05/31/2010
Social media tools may fall out of favor; but the concept of leveraging the conversational, digital world to engage, educate and energize our customers is here to stay.
When most people begin to explore social media they usually start from the perception that social media is another marketing channel. What exactly is a marketing channel? Glad you asked. Let's take a look at the American Marketing Association definition:
A set of institutions necessary to transfer the title to goods and to move goods from the point of production to the point of consumption and, as such, which consists of all the institutions and all the marketing activities in the marketing process.
Wow girlfriend, that's intense. The Product Marketing Handbook by Rick Chapman offers a simpler explanation. A channel to market is the method of getting your product into the customer's (end user's) hand.
For many marketers that translates to a creating a "campaign." Wrapping social media around a campaign is not a new idea. In 2005, The American Cancer Society used a blog to support its Fabulous at 50 promotion focused on colon cancer education. If you're curious about the strategy and want a look at social media "history" skip over to the interview; I conducted with Lisa Myers Brown, who was VP of Marketing at the time.
One of the lessons that Lisa shared was ~ It's not enough to build it and hope people will come.
That was true for blogs in 2005, it's true for social networks in 2010, and it will be true for the next shiny platform. However, unlike traditional campaigns, social media is not, or should not be, a static set of institutions but a method to open a dialog. To have those conversations with your community .. you have to have a community.
How to build community that is sustainable and where people are engaged is the $64 zillion dollar question. In Social Media Marketing GPS, Nancy White tweeted, We'll face at least 2SN/Comm challenges: too many options & too many people.Sweet spot develop tools and practices 4 this.
To help build and promote its Facebook page, Cooking.com created a contest encouraging customers to "Like" .. which of course not only builds the community but promotes it. The campaign began with an eMail invitation to win a $500 Gift Certificate.
The Facebook contest landing page provides not only an opportunity to Invite Friends but also collects demographic profile information. Now, I understand the importance of the data but there seems to be something just a teeny disingenuous and old school about the extent of info required before beginning a relationship.
As social media twists and turns, I hope we keep top of mind what my friend Tim Jackson posted on #blogchat .. It takes a community to build a brand. In the age of (digital) conversations how we achieve that may mean viewing marketing "channels" thought a new lens. Perhaps we should call it .. Kaleidoscope Marketing. Just a thought ...
05/17/2010
Sometimes you just have to color outside the lines. Sometimes you stumble. Sometimes you soar. Sometimes people wrapped in the status quo just don't get your ideas. Sometimes you find people who believe in your vision.
My story. Last summer I invited social media marketing pros to explore with me a new book genre. I wondered if a real business book could be written using Twitter as the major content platform and distribution channel.
- I am excited to launch Social Media Marketing GPS, as free eBook, in celebration of Diva Marketing's 6th blog birthday! My mom's birthday! and Shel Israel, who wrote the Forward and is recovering from heart surgery! Social Media Marketing GPS is the first business book based on Twitter interviews.
What is it about? Social Media Marketing GPS is based on Twitter interviews with 40 of the smartest people working in social media. The book begins with an explanation of why include social media and moves on to cover ethics, tactics, research, metric, branding, sponsored conversations, blogger relations and even a few case studies. Additional content wraps around each of the 12 chapters creating a process for you to use to develop your social media marketing plan.
Table of Contents
Foreward: Shel Israel
Introduction: Toby Bloomberg
Chapter 1: Why Social Media?
Interviews with Paul Chaney, Ann Handley
Chapter 2: The New Enterprise Direction
Interviews with Geoff Livingston, Marc Meyer
Chapter 3: Social Media Research: The 1st Listening
Interviews with C.B. Whittemore, Joel Rubinson
Chapter 4: Social Media Ethics
Interviews with Wayne Hurlbert, Mack Collier
Chapter 5: Strategy First
Interviews with BL Ochman, Rajesh Lalwani
Chapter 6: Tactics Second:
Blogs, Twitter, Social Networks, Podcasts, Vlogs,
RSS, Widgets
Interviews with Julie Squires, Yvonne DiVita, Connie Reece
AV Flox, Nancy White, Neville Hobson, Jim Turner, Roxanne Darling,
Bill Flitter, Nick Burcher, Marianne Richmond
Chapter 7: Social Media & Branding
Interviews with Dana VanDen Heuvel, Beth Harte
Chapter 8: Blogger Relations
Interviews with Susan Getgood, Elisa Camahort
Chapter 9: Sponsored Conversations
Interviews with Scott Monty, Melanie Notkin
Chapter 10: Metrics That Make Sense
Interviews with Peter Kim, Kate Niederhoffer
Chapter 11: Solving Business Challenges
Interviews with Lionel Menchaca, Frank Eliason,
Donna Lynes Miller, John Maley
Chapter 12: Relationships 1st, 2nd & Last
Interviews with Tim Jackson, Liz Strauss, Lucretia M Pruitt,
Kimberly Coleman
After Foreward: David Meerman Scott
Who is it for? It's a genre for the 24/7 marketers who don't have time to read a tome but must understand social media in order to do their jobs. It's for people who want insights and information bite-size and actionable. It's for business professionals who want a quick refresher and innovative ideas to take their current strategy to the next level.
I invite you to download the eBook; and if you find value please pass the link to people in your network and in your social networks. I'd love your thoughts on the genre, the book, social media and how to promote the it. If you tweet the hash tag is #smgps.
Please enjoy the companion podcast series sponsored by the American Marketing Association, Social Media GPS, where I interview many of the contributors from the book. In keeping with Twitter's 140 character format, interviews are about 14 minutes long .. because 140 minutes is way too long and 140 seconds much too short. As a special treat each interview begins with the marketers reading some of their tweets. So here we have another new genre .. tweets on tape!
