Social Media
This Is Where Customers Are Going!
Remember when you were a kid, you ran out the door and then heard your Mother calling, where are you going? That’s what many local businesses are doing with their customers today. If you are the one calling, it’s most likely too late because your customers are off looking for what you didn’t have to keep them around the supper table. In this picture you are behind them calling out not in front of them engaging and sharing, drawing them in building a relationship, a relationship that builds loyalty and increased return on Investments. For many this sounds like way too much work and don’t have time for this new way of doing business. This new way is happening and you will have no choice, this new way is called Social Media, resistance is futile, you will be assimulated.
Businesses today will have to figure out how to integrate multiple Social Media Networks into there web presence, their marketing strategy and above all incorporate it into the business plan as a another way of generating a ROI. Keep in mind that Social Media is not the Messiah, it is one of many tools to use to build a stronger more viable business. Reaching out to millions of consumers who thrive online around the clock requires an investment, a different type of thinking and some courage too. Many business are still wedded to a traditional marketing approach, based on TV, radio and print ads, Social Media seems harder to understand.
The biggest change taking place, or the shift as I see it, there is no gap between the CEO and customer. They now talk directly to each other, there’s no need for the middleman. Support costs are dropping, some businesses are using these Social Mediums to reach customers and save large dollars in doing so. Take Comcast as an example, for more than a year Comcast has pioneered the use of Twitter to speak directly to it’s customers. It’s Twitter page @comcastcares has 28,000+ followers. Software maker Sage North America, to cite another example, routinely receives instant feedback from hundreds of people within an hour on specific products and services. Another example is in sales, those who visit MyFICO’s community website are spending 41% more than other customers!
Businesses don’t think in terms of inbound marketing, they are very good at outbound marketing. Outbound Marketing is only half the equation in today’s new market place. A great resource to learn about Inbound Marketing is Chris Brogan & Justin Levy’s Inbound Marketing Summit.
There are multiple shifts taking place but increasingly, consumers don’t search for products and services anymore. Rather, services come to their attention via social media networks like Twitter. So if you are wondering where your customers are going, look to the Social Networks a plenty, don’t believe me, here is another example of a National pizza chain, Papa John’s added 148,000 fans on Nov. 17, 2008 through a guerrilla marketing campaign on Facebook. It offered a free medium pizza to anyone who signed up to be its fan on Facebook. The promotion gained it thousands of customers and drove its Web traffic up 253%. It now has more than 300,000 fans and hopes to top 1 million by the end of this year.
I could list many, many more examples of how businesses are winning and using Social Media to enhance existing marketing efforts. When was the last time traditional marketing campaigns garnered such ROI’s as some of these businesses are experiencing in today’s new social environments? Your customers are in these social networks and you had better be there to.
Now you know where your customers are going, the question is….are you going ahead of them?
Social Media In Your Community
How many times have you gone to a Conference hoping to see or hear a particular thing only to be disappointed? I’m not suggesting these Conference’s were bad and didn’t provide value, but what was it you went there for but walked away feeling like you didn’t get what you invested in? I think more conferences should be taking place to involve as many people as possible, in as many area’s as possible too! I am working on putting together a Conference in my area but I’m hoping you will tell me, what you would like to see & hear if you attended. Keep in mind we can’t please everyone and it’s possible the conference could go on for weeks with everyone’s wishes, so the list will be scrutinized to ensure we cover the HOT topics.
I am looking for your input on the topic of Social Media In Your Community, please send me an e-mail or leave your idea’s and wish list in the comments of what you would really love to see & hear at a Social Media Conference in your Community. After all, you did want to come to Canada didn’t you?
I.T. Exec's – Now Is The Time
After talking to many business owners and I.T. Execs here in my area, I’m convinced most don’t understand or see the change that is taking place and think Social Media is a waste of time, a fad. Most are bottom-line thinkers and there must be a result for ever action taken, an immediate return on investment. They say I don’t have time for that sh*t! It puzzles me how those who think in these terms consider themselves Revolutionary thinkers, Visionaries in their respective fields. It would seem to me that this is the ultimate oxymoron. These individuals understand bricks & mortar better than most but they struggle with the soft side of what’s happening with Social Media and refuse to believe that it has any influence on the bottom-line.
How could it be that these brilliant minds are missing the shift, unwilling to accept that their roles will be obsolete as they know them. The argument is valid, someone must do the work, and, someone must be in charge, well, sort of. The Executive(s) that understand we the people are going to tell him what and how things will go will win, he must listen and listen hard before making a final decision. I’m not saying dismantle your hierarchy right this minute, I’m saying prepare to allow for a flattening of management and an empowerment of your staff unlike anything you’ve planned for in the past. Open yourselves up to bringing strategic I.T. and Social Media consultants (thinkers) in to help guide and wade through this new environment, this new era of Social Media and what it will mean to you and your business. How 50 Billion Dollar Marketing Dollars will go to firms that are smaller and can move faster than the bloated organizations we know today.
