The Quisenblog

This week’s social media blog posts:
Monday: Seven ways to doom a Social Media program.
Tuesday: Co-Creating with Social Media.
Wednesday: Building Brand Evangelism through Social Media.
Thursday: Social Media and Reputation Management.
Friday: Now that you’ve engaged, it’s time to re-engage.

(This is the eighteenth in our series of Social Media posts for the month of October. We look forward to your feedback on this series.)

For marketers, these are exciting times. Never before in our lifetime has their been a sea change quite like we are seeing today with the rise and influence of Social Media.

As when other major changes in marketing came about (the advent of TV, the commercialization of the Internet), there is a steep learning curve for those on the forefront. In an attempt to help you flatten this curve somewhat, we present a handy list of things that could conspire to doom your nascent Social Media efforts:

1. Starting too big. You don’t have to eat the apple in one bite. Start out with the platforms you are most comfortable with. Don’t think that because Ashton Kutcher has a million Twitter followers that you need to be on Twitter. While you want to stay in your comfort zone, examine how others you know or follow use various social media outlets. Start a personal Facebook page and Twitter account and play around with them to see how they work. As you become more familiar with them, you may feel more comfortable sticking your big toe into them.
2. Focusing on platforms, not content. We’re on Facebook. We have six microsites. We have an email list of 100,000. So? The real question is, what are you using these platforms for? How are you using each to get fresh, relevant content to your followers? Each platform has its relative strength. Random, unfocused usage of tactics more often than not will deliver poor performance. There’s a lot of crap out there, and being on Twitter for the sake of being on Twitter isn’t going to build a following for you.
3. Viewing the online space as “another medium” for off-line tactics and content. Off-line media at its core is about intrusion: we will sneak this TV spot by you while you’re busy watching “Desperate Housewives.” That type of intrusion doesn’t work in the opt-in world of Social Media. Banner ads that lead to a corporate web site that provides no real value to the user is a case-in-point of a wasted engagement opportunity.
4. Not being transparent. Some organizations just don’t have it in them to cede the control of the communication to the user. Yet to be successful, you have to. Acknowledging only positive posts, or heavily moderating user created content is the fast track to digital irrelevance.
5. Not being available. Remember Motrin Moms? Sharing information via social media without someone there to interact is a giant NO NO! A “must have” when branding on social media is being available to your public.
6. Running out of steam. The landscape of Social Media is littered with abandoned blogs, inactive Twitter accounts, fanless Facebook pages and RSS feeds that go months without fresh content. Don’t just stake a flag across various platforms and move on. It says you’re not serious. Take an honest objective look at where your brand can make the biggest impact from a Social Media standpoint, while providing value to your target audience (remember, value is in the eye of the beholder). Even the best of intentions won’t create a blog post everyday, or a meaningful newsletter exchange every two weeks. Not every follower you have will find every posting or every new piece of content useful. The goal is to keep your platform presence relevant over time. Consider broadening your definition of “relevant content.” Redirect content created by others you have commented on. Invite others from your organization to contribute. Link to articles or content you think your audience may find interesting. Put together questionnaires or surveys for your followers to participate in, then report your findings back to them. Consider anything that will help you provide a solution for your followers.
7. Not being committed. For some, Social Media will represent a giant leap forward in connecting with customers, building loyalty and developing new avenues for brands to grow. For others, Social Media will represent an ill-timed dalliance into platforms they never quite understood. Their initial excitement will ebb as they come to see that building and maintaining a meaningful presence in Social Media requires real effort and commitment. They won’t give their Social Media profile enough resources. They won’t give it enough time. They won’t give it enough attention.

This is sort of the “bookend” post to the one earlier this month on the Social Media Manifesto. Keeping these two on hand and referring to them during the design and implementation of your Social Media program should give you confidence as you move forward.

Posted by Mickey

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Mickey Social Media availability, commitment, familiarity, off-line tactics, outlets, platforms, relevant content, relevant presence, transparency, user control

This week’s social media blog posts:
Monday: Using Social Media to address your pain points.
Tuesday: Use Social Media to give your customers a seat at the table.
Wednesday: Picking a face for the organization.
Thursday: Picking a face, part 2.
Friday: Give away your expertise.

(This is the seventeenth in our series of Social Media posts for the month of October. We look forward to your feedback on this series.)

As an organization, you have a lot of resources that many visitors and others would find useful. As we mentioned before, most people are using the Internet to find some kind of solution. The most successful Social Media programs are where you help visitors solve problems in ways only you can do it. The knowledge and experience you have around your business and industry is invaluable, and likely can help many, many people, even though you have yet to find a way to “monetize” it.

As an example, let’s say you are a retirement community. You have a lot of experience helping families transition a member to a new and different living environment. You have a lot of knowledge as to what caregivers should be looking for (and avoiding), what the needs of residents and families are, and other information that can give peace of mind and help potential customers make informed decisions. Why not make this kind of “intelligence” available to all who visit your site (and elsewhere on the ‘Net)? This information exchange could take the shape of white papers, a blog, or an online newsletter, or even links to industry-leading information sites. Turn your website from an information-only site into an interactive, dynamic community or a “clearing house” that makes your visitors “smarter” and gives them tools to make confident decisions.

Perspective clientele and their families would come to you in their earliest research phases to educate themselves on the issues involved in the process of finding a great solution to one of life’s more stressful situations. Instead of selling floor plans or amenities, you’ll be in the business of alleviating fears.

You are demonstrating that you understand your customers’ “greater purpose” and you are using your resources to create a solution they can’t find anywhere else. You can repurpose this content in blogs, newsletters, social groups and elsewhere. And as visitors discover this information and find it useful, you’ll find two things will happen: one, they will more often choose to engage with you at a deeper level (in many cases purchase), and two, they will freely share their experience with others and forward your information to them. (Remember the dynamic of Social Media: “receivers” are also “the medium” and are also “creators.”)

This is not selling; no where in this process are you “asking for the order.” What you are doing in this introductory phase is proving value to your prospective customers and building trust. You leave the door open to inquiry, but never is there a “quid pro quo”—“We’ll give you this information, but we expect you to buy from us.”

You are a smart organization. Social Media gives you the opportunity to it off.

Posted by Mickey

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Mickey Social Media audience engagement, availability, community, knowledge, solutions, trust, useful content, Value