The Social Media Fog Will Lift
It appears that Social Media is still in its early stages when it comes to the small to medium business circles, some haven’t heard of it or even know what it means.
This past week was filled with engagement and affirmation, discovering I truly do find value in these Social Media Networks, which means the time, I spend here and on Twitter, FriendFeed and the like, is not a complete waste of time. If you are like me, you like to surround yourself with sharp, smart, like-minded people. I love collaboration and bouncing ideas and concepts around, especially with those I consider smarter and more creative than myself, it makes waking up fun. For years I chased the Brass Ring climbing the corporate ladder, only to find I was not only unfulfilled, I was missing the opportunity to do the very thing I was supposed to do. My destiny is to help others, I have the gift of helps, I may not relate to everyone but I will relate to some. We all have the same problem of relating to others, we will relate to a certain few but not everyone. The very core of Social Media is relating and building relationships.
One of the many things I have learned this past year is, that Social Media is here and it’s changing how we do business and reshaping how we relate to clients, consumers and customers. I’ve also had to the deal with the lack of understanding business owners have of Social Media, they just don’t get what it can do for them yet. That’s yet, but they will. The early adopters are always looking for the next thing and start the trending. Here in Canada we are slow to jump on things but we do catchup at some point, there are a few of us paying attention and help start the trend so we can inform and teach those interested. Those early adopters who do feel alone do so for sometime until the enough hoopla and fan fair happens and then we are recognized as the authorities on the topic.
I was chatting on Twitter with a couple of people that (@thebrandbuilder & @treypennington, @johnlusher) I would call friends and I would even be so bold to say we are like-minded, we were scratching our heads wondering why some get Social Media & others don’t. What is it about businesses and marketing departments are trying to push a square peg into round hole? They keep trying to make traditional metrics and thinking work with Social Media and yet, still can’t figure out the ROI. I shared about a conversation I had with a local business and that’s when Olivier got wound up, @thebrandbuilder said, “Do they at least understand R.O.I. and Social Media separately? As individual topics?”. He also said, “If Marketing Departments learned this stuff, they wouldn’t have to work so hard to prove their value”. Trey, the calming voice said, “Must be patient with them”.
There are a few examples of businesses making good use of Social Media but they are merely scratching the surface, these leaders are the R & D departments for many businesses learning the ropes. The problem is, how can you tell who get’s it and who doesn’t. Who should you consult with and who can you trust. Hopefully, you will follow me and my friends as we share not only the differences but maybe even direct you to the right people.
After this chat I asked if they would participate in this article, if they had the time, afterall it is the long Labour Day Weekend 🙂 I’ll thank Trey and John here as they have provided some perspective for you to digest.
Trey:
Trey Pennington
You don’t have to be a “guru” or “expert” to realize that the world of marketing has changed. Social Media is opening connection and communication directly between companies and the individuals within their marketplaces. What hasn’t changed is the prevailing corporate attitude toward social media. Instead of embracing social media and experimenting with new ways of engaging their customers, organizations from the US Marines to the Southeastern Conference to ESPN have attempted to ban, block, hinder, or restrict social media.
Their actions are reminiscent of one going through the stages of grief. Those who try to block social media at work are in the denial and isolation phase, pretending that social media is either a plague or childs’ play. When their efforts to isolate themselves from social media fall apart, they move to anger. This is the phase mainstream media is today. You’ll see their anger when they write stories about the “cursing old man” who is now a huge celebrity on Twitter, even though he only had 28 tweets at the time of the article. The same article also gave the lowest estimate of Twitter users (six million) I’ve seen in a very long time.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/dads-quips-twitter-big-hit/story?id=8491500
(source for “cursing old man,” he now has a book deal! As of today his Twitter account @shitmydadsays only has 30 tweets).
At the moment, I can’t think of a good example of the bargaining phase, but I’m sure we’ll see it soon. It’ll probably look something like a corporate civil war with marketing and public relations silos publicly questioning why their company had to add a whole new silo for the social media kids.
Once they realize social media is here to stay, actually, when they realize social media will move from the tail wagging the dog to being the big dog, they’ll write articles and give keynotes about the “glory days of marketing” or the “glory days of real public relations.”
Sadly, by the time those within the corporation get to the acceptance phase, what they’ll have to accept is working for a boss who is considerably younger than them. The big bosses (all those famous C- level folks) will have to accept that their most profitable market segments are now being happily serviced by young upstarts who “got” social media back in the late 2000s (like IBM and Digital realized in the early 1990s when they saw what folks like Apple and Sun and thousands of other “kids” were doing to them).
Or, corporations can take a crash course in grief now, and get it over with.
John:
John Lusher
Communication tools are changing at an amazing pace and most businesses aren’t sure what to do or how to get involved. Social Media is a prime example of this situation and the Social Media Fog, in my opinion, is the uncertainty that businesses face when they try to figure out what they should be doing as it relates to these newer tools. Unfortunately, the majority of businesses in the SMB category, are not doing anything. SMB owners are so involved in the day-to-day running of their business, that they do not focus on planning for their business or marketing their business. Typically they use the old and tried but not true methods of marketing their businesses; phone books, television, radio, newspaper, print, etc., without realizing that their customers and most consumers do not use those tools to find businesses.
