Group Dynamic – Make the Most of Social Media Group Participation

Social media groups are topic-specific communities accessible for ‘members’ via  popular social networks such as Facebook and the business-oriented LinkedIn.  Members of these virtual groups can post questions, discussion starters, even news and job listings.

I’ve previously written about starting, leading and nurturing virtual groups, but there’s also an art to being a member.  Master that art, and the benefits will be plentiful.  Here are some ideas to help you get the most out of virtual group participation.

It’s just as sweet to receive as to give!
It’s truly okay to be a group participant who’s more focused on receiving information than giving it.  Groups can be excellent sources of information and ideas, which is exactly why they may be worth your time. You are perfectly welcome to slip in the “back of the room,” so to speak, and simply take in the online banter.

And if you’re new to the whole scene, I actually advise you focus on receiving first.  Observe, take in, familiarize, and then you’ll be ready with targeted questions and postings when the time is right.

What you put in is what you’ll get out.
This is not a contradiction to the “sweet to receive” point I just made.  Even if you’re only participating to receive information, you still have to be an active participant, putting in time and effort to cull through postings and determine what’s useful for you.

LinkedIn groups generate daily feeds—a list of all the postings for the group—that are emailed to members for review.  You can customize how frequently (or infrequently) to receive those feeds, but you simply must look at them in order to gain any benefit from being part of the group.  I get feeds from each of the LinkedIn groups I’ve joined via once-daily emails, and I do open those emails and scroll through the content.  I’ve established a rhythm of reading quickly, assessing and clicking through to items of particular interest.  I’ve learned of many useful things by reading the group feeds, thus it’s worth the time and effort I invest.

Facebook groups often require even more proactivity from members, as there’s no integrated mechanism for auto-email feeds as with LinkedIn.  I’ve also found that many people start groups and don’t nurture them; thus, I lose interest quickly.  I’ll only “put in” to groups that are proven  worthwhile.

Use; don’t abuse.
If you join groups with the aim to target messages to specific audiences, proceed cautiously and exercise wise decorum.  In the study of group dynamics of the three-dimensional kind, it’s quite clear the conversation dominators often alienate other members and end up isolated.  This truth applies to virtual groups as well.  Even online, share the floor, and never use a group as your platform for virtual advertising.

The beauty of virtual groups lies in the shared interests and like-mindedness of its members.  By joining a group, you do gain lines of communications with members who may be potential customers or colleagues.  Don’t abuse that access; use it wisely.

Be a first responder.
Earn your chance to be heard in your online groups by offering genuine, substantive responses to others’ postings and comments.  If you have an answer to someone’s posted question, “speak” up with a timely response.  This is the heart of the art of conversation, engaging others at their points of need and interests to spark reciprocal exchanges.

LinkedIn actually has an integrated rating/acknowledgement system that allows those who answer question to earn ‘expert’ status on the site.  When someone posts a question on LinkedIn, they can actually select what answer was most helpful.  If your answers receive top rankings frequently enough, you’ll be noted an “expert” with a green star on your profile.

Offering responses is an excellent way to become a presence, as participant and a resource to your fellow group member.  It’s a validating activity that adds value to the group in many ways.  After all, social networking is all about online conversation, and that means two-way interaction!  Commit to comment.

Bear in mind, I’m not a “joiner” by nature.  I’m prone to the impromptu, informal gathering rather than the structured kind.  Yet I’ve benefitted professionally from joining up and participating in social media groups, and my experience has been positive enough that I recommend other small business owners consider it as well.

Invest a little time and effort, and you could experience a group dynamic!

Thanks!

Too Busy To Blog? Tips for Small Biz Bloggers

I knew this was how it was going to be.

I knew there’d be seasons in which I’d get so busy I’d have to let my own blog take a backseat to my paid writing gigs.  As a matter of fact, that’s why I’d been a writer without a blog for years; I’m usually blessedly busy doing this stuff for other people who deposit money in my account for the effort.  So when I finally committed to starting my own blog—this very one you’re reading—earlier this year, I made my peace with the reality that busy seasons would come and I’d have to prioritize accordingly.

Though I’d prefer to never have a lag between postings, it’s reasonably acceptable in my case because…

• This is self-governed blog.  Though I’m committed to writing for my readers, I’m not obligated to any sponsors, advertisers or clients who dictate my schedule on this endeavor.
• I’d established a good root system from the get-go, so the blog’s continued to be read even without fresh posts for a few weeks; I truly knew I’d be back on track as soon as my workload allowed.
  
