06/24/2009
The best quote from the aima (Atlanta Interactive Marketing Assoc) June meeting last night was from Carl Warner, JWT/Atlanta who told us what a Marine general had to say about social media.
- "Web 2.0 is undisciplined theater."
Seems the agency had briefed the General (the Marines are a client) on social media. My sense is that Carl was a little disappointed in the General's response. Not me! I would have jumped up and hugged the General (Is it against protocol to hug a Marine general?) and said, "Yes! Sir, that was brilliant! You get it. Social media is undisciplined. It is messy. It is coloring outside of the lines."
I would have then expanded our discussion to what are "social media conversations." We'd probably talk about in social media conversations, as in any conversation, there are the people who initiate the discussion and those who respond. Conversations (including videos, photos and podcasts) that are started by civilians might not be nice and neat. In fact they may even be passionate. Who knows who will say what or when or how .. yes, General - very undisciplined. But when you think about it most conversations with friends are spontaneous and don't follow predetermined rules (except perhaps a few rules of etiquette).
Then I'd ask the General to look at social media conversations from the view of an organization or a brand or in this case the Marines. I'm betting he'd be pleased to know there can be .. should be .. some structure to participating in the conversation. That means planning. Strategy is something that I'm sure the good General understands well.
We'd go on to talk about the conversations that take place in the public "parks and spaces" of the internet say on Twitter or Facebook or MySpace versus those that happen in his digital home .. say a blog or community built by the Marines. Although house rules can't be imposed in public gathering places, just as you have expectations for guests visiting your home or office, it is acceptable to have a few guidelines for your online visitors. I'd point him to this post where he could see some great examples of corporate blogging/social media guidelines.
Along the way I'm sure we'd discuss how a strategic direction for his Marines who participate in online conversations would begin with some guidelines. We'd talk about the "brand values" and the love that the Marines have for the Marines. We'd talk about how even in a world that appears to be chaotic there can be some structure and at the same time authenticity. We'd talk about why the Marines would even want to be part of this untamed world.
I'm betting we'd come to the same conclusions that many business owner, CMOs, brand managers have when it comes to social media. At the end of the post or tweet or podcast or vlog or social network it's about the relationships we build and nurture with our customers which leads to achieving the purpose of the business or non profit or the Marines. To bring that full circle .. that can not be done without knowing where you are going. Yes, General the social world is indeed undisciplined but if you use social media as a marketing strategy that becomes more manageable with a strategic overlay.
06/12/2009
Friday Fun is Diva Marketing's virtual happy hour from cosmos to Jack to lemonade. A waiting for the weekend 'playground' time to be sophisticated-silly. Or sometimes just plain silly.
In the world of social media Facebook, Twitter and other social networks have taken center stage. Our old friend .. the 
blog .. seems to be relegated to a role in the chorus. Of course social networks can play an important part in social media marketing, however, the platform is not Yours. It will never be Yours. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and every community on Ning could go away tomorrow. All of your contacts, all of your content could blow away like dandelion seeds in the wind.
Blogs, (that you serve yourself) are always Yours (at least until the server crashes or a hacker blows up your site). #BringBackTheBlog is an occasional series on Diva Marketing that highlights some of the great work in the blogosphere.
Blogs do take more time and care than a 140 character tweet or a Facebook wall post. The challenge becomes updating with relevant, interesting content. According to Nettie Harsock, "Conversational content is the base ingredient to any blog truly thriving and engaging a community long-term." Nettie offers 5 Tips For Conversational Content.
Fard Johnmar HealthCareVox has been writing smart posts about healthcare in social media since 2006. His recent post is a great example of building content from other sources, In his post about media consumption habits of e-patients he incorporates findings from the Pew Social Life of Health Information study. By the way did you know that although people are looking for medical information online, including peer reviews, less than 40% use social networks like Facebook and only only 12% are currently taking advantage of Twitter?
Unlike an article written in main stream media, social media provides an opportunity to tell your stories when you want, how you want, without the filter of a reporter or editor. While business story telling follows a similar format to those you read as a kid, there are a few differences. Katya Andresen Getting To The Point, provides us how-to direction including a story telling check list.
