{grow} » markschaefer

The power shift on the social web: What does it mean to you?

markschaefer — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:02:10 +0000

Remember when we used to say that “people” are the power behind the social web? Can we can honestly claim that any more? The social web has rapidly become just another a mass-marketing channel like TV or magazines, dominated by the mega-brands.

Think about the videos going viral these days. What was the biggest hit of the year? The Nike Tiger ad, a bizarre production certainly aimed at the viral potential of the Internet more than any paid TV opportunity. In fact eight of the top 10 most-viewed You Tube videos of 2009 were professionally-produced:

Evian roller babies (see above to view)
New Moon movie trailer
Wedding entrance dance
David after dentist
Britain’s Got Talent – Susan Boyle
through 10 – professional music videos

And all of the Top 10 Facebook pages belong to big names:

Texas Hold ‘em Poker
Mafia Wars
Michael Jackson
Barack Obama
Vin Diesel (Vin Diesel???)
Starbucks
Lady Gaga
Twilight
Coca-Cola
Skittles

Remember that just a few years ago, there were few, if any, corporate videos on YouTube and Facebook was a hang-out for college students. This commerical development is not surprising. If there is a way for money to be made, companies will find a way to exploit it. Capitalism at work. So what are the implications for small businesses trying to carve a niche? Is it too crowded? Is it too late?

No, I don’t think so. There are plenty of social media marketing opportunities for the savvy small business professional, even with the brand titans bringing their game:

Think local. All marketing is local. Can your small business still have an impact on the social web? Absolutely. I’m working with a marketing manager for a very successful regional chain of restaurants. One restaurant already has 5,000 Facebook fans. I think that’s pretty impressive. If you’re providing meaningful connections with your local crowd of customers, who cares if Evian babies rule the web?

Raising the bar. Not long ago, grainy home videos dominated YouTube. Just about anybody, at any time, had a chance of going viral. The novelty of the social web has passed and expectations for quality are increasing. If you hope to compete for attention on the national or international level, bring lots of money. But I believe that even on a local level the bar has been raised and there is an increasing expectation for quality … maybe not along the lines of the Evian babies, but an expectation for something entertaining nonetheless. To stand out, you’re going to have to provide remarkable content.

Importance of Twitter. Twitter isn’t flashy. It rewards real connection and conversation, something monolithic companies typically don’t do well. I have a small business but have more followers than Pringles (one of 2009’s Top 10 Facebook pages). I think there’s a message there. My hypothesis: Of the major platforms, Twitter may actually favor the local small business owner. How can you leverage this powerful tool on a local level?

Keeping it real. Unless you are going to simply “buy” fans with coupons and discounts, you need to let your personality shine through. Coca Cola, probably the best-known consumer product in the world, is doing a great job at this. They feature their Facebook personalities right on their front page and each tweet is attributed to an author. Of course Scott Monty is a recognizable social media personality for Ford Motor company. Still, these are exceptions among the big brands. Real people and small business owners can normally have an advantage connecting with their local clients.

Watch and learn. The big guys are spending millions to fine-tune their social web offerings. Learn from them. What are they doing to be successful and how can you capture that success on a local level? What methods are they using to engage and reward their customers? What channels do they employ and why? What devices like online games and contests could be used in your business?

While the future of mainstream social media ultimately belongs to the behemoths, I do believe there are opportunities for small business success. Do you agree?

A futurist’s view of the “next big thing” in social media

markschaefer — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:00:02 +0000

Venessa Miemis’ Twitter bio describes her as a “Metacog, futurist and thought architect tracking emerging media and technology trends & impacts.” Now THAT got my attention.

Currently pursuing a masters degree in New Media Studies at the New School in NYC, she has been passionately thinking and writing about the future for seven years. Venessa kindly agreed to an interview and I found her views on the connections between social media and education, politics, global community and our future to be one of the most thought-provoking posts I’ve featured here on {grow}. I think you’ll agree:

What is a futurist and how do I get a job like that?

A futurist’s role is to help people anticipate, plan for, and adapt to change. This means tracking emerging trends and seeing how they fit into the big picture and envisioning different scenarios for what might come next. You could call this “developing foresight.” It’s a skill set that’s in pretty high demand these days. Things are changing rapidly and everyone is looking for ways to stay ahead of the curve.

