Tag Archives: social media

Social media marketing in a bad economy-this ought to be good.

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A) Don’t trust a single article about marketing in a bad economy, unless the writer has concrete proof. and B) If someone writes an article about marketing in a bad economy using social media- read it and then run the other way.

Puff pieces notwithstanding. Unless the person is making up the rules as they muddle through these ridiculously bad economic times, there is no template on how to use social media marketing correctly to market a business, product or otherwise, right now.

Why, you might ask? Because social media has not been around long enough. Sure there are case studies and examples of how companies and corporations are using social media right now to extend their product and brand, but that was then-this is now. We are in the motherfuckin moment. Excuse my language but… THESE ARE NOT NORMAL TIMES!. So anything that you knew or know about how to use social media and marketing to drive traffic and eyeballs and users and adopters to your site/product, all of it, is not as it seems.

The Rules are changing before your eyes. So I don’t want to see anymore of the “How to use social media marketing in a bad economy” blog posts or articles or stories yet. YOU DON’T KNOW HOW YET. You cannot sit here and tell me that the mindset of the online user and consumer is the same now as it was last year at this time. I dare someone to say that it is. And if you’re pitching to companies and business’s in that vein, that’s bullshit, shame on you.

I do know that they are starved for answers and solutions and business- And SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING MIGHT BE A VIABLE SOLUTION, I’m just not sure that social media and social media marketing don’t need to be tweaked and morphed and melded into something that is creatively different right now. Just don’t promise social media as the cure-all for what is ailing businesses right now. But you can still pitch it.

We all need to figure it out (and we are) as we go. Please let’s document what we do, how we did it, what worked, and what didn’t. Then we can write all the posts we want on how to market and use social media in bad economy. Hopefully though, we won’t need to refer to them anytime soon in the not too distant future.

The Long Tail of Twitter

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Ok Much has been written or much was written yesterday about Twitter. I’m not sure why yesterday, but for whatever reason, yesterday was that day, my post included. So I found myself embroiled both via blog responses and via Twitter, defending in some cases what I see as the best way for me to use Twitter.

Here’s a quick recap of what was written.

Guy Kawasaki’s post just flew totally in the face of my post, but he did mention some things that you should do regardless of your ultimate goal on how you’re going to use Twitter. But his post is more about being the Uber-Twitter user, and I just can’t do #4 Which is follow everyone who follows me- I’m sorry but I would like to get to know “some” of the people I’m following. I think Guy and I have a different perception of definition of what Twitter is or should be used for., Though I do admit, that I follow some of the social media whores-not sure why, but I do.

Alan Wolk has totally nailed his post which speaks to why he thinks Twitter is going to be cluttered with N00bs, more experts, and gaggles of clueless wannabe’s and everything in between. Which means my Twitter post makes even more sense!

Business week has written about how ubiquitous micro-blogging and Twitter have become, which means a vertical version only makes sense right? And then we have Information weeks article on Twitter tools to turbocharge your microblogging Wow, didn’t know I needed to turbo charge it! Here’s Computer World’s 5 ways to tap the power of the tweet which actually are pretty close to what you should do and not as self serving and indulgent as Guy Kawasaki’s directives. And then we have the Top 10 ways to attract followers on Twitter which is a total link bait link juice article.

If you really want to know all things Twitter, and don’t feel like waiting for the next piece of hyperbole then go to Laura Fitton’s site, she blogs about all things micro-blogging and she actually brings some sanity to it all- Though I can’t stop thinking about what a tweet is worth, knowing full well that that is where this is all heading. Transactional conversations are coming, trust me.

Ok so I’m going to sum up one of the best ways to get the most out of Twitter, do you know how search marketing experts and Chris Anderson talk about the Long Tail? Well why would you want to follow 5000 people who all tweet at once about 5000 different subjects and 5000 different links? When you could follow 1000, or 750 or 500 people, get to know who they are and what they’re all about, and develop a vertical relationship?