When it comes to story telling blog posts that end in marketing lessons no one does it better than Ann Handley - Annarchy. Ann's talent for creating stories about simple every day happenings in her life not only engages us but endears us to her. Word of caution .. don't enter the world of Annarchy unless you have a few spare moments.
When we think of blog posts we usually think of T-E-X-T. However, since blogs are websites and anything you can include in a website you can incorporate into a blog post think photos and videos. Paul Chaney's, The Social Media Handyman, use of video interviews is an excellent example of the versatility of blog content. Paul does one - two minute interviews at the 140 Twitter Conference.
Read more in the all tweet book - Social Media Marketing GPS #smgps - Chapter 6 Tactics Second interviews with Yvonne DiVita and Julie Squires about blogs
06/08/2009
"We are moving from technology-centric applications to people-centric applications that conform to our relationships and identities. The social graph is enabling a new Web experience that will transform the way we work, learn, and interact across every aspect of our lives." Clara Shih, the Facebook Era
I agree with Clara Shih, and think that the Facebook Era is one of the smartest books about social networks. However, although it is technology that proples the experience the reason social media works is actually very simple. At its heart it's people connecting with each other, telling their stories, sharing their lives. What you share depends on your comfort level of giving pieces of yourself to your digital network.
When those stories and experiences involve brands, organizations, service then it becomes part of "social media marketing." The stories that are tweeted or blogged or put on a Facebook page are exposed to your expanded network. Through digital word-of-mouth your opinions may influence the purchase behavior of people you don't even know.
Sooo .. let me tell you a story. - Today I arrived in a small town in Pennsylvania - Johnstown to speak about social m
edia at PA Development Center's Annual Conference (waves to Elyse Harvey who was wonderful to work with on this project!). I dropped Max off at the vets (with instructions for extra walks and doggie ice cream treats) at 10a and after a long day of travel from ATL to IAD to JST I walked into the Holiday Inn at 6:30p .. famished.
Now I must admit my expectations of Harrigan's Restaurant at the Holiday Inn was .. well .. not very high. In fact, I tried to find another place to eat. Went so far as to do a few Urban Spoon shakes which turned up pretty much only fast food. Sometimes you turn a corner and are delightfully surprised. The venue itself was inviting, Lori, my waitress or is the pc term 'server?' was awesome and most importantly the food was excellent.
To help demonstrate social media and stories for the workshop Lori graciously agreed to have her photo posted, with the amazing dessert tray, on Twitter, Facebook and Diva Marketing. Next time you're in Johnstown, PA head to the Harrigans and ask for Lori .. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Where will this go? Who in my social media network will see a post, tweet or Facebook page? Will the post or tweet make its way into someone's search for Johnstown restaurants or Harrigans? Will Lori make a few extra tips?
So what is great social media marketing? It's all about the stories and the people and the beat goes on and on and on and on ....
05/22/2009
Friday Fun is Diva Marketing's virtual happy hour from cosmos to
Jack to lemonade. A waiting for the weekend 'playground' time to be
sophisticated-silly. Or sometimes just plain silly.
This post was inspired by Mark Story, Where Online Intersects With Offline. Mark is running a series on Mondays he's calling #blogmonday. With all the chatter about social networks and widgets and videos and podcasts and apps and tweets and gizmos (oh that's the next Big thing) the traditional blog has gotten lost in the digital maze. So I thought I'd use Friday Fun from time to time to #BringBackTheBlog by highlighting some of the great work that continues to be done in the blogosphere.
Seems only fitting that the first up should be Mark Story's post - Help Doug Haslam Ride. Blogs are wonderful social vehicles to tell from the heart stories and also to raise awareness for causes. In this post we learn about Dougn Haslam who is riding in the Pan Mass Challenge to raise money for the Jimmy Fund. Through his post Mark gives us a peak into his life as a dad and shows us some of the values that are important to him -helping others. Follow the Jimmy Fund on Twitter.