At the professional level, futurists are hired by organizations to help them understand the forces and trends shaping their industries, and anticipate the changing needs and desires of their customers in order to stay competitive. At the individual level, each of us constantly thinks about our own goals and dreams and develops strategies that will help us accomplish them … so in some sense, we’re all futurists. I do think we’re in a very transformative period in history, and we all need to hone our “futures thinking” skills in order to actively participate in the process of shaping our collective future, instead of just being a passive bystander.

You first connected with me after seeing my blog post on the future of social media. Please answer this multiple choice question: As a futurist, I thought Mark Schaefer’s social media forecast was a) entirely accurate; b) uncanny and without error; or c) the subject of my college thesis.

Ha, well I think you hit on some great themes. I wrote a post recently, 3 Key Trends Shaping the Web and Society, that looks at some megatrends that are driving today’s developments. The one that’s influencing many of the social media trends on your list has to do with the increase in complexity around us.

Historically, as complexity increases, we develop better methods for making sense of it. A big challenge we’re facing right now is figuring out how to deal with information overload, and how to separate quality content from noise. We’re trying to solve the problem through quantification. As you mentioned, we’re going to continue to see information about ourselves, our habits, our sentiments, and our social connections become much more clearly measured and defined.

This could potentially be an amazing thing. If we know more about each other, we may be able to begin collaborating on an enormous scale to solve some of the world’s serious problems. At the same time, as you also mentioned, if we’re not actively involved in demanding our civil liberties and digital rights, we may face some scary situations regarding privacy, power and control. Thankfully, there are organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Peer to Peer Foundation that are dedicated to protecting our rights and values as we transition into a networked society.

One area on your list I disagree with is the notion that the digital divide will continue to grow and eventually become permanent. I think it will be just the opposite. There’s a concept called “leapfrogging,” which describes how areas with poorly-developed technological or economic bases will skip over the intermediary steps and transition directly into adopting modern systems. For instance, you’re not going to see cables laid all over rural Africa so people can have internet access, you’re going to see an explosive growth of internet-connected mobile phone adoption. As the technologies get better and cheaper, we’re going to see portable devices and interfaces become more seamlessly integrated into our lives, and it will be a game changer.

What are the social media trends you’re most concerned about? Most optimistic about?

This passed through my twitterstream the other day: “Understanding how networks work is one of the most important literacies of the 21st century – Howard Rheingold.” I think that complements what I’ve been saying nicely.

While some people haven’t even entered the social media space yet, the rest of us are chomping at the bit and asking what’s next. We’re still very much in the Wild West of the real-time web. Just look at Twitter. There seems to be a new app released every day that’s trying to measure something – ROI, influence, impact, and so on. There are no established rules of conduct or best practices, and people are still arguing about whether it’s more important to have lots of followers or to be on lots of lists. Everyone’s trying to figure out how to capitalize on the space.

I understand that business is about monetization, but I think there’s something going on here that’s much bigger than people realize. It doesn’t fit into our traditional business models at all, because we’ve never had the opportunity before to leverage social networks at this scale. That’s the next big social media trend: understanding how to leverage networks. We’re all here, we’re all connected – now what do we do?

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the effects of social media in the workplace and the next generation of workers who grew up communicating with their thumbs. What should we know about this group?

I’m actually rather concerned about this group. I try to pay attention to what’s going on in many different fields to get a sense of the big picture, and the lack of “new media literacy” in young people is alarming. You think it’s hard getting organizations to embrace social media — try looking at the educational system. It wasn’t designed for this. Forward-looking teachers see the necessity of bringing social technologies into the classroom to enhance the learning experience and prepare students for 21st century life, but it’s not happening fast enough.

Many young people are not being taught how to benefit from the power of the web as a tool for building a network and for learning. I mean, anyone who uses Twitter or belongs to an online community of some sort has seen that sharing information and learning from one another is not only fun and rewarding, it’s addictive. Kids need to be shown how to navigate that world too.

I think the social web is enabling an informal learning process to take place that in some ways challenges the validity of our educational institutions. It might be a bit extreme to tell schools to “‘innovate or die,” but they need to get with the program already. America is already falling behind in so many areas as geopolitical power shifts to other nations. We can’t afford to sit by and idly watch today’s youth go through a system that leaves them appallingly unprepared to compete in a global marketplace.