• The blog itself led to some of the new work that, by necessity, diverted my attention. Thus, my goal with this blog—to share credible ideas that help small biz people and open professional opportunities for me—is already being achieved.
  
• Paying clients always come first, in a tie with my sanity.  There’s only one of me, so something had to give over the last weeks!

According to Harper’s Index this month, 94% of all existing blogs have not been updated in four months.  That’s a lot of cyber space going to waste.  That statistic makes my four+-week hiatus seem relatively harmless.  But what about your the blog for your business?  When’s the last time you posted?

In these weeks that I’ve not written on smallBizBigtime, I’ve actually been blogging faithfully on behalf of clients for whom it would not be reasonably acceptable to not post in a month, let alone four.

For branding and business blogs, it’s not okay to be among the 94% that are out-of-date and stale.  When you consider the reasons and strategies for blogging for your business, it becomes abundantly clear why you should commit to consistency.

A business blog will help you…

• Establish credibility: become the authority/the resource/ the idea generator/the facilitator, become the company that’s quotable and ‘repostable’
• Raise profile and visibility: create fresh content to bolster web presence (SEO), use content throughout the social web to become a regular and welcomed fixture in customers’ lives, cross-pollenate with other sites/pages/online networks
  
• Inform, educate and motivate: engage customers, inform in a timely fashion, invite interaction, earn the right to sell, make special offers
  
• Craft your message, build your brand: be your own publisher, establish your own look and content style,   communicate within your own guidelines…to your own, targeted audiences
  
• Maximize content: heighten other PR/marketing/promotional efforts by reusing content in other forums, ensure consistency of message, increase frequency of messaging, offer content to other media outlets (with assured attribution)
  

Obviously, there are many great reasons to not only start a blog, but to commit to one.  If you haven’t begun one yet, weigh it seriously before you dive in.  Are you prone to be momentarily motivated or intermittently committed?  Do you rarely have enough to say for your monthly newsletters?  Do you loathe writing?  Are you perplexed by social media in general?  Then maybe a company blog isn’t for you.  Or perhaps you should delegate the task to another employee or hire the help of someone like me to get you going.

And if you do take on a blog, give at test run of a month (or two) before you promote it to the world, to make sure you’re going to be able to create great content on a regular basis.  Also note, there’s no rule about how frequently you must post, though “once a quarter” just won’t cut it.  Start realistically; slow and steady will win this race.

And if you’ve already got a blog but haven’t posted in a long while, consider whether or not to pull the plug.  Few things look less professional than a four-month old blog on your website.  If you aren’t ready to abandon ship, consider investing to get the help you need.

I’ll soon be starting a new blog on behalf of a client.  To get her rolling, I’m going to set up the blog—the account creation, the name, look and customization.  Then, I’ll write one post a week for her.  She can supplement as she has time or feels led throughout the week, but she’ll always be assured one healthy post per week.  We’ll be able to push that content out through her Facebook fan page, LinkedIn group and her company’s website.  I’ll be writing in her style and voice, so the brand will be enhanced in tandem with her credibility.

This approach will cost her more than the total do-it-herself plan, but she knows full well she likely wouldn’t always do it if it were up to only herself!  But she believes a blog is another great way to take her small biz big time.

Thanks for reading today, and I promise it won’t be another four weeks until we meet again!

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,

How to Create & Maintain a Facebook Fan Page

A Facebook fan page can be a great tool for your business, personality or endeavor.  It serves as a fun way to update interested parties about what’s new and what’s news and is especially effective since so many people are already turning to Facebook as a means of staying connected.

Before you create a Fan Page, make sure this is the right option for you.  Sometimes people confuse Facebook fan pages and groups.  I’ve blogged about this topic before (click here to read that post); it’s my most read blog entry, as people search for this information every day.  Here’s a quick recap.

Create a Facebook fan/brand page if
* you want to build buzz around a brand name or create interest/support of a product or service.
* you want to convey information to a core group of people who show interest in your specific topic.
* you want a place for comments and feedback, yet with less focus on interactions and discussions.
* you prefer to guide the tone and content of the page as it represents the person, company, product or service being promoted.

Examples of pages:
* Musical artists, celebrities or public personalities
* Businesses or brand names
* Products or services
* Events – for purposes of promotion, not planning

If you’re certain you need a fan page, here’s how to start it and make it work for your business.