Sidebar: The Jimmy Fund is a Boston-based nonproft supporting the Dana Farber Cancer Institute that helps children and adults.
Mary Schmidt's posts on Marketing Troubleshooter always make me think. She's smart, witty and quick to the draw proving that blog posts don't always have to be long to position yourself as a thought leader. In her post The price is a surprising happiness to you Mary combines two complex marketing topics - price and email marketing .. and makes her point about both.
It has always amused me and confused me that marketers think no Believe that marketing is vastly different from business-to-business, business-to-consumer, products and services. While there are of course challenges within verticals and sectors the principles of marketing and relating to people's needs remains the same. Francois Gossieaux, Emergence Marketing, addresses that issue in his post about social media communities - B2B and B2C communities - no difference, it’s all about h2h. Francois uses his blog post to present his point of view including a few examples.
I'm going to let you in on my new secret. Shh! If you tell anyone Max might have to howl at you .. he never bites. Mommy blogs. (I'm not a mom so I don't frequently hang out in that blogosphere village though I do pop by to visit friends like Geek Mommy, Mom-101, MomInTheCity.) Remember this is #bringbacktheblog post so I'm talking blogs not necessarily "influencers" .. thought a great mom blog will often be home to a women who is sought after by marketers. Some of the best designed blogs are coming from this 'village' of the blogopshere.
My new favorite is Cool Mom Picks - a multiple author blog led by Liz Gumbinner and Kristen Chase. The branding is clean and consistent and the writing fun and engaging. Take a look at the side nav bars that are used not just for sponsorship ads but for value content. You'll find links to guides and internal content pages .. brilliant!
Sidebar: If you do want to know more about Moms Influencers catch the Diva Marketing Talks podcast where Liz Gumbinner and Susan Getgood join me to dish about Blogger Relations. It's a fun show with lots of great information.
05/19/2009
Pop a Cork For The New Diva Marketing Blog. Five years today - May 19, 2004 - that was the head line I wrote for the first post on Diva Marketing.
As my story goes .. I launched Diva Marketing as an experiment because my friend Dana VanDen Heuvel told me I couldn't talk about blogs in workshops I was conducting unless I was active in the space. I pretty much told Dana he was daft. I mean I can talk about any marketing strategy if I understand what it's about. Dana said blogs were different and in order to establish credibility I had to participate in this thing called a "converstation."
What did I really need with a blog .. I had a website!? However I did want to understand the logistics so I launched Diva Marketing. I quickly realized that the website with the funny name was not like any other marketing strategy I knew. Dana was right to "get it" you had to roll your sleeves up and dive in .. watching from the sidelines wasn't going to cut it.
Thanks to you .. five years later the experiment is still around. Diva Marketing turned into not only a learning playground but a labor of love and one of the first blog brands. 
Who would have thought?
Thanks to you .. for enriching my life. If anyone had told me that some of my dearest friends would live oceans and miles way in India, Europe, Australia, Canada as well as across the country from NYC to St. Louis to San Diego and just around the corner in Atlanta too .. no way Girlfriend would I have believed that one!
Thanks to you .. for impacting my personal and business life and for the opportunity to work with marketers all over the States helping them understand that the importance of blogs/social media.
Here are a few of the Looking Back Lessons that I share with you today.
11 Looking Back Lessons About Social Media Marketing
1. Opening the doors and windows to allow your employees to hear the unfiltered voices of your customers can bring unexpected insights leading to stronger brands, new products/services ideas even more responsive customer service.
2. Management's trust in their employees to represent the brand value in an authentic but respectful manner is the foundation of a social media strategy. This may mean different hiring values and more transparency in the strategic direction of the company.
3. Traveling the social media marketing road alone, without a someone who understand the culture of the "villages" where you want to engage, can do more harm than good.
4. Social media gives more than it takes if you're willing to come out from your walled garden and engage with your customers. No eating M&Ms behind the 2-way mirror .. it's a time for sharing your candy.
5. You can set house rules for blogs and social networking communities and still be "real."
6. People want to know they matter. Social media creates ways to show your customers you care about their concerns and feelings.
