Be Decent at All Times

     The death of singer Amy Winehouse is undoubtedly a tragedy.  It's something the world has seen before; immense talent, uncontrollable addictions.  This blog is not the forum for discussing the former.  What we should be interested in for business social media is the incredible, INCREDIBLE  Microsoft goof in their twitter stream.  Here it is - http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/07/25/apology.winehouse.tweet.mashable/index.html
This is unbelievable, and Microsoft can do as much damage control as they want to - but it's kind of like trying to avoid the iceberg after you've already hit it and are sinking.  WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?  Remember Amy Winehouse by purchasing an album from our site?
     We have touched on this before - your tweets, your blogs, your facebook posts - who are you sending them to?  How will they be received?  In this case, someone at Microsoft took a tragedy and tried to make a buck off of it.  Not unheard of, of course.  The difference in this case is it was on a wider scale than the guy hawking t-shirts down on the corner.
     The point is, whoever is in charge of your outgoing public information needs to always stop and think before sending anything.  While your marketing studies may indicate that what you are sending is the right thing to do, sometimes it's not.  You just never know how the public is going to react.  Anyone here ever served on a jury?  Maybe the prosecution made a slam-dunk case, but the jury became offended by the prosecuting attorney's closing arguments, or any number of other things, and voted to acquit the defendant.  It happens.
     Be proactive, by all means.  Be professionally reactive when you have to (and someday, despite your best efforts, you will).
     But please. be decent at all times.
  

Ocean Front Property in Arizona

     This blog concerns itself with business social media - the ways you adapt social media to use in the business world.  Today's offering comes from Nicole Kelly, at Social Media Explorer (http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com) , a terrific site for all things Social Media.

      Some of these are things we've looked at in this column before, and Kelly's words can't be said any better than reprinted below.

Social Media Red Flag Pick Up Lines

Social media is a great strategy for every company. If you don’t have a social media strategy you will be left behind.

Social media isn’t the “right” answer for every company. There are several factors to consider before diving into a social media strategy. Do you have the resources to support a social media strategy for the long-term? Are there natural places within your current marketing strategy where social media can be integrated? Are there conversations happening about your industry already?

You must have a presence on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and…

There is no magic list of social media channels that applies to every company and industry. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are not the end all be all of social media and for many companies they are the “wrong” places to be. The big question here is whether or not your audience is actually “participating” in a social media channel. If they are which ones are they using? The reality is that for many industries Facebook and Twitter are not the right channels, but represent a drain on resources that could be better allocated to social media sites where their audience actually participates.

We will manage your entire social media presence for you…it’s effortless for you

There are definitely companies that will do this for you, but it raises a huge red flag. Social media isn’t about pushing out a bunch of marketing messages, it’s about engaging in conversation.  Who would you allow to have a direct conversation with your customers and prospects? What kind of training is involved before you let someone pick up the phone for the first time? Allowing a social media provider to manage all of your social media channels without active engagement and commitment from your team to support them can be disastrous.

We developed a strategy for Company X that led to over a bazillion fans

Anytime a provider uses the number of fans or followers or views as a gauge for the success of a campaign, I throw up a little in my mouth.  Were the fans and followers relevant to the company? Did the people who viewed your video do anything as a result? Did any of these people do anything that actually contributed to the financial goals of the company?

We have an experienced social media team

Unfortunately, this is more often than not a bold faced lie. There aren’t enough people who have successfully created, implemented and measured a social media strategy for a business to work for all of these providers who are making these claims. I’ve seen this range from people who have no “real” experience in social media to a team of fresh out of college “interns” being managed by one person who has a little bit of experience. Make sure to ask exactly who will be working on your account and how much experience “each one” has in social media. Also, make sure to ask what companies they have developed and implemented social media strategies for. You will likely have some junior people in the mix, but you should have at least one who has been in the space long enough to know their elbow from their “rhymes with smash hole.”

Social media is special. Your current marketing strategies won’t work, that’s why you need us.