I’m going to quote Chris here and splice/blend his words and my thoughts to make my point about Twitter:

The long tail aspect of Twitter does exist, but the data tells us that there may really be no head or body when it comes to following thousands upon thousands of people without any focus or reason. When it comes to Twitter, everyone is hell bent on following as many people as possible, but the fact of the matter is, Twitter traffic has the potential to be long tail and the word “long” doesn’t do the length of the tail justice. The long tail of Twitter is vertical.

Thanks Chris.

Twitter, Stay vertical-Stay relevant

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OK before I go any further you can find the video of what I’m about to write here, on Seesmic and also know that this vlog supported blog post was inspired by Beth Harte, who got the ball rolling with her vlog. Beth has about as fresh a perspective of all things marketing and social media marketing related, as anyone could have right now and I strongly suggest you add her blog to your reader.

With that being said,  I want you to tell me your process for how you utilize Twitter and how you decide who you follow, and who follows you.

Before I jump in, answer me this: Why did you sign up for Twitter? I’ll tweet this. but I’m curious. Ok I digress.

Here’s my Twitter process: I go through the email alerts and click on the persons name.1) I then look at their number of followers,  2) the number of people they are following, and 3) the number of tweets. 4) I then look at their Bio. and the link on the Bio. 5) I need to determine why this person is choosing to follow me. What is the reason? 6) Are they wanting me to look at their website. 7) Are they promoting something 8) Are they just following as many people as possible 9) Do they even care what I have to say? and 10) Do they bring value? 11) Do they offer value? 12) what kind of tweet quality do they have? 13) How often do they tweet? 14) Are they even in my space?  15) Are they vertical enough?

Once I ask myself these questions then it’s fairly easy to decide whether this is a relationship I want to take to the next level. You see, at the end of the day, I want us to be able to share, and learn from each other. I want you to share something with me that I previously did not know. And I want to do the same for you. I want it to be mutually satisfying for both of us. I know this sounds like we’re dating but I want it to make us both better at what we do. As with all other social media tools, it’s a 2 way street of communication. It’s a dialogue not a monologue, and I value as much from what I learn from the people that I follow, as to what I give them in return. Value begets Value.

So… are you using Twitter the right way?

Every follower can be a thought leader

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I was inspired to write this last night after “I started thinking” that we all are capable of being “Thought leaders” in our right. This meme came from a couple of posts that I read over at Amber Naslund’s and Valeria Maltoni’s blogs. Amber had touched on this week about reputation and branding, value propositions and being personal, While Valeria listed 25 ways to fail and come out on top. I highly suggest after reading this short post that you head over there to read what they have to say.

While both Amber and Valeria have taken different approaches to the same topic, the message to me is quite clear. I’m going to sum it up for you. Right now, you read our blogs for pleasure, for business, for insight, for research or for shits and giggles. The reasons are many, but what I want people to realize and what Amber and Valeria are saying in oh so many words is you can be the thought leader or the influencer who inspires us. With that being said, I am a firm believer in empowerment, I think it creates more leaders and less followers and more original thought in doing so.

We talk about thought leaders in social media all the time. But what you need to realize is that all of us, thought leaders and influencers included, are starting from the same point. We start with nothing and we build from there. I tweeted earlier today that everyone can make the new rules. I thought that, because I read and hear all the time about the new rules of marketing or the new rules of media, or social media marketing rules of engagement.  And I get that. But guess what? You can make your own rules too! Wanna know why? Because we’re all still figuring it out ourselves. We always will be. But you can be the one that shows us the way, just as much as the next person.

Be the one that makes or breaks the rules. There is no reason why YOU can’t be the thought leader.

Are you in for the Long Haul?

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I’m going to start with a sports analogy here so bear with me. It’s not so bad that you won’t be able to understand where I am going. So here goes. Almost a year ago (December 12th 2007, to be exact), the Auburn University football team hired an offensive coordinator-the person or coach who would call the plays from the sidelines. At the time, much was made of this person’s background, pedigree and the potential and the excitement that he was going to bring to the program. High expectations, to say the least, were the only acceptable and assumed result. The football team needed something or someone that was going to generate offense, touchdowns, and wins. There was major Buzz. Sound familiar?