7. To succeed social media must be given the same respect and made accountable just as any other marketing strategy. Set strategy that includes: goals, execution expectations of your staff, measures of success.
8. Measures of success may be different from traditional marketing, especially direct response .. but it's okay to view success differently.
9. You can color outside the lines and take risks to try new ways to do it .. IF you stay true to your brand, are transparent, authentic, honest and believe in the conversations you are starting.
10. You don't have to do every thing at once. Review social media tactics with the view point of how they can support your goals. Start with your "digital home" and build out from there. For some organizations that may be Facebook, for others a blog and for some Twitter or ... you fill in the blank. What can you do within your current enterprise's culture and resources of human capital, time and money?
11. Social media puts the heart and soul into marketing.The real power behind social media is in building and nurturing relationships.
Help Me Celebrate Year Five!
There should be a way to pop a cork on a bottle of champagne when a blog turns five. There should be a special way to celebrate a milestone in the digital world. So what should we do?
Tossing this back to you. Drop your ideas in comments I have presents for the folks whose ideas we use - the soon to be released book, Ignore Everyone, by Hugh MacLeod gapingvoid and perhaps some Johnny Depp inspired brownies and 
a pink boa!
- "If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun." Katharine Hepburn
02/13/2009
Last Valentine's Day I asked a few marketers how to develop great business relationships. The responses were insightful and smart.
With so much of our time spent in the online world I wondered how people were developing digital relationships. I posted on Diva Marketing and sent off a tweet asking ..
What is your "secret" to building digital relationships through social media?
It seems appropriate that the response are a Valentine's Day post. My heartfelt thanks to the people who responded to my question and agreed to share their "secrets" with you.
10 Secrets to Building Digital Relationships
1. Be Yourself
2. Integrity is important
3. Generosity is a mind set that you make happen by adding value.
4. Play nicely with each other.
5. Keep in touch on a consistent basis and be responsive.
6. Listening is critical .. it is not all about you.
7. People want to feel that they matter and you value the relationship.
8. It takes time to develop relationships in the offline or digital world. Finding a new best friend in one tweet is rare.
9. People may feel they know you even though they don't actively participate with you in a conversation. Take care what you say.
10. Simple is some times the best direction.
Susan Cartier Liebel, Build A Solo Practice, LLC Solo Practice University - You absolutely have to be yourself and do so with integrity. Be generous with your information and always play nice. It is very easy to get so comfortable in your online relationships you forget there are many who still don't know you but are listening. Be cognizant of your reputation at all times because they are made or destroyed online.
Brandy Nagel, Marketing With No Money - Say exactly what you mean. Try everything once. Focus on what works with your natural beat.
Sunny Cervantes, Confessions Of A Marketing Addict - I keep in touch with my virtual friends and business associates regularly and constantly.
Donna Lynes-Miller Delicious Destinations GourmetStation - Relevant content & don't over do it!
Bryan Person BryanPerson.com LiveWorld - My best tip is to link to and direct people to the good work of others online.
Chris Brogan, chrisbrogan.com - Be human, be helpful, and give more than you get.
Katie Paine, KD PAINE - Always be yourself, your usual mulit-dimensional, multi-faceted, fascinating to some, annoying to others, self. Whether you're responding or posting, be true to the values that make you a human. What would be even more interesting is to measure the relationships that people purport to have ..
Dana VanDen Heuvel, MarketingSavant - I believe that part of social media relationship building is about the mindset you take into the relationship. I love to help people. I have consistently found that if I approach social media connections with the mentality of "how can I be useful here", the relationship always starts out on the right foot.
Jeff Pontes, Strategy Social - Be real, contribute to the conversation and provide something of value. Give more than you take. Social media can be used to shamelessly promote oneself or it can be used to provide and gain real value.
Aerocles - @aerocles - Define yourself through your posts. Anyone can retweet or post a link to a cnn article, but sharing information that isn't readily accessible to everyone is way to both demonstrate your value and illustrate an aspect of your personality
Bill Flitter, Pheedo - Listen, listen, listen. We all have an agenda and non is more important then the colleagues and friends I connect with.
