Jay Baer is one of the few bloggers I’ve found who consistently provides business-based, practical marketing advice.  I usually agree with him.  But he made a reference to social media marketing on a post this week that struck me as odd:

“… unlike every other marketing tool for the past 200 years, it’s a meritocracy, and that benefits us all.”

I’m only picking on Jay because this is the most recent iteration of a theme I’ve observed countless times — the opinion that somehow the social web is in a special new category where you actually have to EARN the trust of your customers.  Another variation is that the social web has “changed everything” about business and marketing.

No, it hasn’t.

The free market economy has ALWAYS been a meritocracy and always will be. If you don’t provide a quality product or service and you don’t represent it in an honest and compelling way, you won’t earn your way into the hearts and wallets of the world’s consumers.

Pre-social media, pre-Internet, even pre-mass communications, the fundamental tenet of marketing was this: Establish a brand promise based on consumer trust and never, ever break that trust. The concept is simple, the execution is extremely difficult.

Marketing is a continuous war to promote and protect your brand, whether it is a company, hospital, university, sports team or individual.  Social media offers an exciting new way to connect, but the marketing fundamentals are truly still the same.

The social web is just a new battlefield, not a new war.

How is the social web affecting your battle plan?

If I leave a conference with a few “kernels of truth” I can gnaw on and think about, I consider the time well-spent. Here are a few nuggets I picked up at the Social Fresh conference held in Nashville this week.

“Movements make their audience feel like rockstars.”
To me, the highlight of the conference was a talk by Geno Church. Geno, of Brains on Fire, is an engaging speaker and discussed the distinction between marketing plans and a cultural movement. The most amazing case study of the day was work he had done for Fiskars Scissors (I guess you could call it cutting-edge). By enlisting scrap-book enthusiasts (The Fiska-teers) to contribute as bloggers, they created an army of passionate Fiskar users. If you can make scissors exciting, this guy can market about anything!

“People fill information voids with rumors. Your strategy is simple. Don’t allow information voids.”
Another super-bright guy I met was Dan Zarrella. Dan spends his time poring over Twitter statistics to determine the secret sauce that makes something go viral. He applied evolutionary theory, mathematical principles and psychology to his study.  A few Twitter items that people pay attention to:

• Warnings
• “Social proof” as evidenced by large numbers of tweets
• Bigger, bolder, louder statements
• Tweets with “you”
• Tweets that are personalized
• Tweets that occur later in the week

“The biggest failure in social media marketing is not doing anything.”

Paula Berg, who just left her job with Southwest Airlines told some riveting stories about the social web and crisis communications.  Remember when the USAir flight went down in the Hudson and the first news and photos came through Twitter.  USAir did not have a Twitter account … but started one that day!  She also talked about the trust-selling strategy on Twitter, noting that the airline had been on Twitter since 2007 but did not attempt to make a sale through the channel until 2009.  When they did, they set a single-day sales record — only using the social web!

Paula also provided an entertaining case study about a rap-singing flight attendant that became a national phenomenon.

“If you don’t think it’s about BUSINESS your gonna be out of a job!”

This was a refreshing and encouraging statement from Jason Falls, an admitted recovering social media purist. He has distanced himself from the “it’s all about community crowd” and in fact playfully made fun of them.  Nice to see capitalism creep into the social conversation.

Illustration: Christian Science Monitor

I’d like to start with an excerpt from a a recent Gregg Morris post. This is an email from one of his associates, expressing frustration at an inability to convince small businesses to engage in social media marketing:

Social networking is making zero inroads into any of the businesses (SMBs) we have visited and interest in “mining” those networks is similarly zero.  It’s not that they are rejected as future possibilities, but rather that SMBs haven’t time for it, since they sense the costs far exceed the benefits … The facts are the facts – SMBs are still the same as they always were: overworked, scratching for dollars, but now fighting even harder for market share. They are competing not just with local competition but also with online, distant suppliers and, of course, big box retailers.

To the point: Joe average – architect, restaurant owner, retail store – are not stupid, nor are they unaware of the need to handle their customers better. All I see … is the same, stupid Social CRM Expert-type of messaging. A bunch of esoteric bullshit skimming the surface of the problem, with no real solution offered. Everywhere I look, they all say the same thing: “You have to communicate with your customer…”, “you need to serve your customer…”, “you need to do this, that or the other…”. Lots of “you needs”, but few “here’s exactly how”

This little rant hit a chord for me because I teach a social media marketing class for small businesses and I constantly hear these same concerns.