Facebook
Media Release
05/14/2010
Social media is all about the stories. This tale could never have happened without the technology of the Internet, the culture of social media and the generosity of over 100 people from all over the globe.
It is also a case study that reinforces that social media does create real and sustaining relationships. It begins with two guys from opposite ends of the world. One was from the middle of America and the other from down under in Australia.
Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan had a wild idea to crowd source a book about the new conversations that were changing the fabric of marketing. No one would make a penny .. all of the profits would be donated to charity. In 2007, they asked people active in social media to write 1 page. Hence was born the Age of Conversation 1. 2008 brought Age of Conversation 2 with over 200 contributing authors.
Age of Conversation 3 launched this week. It's available in Kindle, hard copy and soft copy at amazon.com and other digital book stores. Subtitled, It’s time to get busy!,it focuses on action versus theory. This social media book is divided into 10 sections:
1. Conversational Branding
2. Influence
3. Getting To Work
4. Corporate Conversations
5. Measurements
6. In The Boardroom
7. Pitching Social Media
8. Identities, Friends and Trusted Friends
9. Conversations At The Coalface
10. Innovation and Execution
I'm proud to have participated in all 3 Age of Conversation books. Thanks to Channel V Books for their help in publishing and distribution. Toss of a pink boa
to the awesome authors, and of course, Drew and Gavin. Would love to know your thoughts about any part of the book, the concept, where you see new media heading.
Part of the author agreement is not to publish our pages until 6-months after publication .. but sshhh .. here's a sneak peek of my page for you! Of course it's told in story format (smile).
- Once upon a time there was a CEO who worked diligently for many years building a successful company. One day she (or perhaps it was a he) realized the business model she had carefully crafted was no longer valid. She found her customers and prospects were not waiting for her website to be updated, new ads to launch, sales calls returned, or direct mail pieces received in order to make purchase decisions. She discovered customers were not in company service queues waiting for answers to their questions. [Continued in Age of Conversation 3 - Chapter Corporate Conversations: Building The Social Enterprise]
05/09/2010
Congrats! you've launched your social media initiative and you did it the right way.
7 Steps To Social Media Success
1. You aligned your organization's culture with the social culture.
2. You understood the impact the social web will bring to your enterprise.
3. You created a strategy that includes objectives, goals, measurable results. You've integrated it into your overall plan.
4. You listened to the social conversations and understood how your customers are engaging and the value you could contribute.
5. You built a content direction that could be maintained for the long-run and across multiple social platforms e.g., blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and even the next shiny new toy.
6. You have internal and external guidelines in place.
7. You've even identified a social media champion who is respected at a senior management level.
You finally launched and took a celebration sip of a well deserved appletini or double espresso latte. You wait. You wait. You wait. So what happens now? Where are the comments? Where are the RT (retweets)? Where are the atta girl we love your ideas?
Ooops! You gave a social media party and forgot to invite the guests. If you build it they will not come .. unless you tell them. Similar to your traditional website .. social media serves many masters. Not only can it support marketing, public relations, customer service or consumer insights but think of it as an asset unto itself.
Shh .. don't tell .. here's the secret .. the missing piece to the social media puzzle that is frequently forgotten: a promotional strategy must be included with each and every one of your social initiatives.
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
are beginning to get it with one of the first print ads I've seen that promotes its social media assets - Facebook and Twitter.
However, for me, the customer experience stumbles with the goal of providing only the website url. It's not easy to go to what is promoted - Facebook or Twitter. Once at the site links to Facebook and Twitter are below the fold. Though I might not have found the sweet dedication to their dog Lulu and her pup friends. Max sends woofs!
To help you ease on down the social road ...
18 Easy Tips To Promote Your Social Media Initiatives
1. Add urls to your email signature
2. Add urls to your business card
3. Include in traditional marketing communication materials
4. Include links in all of your social media assets
5. Add links above the fold on your website
6. Add links to the footer or site navigation bar that runs across the site
7. Include in ads - print,digital and broadcast
8. Create a special ad a la Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
9. Include links in your eMail newsletters
10. Drop a Facebook status up date
11. Drop a LinkedIn update
12. Judiciously tweet it out
13. Engage with the social web communities where you 'live' e.g., comment on blogs, @tweets, etc.
14. Include "share this" widget on posts
15. Optimize for key word search
16. Send email updates to your network
17. Add urls in media releases
18. Take online offline .. mention it to colleagues at networking events
Now .. take a sip of 'tini or vino or java and toast to your success!
05/01/2010
Quick thoughts about social media on a drizzly afternoon.
In a scant few years we've seen social toys change in popularity from My Space to Facebook from Pownce to Twitter. Recently Four Square and cool participation badges have made it onto the social media playground.
Our customers are beginning to expect direct engagement with brands that go beyond interacting with the people behind the brands or playing games on social networks or solving customer service concerns. Our customers are assuming they can influence the direction of the brand through status updates, blog posts, comments, tweets, review sites .. and more.
What we call "marketing" is changing. However, social media is simply a conduit to that new direction. It is our customers who are leading the charge. A VIP of a F-100 company recently told me he thought of social as an new channel. That may be true, but sir, social media goes beyond that to impacting the way we will conduct 21st Century Business.
The good news is that research confirms that social media positively impacts brand perception. What exciting opportunities are possible for organizations that smartly and strategically make those connections!
No matter what the next cool social media toy, or as I like to think of as marketing tactic, may be .. one thing is certain ... companies that do not build social media into the DNA of their brands will miss powerful opportunities to build stronger emotional ties with their customers and stake holders. What's the ROI on that? Perhaps you might ask your competition.
Inspired by a tweet with @tedrubin & thanks to @conversationage for the proofing help.
Sidebar update: Seems the post was streamed into the NYT Business Day Page via Blogrunner. 
What's the ROI of that?