Julie Squires - Marketing Snacks - Here a little, there a little in the context of a low information diet.
Janet Lee Johnson The Art of Marketing - Being honestly engaged in social media (by using it myself) and completely transparent about relationships (sponsorships, etc.) are key to success. You have to give to get, and to be "in" the digital realm to have and build relationships. I'm surprised constantly at the naivete of "emerging" participants who expect instant success.
Eric Doyle, Eric Doyle on Facebook - Be yourself -- just like in the offline world.
Kami Huyse, Communication Overtones - There is no real secret, except to say that people like to be valued. So, I try to value them by commenting in their blogs, linking to them on Twitter, replying to their comments and being available when asked.
Richard Binhammer, aka Richardatdell/Around the Web with Richardtadell - Listen, learn, converse and connect
C.B. Whittemore, Flooring The Consumer - Humbleness of responsiveness: being truthful, earnest and passionate about what you discuss on your platform, and welcoming interaction however it takes place [which means responding promptly] - something you do magnificently!
Marc Meyer, Direct Marketing Observations - The secret is there is no secret. The same things that apply in the offline world work in the digital. Being real and being you always works best. We have a saying in the offline world when referring to certain people and that is "that someone is good people", and that means that the person is just a good person; and you'd be surprised how well that translates in the digital world. I think the other secret if there has to be one, is that people need to leave the "take" mentality at the door when they login. In other words, you dont always have to be "on" and marketing, or pushing your message- you'd be surprised how much can be accomplished by just being the real you. The giving you, the honest you. the you that we always hope to encounter...
What is your "secret" to building digital relationships?
02/09/2009
Life gets hectic and sometimes little niceties get put aside and then too often forgotten. Vir
tual roses and
heartfelt belated thanks to Shel Israel, C.B. Whittemore and Denise Scammon for their kindness.
On new years eve Shel Israel, Global Neighbourhoods, ended the year for me with virtual fireworks when he posted our interview in the Twitterville Notebook. Shel's notes will form the basis of his second book. The first, Naked Conversations written with Robert Scobel, has become a classic about corporate blogging. I was honored to be included in the chapter Consultants Who Get It. Here's a question from my Twitterville Notebook interview with Shel.For more visit Twitterville Notebook.
Shel Israel: Do you still see social media tools as part of the marketing tool arsenal or has your thinking. umm... evolved from that perspective?
Toby: My philosophy is that marketing is the doorway to the customer and, from that perspective, social media plays an important role in reaching and keeping in contact with a brand’s community. However, I’ve seen companies such as Zappos, Comcast and Dell successfully use social media to support customer service so perhaps there are more “homes” where social media can reside than in marketing. I think customer services should be a part of marketing but that’s another topic for another day. In addition, technical support reps have been blogging for many years yet another residence for social media.
One of the lessons that I’ve learned is social media initiatives have the best chance of success if there is a champion who is responsible for the implementation and also understands and believes that social media is a new way of conducting business. Social media not only influences the way we interact with customers but with people within the enterprise. Developing cross silo communication processes are critical to ensuring that information derived from on-going listening and talking with customers reaches the right internal people. Equally important is letting customers know they have been heard and responding appropriately.
What I’d like to see is social media holding a place of its own at the c-suite table. I envision a Chief Social Media Officer who helps orchestrate the initiatives; where the position is structured more as a jazz leader than a classical conductor. If you know of any organization looking for a “social media jazz leader” let me know!
C.B. Whittemore, Flooring The Consumer, included me in her thought provoking New & Old Social Media Series. I join Mack Collier, Ann Handley, Steve Woodruff, Amber Naslund, Lewis Green, Laurence (Lolly) Borel, Susan Abbott (with more to come!) talking the new conversations in blogs, Twitter, social networks and so on. Here is a a preview of one my answers; for the rest click over to Flooring The Consumer.
C.B.: What 5 suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users?