If the {grow} community wanted to learn more about the work of futurists and their study of social media, can you recommend a few resources?

The World Future Society , the World Futures Studies Federation and the Association for Professional Futurists (APF) websites are good places to start for an overview. Ross Dawson and Gerd Leonhard focus a lot on the future of media on their blogs. John Hagel and John Seely Brown both provide great insights into innovation and strategy from a business perspective. I’d also definitely recommend checking out the blogroll on KedgeForward, a blog by professional futurists Frank Spencer and Michael Morrell. It’s an excellent resource for future-focused exploring.

There are also several programs in the country to pursue higher education in Futures Studies. The University of Houston offers a Master of Technology in Futures Studies as well as a Certificate in Strategic Foresight. Regent University offers a Master of Arts in Strategic Foresight, which is directed by Dr. Jay Gary. And for those aching to leave the mainland, the Hawai’i Research Center for Futures Studies offer both an MA and a PhD in Alternative Futures through its Department of Political Science. For a complete listing of Futures programs around the globe, visit this page on the Acceleration Studies Foundation website.

I’ve left the most important for last. As a futurist, please tell me who you like for the Super Bowl.

My crystal ball has suddenly become very hazy…

Would love to have the {grow} community comment and pose other questions to Venessa!

Follow Venessa at @VenessaMiemis Her insightful blog can be found at: http://emergentbydesign.com/

Are you using your buffalo?

markschaefer — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:27:00 +0000

When the Native Americans killed a buffalo, they didn’t waste anything. Every part was used to provide food, clothing, shelter, tools and weapons.

Are you using every part of YOUR buffalo — your marketing assets — to help you promote your business and acquire new customers? In the social media era, this is an essential strategy. Here are some examples and ideas:

Inventory — A customer in France made coated metal plates and, for quality control purposes, had to keep a large volume on hand in a warehouse. This tied up valuable working capital. We had the idea to use this as a rapid-turnaround stockpile. They could sell and ship material out of the warehouse for customer emergencies as a premium service — at a premium price!

People — A local company said they needed my help because “everyone was just sitting around” with their business levels so low. I saw this as under-utilized human capital. How could they put these people to use to connect to customers and discover un-met or under-served needs? Turn EVERYONE into a sales person? Study the competition?

Information — A client had developed a weekly email update to keep their salespeople on top of changing market conditions. A survey indicated their customers were hungry for the same type of information. Their email was turned into a premium information service to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. They leveraged information they already HAD to create a siginificant new customer benefit.

Services — I recently taught a class on recession marketing. The class content is now an asset, part of my “buffalo.” I turned some of the ideas into articles for my website and now, my blog. I promoted this content through online forums and social media. One article had more than 500 downloads in two days. These new contacts were added to my mailing list for further follow-up. The session was videotaped and edited into short topics for my website and YouTube.

How are you using the whole buffalo in your business?

An interview with GE's Social Media Wizards

markschaefer — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:02:00 +0000

The GE Social Media Team: Gary Sheffer, Jen Walsh, Sean Gannon, Lisa Lanspery, Mike Eisenreich, Megan Parker and Vivek Kemp

A few weeks ago I was introduced to GE’s social media initiative when doing research for an article on Social Media’s B2B Superstars. I’ve continued to be impressed with their aggressive and progressive approach to using social media (click for case study) and asked SM Communicator Megan Parker for an interview. She graciously agreed and included other team members in the process. Here is a discussion with:

Megan Parker – “The Enthusiast” and GE’s Twitter-er. An example of her creative flare: “Hey baby! GE donates $8M for UK maternal hospital”
Sean Gannon – “The media guy” corralling stories from around the GE system for the team
Jen Walsh – “The web expert” and fan of llamas.
Vivek Kemp – “The reporter” and balloon artist.
Lisa Lanspery – “The storyteller” and computer enthusiast

Megan, as GE’s lead Twitter-er, how do you describe to your mother what you do for a living?

Parker: “I’m fortunate to work and live close to my family. So when I started my role as a social media communicator, I did the most logical thing I could think of — I scheduled a Parker family meeting. We spent a couple of hours one Sunday afternoon in the family dinning room going from the principles and theories of social media up through the latest and hottest tools. I wanted to ensure that my family understood that social media has changed the way people share and converse on a large scale.”