There will still be a need for large ERP systems and the like but they too are changing, as we move towards Virtual Reality and Nanotechnology, these environments are being built via the Cloud today rather than in big rooms with SANS and mainframe like servers. In the future we all will be wireless device’s, we will integrate with technology, in some ways we already have, manual processes will disappear in such a way we won’t see it coming. This isn’t fear mongering, this is asking you to look outside of your four walls and take notice of what’s really going on with technology, spend time looking ahead and consult with those who can help you see what you can’t see now.
I.T. Exec’s – The Time Is Now! You may even be too late in some circles, much needs to be done and you need to get started if you haven’t already. Don’t do things in a vacuum or you will stay inside your four walls and try to use old thinking to get you of your Executive Box. I know most of it seems logical but trying to put an ROI to conversation(s) is confusing at best when you try to get there using traditional equations. There are some sharp people who can help you and you must be willing to allow them to lead you through the maze, if you are looking for someone in your area let me know and I’ll get you connected.
I could go on and on but I think you’re getting the picture, get outside the box and ride the wave rather than be whipped out by it!
Social Media & Blogs Are Broken
The Internet is the new game changer in every possible way for business and individuals, it’s also a problem, because like the town you live in it brings out those looking to take advantage. Imagine a world with no law enforcement and I show you a day where everyone will try to take advantage, not to benefit others but to benefit themselves. It really isn’t much different than today, many don’t value human life the way we used too and we don’t help each other in the way that we should. We are self serving most of the time, we do things because there is something in it for us. Call me a cynic, but, human nature has proven time & time again we are predictable. We prove day in and day out there is good and evil, dumb & smart and there always has to be a winner and a loser.
The flattening of companies and now the world puts an old power in our hands, you & me! Most of us aren’t equipped to handle this new old power, we will continue to take advantage of others with even more ease. Can we be trusted with this power? Probably not, all you have to do is look at the history of mankind, how we consume everything in our path including people. We are doing the same thing with the Internet, with Social Media and Blogs, consuming and taking advantage.
The picture isn’t all black but it’s dark, I struggle as I’m sure you do with how the rules are being broken, how they are being changed. This new old power we have at our disposal is a double edged sword, it will work for us and against us.
One of the most disappointing and tiresome problems on the Internet today with Blogs and Social Media, is with the very thing we cherish the most, the content. There is a re-occurring problem that takes the joy out being a Blogger is, Social Media & Blogs are broken.
Social Media is forcing transparency, honesty and do the right thing mentality, this is good right? This by itself is extremely powerful and we will all feel the benefit, but there is a dark side too, some will manipulate and try to take advantage of this very power. Let’s take Blogs for a spin here, there are some incredibly talented people out there writing amazing content and truly have something of value to share with all of us. They write for hours a day, sculpting and carving a message that is meant just for you. You have been hunting for this content, but sometimes, you find it in the most unusual places. Then there are Blogs that don’t write one letter of original content, they claim to be a the best resource on the Internet and all they do is pilfer news sources that auto post to a these Blogs. In essence, gaming the business of Blogging.
The gaming of Social Media has the same issues, Twitter is a great network for connecting with like-minded individuals. You also will find the same links and content posted by millions over and over again, each one thinking they reported it first creating a wall of noise beyond anything you seen or heard before. Every Social Media Network has the same problem and I have to hear of a good solution to solving it. I realize I can’t do much about these problems by myself but I can speak against them and encourage you to do the right thing for you and your business. I to post links to information with the intent that it actually matters to you, not to be the first one to break the story and then watch 250 million others do the same, it defeats the purpose of having a Blog or using Social Media Networks the way they were intended.
I have found that the most common thing being delivered on the Internet is how to make money and get rich by using (buying) someones system, claiming to have done it, only to find out they don’t have a clue how to run a business. They are just doing what someone sold them to do, there are no short cuts my friends so be prepared to pay some kind of price no matter what you do. Don’t get me wrong, we all want to earn a living, but if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
A tip for you. There is a gap between knowing how to do the work of a business and knowing how to run a business. You may not be equipped to be both business owner (Entrepreneur) and the worker (technician), most aren’t.
My point is this, If you are serious about Blogging or being part of media, stop trying to be like mainstream media, report from your part of the world not everyone else’s world. Write about what’s happening to you and your interests. We already get bombarded by the same content over and over through normal news services. Gaming something rarely is a long lasting venture of success, you rarely get or sustain credibility by doing it. If you must use someone else’s work, ask them to help you, ask them to be a guest Blogger or get permission to use their material, have integrity and be known for it. Your original content, your voice, will eventually be heard because no one can write or deliver it the way you can. Whatever it is you are passionate about, do that, be that with all you can muster up to be it and let the quality and sound of your voice be the difference. Don’t set up systems that fail to present your personality and desire to help others. Only you can do that by participating first hand with your blood, sweat and tears. Let us know who you are and see the passion of your heart by being transparent, honest and real. We are waiting for you.