Once you’re logged into Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php.  You’ve got to be authorized to create the page, and filling out the preliminary information is self-explanatory.  Just be sure you’re making proper selections from the get-go so you don’t have to fret with corrections after set up.

Populate your page with useful, interesting information.  Post some photos.  Add a few wall postings.  Don’t treat this page as a static profile.  For a Facebook Fan Page to be effective, it needs to be consistently injected with fresh material, news, images and information.

After the page is created and populated with good content, invite people to become fans.  Whether you tap into your existing Facebook friend base or invite people not aligned with you within this website, all Facebook fans will have to first be Facebook users.  However, considering the ever-growing numbers of Facebook users, this shouldn’t create too much of a hindrance.

Obviously, by inviting people you already know to be “fans,”  you’re really tapping into your network of “friends.”  Eventually, you’ve got to grow from having friends to having true fans; heightened success with your page will take place when you see people you don’t even know participating.

So just how can you attract people beyond your existing friend base to become your business’ fan?  Here a a few ideas.

• Ask your friends/fans to ask people in their networks to join.  Sometimes it’s really as simple as making the request, and friends will rally.
• If you have employees, encourage them to help spread the word and support the page as well.
  
• Run Facebook ads.  Facebook ads can be very affordable, easily managed and nicely targeted to reach interested parties.  The ad can offer a direct link to the fan page, to encourage quick, simple affiliation.
  
• Add links to your Facebook page to existing communications, i.e. – email signatures, other profiles, websites, etc.
  
• Offer an incentive to fans via a membership drive.  For example, I’ve seen musicians offer a free download for all fans once the page reached a milestone number of fans (“help me reach 500 fans by the end of this month, and everyone gets a free download of my latest song!”).
  

And just why would you dare drive traffic to a Facebook fan page and not your existing website?  The reality is, you need to meet people where they are, and right now they are on Facebook.  This is about building relationships with your constituencies, not hard line, direct selling.  Think of this as great bonding time!

Your fans are logging into Facebook to connect with friends, message each other and share information.  By capturing fans on Facebook, you then have the opportunity to message them (with good discretion, please!) about other news, links and products.  The fan page becomes a meet-them-where-they-are message board, and via that ‘board’ you can ultimately offer links to send them wherever they need to go to get the full scoop on your business, product or brand.

Long term. it’s up to you to keep breathing life into your fan page.  Personally, I’m a fan of many things of Facebook, but I rarely hear from the companies, artists or products I’ve chosen to acknowledge.  Never assume your fans will keep coming back to your page on their own.  Artfully remind them!  When you post something new to your fan page, send a quick, single topic message to all members; feel free to add a live link to your main website if you so choose (some people will click through).

Even though we may now rely on click of mouse as much as word of mouth to share recommendations and information, we still value the input and perspectives of family and friends to find out about great things.  With the innate interconnectivity of Facebook, friends and family can help convert others into new fans.  And that’ll surely help small biz go big time!

Thanks!

SEO & Online Marketing for Small Business: Let Customers Seek and Find

It seems many marketers still find “search” to be the engine for successful advertising and branding campaigns.

In a recent survey of senior-level marketing and media execs conducted by Forbes, 75% of respondents ranked SEO and email/e-newsletters as their top digital marketing tools.  Likewise, SEO and email also ranked high in terms of effectiveness in generating conversions (48% for SEO and 46% for email/email newsletters).  Pay-per-click also ranked high in terms of use and success for participants of this survey.

Use of ad networks, attempted by 40% of total respondents, proved to be the lagger among digital marketing components according to this survey, with 44% of those who tried them indicating results did not meet expectations.

Mind you, this survey was definitely of the big biz – big budget variety; approximately 44% of respondents have $1MM+ digital marketing budgets.  Big bucks in the budget let companies try a variety of tactics, while most of us must pick and choose with more scrutiny.  Nonetheless, the information and insights are translatable for any of us.

This survey is a good reminder that SEO is still numero uno for many CMOs.  While social media (aka “viral marketing” for purposes of this survey) is the media and marketing darling of 2009, companies aren’t—and shouldn’t—disregard the value of investing in optimization for search engines.  And ditto that fact for email/e-newsletters; though these aren’t the newest, shiniest tools in the shed, they’re still helping collect the harvest for many marketers.