Other than subject matter, how is it different managing social media for GE instead of doing it yourself as an individual communicating with friends?

Gannon: “The biggest difference is remembering that no matter how casual the conversation is online, what we say via various social media is, in the end, still the voice of GE. While it’s not the voice of “BIG GE,” as in an official press release or a viewpoint on our main website, what we say is nevertheless trusted by our audiences to be factually correct – 100%.

“That requires balancing the instinct to stay informal with the discipline to only inform our conversations with well-researched information. In this sense, we are much more like the news blogs of major media organizations because if you go to these sites you’ll find humor, informal writing, asides, genuine human voices (not corporate-speak) – but you’ll also find an unwavering attention to detail and facts. That’s different from shooting off a story or a comment to a friend. Causal doesn’t have to mean sloppy or lazy when it comes to the facts.”

How has GE’s social media strategy changed since its inception?

Walsh: “I like to think of GE as a corporate pioneer in the social media arena. Before ‘consumer-generated content’ became a term of art, there was the GE “Pen,” which we created in 2003 when we launched GE’s new “Imagination at Work” campaign. The basic thought is that every idea begins with a sketch, so why not let people doodle and put their own imaginations to work.

“Internally, GE employees have been able to create blogs and wikis for several years, as part our project management and workflow toolset known as SupportCentral. We launched ‘From Edison’s Desk’ in 2005 to the delight of scientists and technologists at our Global Research Center, but more importantly, to give promising, job-seeking PhD candidates a regular view into the type of work we do in our R&D labs.

“In 2006, we asked consumers around the world to “Picture a Healthy World”. After they crashed our servers (we had no idea so many people were so healthy!), we had a great set of photos and stories that we could show and share when we took over all the digital signs in Times Square on World Health Day.

“We’ve made our monthly innovation stories on GE.com sharable. And as our Managing Editor, Sean Gannon, likes to say, we’re letting everyone and anyone who visits GEreports.com “have it your way.” Just come to the site and decide if you want to get GE Reports via RSS, email, Twitter or YouTube. Thanks to Mike Eisenreich, our technologist, you can now embed our new widget. Finally, Beth Comstock, our CMO, has a moblog called “BlackBerryBeth,” where she shares her ideas and observations with thousands of communicators and marketers at GE. These regular updates keep a far-flung team connected and also inject fresh thinking into the organization.”

What on-the-job learning has been most beneficial to your success?

Kemp: “Over the past five years I’ve transferred from newspapers to broadcast news and finally to GE’s digital media team. Each jump has required a willingness to adopt new technologies and techniques. But really, the entire job of reporting is an active task of learning (and listening). You parachute into a person’s life, into a conflict, or into an event and you’re charged with learning and digesting those issues, so you may translate them into words, pictures or videos (and increasingly Twitter, blogs and podcasts).

“I’ve been fortunate to learn how to write an article, shoot and edit a digital video and narrate a broadcast story. But, honestly, the single most important on-the-job lesson I’ve learned, and been lucky enough to practice, is how to craft a story – an on-going lesson. And one I hope I’m always learning.

How will GE convert the expense of social media activities into shareholder value?

Walsh: “GE’s social media activities are part of the way we work and communicate every day. They are not an extra expense to the company, but rather part of our regular media and communications mix. GE has become a daily news publisher, sharing our stories and data in text, audio and video formats, available anytime, anywhere online. The ROI for shareholders is more timely and useful information that they can share and interact with. That’s what I call disclosure!”

Are there different skills necessary to be successful in social media compared to traditional types of marketing?

Lanspery: “Relationships are pivotal in both online and offline campaigns. What is different in social media is how information and opinions about your products and services will appear without any attempt on your part to control the source and flow of information. The key skill you need for social media is flexibility — flexibility to participate in the conversation.”

B2B’s social media superstars

markschaefer — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:02:00 +0000

Yesterday I covered the five worst B2B social media screw-ups, so now let’s look at the BEST.

Success stories in this space are few and far between. A recent report showed just 14% of the largest industrial companies have a social media strategy, let alone a good one. There are many good reasons for the slow adoption of SM at the industrials, including the perilous economy and a customer base that could care less about your freakin’ tweets if their railcar of chemicals is an hour late.

