The Collective Connective – It’s Time for Small Biz to Face Up to Social Media

I have her email address and phone number.  She lives no more than a mile from me. However, I opted for direct messages on Facebook to set up our recent dinner outing.  Why did I communicate with my friend this way?

Because I was already there—and she was, too.

Like millions of other Americans, my friend and I are spending time on Facebook.  Thus, I found it just as simple to reach out via Facebook direct message than to switch over to my email account to do so.  (And God forbid I pick up the phone anymore!)  In the end, Facebook successfully led my friend and I to some quality face time.

While Facebook helped me stay connected to this friend from my zip code, it’s also been an incredible tool for reconnecting with friends spread across the globe.  Whether they’re in Houston, Singapore or any point in between, I easily, communally mix and mingle.  Gone are the days of blasting my friends via traditional email with a heavy assortment of attached photos to keep them updated on my life (after much debate about which of my pals would want to see said photos lest I feel like a spammer to my own circle of friends).  Now I post a photo album, and my friends can peek at their leisure.  I can share and receive updates with everyone in a single pass no matter physical location or time zone.

According to topline data from Nielsen NetView for June 2009, Facebook ranked first in terms of time spent per person on a site.  Internet users spent an average 4 hours, 39 minutes on Facebook.  That’s more than the time spent on Google, YouTube, AOL, MSN (WindowsLive/Bing), eBay or Amazon, and it notably exceeds the time spent on the number 2 ranking Yahoo!, at which users spent an average 3 hours, 15 minutes.

We’re leaning toward the collective connective for a variety of reasons.  I think the recent death of Michael Jackson and subsequent online communications frenzy is a good encapsulation of the shift (and likely could have impacted Nielsen’s June numbers).  Facebook experienced the crush of the communications rush when the news of Jackson hit.

The desire for interaction. This key point hinges on the very human need to be heard and avoid being alone.  While Internet users may have first glimpsed or heard of Jackson’s death through other sources, they logged on Facebook in droves to share the disbelief and emote.  CNN partnered with Facebook to have real time comment sharing in tandem with the live coverage of the Jackson memorial service.

The need for multi-dimensional information exchange. Facebook served as a source for diverse perspectives and unfolding details, as friends clamored to share what they’d learned.  Friends from all points on the map received information from different sources and were able to convey details quickly.

The simplicity of sharing. Just as email overtook traditional mail because of its immediacy and affordability, Facebook interaction overtook email messaging likewise.  During the hubbub of Jackson’s death, it was quite simple to share on Facebook because it converges and merges friend groups for streamlined sharing options, has no associated costs and allows for broad-sweeping messaging without being obtrusive.

What’s the quick take-away for small business people?
Be where your customers are. While I’m just a Facebook user and not a brand advocate, the numbers undeniably affirm that millions of people across every demographic are using Facebook.  Of course, there are other widely used networks, namely and famously Twitter, for example.  Business owners are wise to take note.

Evolve your communication methods. Word in the world of online trend-tracking keeps buzzing about the fact that traditional email is fading in importance.  Messaging through Web 2.0 technology/social networks is on the rise, and with the launch of tools like Google Wave, it’s clear that the way we share information is evolving.  Email is not ready for mothballs, but it is likely being reassigned as modes of electronic communication advance and change with the onset of cloud computing and mobile technology.

Build relationships online. There really are conversations going on all around us online, as Internet users seek out those they know to share in discussion.  It’s imperative business leaders plug in.  It’s not effective to be a strategic interjector; people are hungry for more substantive connections.  That’s why Facebook is a stronger draw than random commenting on various sites; we all want to be heard, especially by people we care about.

Think ahead about the collective connective. Business owners always need to be one step ahead.  The reality is, we live in a Web 2.0 business world,  and even if some participants are still fumbling in 1.0, we’re not going to regress. Web 3.0 will be next.  In the evolutionary marketplace, the businesses that are in step with the times will thrive.  Those who are presently overwhelmed or totally disconnected may not stand a chance.

Suffice to say, it’s time to ‘face’ up to social media!

Until next time…
Thanks,

New Stats on Small Biz & Social Media – Are We Telling or Selling?

What’s the real scoop on the usage and effectiveness of social media for small business?  Between information from a couple of recent research reports and real life scenarios, it seems small biz is using social media primarily for telling—not selling.

A new white paper based on a survey of 151 small businesses using social media (sponsored by Sage and conducted by AMI-Partners) states that 64% of respondents spend most of their time in social media sites answering customer questions.  57% ranked networking activities as their most prevalent, while 44% indicated “reference/education” as their most dominant activity.

Only a few businesses indicated they were using social media sites for direct sales.

These stats hold true for Lars Hundley, gardenpreneur of Clean Air Gardening, an online retailer of eco-friendly lawn and garden supplies.  (Hundley, pictured jumping like nobody’s watching above, was not part of the AMI survey.)  Because his is a web-based company, Hundley has long incorporated digital social media tools into his marketing and promotions and utilizes them daily.

“We’re not generating any measurable sales from Facebook or Twitter,” explains Hundley.

Instead, Hundley and his team have found social media to be most useful for customer engagement and product education.  The company’s Youtube channel is a simple medium for providing tips and how-to videos, and its various topic-specific microsites are hubs for customer Q & A.  The latter has proven to be an “awesome technique” for facilitating interaction.