Toby:
1. Begin with a plan that includes goals and success measures. Don’t be afraid to include success measures that are outside the box of traditional metrics. As you build that plan consider how you can use social media to support current old media/traditional strategies. For example can you extend an article in an eZine with a blog post to carry on the conversation in greater detail?
2. Develop a budget that includes dollar and people resources. Build your programs to take into consideration human capital to support the implementation. If you don’t, not only will you be frustrated, but you will fail before you hit the publish key.
3. Understand the limitations and the benefits of the tools, or tactics, before you consider implementing. Listen and watch the rhythms of the social elements (blogs, vlogs, social networks, Twitter, etc.) you are considering before you create your social media strategy.
4. Determine if your target audience is involved in that specific platform. Then if they are listen to their conversations within each of the new media avenues that you want to explore. How are your customers using the platforms? The best Facebook strategy will fall flat if your community is not involved.
5. Bring all the people who will be involved in the project around a table for a strategic “red flag” conversation. The up front investment will save you dollars, time and tears.
You never know where social media will take you. Denise Scammon's comment on a Diva Marketing post led to an opportunity to contribute to the SunJournal's special section Women's Journal. My article - Expand your business network through social media was written to help people new to social media understand how simple it is to incorporate blogs, social networking, Twitter, etc. into a busy schedule.
A few tips to help you jump-start building your digital relationship network:
1. Explore a few social networks. When you build your profile, to prevent spam, consider using a different e-mail address from your business or personal e-mail. The following Big Three networks have become the core platforms for many business professionals.
LinkedIn is focused on business networking, making it an ideal first step into social media.
Twitter allows only 140 characters per message or "tweet." Organizations are using Twitter for customer service support, public relations conferences and rapid response answers to questions.
Facebook offers the option to create personal pages and group pages for brand "fans."
2. Don't feel obligated to follow/friend everyone who knocks on your virtual door. Sometimes less is more. Take time to read profiles to help you determine who you want to be a part of your community.
3. Participate in discussions in the same way as you would in the off-line world. Be yourself. Let your personality come through in your words, on videos or in a podcast interview.
4. Adding value to the conversation will reward you faster and better than a continuous stream of promotion about your products or company.
The results: you'll develop a global network that you can tap into for resources, information, support, advice in which you can control where and when you meet-up. Don't be surprised if the connections you make turn into real friendships that lead to off-line meetings!
01/23/2009
Less virtual rock throwing was one of my wishes that I discussed with Leesa Barnes on her 2009 Social Media Predictions podcast. Barely three weeks into 2009 and we still have a long way to go.
Back in 2005 - 2007 blog firestorms were common place now it seems T-storms (Twitter storms) are in vogue. This week a nice guy I know was called out because of a tweet he wrote. Since he works for a large agency his tweet was picked up and spun round and round the Blogosphere and Twitterville. It's one thing to call out a company about a strategy you disagree with but quite another to embarrass a person. I thought we in the business social media world learned the lesson that it is people who are behind blogs and tweets not the technology. Guess not.
Okay people if you're going to write Tabloid Blogs and Twits (yes I said twits) .. let's get it right!
10 Tips On How To Write Tabloid Blog & Tweet Posts
1. Pick a person who has colored outside the lines.
Bonus points if he/she works for a large PR or advertising agency or major brand.
2. Position yourself as an expert in social media.
Bonus points if you have actively worked in social media for less than 3-weeks
3. Critically detail where the person went wrong.
Bonus points if you include a photo of the person
4. Explain how you would have handled the situation.
Bonus points if you work in that you are available to consult with the company to help improve its social media strategy.
5. Tweet your blog post including a link to your post.
Bonus points if your tweet is RT (re-tweeted)
6. Search optimize your post.
Bonus points if your post is Digg-ed, linked to or stumbled on
7. Create a title that is controversial
Bonus points if it is search optimized
8. Try .. but not too hard .. to get a quote from the person or organization
Bonus points if no one responds giving you another opportunity to show how smart you are by telling how you would have handled the situation pre and post "incident"
9. Focus on the most sensational aspects
Bonus points if you include that in both your posts and tweets
10. What is your tip?
What would give bonus points?