For many small businesses constrained by lack of staff, budget and time, it’s smart to make SEO point A on their marketing maps.  Truth is, social media tactics require plenty of hands-on nurturing in order to be effective, and that can be challenging for small businesses and sole proprietorships.  Worthwhile and effective as they may be, social media tactics may need to shuffle down in terms of priority to ensure room for the traction-building of a good SEO effort.

The big biz respondents of this survey measure success of any digital marketing tactics primarily in terms of “conversions or sales.”  70% stated that a bolstered bottom line (“conversions or sales”) was the best assessment for success, with 52% ranking registrations/subscriptions to their sites as the second important measure.  For businesses big or small, the pay-up and the sign-up offer the best pay-off.

What are the take-aways of this survey for small biz?
- Digital marketing should sell ‘em or sign ‘em up—now!
- Make sure customers can find you through SEO.  Let them come to you!
- Make sure you can find your customers through viral marketing/social networks and other tactics.  Find ways to go to them!
- Let your bottom line be the bottom line; measure ROI to ensure time, effort and budgets are spent well.

Searching for more details, ideas or solutions?  Let me know what you need to know to take your small biz big time.  Meanwhile here’s a link to a helpful article with some practical ideas.

5 Essential Steps to Make Your Site Search & Social Media Friendly

Thanks!

PR in a Web 2.0 World: Tips for Small Biz

I have seats on both sides of the aisle as a member of the media and a PR person.    What a fascinating view, seeing firsthand how it works from either direction!  And now that view is bathed in the light of the social web, it’s as if the glow of a computer monitor is spotlighting the many aspects of PR in this evolving age.

From either angle and in this light, I see clearly that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  The basic truths for earning coverage have really not altered that much, though the modes of communication and the face (and faces!) of journalism have.

Does “Spray & Pray” Pay?
The ol’ “spray and pray” PR approach hasn’t gone anywhere.  Ten years ago, the ‘spray’ of mass press releases came in the form of unsolicited junk mail.  Today, it comes as email spam.  Either way the ‘spray’ typically does not pay.  It’s rare thing to earn notable coverage from a faceless, graceless mass message.  (Thankfully, deleting emails doesn’t add to landfills, so at least PR2.0 is more environmentally friendly.)

Mind you, this tactic can work a bit like a big direct mail/email campaign; when you send to thousands, even a 1% response rate seems passable.  And if you’re pitching a general interest topic to a media list encompassing journalists of like beat and like audiences, this is not a wholly unacceptable approach.

For example, I’ve done PR for home products for years, and it’s often worked very well to send new product announcements en masse to New Product Editors at shelter publications and home-related media outlets.  I send just what those editors need in these instances when the warm-fuzzies of a targeted pitch is simply not necessary.  They get a new product for one of their new product round-up stories, I get coverage for my client and all is well.

If you must go “mass” with a PR message, consider using a wire service.  Though there’s added costs involved, the mechanism of a wire offers vast distribution without you or your company being invasive.

How to Reach Your Feature Goals
However, if you want to earn feature coverage, you should never rely on a mass message.  With my ‘both-sides-of-aisle’ view, I know this to be true.  As a PR person, I understand how daunting (and time-consuming) it is to try to get into the minds of specific journalists, producers, reporters, bloggers.  Yet pay-off comes only when I’ve taken time to get to know the person to whom I’m pitching.  Now that I’m also a columnist and blogger myself, I can tell you even a little effort to indicate genuine connectivity can make all the difference.  “Delete” is a common response I give to emails I didn’t ask for, from people who don’t know me and vice versa.

New Challenges Reaching the Media to Connect with Readers
These days it’s hard to find the right person to target.  In the past, I worked with journalists within a segment so consistently and for such a long time that I established very valuable relationships, as well as real friendships.  Even if a contact switched jobs, I knew their whereabouts and altered my communications accordingly.  Now many of those contacts have been laid off from their corporate media houses and have started their own blogs or taken on freelance assignments.  What was once a narrow and deep river of media has become a sprinkling of lakes and ponds.

Likewise readership has divested as well, and you’ve got to know where to find the loyal, responsive followers.  These days, PR efforts may be better spent with the top  three bloggers in a category, because those bloggers have devoted readers, rather than on one traditional media outlet. As I write for my blog and column, it’s inspiring to know that my message is being received and read, even if my numbers aren’t near the circulation of traditional media outlets.