A few months ago I spent time assessing the state of SM at B2B companies and overall, my research showed that B2B companies don’t seem to get the notion of community and are trying to fit traditional marketing stereotypes into the new media. Here are five breaking the mold and leading the way:

Number 5: Ingram Micro — Ingram Micro is the world’s largest technology distributor to the IT industry. You would think with a geek-fest customer base they would have all of the sweetest social media apps – and they probably do, behind a secure firewall where it belongs! Ingram makes the list for the very cool open Facebook sites connecting employees among its far-flung global operations. Recently used Twitter to “broadcast” from a partners meeting.

Number 4: Boeing — The time-lapse YouTube videos of planes being built are impressive but the cornerstone of Boeing’s social media presence is a longtime blog, started by their VP -Marketing Commercial Airplanes, as a way to expand the conversation of commercial aviation to the Web. In its first two years, Randy’s Journal, saw more than a half million individual visits. They have a secure presence on Twitter. Any good? Don’t know — I wasn’t allowed through the gate. Let me in! I have an appointment to see the wizard!

Number 3: Cisco Systems — Extraordinarily good community-building on Facebook, including a blog, message board, news and open membership for employee sites around the world. Proving to be a real B2B social media innovator as they launch products only on digital channels. They even launched a product through Second Life. I don’t know if anybody actually saw it, but they did it.

Number 2: General Electric — I’ve found that when a company is well-managed, it tends to do EVERYTHING well. GE is no exception. They have a thoughtful, integrated social media presence that is informative, professional and … fun. GE distinguishes itself as the only leading industrial company that places an actual face with its SM efforts — Megan Parker. She effectively mixes effective press release reporting with 140-character wit. The real hub of the SM wheel is GEreports.com, a blog-style information center making effective use of videos and search-by-topic capabilities. You have to love a company that has a post on its Facebook page titled “I’m over 30 and still think it’s OKAY to get hammered from time 2 time!!”

Number 1: IBM — For years their print and TV ads have puzzled me, but they seem to be getting social media right. IBM is a great example of a company with a real interest in community – a logical move since their tech audience loves online forums and bulletin boards. Check out their blog for proof of that. In fact, the IBM corporate social media presence is minimal as they let customers and employees tell their story. They’ve created the conversation and then they’ve let go of it. IBM’s social media portfolio includes virtual worlds, podcasts, video and the use of Twitter to keep its 380,000 employees (in 150 countries) connected.

So, what companies have I missed? Any B2B screw-ups or heroes that should be on my radar screen?

Illustration: This is a photo I took near Mont Blanc, France. Did you notice the climbers?

B2B’s biggest social media screw-ups

markschaefer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:32:00 +0000

While the case for social media as a marketing channel is compelling for consumer products companies, I’ve been particularly interested in how it is being used … or not … by mainstream industrials. Earlier this year I assessed the social media presence of most of the major Fortune 500 B2B giants looking for case studies.

I found some great examples, but for fun, I’ve decided to start out with the WORST companies I found out there. With few exceptions, major industrial companies are not utilizing – and in many cases ignoring — social media as a stakeholder connection point. A few fun facts:

Number of Top 25 B2B companies with more Twitter followers than me (None)
Worst B2B corporate Twitter-er (by far) — DuPont. An example: “Back off weeds! 4 new herbicides are coming to get you …”
Most popular corporate social media platform: Facebook
Percent of companies with either Facebook or MySpace pages: 75%
Percentage with both: 25%
Most popular use of social media: A place to post press releases

With no further delay, let’s take a look at the Top Five biggest B2B social media screw-ups.

5. 3M Corporation – I love 3M. I’ve always cherished their heritage of innovation and product development. If any company in America could take advantage of the awesome power of global community it should be 3M. Where are you guys? We need you out here.

4. General Dynamics — There is a not-very-good techno rock band called General Dynamics who dominates the social media bandwidth. That’s a problem for a Fortune 100 company with the same name. This is the time for the company to flex some legal muscle and tell them they were there first! In the corporate world, this ID theft is tantamount to a porn starlet naming herself “Pepsi.” You have to take action on this, General Dynamics! Go kick some techno butt!