There is a business cultural gap that is keeping many SMB’s from working this channel: Typical SMB ”advertising” is a hand-off. All the work is done by an ad agency and/or the advertising sales people.  There is little personal time expenditure and the cost/benefit is usually easily measurable. Not so with social media marketing.  There is more hands-on doing and the results may not be immediate.

When I consult with small businesses, I recognize that for many, the time commitments and demands of maintaining a consistent, effective presence seems overwhelming so I help them cut through the hype and FOCUS.  I encourage them to consider five very practical questions:

1) Do I know enough about social media marketing to make the right decision for my business?  Not knowing the possibilities would be the same disadvantage as operating a business without knowing such a thing as television advertising existed.

2) What is mybusiness strategy and how could a social toolkit align with my key initiatives?

3) Are my customers using the social web?

4) Are my competitors using this channel, and what are the competitive implications if I decide to participate or not?  Could I create advantage by being an early adopter?

5) Do I have the resources, or can I acquire the resources, to conduct limited, focused experiments to see if working through the social web can provide a cost-benefit exceeding traditional advertising?

After my students walk through these questions, they usually conclude a) yes, this is something with a lot of potential and b) there are practical and manageable methods to approach this if I stay committed and focused.

Does this make sense to you?  What is your experience with SMB’s and the social web right now?

{grow} community alert: Pete Mosely, a frequent contributor to {grow} has a new eBook out on promotion fundamentals which is a nice companion piece to this blog article.

Pop quiz: Over the next three years, what is the number one skill that will be needed by marketing professionals?

Answer:  An ability to entertain.

I realize that is not normally something you would put on a resume.  Let me explain.

I often wonder, “Who really has the time to read all these blogs?”  Don’t you feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information coming at you every day?  Of course. Who doesn’t? 

Well, guess what … you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!   2010 will The Year of Content as the fight for your attention gets much, much more competitive.  

Who do you think will win that fight?  The organizations with the most riveting content. 

What will make that content riveting? It will entertain, it will amaze, it will amuse.

And who is going to make the big money on the social web?  Those who can make that entertainment happen.

Yes folks, the ability to entertain will be a white-hot commodity.

Of course creativity and an entertainment factor has always been in demand in advertising circles but I think we are looking at a future where you are going to have to employ Madison-Avenue-quality entertainment value just to get eyeballs to your company blog.  Let alone understanding of the message.  Let alone engagement.  Let alone something that turns into a sales lead.  Consumer expectations to be entertained, as well as informed, are rising exponentially. How will you deliver?

I’m not saying there isn’t going to be room for serious commentary and discussion.  Of course there will. But let’s put it this way, if you have a choice to read a blog that’s interesting or a blog that is interesting AND consistently entertaining, where will you spend those precious moments of your time? Case closed.

What are you going to do to cut through this rising tsnamai of content with YOUR message?  Do you really think a company blog or Facebook page is going to cut it?

As for me, I’m dusting off my dancing shoes.  It’s Hammer Time.  Can’t touch this.

Community alert: Jon Buscall, a frequent contributor to {grow} has written an excellent post on this same topic.  Jon writes well but he cannot dance worth a shit.

The social web may be the most revolutionary marketing tool since the advent of radio.  I don’t have to tell you why at this point.  But for all the opportunities, there can also be danger, if the technology is mis-applied or misunderstood. Here are some ways social media can destroy customer relationships:

1)      Hit and run communication.  Many people, especially under-20s who have been conditioned to handle conflict over text messages, mis-use the technology. If 80 percent of communication is non-verbal, how much is lost when customers provide customer service issues over a tweet?  We are more likely to be unprofessional, harsh and inappropriate in writing than in a live conversation and unfortunately, more and more important customer interactions are taking place over short-form messages.

2)      False sense of expectations.  I’ve observed that some companies are urgently getting into the social media scene and then being unprepared for the response.  It’s so easy to connect with customers today, but you better be prepared to connect with them in a meaningful and appropriate way or you will disappoint them and then lose them.

3)      Over-dependence on social media. Pick up a phone. Make a personal visit. Write a thank-you note. Don’t get too hooked on communicating through only social media, especially if it’s not your customer’s preferred way to communicate.   Going old school can actually help you stand out.

4)      Wrong person in charge.  Some companies pick a person to run their social media efforts just because they have a nice Facebook page. Wrong.  Like your website or your sales and customer service efforts, this is your front line of defense. I would much rather have an experienced customer service person learn social media than a social media person learn customer service.