Not 10 months later, on October 8th 2008- Auburn fired the offensive coordinator. Why? Because they were not seeing the expected results quick enough. They were not getting what they thought they should get and what everyone told them they were going to get. Their expectations were not met.

Here’s what might have happened. Maybe they didn’t give it long enough? Maybe they grew impatient. Or perhaps Auburn’s head coach grew weary of hearing others tell him that it just was not working and they need to change it. Or maybe he wanted to try something else, or go with someone else that promised that they could deliver results too? Or maybe he wasn’t fully committed? Maybe, just maybe he wasn’t in it for the long haul?

Now let’s tie this into marketing, and social media marketing in particular. If you don’t give it a chance and you don’t embrace it from the outset then you are doomed. if you don’t coddle it and show it the attention it needs it will fail. If you don’t water it, it will whither away and die. Social Media requires commitment and I think a lot of people become impatient when they do not see the results. You see, we live in an instant gratification world and for some, if they ain’t seein’ it in the first day, they are fricken outta there. WRONG. You can’t treat social media and social media marketing like that. Wake up!

You need to ask yourself right now, are you in this for the long haul? Are you willing to commit to what it takes? Don’t bail before it becomes a success? Don’t be the thousands of companies and people that did not give something a chance. Be the few that were willing to stay the course, believed in their skills and trusted that they were doing it right!

11 thoughts from the last 3 days

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So every once in awhile I have these stream of consciousness moments that I need to share on a larger scale instead of just the Twitter platform. Here are some good ones from the past couple of days, at least I thought they were good:

-How many of you understand that one of the true underlying features or aspects of social media is that it really boils down to reciprocity?

-Raise your hand if social media is transforming the way you do business.

-What level of “digital intimacy” would you say we all share via twitter? We’ve all gotten to at least first base here, right?

-The whole election process is a macro-conversation that in the end, boils down to a micro-interaction between you & the candidate. David Armano your thoughts?

-What has been the effect of social media on this year’s election?

-In the looming age of measuring all things related to social media-how transactional should your conversations be? Or how transactional will they eventually become?

-Sacrifice usability at the altar of sexiness-I have to credit Avanish Kaushik for that one, but I love the meaning of it.

-4 things you will struggle with throughout your life : saying no, saying goodbye… saying I can’t, and saying I don’t know.

-Valeria Maltoni is the definition of class. she cares and she is deeply insightful… and she is a game changer.

-The difference between communities is not people but individuals but social media is about individuals being authentically individual.

-The network based on trust begets value which in turn brings a higher ROE return on engagement

Feel free to blog about these, or use them as topics for discussion. I’d love to see all of them become blog posts one day but alas, that’s up to you! Words of advice, keep the yellow legal pad close by!

Does social media consume you?

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I was listening last week to a football coach being interviewed on the radio. I can’t remember the college team he coached, but he had a law degree and he was talking about something other than football-so it was turning into a good interview-because it was free of cliches. He was telling a story about his mentor in law and he asked his mentor if he liked law. His mentor responded that he “thought about law at all hours”. He said that it consumed him, but in a good way. He said that in life you should “do” what consumes you.

I thought about that as I drove. Beyond your family, What get’s your motor running? What can you talk about with relative ease? It can be your passion. But even more, it’s easy for you to think about it. It’s a no brainer. The more I thought about it, the more I’m starting to realize that I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking of the ways that social media can be used in all walks of life, in social settings, and in work environments.

To me, I see social media as a way to connect, to solve problems, to communicate and to converse on a scale that we have never seen before. That consumes me. That possibility. That challenge.

So…. What Consumes You?