Social media is another tool in your marketing tool kit. It isn’t any more special that email marketing or paid search advertising. Each one of these requires and understanding of what you want to accomplish and a clear understanding of how it can help you reach your business objectives. Social media isn’t any different. In many cases, social media will compliment your current marketing strategies with a little twist.

Social media is the only marketing strategy you need.

Social media is not a silver bullet. It will not fix problems within your current marketing strategy and quite frankly it is more likely shine a big red light on them. It is also not the “only” marketing strategy a company should use. Good marketing is a combination of smart strategy and well-thought out tactics that are executed within marketing channels where their prospects and customers play. Putting all of your eggs in the social media basket is extremely risky.

If you don’t know a lot about social media and need some help, that’s okay. But make sure you prepare yourself so you hire a solid provider who can contribute to your goals. There are some really solid providers out there if you look hard enough. The best tip I can give you is to ask for specific examples and references. Then actually check them. Otherwise, there are plenty of people who have some great ocean front property in Arizona they’d like to sell you.

    Postscript: Had a fabulous dinner last night at the home of Todd and Dutchie Reid.  Todd's blog is FatherFeedsFlock, and you can get some great recipe ideas and how-to's from him at:http://fatherfeedsflock.blogspot.com.   Last night's dinner is detailed at http://fatherfeedsflock.blogspot.com/2011/06/dinner-party-with-scott-gab-thai-tuna.html?spref=fb

Cha-ching!!!

  A couple of points for this Friday, just something to think about while you (hopefully) lay back in that hammock enjoying the cool beverage of your choice and thinking deep thoughts about growing your business through business social media.
     Point one.  The purpose of business social media is to market your services, etc. to the targeted masses.  That's great.  Hopefully you're busting those tweets and texts out there.
     Now, you also have to be able to monitor what you are doing and how well you are doing the job.  You may be thinking you need specialized tools to monitor and keep up with the chatter, and it may be beyond you.  Not so!
    You can stay up to the minute with your customers by using some simple tools like RSS feeds and Google Alerts.  Tweetdeck also lets you view many comments at a glance.
     Point Two.  It's time to ask yourself, "am I truly mobile?  Can my customers shop on the go?"   Here's the hard truth:  in just three years, trends say mobile purchases will quadruple.
     Is your website mobile?  You already know your website is a huge part of your business.   Now, make sure it's doing double duty by working through business social media, taking advantage of mobility and the overwhelming smart phone market.  Make sure your website is simple to use on the go and will easily complete a mobile transaction.
     And on the subject of transactions - while Visa and Mastercard remain the old standbys, DON'T ignore the use of PayPal.  Thanks largely to Ebay, more people than ever before are using this simple and safe method of payment.
     How will you know when everything is working the way it should?  Simple -  you'll hear the following sound:
     Cha-ching!!!

It's The Only Way to Fly

    Wow, it was nice to take some time off but now it's back to the blog - and it being summer (or almost) lots of people are thinking about travel - and using interactive media to book it.
    As a refresher, "business social media" means getting your business info out in an easy fashion to the customer base that A) wants to use your services, and B) will use your services if only they knew about them.
     Let's talk about the airlines.  We've been able to book flights online for years thanks to outfits such as   Orbitz and Expedia, but did you know that a lot of individual airlines are tweeting deals?
     The June Consumer Reports magazine says that they did some looking and found these two incredible fares: @FrontierSale and @JetBlueCheeps, both of which were offering a $10 one-way fare from San Francisco to Long Beach, California.  Yep.  Ten bucks.  However:
    Seats are limited, and quick action is needed.  The magazine notes that @UnitedAirlines'Tware fares sell out within two hours.
    What a great idea, tweeting fares!  It gives the customer a great deal, and drives business to the airline!  This is why your business needs to stay linked in to the business social media network.
     It's the only way to fly!