5)      Customers are learning to game us.  I had a company president tell me that he no longer responds to customer complaints over Twitter. Customers caught on that complaints meant free merchandise and the company became overwhelmed. So they just stopped until they can figure out a solution.  Now even people with real complaints are being ignored because it is too difficult to separate the real problems from the gamers.

So, there are a few dangers withn the opportunities. What do you think?  What customer-related dangers could be prompted by using social media in your business?

I received an email from my son this weekend titled “seriously mind-blowing.”  And it was.

Click on the image above to watch Pranav Mistry demonstrate several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data — including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper “laptop.”

This video is about 13 minutes long (about 5X the attention span these days) but is seriously worth the time.

I would love to read your comments on this.  Think of the possibilities …

The latest research report from Business.com shows that small business owners are still trying to figure out Twitter … but those who have mastered it are seeing an advantage.

The expansive report covering 1,711 small business decision makers showed that of all the social media channels, Twitter was the least-used. Just 27 percent of the respondents were active on the micro-blogging site.

But even that figure may be deceptively high – the survey sample was of business leaders already using some form of the social web.  Translation: This is why you are still getting blank stares when you talk to most small business decision makers about Twitter.

Although Twitter fell to the bottom of the list of most-used social media resources for business, those actively using Twitter are very positive about the business value. In fact, Twitter topped the write-in list with small business decision makers praising the ability to get quick feedback and access relevant business information. One typical quote:

“On Twitter, the people I follow provide me with more relevant links and information than any other tool. It saves me time and helps me learn about new technologies or innovative ideas, as they are happening.”

As we have come to expect, the Business.com research is thorough and fascinating, with detailed data segmented by industry, job type and company size. Study participants in the healthcare, retail and legal industries use significantly fewer social media sites/resources for business information.

Based on the findings, companies interested in using social media to engage small business customers and prospects would be wise to:

• Develop educational webinars and/or podcasts which address specific small business needs in the process of introducing company products or services. Businesses value convenience and speed in their information sources.
• Encourage, and carefully tend, online reviews of company products or services.
• Establish a presence on one or more major social networking sites and use this as a hub for corporate social media initiatives.
• Participate in more focused online discussions where it is easy to find and respond to questions specifically related to company products or services – such answering questions on Q&A sites like LinkedIn Answers or Business.com Answers, or in online business forums – rather than trying to work a promotional mention into discussions on 3rd party web sites and blogs.
• Further investigate how their target audience is using Twitter for business today and begin developing a Twitter strategy.

Source: Engaging Small Business Decision Makers through Social Media: A 2009 Business Social Media Benchmarking Study Report. Business.com, December 7, 2009, http://www.business.com/info/engaging-small-business-through-social-media.

I have never used this community to comment on another person’s blog but today I’m just so happy, so enthralled, so downright giddy that I could kiss my keyboard.  One of the social media purists has finally discovered the bright, clear light of capitalism.

And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy — Jason Falls.  Jason is one of my favorite bloggers but has historically been one of the stalwart “keepers of the conversation.”  You know the type — the social media country clubbers who set the industry’s tone with a relentless mantra of “it’s all about connection” and “conversation” and “relationships.”  In fact, a few months ago, Jason went so far as to write that any company expecting to make money off of social media will fail.

But a new day is dawning.  Yesterday, in a post entitled “Why Social Media Purists  Won’t Last,” he wrote:

Each time I discuss the business goals or reasons why a client wants to use social media, the answers come down to one thing: selling more stuff. It’s a harsh business reality. If you don’t make money, the business goes under. If you don’t make more money, people lose their jobs.”

The social media purists have laid down the law and, so, to participate in social media as a business, you must do things like, “participate in the conversation,” “engage your customers,” and “talk with us not to us.”

I’ve got news for you. In the world of business, all that talk will get you exactly nowhere. Conversations do not ring the cash register. Engagement does not sell more product. Talking with people just means you have to take time to listen which prevents you from spending valuable time selling more product.

Halleluia.  Maybe I’ll finally have some company out here in the social media netherworld of business rationality.

And if this isn’t enough reason to celebrate, read what the Ultimate Blogging Machine Chris Brogan wrote just a month ago:

Think Like a Business – if you’re in this for business, always ask yourself how this work ties to more sales (and if you’re not trying to make money, think of “sale” as whatever you hope to convert. Hint: it’s not “more audience.”). If you’re just writing to write, shooting video to get it up there, tweeting because people said you should, rethink all that. Decide what’s going to ring your register and work on that.

