loosely defined version of “street cred” but attaching the word “virtual” to it simply means that it’s one thing to talk it in the virtual space that is the blogosphere or Twitter, but it’s a whole nuther’ thing to walk it.

So yesterday I tweeted that I was thinking about virtual credibility, when Rachel Happe, whose views and opinion I respect very much, asked the following question:

Is “virtual credibility” like virtual currency…it’s not really money but it looks like it on the internet? 🙂

Bingo! So, over the past few months, I’ve been having actual conversations with people I’ve gotten to know from Twitter. This is significant on a number of levels. Not the least of which is the virtual relationship has become something other than “tweeting” back and forth. Another significant aspect, is that before Twitter, I might have still been able to talk to people in the marketing, social media, PR and decision maker space but…It would have taken perhaps a cold call or semi-warm one at best to engage them. And many more to get to some type of comfort level.

Twitter has allowed us ways to create amazing relationships and opportunities at a rapid rate. Prior to Twitter we would have had to work twice as hard to get to know each other. As Brian Solis puts it in his most recent post:

As Twitter gains in relevance and prominence, its conversation platform will ring the alarms of any business that monetizes relationships, connections, and information exchange

From Twitter I’ve received opportunities to work on projects. I’ve also, on a daily basis been privy to a massive stable of talent that I can refer to for help, perspective, resources, advice, knowledge, expertise, partnerships and wisdom and most of all friendship. I have gotten to know people from so many diverse backgrounds that would have never happened otherwise. The majority of these people are a mere DM away. That is an amazing aspect that is not overlooked by me. Some of these people now have, in my eyes attained.

“Virtual Street Cred”

In the comments section of a post by Radian 6’s Amber Naslund, Marketer Beth Harte says the following.

I used to think Twitter was silly (hated it really), but now, it’s invaluable. All those tweets really build a character of the people you interact with. And then when you meet them in person, it’s like you already know them well and you can move past the ‘getting to know you’ phase into a deeper relationship. Imagine that from a business perspective…wow!

I feel that way too.

How about you? What has happened to you since you’ve embarked on Twitter? Good, bad, or indifferent?