Feeling Like Royalty

  

     The Royal Wedding has come off without a hitch, getting international exposure - but of course, it's the Royal Wedding!  How can your business get the same exposure?
     Well, unless one of your business partners or yourself is a King, Prince, etc., it's kind of doubtful you'll get the same sort of worldwide coverage.  HOWEVER:
     You can have a worldwide presence.  It's called, as we've alluded to before, business social media.
     Like it or not, you need to be in the stream.  And yes, there are a LOT of folks out there in that same stream.  So how do you keep your business plugged in and noticed?
     First, remember that attention spans are shrinking.  Your message needs to be brief and to the point.  I used to manage a video education network.  What I told my producers then, holds true now.  The amount of knowledge your brain can absorb is inversely proportional to how numb your butt is getting sitting in that chair.  Reframe that homily for tweets and email messages.
     Second, know your audience.  You've got to understand what makes your customer tick.  Just like you, your customer has less and less time to pay attention to information.  (See number one above) Before you begin a business social media sell pitch, know what your customer wants to see.  Otherwise, you're wasting your time, and worse, theirs.
     Third, and finally, what's the value of your message?  Your customer gets bombarded with heaven knows how many messages each day.  What makes yours stand out from the rest?  Your audience has less time or interest in complicated items they've got to figure out, unless you are pitching to Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot.  Whatever information you decide to convey to them, make SURE that it's bright, short, and - well, sexy.  Not to mean that you have to adorn it with sexy images.  In this context, sexy means sizzle, something your customers will remember and act upon.
    Follow these pointers in your business social media, and I guarantee it will make you feel like royalty!

Get Into The Swim or Go Down the Drain

     We've talked about reasons why your company needs to be business/social media active.  

     What follows are some stats from http://blog.hubspot.com/, a marketing blog.  Put down your coffee, because if you don't, you're likely to spill it on yourself.  Get into the swim, or go down the drain.

• 78% of Internet users conduct product research online. That means your website stands a good chance of being a prospect's "first impression." That also means your new business card isn't a business card—it's Google.
• In the past year, Web-based email usage dropped a staggering 59% among young people who prefer to communicate via text, instant messaging, and social networks. Web-based email usage has been on the decline among ALL Internet users under the age of 55. And by the way, today's kids are tomorrow's customers—and they're probably not going to be reading your email.
• 78% of business people use their mobile device to check email.  So that means pretty much everybody that can check email on a mobile device, does. Is your email newsletter optimized for mobile devices?
• 91% of email users have unsubscribed from a company email they previously opted-in to. We're getting savvier with technology and less patient with unwanted solicitations. And it's just so easy to hit 'delete'.
• 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog. Blogging is good. Intrusive ads are bad. 
• 41% of business-to-business companies and 67% of business-to-consumer companies have acquired a customer through Facebook. If this stat doesn't poke a hole in the "Facebook is not useful for B2B companies" myth, I don't know what will.

Social Media is Dead!

     Yes, you read that headline correctly.  Social media is dead, and we have no less an authority than actor James Franco to thank for this startling bit of news.  Franco has dropped Twitter after a couple of months of use.  He tells Politico that "Social media is over.  Still up there.  Going down.  You heard it here first."
     Well!  At least we have one less thing to worry about with the demise of social media!  I, and other writers, and businesses, can now move on to more rewarding things.
     I hate to tell you, James - can I call you Jimmy? - but social media/business social media is not dead.         True, sometime in the future, the medium carrying the media will undoubtedly change, but the media will not.  The telegraph was the social media of its day, followed by the telephone.  Now, wireless and instantaneous and cheap communication has taken the place of the telephone.  Businesses use more social media than ever, and those that don't are finding their businesses inexplicably slowing down.  You have to stay in touch to be in touch.
     So, Jimmy, while you wait for that telegram to arrive at your door announcing your next hosting gig on the Academy Awards, you can at least take solace in the fact (as we all can) that Miley Cyrus has resumed Twitter for the first time since 2009, when she quit it because it was interfering in her private life.
     To paraphrase an old saying - Social Media is Dead - Long Live Social (and business) Media!