What???  Ring the register?  Not seeking “more audience?”  Could this be an era of enlightenment for the guy who recently yelled at his audience:  “This is NOT about you and your STUPID COMPANY” ?

What’s happening around here?  My guess is that both have recently had a big dose of the real world.  Falls went out on his own and had to come out from behind the P&L  protectionism of agency life.  Brogan’s sudden emergence on a bigger stage probably got him in front of experienced business people instead of the sycophants who dutifully re-tweet his every blog, bluster and burp.

So this begs a new question.  Are my days as a contrarian coming to an end?  I mean if Brogan’s in, the burp tweeters will fall right in line. If the social media elite are finally figuring it out, what do I write about now?  Hmmm.  How about, “It’s all about the conversation?”  : )

Awhile back I put forth a “success formula” to create business benefits through social media:

Connections + Meaningful Content + Authentic Helpfulness = Benefits

The more I see and hear and learn about the social web, the more I’m convinced this is spot-on.  You can see the whole article here, by the way.

I’m learning that within this formula, content is a SEVERE bottleneck for most companies.  Here’s why:

1. Companies are piling on to the social web and are desperate to provide content that will cut through the clutter. It takes a special talent to do that. Typically, they don’t have that special talent … but are willing to pay for it.
2. I’m sure you’ve heard stats like, “more content has been created in the last five years than in the history of mankind.”  I either made that up or I heard it someplace (or both) but I’m sure you’ve heard similarly ridiculous statements.  There is a kernel of truth in there, however.  There’s already too much freaking content for any normal person to keep up with.  And the problem is going to get worse.  In fact, it will never get better. The need for content seems insatiable. This exacts more pressure on companies to not only develop “meaningful” content, but content that will knock your socks off.  Every day.
3. The need for “authenticity” is an artificial barrier set by the social media country club that is keeping some people from ghost blogging. (Article on how to do it RIGHT is here.)  That barrier will go down as the price companies are willing to pay for content goes up.  There will be plenty of content-whores around for everybody.  And I mean that in the most respectful way.  

So here’s the business plan: Come up with a posse of technical writers/content whores who can churn out blogs on a variety of subjects (maybe organize by verticals) and fill this out-sourcing market niche.  I would do it myself but I’m far too lazy.  

So there it is.  Business Idea of the Year!  Go be the Wal-Mart of content.  The Blog Super Store.  Content Whore Warehouse.  Whatever, just go do it and I’ll be the first to hire you for my customers.   See, you can’t tell me I never did anything for you. : )

Yesterday Business.com released additional results of its milestone study of social media  usage across American business, this time with a focus on B2B.  This research should put an end to the argument over the relevance of social media in the industrial sector. In fact, it appears that by percentage, B2B is ahead of B2C in some key categories.

Like the general study I reported last week, this report is chock-full of details by industry, job type, and social media platform. It’s significant because of the scope of the study and the statistical rigor applied to the results. I recommend spending time with this survey, but here are some highlights that caught my attention:

• B2B (defined as companies with >2/3 sales to other companies) actually show as much, or more, involvement in social media as counterparts in B2C.
• Professionals working on social media devoted 21% of their time to this activity versus 18% for the study average (this would imply a much lower rate for B2C but the number is not broken out).
•  B2B company respondents have somewhat more experience with business social media initiatives than their peers in B2C and mixed companies – 30% of B2B respondents have less than one year of business social media experience versus 35% across the study
•  The study showed a statistically significant difference in social media activity with B2B’s dominating in 11 out of 14 social media categories. The three exceptions are – there’s no B2B versus B2C difference in the percentage of companies managing online communities, and B2B companies are significantly less likely than B2C companies to monitor online ratings/reviews of their products or services and to advertise on social media sites.
• B2B’s are more likely to pay for social media monitoring platforms.
• B2B’s are having better fortune seeing an impact of social web projects on their web traffic (70% versus 62%); Revenue (60%/52%) and sales leads (57%/53%).
• Marketing owns the social media initiative in 76% of the B2B’s versus 63% B2C.
• B2B companies maintain a high presence on social media sites, with 81% maintaining one or more accounts on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. B2B companies are much more likely to engage in micro-blogging on Twitter than B2C companies.

It should be noted that of the total survey participants, just 25% were B2B, indicating that overall adoption of social media probably lags B2C.  And while the most highly-publicized success stories are eminating from B2C, this study shows conclusively that among those participating in the social web, B2B’s may be engaged more deeply and more broadly than their B2C counterparts … some of the most surprising, and compelling, conclusions I’ve seen in this field.

What are your thoughts on this research?