Let’s quit talking to each other

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This post is or was inspired by Liz Strauss.  Actually though, I was going to write this post a long time ago. It’s origins can be found within Twitter, and it’s flourishing within the blogosphere.  Part of my post is fueled by the innate ability of the late comers and the me-too’ers to echo what everyone else is saying via Twitter and their Insta-blogs. Some of them are merely trying to get in the game, while others are just trying to profit off of the efforts and sincerity of others. But the bottom line is they are bringing nothing to the table-zero. You know who you are.

The other part of my post is about the rest of us, me included, who tend to write about whats right, wrong, great, shitty, and awsome about social media, marketing, and all things related to what we do. There’s one big problem with this though. You see we get paid by companies who need what we do. We get paid by companies who have no clue. But our blogs and our Tweets are read by  most people who already know or pretend to know what to do. I know that’s not completely the case but for the majority it is.  Sure we share resources and blog sites with another “great post”,  but the people that we need to be reaching out to are companies that need what you do for a living. And they might not have access to your blog or access to your Tweets.

We need to quit validating each other so much and patting each other on the back. We need to start doing more with clients, and talking less to each other. You need to figure out a better way of getting clients to listen to your Tweets and how you’re going to get them to your blogsite and your website. If that means changing your tune on your tweets or your blog, then so be it.

Wouldn’t you agree?

10 social media ideas you can blog about

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In my efforts to provide readers and writers with the tools they need to write better content, here is a topical list of subjects that you could probably write a pretty decent blog post on. If you do, give me some props and some link love. Or better yet, we could discuss them as we go, we can just start with #1 and we can collaborate and work our way down the list together. Your choice.

  1. What is Your Personal Social Media Strategy? Whether you are an agency, corporation, or an individual you need to have a plan.
  2. SEO depends on social media. As much as some purists might not want to admit it, seo and social media are joined at the hip.
  3. Should bloggers be held to journalistic standards? Bloggers can say and write some pretty outlandish things and get away with it, should they? Should they be held to the same standards as traditional journalists?
  4. Communications Decency Act and Social Networks-Are we doing enough to police what is written and produced and generated on social networks?
  5. Transactional conversations-is there now a value that can be placed on every conversation that takes place via social media?
  6. Social Media is a time suck-how much time do you devote to social media per day and per week?
  7. Whats more important? User experience or Technology? What drives the user? Is it the platform or the the experience?
  8. The criteria for judging social media platforms? What is yours? what do you base your usage on? What should they all be judged on?
  9. Social networking failures, you can’t force the action.-Not all social media/social networks succeed.
  10. How to choose the right social network? Should they be more vertical, will they eventually be?

OK, so there’s your topics, pick one, any one and go to it! Soothe your inner writers block demons and be sure you let us all read it too!

Who are you talking to?

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Anyone know who Travis Bickle is? Back in 1976, an actor you may have heard of, was still trying to carve out a name for himself in Hollywood. He was in a movie called Taxi Driver, In this one memorable scene, Bickle is looking into a mirror at himself, imagining a confrontation which would give him a chance to draw his gun. He says the following line:

You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin’ to? You talkin’ to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?

So my question to you, who are you talking to? When you write your blog, who are you writing for? Are you talking at them? or to them? Who is them? Someone had written recently that you don’t have a successful blog unless it’s loaded with trackbacks and comments. I bet to differ, but I do think it’s important that you are writing with purpose and conviction. That’s what makes a blog successful. But one other important aspect of blogging, is the ability to listen and the ability to focus.

Here is your thought for Monday. take a step back and figure out what is the message and the theme of your blog. When you do get traffic, what brings them to you? And how can you get them back again. What is your unique value proposition? it should be, listening first and talking second. I’m not saying your blog is wrong, I’m saying, be more succinct in the theme. BE CLEAR There’s nothing wrong with randomness, but if I want random, I can find that anywhere. This is especially true if you’re first starting out as well. Know why you want to blog. Here’s a good primer on how to blog ,for the uninitiated.

BTW, Travis Bickle was played by Robert DeNiro, but you knew that right?