Social Media is the closest thing to word of mouth marketing for a business and should be evaluated as part of every businesses marketing plan. Does that mean that every business should use it? I don’t know; that question has to be answered as part of their overall business plan and marketing strategy for each individual business. I do know this, the demographics of people (i.e. consumers) using social media tools is more in the 40-45+ range than the 20+ range.
These people are the ones that have the money to spend and will consistently search for businesses and products online.
If businesses do not cut through the Social Media fog and evaluate these tools now; they will play catch up when they are forced to do so later.
In Closing:
This article is does not cover the ROI question but I’ll leave that to Olivier Blanchard @thebranderbuilder as he is the master on the topic as of this writing. Be sure to visit the website’s of these fine people, I’ll list them for you here and you can find the links on my Blog down on the right sidebar. Also, if you know others you trust on this topic please feel free to let me know so I can list them here.
1.) Trey Pennington – http://www.treypennington.com
2.) John Lusher – http://www.johnlusher.com
3.) Olivier Blanchard – http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com
As with most things in life, when they become popular everyone jumps on the wagon, it’s human nature, jumping on the wagon doesn’t mean you have a good understanding of what you are involved in, but being involved gives you a chance. As more and more considered experts are found out, the confusion will continue but those who can truly help business owners implement and maximize Social Media will give it the credibility it richly deserves.
Keep in mind, it’s just another tool in your marketing tool box, it’s not as complicated as it appears but there are some new tricks to learn before you jump in and embarrass you and your business. The other issue is, organizations having to hire someone to handle Community Manager and Communication roles, they think tradition job descriptions represent Social Media accurately. They don’t. Again reflecting their understanding of how Social Media Network environments communicate and function. This is due to old management thinking, they are doing what they have been taught and conditioned to believe, therefore, thinking they are doing the right things right fails them. Hopefully they will recognize they don’t understand it and will bring someone in who will help lift the Social Media Fog. If they do that, The Social Media Fog Will Lift.
How Do I Implement Social Media?
There are two questions that come up in almost every conversation I have on the topic of Social Media here in my local community, not online but offline. It never fails, these are the most asked questions I face.
1.) How Do I make or Implement Social Media in my Business?
2.) How do I make money and get the appropriate ROI using Social Media?
That’s more than two questions and alot to unpack, but that’s how they end up coming to me.
Keep in mind, I live in Canada and we typically are not early adopters on most things, we are at least 6 – 18 months behind our neighboring domestic USA. But that’s another story. We tend to be behind on what these new technology tools and movements are, what they mean and how to integrate them into our businesses and lives. So when the questions come from the executives the department leaders don’t have the right answer and worse yet they try to figure it out on their own, using old metrics and methods to generate some kind of understanding.
These two questions are hard to answer over a coffee or even in a board room, bringing in someone who has an understanding and is actually involved or an early adopter having success with Social Media to walk through some very important questions. Success doesn’t have to mean they are making millions, it means they have done many things right putting them in a position to monetize their passion or existing business.
There is many a debate on where Social Media fits in an organization, the Marketing / PR Department, HR, IT Department and so on. I would suggest to you it fits into all three. The Marketing / PR Department will most likely be the message creator for consistency purposes and also would hand off the Social Media chores to the Online Community Communications person. The HR Department would be involved for NDA purposes and orientation of new and existing staff, this would include the Internet Policy that the I.T. Department most likely helped develop. I.T. supports and ensures up time for all aspects of Information Technology needs.
I am assuming here that Information Technology was implemented properly in the organization, which means, I.T. is in line with business needs and processes for the purpose of obtaining the goals of the organizations business plan. As you can see there is much that needs to be discussed before you venture out into this environment without building a team to discuss how you will proceed. The key is to bring someone in your area that is in the know and can help your team by ensuring the right questions are being asked and that they are getting answered. This person is much like a Project Manager with a difference, he/she is a lighthouse, a beacon and a sounding board. In the end it is up to the organization to decide what and how they want to proceed.
The point of this article is not lay out what you have to do step by step, but to prompt you to bring in someone who is knowledgeable, who is respected and recognized as someone in Social Media circles that can truly assist your organization. Someone with a strong background in technology and online marketing. This person can help you build the appropriate team, that will go a long way to ensuring success in developing your Social Media Strategy.
If you are in need of help, feel free to contact me at: owen@owengreaves.com
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?
Coming Soon – Bionic Contact Lens
I’ve been writing about The New Technology the past couple years, here is a new item for you learn about and it’s in the area of Bio Nanotechnology. Microsoft and The University of Washington have been working on electronic opticals now for the past 5 years, Microsoft is funding the project and the progress is astounding. I wrote in my eBook that we will become wireless devices, and this is just one of the many ways it will happen. The future of I.T. or technology as we know it is advancing so fast it is impossible to keep up with all that is being developed.
This work has not been tested on humans yet but that’s the next step, the current prototype does not light up or display information but is proof that it is possible to create a biologically safe electronic lens that does not obstruct a person’s view.
Engineers have tested the finished lenses on rabbits for up to 20 minutes and the animals showed no problems. I have included here for you a video clip to give you an idea of what’s in the works for your future.