It’s Still a Matter of Good News
The quality and newsworthiness of the story conveyed is still the crux of PR success.  As a PR person, I never want to wear out my hard-earned welcome with a media contact with a story I feel is not worth the time or effort.  PR is not a cloak for an advertising message.  And now that I’m receiving pitches from others, it’s interesting to discern what’s really worth pursuing and what’s simply corporate jargon in disguise.  If there is notable, important news to be covered, reporters probably won’t fret too much about how personalized the pitch was; a good story is a good story.  Period.

New Measure of Success
Anyone still measuring PR success solely on total circulation figures or advertising equivalencies is missing the boat.  Big circulation numbers may not translate into responses like the smaller (and often indeterminate) numbers of a topic-specific blog potentially could, and advertising is such a moving target that it’s just too arbitrary to find comfort in assigning PR coverage a specific dollar-value (but that’s always been true!).

For anyone who’s wondered if PR was still viable and necessary in our Web 2.0 market, I assure you it is.  There is still an art to crafting a newsworthy message and conveying that message to the world.  Pitching is still required to earn coverage, and not just anybody can do that.  The skill of defraying impact of negative news and communicating in times of crisis is still essential.  Integration of PR into the core of any marketing communications effort bolsters the strategy and thinking and helps organizations get into the minds and hearts of its constituencies.

For small businesses, PR can be an effective and cost-effective means of getting third-party endorsement, raising awareness and carving a presence with key audiences.  Tried and true, here and now—PR can help small biz go big time!

Thanks!

Want Visibility & Credibility for Your Small Biz? There’s No Marketing Microwave

I’ve spent my career explaining—and explaining again—the difference between advertising and PR.  I’ve got the short answers down pat.

“We pay for advertising.  We create and control the message and place ads where we want them.  Advertising increases our visibility.”

“We do not pay for editorial coverage; we earn it through our PR efforts.  PR helps us gain credibility.”

It’s helpful to blend advertising and PR into a communications plan, to utilize paid messages to get attention and earn editorial coverage to build reputation.  Of course, the ability to do both (and do them well) often becomes a matter of budgeting, creative amperage and people power.  I’ve seen so many potentially powerful campaigns wither because the money was tight, corporate was antsy about allowing a message to be shared, and the staff was already strained under normal workloads.

That’s why social media is such a compelling component in today’s message-making.  Social media merges the abilities to be visible and credible.  It can offer great frequency and reach of message like advertising, yet it can also allow messaging to integrate into the daily lives of audiences, like an extension of a quality PR campaign.  However, because social media is so, well, social, it enables companies, personalities and brands to mix and mingle in deeper ways, to not just speak for themselves but to speak with the audience.  One connection really does lead to another in social networking.  Reach a few and you could ultimately reach thousands, all through the art of conversation.

Mind you, social media’s not a panacea for the aforementioned impediments.  It still requires investment of time, energy and money.  Social media is not a marketing microwave oven, a better, faster, cheaper means of telling and selling.  It is a slow bake, but its potential reward and long term results make it well worth while.  And over time, you can see the benefits of being both visible and credible swell into opportunity.

How can you be visible and credible in social media?  Here are some ideas that’ll help your oven reach temperature.
Be a listener online. Join groups on LinkedIn, get a Twitter account and starting following others, and peg some blogs you can benefit from reading regularly.
Evolve from listening to contributing. Respond when people ask questions,  Acknowledge things you like, and let your presence be known.
Create your own forums. If you see a need, create a group on LinkedIn or Facebook,or start lobbing questions to folks on Twitter.  Engage others, not to pound them with your message but to hear and learn from them.
Create quality content. When generating original material, think like your audience and offer information and ideas of substance.  You will be proud to draw attention—and be visible—when you know what you’re offering up is truly worthwhile and credible.
Be the stalwart. Imagine all the companies and brands cranking up their social media ovens right now.  Imagine where they’ll be 6 months, a year from now.  These things take time, and you’ll be incredible visible and credible when you’re still present, reliable and viable down the road.  As others fade, you’ll be the one worth coming back to again and again.

Thanks!

Attention Small Biz – What’s Your Social Media “Win”?

Games don’t go from being favorite pastimes to big business by having ambiguous rules and indeterminate winners.  Nobody’d show up for the World Series if there wasn’t a vested interest in a specific outcome:  one of the teams playing is gonna win.

And so it is with social media.  I mean, let’s be honest.  Most of us aren’t motivated to be here—online, using these tools—simply for the challenge of articulating thoughts in 140 characters or less.

So why do you do this social media thing each day?  Why do you devote any portion of your day to tweet, blog, post, update, add, forward, link, bookmark, connect or click?  What’s the “win” for you?