While social media is second nature for a web-savvy business owner like Hundley, many other small biz people have been slower to dip toes into the water.  The April Discover Financial Services Small Business Index (a national, random survey of 750 small biz owners) revealed that 38% of respondents now report being part of at least one online social site, up from 22% in October 2007.  However, less than half of the 38% have used social sites for business purposes.

Likewise, it’s taken longer for them to feel comfortable using the tools.  The AMI study found that 65%  of respondents had grown more at ease with social media in the last year and that those who’d been engaged longer (over 3 years) were more open to social media use for the future. Obviously, usage over time fosters familiarity and increased skill.

(Of course, social media tools are moot points for businesses that don’t even have websites.  In the April Discover Financial Services index, 62% of respondents stated they don’t have websites for their companies.  Really?!)

On the flip side, there are some fun, inspiring stories floating around the blogosphere about businesses owners who’ve proven to be real social media mavens, integrating techniques into their companies’ inner workings or successfully instituting promotions that bring in the bling.  In particular, there’s the much-buzzed story about the Naked Pizza Twitter promo.  This New Orleans pizza purveyor did some sniper shot microblogs just to see what would happen, resulting in 15% of a day’s receipts coming straight from tweets.  Not too shabby…

Overachievers aside, it’s clear that social media use for small biz is on the rise across the board.  As for the effectiveness of that use?  Only time will tell…or sell.

Thanks!

Five Elements of Social Media – Free White Paper

When it comes to social media, do you ever feel like you’re blowing a kazoo in the middle of a marching band brass section?  Or do you feel like your occasional trumpet calls get quick salutes but no lasting results?

As with any marketing effort, social media takes strategic, sustained creativity to get attention, draw attraction, spark affinity and build an audience that will ultimately take action.  We call it “earning all A’s,” and it’s what it takes to make the grade.

I know firsthand that the “A’s” can be moving targets.  What might work during one season (or, heck, one day!) may become passé the next.  Just when you think you’ve got ‘em in your court, somebody else, with just as inviting a court, may come along.  If it’s not one thing, it will be another, and as the ever-evolving world of social media ebbs, flows and grows, those of us charged with the task of leading communications are in constant target practice.

However, it helps to keep our eyes on the A’s—to stay focused so that we go in order and  stay within the borders to effectively connect.

If you need to begin at, well, the beginning, I’m happy to give you five: “Five Elements of Social Media,” the white paper I helped pen for Social Media Connection.

Download here:  Five Elements

This handy guide helps you conquer feelings of information overload by whittling down the process into bite-size pieces.  And you can refer to it anytime you feel like you’re drifting from all A’s down to the B-team.

So put down the kazoo, and get your A’s in order.  It’s time to take small biz big time!

THANKS!!

Attention Small Biz – Get Ready for New Technology & Social Media Tools

I come as a messenger, and I come in peace.

Please remember this as I now announce to you that there is yet more stuff you’re going to have to learn about, adopt and maybe even embrace in the world of technology and social media.  There’re new search engines, communications platforms, gadgets and an endless array of applications on the horizon, some of which you won’t be able to ignore.

I know, I know…

You already attempted Twitter, and the endeavor involved three simple steps:  open account, get confused, abandon quietly.  Maybe you can ditto that cycle for the blog you were briefly committed to for your business.  You can’t even remember the password for your LinkedIn profile, and you’ve decreed Facebook a mind zap for adolescents.  Heck, you may even secretly harbor the opinion that texting is a misuse of opposable thumbs.

Nonetheless, as the messenger it’s my job to provide fair warning that there is more to come.  It’s a Web 2.0 world we live in (yes, there was a Web 1.0, and 3.0 is on its way; at least the chronology is easy to follow), and technology is evolving at he speed of, well, technology.  You’d be well served to invest some brain power on the current iterations; it’ll make for a good prep course for the next round.

So you know how to brace, here’s a quick list of some up-and-comers.  Trust me, there’s more where these came from, but let’s ease into this…

Google Wave:  real-time communication platform from Google; synthesizes and aggregates a bevy of work functions, social media feeds and core communications functions; created to be a one-stop command center; will have its own lexicon of terms and icons; in previews now–coming later this year

Mobile readiness:  setting your sights on standard sites is no longer enough; you’ve got to join the move to mobile technology; plan now for communications and functions that are mobile-device friendly, including site redesign and payment capabilities

Hulu desktop:  the new Hulu desktop-ready interface is not so much about the joys of TV watching combined with computer usage; this newbie spotlights the reality that TV and Internet are melding even more; we’re watching and getting entertained in new, more definable ways—a fact biz people and communicators cannot ignore

Group mentality:  email becomes less necessary as the Twitter model infiltrates the workplace in customized platforms such as Yammer.com or socialcast.com; this allows for real-time interconnectivity within defined environments; we’re breeding new generations of employees attuned to communicate and percolate via microblogs

Even if you averted your eyes or skimmed over those items, your avoidance won’t lead to the list’s disappearance.  This stuff isn’t going anywhere, and if you don’t keep up, you may not be going anywhere either.

But hey, I’m just the messenger.
Thanks!