My new friend, a terrific thought-leader and the proximate cause of www.askMANDO.com, Barry Brown, was kind enough to critique my recent apologetic for social media, or SoMe. (See my April 23, 2009 post, "5 Reasons to Participate in Social Media.")
His first impression was that I was talking to a reader that has little or no knowledge of SoMe. Indeed, that was my aim, but I also found the exercise of noodling about this global phenomenon to be refreshing and clarifying. PR and marketing professionals using SoMe often feel they have affixed their passions like votive candles in paper boats amidst a channel of eddying currents. Sometimes we just need a slack tide, for a time.
Barry observes, “There is a good parallel between word-of-mouth and the viral effects of the web, which is the same by a different name. It may be short in scope however, because it stops at “telling two friends”. Think of the chain as trust, then loyalty, and then advocacy (scale). The true power of web market reach is scalability. If you influence the right person, they may have an audience of influence in the hundreds, thousands or even millions. When these individuals become advocates, they extend your reach to many.”
Barry took some umbrage at my upbraiding the recalcitrant – those too intimidated (or is it lazy?) to even take the splash into this bold, new ocean. But he makes a great point that I had missed: The buzz has begun and it’s broiling into one heck of a whirlpool:
“To me the most compelling reason to get into social media is that your customers are already talking about you and your industry online now,” adds Barry. “Maybe something around “the conversation has already started without you” would be a better #1.”
Well said, Barry!
Barry kindly adds, “The blog feels like you, and this is important when you meet later with a reader. ‘Authentic’ counts and I think you hit it.”
Aw, thanks. --Sharon Drechsler, Group 221
Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
5 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Social Media
Reason #1: Social media is viral.
We ‘old-timers’ remember a shampoo commercial in which a girl tells two friends, they tell two friends and so on, until the television screen is lathered with suds-ridden females virally marketing their favorite shampoo. If you use the Internet (via blogging, social forums, micromedia platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and eNewsletters) to do good things for your customers and prospective customers, you will inspire their loyalty, plus they will tell two friends.
Reason #2: Social media is to marketing, what fire was to the caveman.
How do you think business people felt about the telegraph and telephone when they were first invented? Do you think they automatically embraced its many possibilities? It took even the most intelligent entrepreneurial types a while before they began automatically reaching for the phone instead of the pen if they wanted to reach someone instantly. Companies that ignore social media as the new mode of communication may wish to consider installing tin cans and strings for inner-office conversations. (Nobody in the real world is going to be listening to them, anyway.)
Reason #3: Social media is cheap…well, affordable.
True, it does require time. How much time you invest is for you to decide. One cleverly-planned campaign can make you an overnight sensation. However, it’s more likely you’ll want to strategize to build an audience by reaching out to participate in chat groups and forums, posting informative and entertaining information on your blog and/or eNewsletter and engaging in conversations with individuals and groups of individuals to form ongoing relationships.
Reason #4: Establish your brand as a thought leader.
Social media best practices call for a one-on-one conversation. Compare it to sending a representative of your company to an important social event, perhaps a cocktail party. You want to send someone who will be a credit to your company; someone whose comments will be respected. That person should also be someone who is personable, approachable and able to engage other people in a conversation. Your representative won’t march past the bar and the canapé tray and pronounce your company’s benefits over a loudspeaker system. Rather, they’ll nibble their brioche, sip their merlot and smile politely as they listen and respond to those whom they meet. When they do speak, they are sharing information that has value for the listener. They gain respect for you and your company.
Reason #5: Track your community.
If you use social media for nothing else, you can passively watch what your competition is doing and track what your customers and prospects are discussing, like never before! A well-planned social media plan will identify the micromedia sites, blogs, forums and Web sites to watch. You’ll know when your supporters ‘share the love.’ You’ll see where your detractors are giving you a poke in the rear.
Any more questions? As we here at Group 221 look into our crystal ball, we see that a social media program will certainly be as common an office fixture as a PC on everyone’s desk. (Yes, Virginia, we also remember the days when NASA was the only organization that owned its very own computer!) Those businesses taking a step forward to implement a well-orchestrated plan, now, stand to get in on the ground floor.
We ‘old-timers’ remember a shampoo commercial in which a girl tells two friends, they tell two friends and so on, until the television screen is lathered with suds-ridden females virally marketing their favorite shampoo. If you use the Internet (via blogging, social forums, micromedia platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and eNewsletters) to do good things for your customers and prospective customers, you will inspire their loyalty, plus they will tell two friends.
Reason #2: Social media is to marketing, what fire was to the caveman.
How do you think business people felt about the telegraph and telephone when they were first invented? Do you think they automatically embraced its many possibilities? It took even the most intelligent entrepreneurial types a while before they began automatically reaching for the phone instead of the pen if they wanted to reach someone instantly. Companies that ignore social media as the new mode of communication may wish to consider installing tin cans and strings for inner-office conversations. (Nobody in the real world is going to be listening to them, anyway.)
Reason #3: Social media is cheap…well, affordable.
True, it does require time. How much time you invest is for you to decide. One cleverly-planned campaign can make you an overnight sensation. However, it’s more likely you’ll want to strategize to build an audience by reaching out to participate in chat groups and forums, posting informative and entertaining information on your blog and/or eNewsletter and engaging in conversations with individuals and groups of individuals to form ongoing relationships.
Reason #4: Establish your brand as a thought leader.
Social media best practices call for a one-on-one conversation. Compare it to sending a representative of your company to an important social event, perhaps a cocktail party. You want to send someone who will be a credit to your company; someone whose comments will be respected. That person should also be someone who is personable, approachable and able to engage other people in a conversation. Your representative won’t march past the bar and the canapé tray and pronounce your company’s benefits over a loudspeaker system. Rather, they’ll nibble their brioche, sip their merlot and smile politely as they listen and respond to those whom they meet. When they do speak, they are sharing information that has value for the listener. They gain respect for you and your company.
Reason #5: Track your community.
If you use social media for nothing else, you can passively watch what your competition is doing and track what your customers and prospects are discussing, like never before! A well-planned social media plan will identify the micromedia sites, blogs, forums and Web sites to watch. You’ll know when your supporters ‘share the love.’ You’ll see where your detractors are giving you a poke in the rear.
Any more questions? As we here at Group 221 look into our crystal ball, we see that a social media program will certainly be as common an office fixture as a PC on everyone’s desk. (Yes, Virginia, we also remember the days when NASA was the only organization that owned its very own computer!) Those businesses taking a step forward to implement a well-orchestrated plan, now, stand to get in on the ground floor.
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