Surely, or hopefully, you and I are here for specific reasons, for clearly defined gains.  Why suit up for the game if you’re never going to look at the scoreboard?  I contend that if we haven’t named our “win” in all this, we may as well spare the effort and go get a new pastime.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about having “one question” to help guide business decisions.  The whole idea is to identify the one thing you’re aiming for, and let everything else fall in line with that singular focus.  I learned this approach years ago from a client, and now I find myself using it with new accounts, especially as we’re incorporating social media into overall marketing plans.  Without focus and defined purpose, social media can easily be nothing more than a time zap (just like any other tactic in a marketing program).

Can you state how social media tools are helping you answer the “one question” for your business?

For any plan or proposal I create for a client, I begin by stating goals and objectives.  That way, it’s always clear that the details to follow flow from the goals, and we can be assured that everything we do—including social media—is done in context to achieve the stated objectives.

When it comes to social media, we need to be in it to win it.  I don’t mean that in a ‘high-fiving,’ competition-crushing kind of way.  I just mean you’ve got to know why in the world it’s worth it.  Of course the “win” for your business may be something very different from the “win” for mine.  The main point is that we’ve all got to know when the scoreboard is reading in our favor, lest social media become just another pastime.

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!!

Use Social Media to “Top of Mind” Your Business

Last night I dreamed I was being chased (and subsequently bitten) by an Indonesian Komodo dragon while at the home a friend from high school.

I’ve never seen a Komodo dragon ‘in person’ (is it even possible to see a lizard in person?…but I digress…), and I haven’t been in the same room with this particular friend for, oh, 20-ish years.  Yet thanks to an online report I read a couple days ago about Komodo dragon attacks in Indonesia and last night’s Facebook posting by that high school friend, I had the mental makings for an interesting dream—starring some unlikely characters.

That’s the power of online content and social media!

Admittedly, this is an outlandish example.  Does a dream about a venomous lizard and a pal from high school really reflect any usable truths about the messaging power of the Web?  Wacky though it may be, I contend it’s a good example of what can happen when we use online communications to make daily connections.

It’s about “top of mind awareness,” after all.

When we’re looking for information, making selections or seeking interaction, we refer to the first few search results, grab the package at the front of the fridge or call somebody in our Top 5.  (Why else would shelf placement at the grocery store be such an issue?  Brands will do what it takes to be front, center, eye-level and easy to reach.)  Sometimes we actively choose what’s placed at the top of our minds; other times, someone or some brand vies for the position, and we award it accordingly.

Social media is the ultimate battleground for attention; it’s ongoing, personal, interactive and accessible.  It puts companies and customers in close range, in tight proximity to invite relationship-building.  Online, we all have the ability to put our message—and our merchandise—within reach of our target audiences.  Yet it’s the effective marketers who’re creating prime opportunities to earn high ranking places in customers’ mental spaces.

Earning—and holding rank—is no small feat.  It’s one thing to make a trumpet call to get attention; it’s a whole other deal to keep customers’ interest and engage them long enough to bring measurable results.  For traditional advertising tactics, we speak of “frequency;” in online advertising, we refer to “impressions.”  In social media, it’s about long term relationships and ongoing conversations.

Remember the fellow who tweeted photos of the airliner that landed in the Hudson River?  He beat the news media to the punch with his instinctive photo-sharing and was hailed as The Example of citizen journalism of the new era.  For a blip of time after that frenzy, I heard tale of people following this guy on Twitter as if he was going to miraculously be present at the onset of every major national news story.  Yet after the moment of glory in the Hudson, the guy went back to tweeting about needing to lose weight and other mundane things of his daily existence.  And the followers trailed off…back to life as usual.  Yawn.

The lesson for small business owners?  Be present; be purposeful.  D on’t be the “Komodo dragon dream” or the Hudson River photographer; aim for more than a one-time run and be more than a single-event sensation. Let some other business try the crashing symbols or speech-making through a megaphone.  Those tactics are not only hard to sustain, they’ll turn customers away.

Instead, use social media to become a daily, reliable, personable presence with your audiences.  Tweet meaningfully.  Blog consistently.  Respond honestly.  Interact sincerely.  Earn your position at the top of customers’ minds, and strive to provide something so useful and enjoyable—ideas, interactions, amusements, information—they’d surely miss you if you weren’t there.

Top o’ the day to you!
Thanks,

p.s. – The dream had a happy ending!