3. Oracle Corporation – You would expect an ego-laden company like Oracle to be sucking up the social media space, but not so. The Twitter account is exclusively a press release machine and their other sites are ill-attended placeholders. Larry, look at what SAP is doing with social media. Work it baby.

2. Johnson Controls — This Fortune 50 titan has had their name usurped on Facebook by a bunch of disgruntled employees. An example of social media gone very wrong when you’re asleep at the wheel.

1. Dow Chemical Company. The pinnacle of social media mayhem. The first search result for Dow on Twitter is called “spillspill” and the largest company-related Facebook page is called Fuck Chemical Valley and Fuck Dow (42 members). The MySpace presence has also been hijacked, complete with fake logos, fake employees and a mission statement that includes: “minimizing damage by angry citizens who have been affected by our pollution through legal suits and PR campaigns, making sure scientists who find our products to be dangerously toxic are not allowed to publish.” Dow has a proud history of PR fubars. The legacy continues.

Disclosure: My ex-wife had family ties to the chemical industry. While clinical tests have shown she is toxic to humans, she is not associated with the Fuck Dow campaign.

How do I get my boss to understand social media?

markschaefer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:02:00 +0000

In my position as a teacher and a consultant, this is one of the most common questions I hear. So let’s get it out on the table and take on this big topic of SPONSORSHIP.

NEWS FLASH: If you are not being supported by your boss and you hope to pressure him/her into supporting your nascent social media initiative through a “grassroots” effort, it’s not going to work. Not in the long run. For effective, lasting organizational change to occur, it must be supported from the top. How do you gain that support when your boss doesn’t get it?

Who is the “sponsor” of your social media effort?

Let’s be clear about the term “sponsor.” The person who controls the budget and job assignments of the people working on social media is the “sponsor,” in our definition. This may not necessarily be your boss. It might be your boss’s boss or even the head of the company. When winning support for your project, be clear on who the real decision maker is!

Here are six ideas to get the boss on-board:

Conduct a “pilot” program. One of the most effective ways to get something started is to propose a temporary project. For example, go to your boss and tell her you want to try a new idea for 12 weeks (which sounds shorter than 3 months!). Explain that you will do this as an added, incremental effort that will not interfere with your normal job duties, you will measure and re-evaluate at the end of the period, and together you’ll decide whether to continue or not. Once the effort gets going and gains momentum, it’s going to be difficult to stop unless you completely blow it. So don’t blow it. : )

Money really does talk. Whatever you do, don’t go into a meeting with a company executive explaining that you want sponsorship to measure your company’s “quality of conversations.” If you are still buying into the “it’s all about the conversation” hype, read this (measurement and ROI) and this (focus on money). Of course the social web is about relationships, but everything measured in an organization SOMEHOW relates back to money, whether it’s profits, donors or funding. Social media is no different. Be prepared to explain how your initiative ties to the company’s objectives. If you can’t, you’re not ready for this discussion.

The 140-character classroom. Most professionals truly want to do the right thing for the company … if they understand it. So you need to patiently, relentlessly educate your sponsor on the truths of social media. Here’s a good way to do it: Pretend you’re on Twitter … all the time. Begin sending your sponsor timely, 140-character emails with a link to an article and an explanation of why the information is relevant. If you use this discipline, you will send information that actually gets read. Follow up. Discuss. Repeat as needed.

The small victory strategy. Here’s another simple idea that is remarkably effective: Plan your social media pilot program around easy “small victories” (SV). An example: “By week one, we want to have 100 followers, by week 2 we want to have 25 mentions, etc.” Notice how different this is compared to “we want to increase our customer satisfaction rate 28% by 2012.” SV’s allow you to announce lots of happy news when you need it most — at the BEGINNING! People will get behind a winner. Establish a culture of support and enthusiasm by building easy wins into the program and promoting those SV’s every week!

Preach fear in the morning and redemption in the afternoon. Scare ‘em. Seriously. Fear is a great motivator: Fear of what the competition is doing, fear of being left behind, fear of missing a trend, fear of making a wrong decision. Then, after your boss is shaking in his boots, explain what you can do to beat the competition, keep your company ahead, and make your boss look great … for absolutely no investment!