01/05/2009
When Ad Age's eZine popped into my inbox this morning the lead sentence from this article - Economy Weighs Heavily on Marketing Execs for 2009 (free registration might be needed to access) caught my attention. "Marketing executives are tired of buzzwords such as Web 2.0, blogs and social networking."
My initial thoughts were wait just a NYC minute. While Web 2.0 might indeed be classified as a buzz words blogs and social networks have proven to be credible marketing initiatives. However, as marketers well know perception is reality so for the marketing executives who participated in this research it appeared that social media has yet take its place in the marketing strategy tool box.
The article was based on findings from a study conducted by Anderson Analytics for and of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG). Clicking into the site I read two quotes that caused me to think differently about what the respondents' views of social media might really have meant.
Tom Anderson, managing partner of Anderson Analytics - "However, that doesn't mean those digital ideas aren't important anymore. In fact, each of those ranked as a bit more important this year."
Guhaard Guha, MENG chairman of the board - "I think there may be a little bit of trepidation, in a sense of people feeling pushed into doing the Web 2.0 thing and maybe thinking, 'I wish it would go away, but I know it won't.'"
Once again what might be a credible research study was devalued for me because of a sensational lead in. What is important is:
1. Not that these executive thought buzz words were tired but it appeared a lack of knowledge about how to best use social media marketing led to "trepidations."
2. To understand that fear often leads to inertia which is the beginning of the spiral down syndrome not the fear itself.
3. These marketing VIPs acknowledged that social media is here to stay. How do you combat fear? With education.
Social media fears are the gizillion pound gorilla in the room. What fears does your organization have when it comes to social media marketing?
12/28/2008
The holidays are a time for indulgences and that often include eating more sweets than usual. Scattered energies run high, feeling great for the moment and then a sudden sugar crash the next.
While watching the kids play I thought .. how many of us find that our social media initiatives are like sugar highs? The excitement of the new idea, the buzz of the launch, followed by some engagement and then the candy cane C-R-A-S-H!
Too often social media marketing (or traditional marketing for that matter) strategies are also like white elephant gifts. Your customers don't really want them but you feel the need to develop them because .. well it's what marketing is all about.
It can be a big disappointment for both you and your customers after the sparking tinsel and pretty wrapping is ripped away and the batteries included were forgotten. As with presents that don't really "fit" other gifts take priority and yours is soon forgotten.
I begin to wonder .. what would happen if .. marketers viewed developing social media marketing programs as gifts that fit that we create for our customers all year long? Those gifts that would help bring us closer to understanding each other to build stronger digital relationships, to having fun with each other with less candy cane C-R-A-S-H!
If social media marketing is a new way to listen and communicate with our customers then framing strategies as gifts that fit may be one way to conceptualize new tactics. Can marketing VIPS really think first of what would delight customers and then develop the message and strategy? Of course girlfriend, it's called Marketing 101!
6 Tips For Creating Social Media Marketing Gifts That Fit
1. Understand what your customers want and need. Listen and participate in their conversations on blogs, Twitter, social networks, etc. Michael Fruchter's post Ten Tools for Listen is a great way to get started.
2. Set a budget. Understanding financial limitations is important but becomes critical in a down economy. Be creative. Perhaps it's a community on Ning and not one developed from the ground up.
3. Plan. Take time to understand how all of the moving parts will fit together to support other "gifts" that you've developed previously. Is it a new video that is incorporated into the widget you built last year? Who will be involved? If your program crosses silos bring all the players - yes including the lawyers - into a round table discussion.
4. Presentation. Part of the fun of presents is unwrapping the gifts. Consider how you will launch your new initiative that will add to the excitement.
5. Be prepared to fix or exchange if necessary. Monitor the progress of the program. What do you need to incorporate to make it "fit" perfectly? Sometimes even the best gift breaks. As part of your Plan (see #3) build in a support effort.
6. Build an initiative for feedback.Help your customers continue the conve
rsation with you.
What are your thoughts? Have I indulged in too many brownies and too much peppermint cheese cake?