Plan for problems. When implementing change in an organization, it’s important to have a counter-measure for every obstacle you’re likely to face. Literally write down every possible argument and reason people will argue against your social media proposal and then formulate a reasonable counter measure to address them. And the hurdles aren’t just money and resources. It could be politics and competing priorities. Get your supporters to help you think-through effective answers to anything your boss can throw at you and be well-prepared.

If your boss is intelligent and well-meaning, eventually they should come around. If they are not intelligent and well meaning, getting them to understand social media is probably the least of your problems!

What problems are you having with sponsorship?

Where’s your truckstop?

markschaefer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:47:00 +0000

This begins a new series of five articles on getting more from your existing marketing program for little or no money.

My hometown of Knoxville seems to be the epicenter of the U.S. Interstate highway system and, most logically, mega-truckstops have sprung up at the intersection of major routes. These truckstops offer ACRES of every possible good, service and convenience for the trucker: clothes, food, showers, truck accessories, parts, repairs — anything you can imagine.

I’ve fantasized that being a marketing manager for a product aimed at truck drivers must be the greatest job in the world. Think about it — all you have to do is get your product on the store shelf and hundreds, maybe thousands, of customers drive to see you every day! Wow. What could be easier than that?

Marketing your business might not be THAT simple, but there is a lesson here. Where’s YOUR truckstop? Where do YOUR customers congregate?

If you can answer that question, it might lead to important insights that can make your marketing initiatives more effective, focused and inexpensive.

Where do your typical customers gather to get their news and information? Entertainment? Recreation?

Where do they shop, dine, exercise, worship?

What Internet sites would they most likely visit? What magazines do they read?

Are there businesses similar to yours where your customers buy goods and services? Could those “truckstops” also offer YOUR products and services in a partnership?

There are several relatively inexpensive ways to conduct this simple research and it might lead to ways to create competitive advantage through your targeted marketing efforts.

Warning: Social media may be hazardous to your health

markschaefer — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:27:00 +0000

A lot has been written about the “danger” social media poses to companies and brands, but what about the real threat it poses to us as individuals?

Immediate, transparent, global, free communication is one of the most breathtaking information advances since the telephone. But when there is an opportunity for human corruption, there probably WILL be human corruption. Here are the biggest threats posed by the advent of social media:

Risk to personal security. For fun, I follow a few celebrities on Twitter, the digital Post-it note. The other day, one of them tweeted: “Down at Gino’s having a pizza with my boys.” Earlier in the day he had established the city he was in. With this kind of shoot-from-the-hip public broadcasting, it’s only a matter of time before we see the first Twitter-related crimes. Even for non-celebrities, how safe is it to post to the world, “My husband and I are off to Boston for the Web 3.0 conference.” Not very … unless you want your next post to be “Our house got wiped out by crooks while we were away!”

Risk to public safety. People are easily duped and through social media, we are creating the most effective rumor mill in the history of mankind. We caught a small glimpse of the destructive power of viral misinformation when rumors of swine flu being caused by eating pork spread around the globe in a nanosecond. The innocent pork industry is still recovering. Numerous experiments have shown the ease of planting falsehoods that become reported as fact, even by legitimate news agencies. What happens when a sinister prank goes out of control and creates a panic far beyond a loss in pork sales? It will happen. What can prevent it? Nothing.

Risk to personal finances. Every time you register for a site, sign up for an app, or populate a social media profile, you are adding to a databank all about you. Strangers can find names, birth dates, family members, school and work history, e-mail addresses and much more. One blog writer recently quipped, “Honestly, it doesn’t take a genius to steal a person’s identity online.” Even more severe than identity theft and the obvious financial ramifications for an individual — we will begin to see online crimes being committed under the alias of another person.

Risk to personal reputation. Thankfully, nobody was holding a video camera in my face during my college years. But the lives of today’s youth are explicitly documented on You Tube, blogs, photo albums, and social media sites, creating a permanent online record. One corporate recruiter told me that a web search is more important to him than a resume. How will your Google-image affect your future job prospects, personal relationships, political aspirations? Did you read about the teen girls who took pictures of themselves in their bras at a sleepover, texted them to friends and then hours later ended up on porn sites? How do you erase something like that? Google never forgets.

Risk to data and information. A few weeks ago, a computer worm, using Twitter, infected tens of thousands of computers as it replicated itself across the Internet. The worm was created by a 17-year-old to “expose the vulnerabilities” in Twitter. The red-hot social networking/microblogging service has been scrambling to plug cross-site scripting and other Web site vulnerabilities to thwart worm attacks but, as one researcher points out, it’s much easier to misuse the Twitter API as a “weak link” to send worms squirming through Twitter.

Risk to personal health. Neurologists and doctors warn that obsessive immersion in screen technologies and social network sites will lead to short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathize, weight gain, and a tenuous sense of identity.

Risk to personal productivity. A friend recently told me that he needed to find a way to block himself from social media sites at work. “I’m hooked,” he said. “I can’t stop myself from getting online every minute that I can.” According to a U.K. study, British firms are losing $264 million A DAY on lost productivity due to undercover activities on Facebook. Businesses are starting to look for ways to deal with the social networking problem. Several companies in America already block social media sites.

So, where does this lead?
I’m a fan of social media. These new platforms have connected me to countless interesting people, opportunities and ideas. The purpose of this article is to serve as a counter-point to those who seem to be hypnotized by the hyperbole and beat the drum of social media while ignoring these certain consequences. There is virtually NO dialogue on the risks of the inevitable corruption that will result from having a free and pervasive window into YOUR life.

I’m hoping the dialogue will start now …

Five social media myths that MUST STOP NOW!

markschaefer — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:02:00 +0000

Sometimes I read the “rules” being written about social media marketing and think, “God bless this person for trying, but he must have never had a real job in his life.” And then these opinions get repeated and re-tweeted until these mindless jingles become part of the social media mantra. It’s time to bust the myth-makers, folks. Here are five beloved social media “rules” you should throw in the trash:

Myth number one: “To be effective in social media, you must give up control of the conversation.”

Why do you assume you ever HAD control of the consumer conversation? You didn’t, you don’t, and you won’t! So, in reality, nothing has changed. You don’t control consumers. On a good day, we only hope we can influence them.

What DO marketers control? The message. Nothing has changed there either. The equity of a brand is usually a company’s most valuable asset. A core brand image must be tightly controlled, constantly nurtured, and tenaciously defended, no matter what communication channel you’re using.

What HAS changed is that we can now more effectively listen to how people are responding to that marketing message and react to that response with speed and compassion.

Myth number two: “It’s all about the engagement.”

Another equally ridiculous variation is “It’s all about the conversation.” No, it’s not. It’s all about the MONEY.

Why are major brands pouring millions into social media marketing? Just to see how many followers they can get? Because they’re “nice people” who want to “engage?” PUH-LEEEZE. They are trying to make a return for their shareholders. And if they’re not, they should be fired.

Stop fooling yourself. If social media marketing does not contribute to brand equity and/or shareholder value, the dollars, the effort, and the “engagement” will stop. Marketers have been engaging with their customers since the dawn of advertising because it helps feed our families. Please, let’s be honest. We’re all just trying to make a buck. And that’s OK.

Myth number three: “Never sell.”

The reality is, everyone sells, all the time. Behind every business tweet is a person using social media to craft a personal brand image of friendliness, helpfulness, authenticity and intelligence so you will trust them and eventually buy from them. What’s wrong with that? As long as you don’t BLATANTLY SELL, I’m cool.

Myth number four: “Emphasize quality over quantity.”

Wrong. You must have both. You’re not going to earn much of a following if you only blog once a year … even if it’s a really, really good one! Look, this is not like buying a Mercedes Benz that you can drive around for years. In social media, the cars are free so drive like a wild man and if you crack one up, hop on another one and do it again. Quality counts but size matters, too.

Myth number five: “Social media is all about authenticity”

Social media is about being polite and likable. Nobody really wants you to be authentic and hear how bitchy you feel today because your husband snored all night.

Recently a bunch of Chris Brogan’s readers got on him because they thought he was too mean. Hell I loved it when the uber-blogger had a fit now and then. THAT’S authentic! But instead Chris announced he will try to be nicer … that’s what matters around these parts.

I think the goal of most people immersed in social media is the opposite of authenticity. Their goal is “try not to suck.” Everyone is doing their best to channel their inner Oprah. It’s a popularity contest, pure and simple. Call it what it is, folks.

So there you have it. Are you with me on this? Let me know what you think.

And no need to be polite. : )