Social media is really nothing more than an online reflection of the offline world. The offline process that leads up to a sale; "know me, like me, trust me," also applies to the online world of social media. Sales happen at the end of that process in both worlds.

That sounds simple because it is. What’s striking is how many people get it terribly wrong. Instead of taking the time to get involved in an online community, much as any good business person would if they joined the local Chamber of Commerce, most people rush to the Close. They broadcast their sales pitch out randomly, hoping to hit a target. What a total waste of energy, not to mention the damage done to your brand.

When they don’t hit a target, they blame the medium, the technology. “I tried social media and it didn‘t work.” That’s a crock but it is easier than blaming themselves. It’s easier than doing the hard work involved and dedicating the time to do truly join a community and contribute real value. It’s easier than being a responsible citizen.

Responsibilities are serious business. Avoiding your responsibilities to build trust in the community, which is that you are doing if you just throw out your pitch randomly, means you are a spammer. Spammer is an ugly word in our wired-up world. So ugly that in it’s most literal sense, it’s illegal. Most of us have software installed on our computers to block these cretins.

Opening accounts on social sites such as LinkedIn, Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter and the others for the single purpose of promoting yourself is a bad strategy. Get involved! Become an active member of the community. Provide value. Give good advice and engage with a servant’s heart. Keep the conversation going on the forum itself, don’t try to divert members to your site, your self-interest. Wait until you’re asked.

Take the time to comment and vote on other people’s content. Visit other people’s blogs and “RT” (retweet) good information, Friend those you know or who have similar interests as you and call-out the spammers. Finally, rather than quantity you should seek quality.

In other words focus your efforts on the social sites you are going to be involved in and sites that contain a group of people who can relate to your content and perspective. Don’t submit an article on postpartum depression to a social network convened around Fantasy Football.

As is always the case, to reap the rewards you must do the work. Everyone, as I taught my two boys, pays List Price for success.

Add value to the community and the community will reciprocate.

Steve

800-707-9150

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You may be confused about social media (SM), many business people are. There are literally hundreds of social media sites and sorting through them seems impossible. There’s Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, etc., and then there’s the ones with unusual names,  StumbleUpon or Posterous, to name two. No doubt, there are too many for a non-professional to evaluate and, since most SM sites are awash with non-customers for most businesses, why would anyone in a traditional marketing role take the time to review all those communities. So what should marketing professionals do about social media? Here’s my take:

1. Target your activities:

Information overload saps efficiency and limits productivity, that’s why many of us hate email. Take the time to investigate the top 25-50 social media sites and see if your company, your products, your competitors or your key industry words are prominent. Do a generic Google search for the same terms (company, product, competitors and you) just to see if you’ve missed anything. If any of the social media networks you evaluate have activity around your company, products or competitors, then join and monitor those networks. This approach let’s you focus on what’s important and weed out most of the “social media noise.”

2. Know who is talking about your brand:

You need to know who’s talking about you online and social media is the perfect mechanism. There are companies, such as Aligned Marketing (yes, that’s a shameless plug), that can break down the demographics of the people talking about your brand by gender, age and geography. If the demographics match your target audience then, again, you’ll need to pay close attention to those conversations and be ready to engage quickly, which brings us to the next point.

3. Engage the conversation:

It’s better to be proactive than it is to be reactive. Joining the online conversation allows you to speak directly with your target audience, your customers and your detractors. You can monitor the conversation. You can’t manage the conversation, per se, but you can insert your own perspective and, hopefully, influence the direction of the conversation. Engaging gives you the opportunity to react, share your side and, perhaps, steer a negative comment into a customer service success story before it becomes a trend.

4. Reporting:

Use your social media research and the available tools to capture relevant information. Organize that information and use traditional reporting tools, such as charts, graphs and PowerPoint, to combine both qualitative and quantitative analysis, to inform your organization. As the data increases you may find that even your most ardent critics will realize that spending a portion of your marketing budget to monitor online conversations is wise.

I may be wrong but, like it or not, I don’t think this stuff is going away anytime soon.

Steve

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A number of people I've talked to recently don't understand all the fuss around social media. What is it? Why is it growing so fast? Do I/we need to be engaged?

Briefly, here's my take:

People use social media for three primary reasons:

1. To acquire knowledge, which is why content is so critical and key to both your personal and your professional brand. This is also the driver behind the proliferation of blogs.
2. To see what other people are doing and buying, which is the basis of sites such as Digg, which is really a recommendation service.
3. To connect with other people, which is a basic human need and the foundation of Facebook’s (and other's) success.

The proliferation and success of social media is driven by three factors:

1. Trust: Many surveys have documented that people trust “someone like me” more than any other source. Moms trust Moms and car nuts trust car nuts, it's how we humans are wired. For the first time our peer’s opinions are more accessible to us than the wisdom of experts and propaganda of sellers.
2. Online access: No matter how unusual or obscure the topic, we know we can find a lot of information - details, perspectives, and context - online. At any given time, there are probably thousands of people online discussing the merits of various screw drivers, for example.
3. Confidence: It’s all about how we enter the decision-making process. We are less willing to make decisions without a great deal of information. Since the information and recommendations are relatively free, it would be nonsensical for us to do otherwise.

1. We all know the power of the network, of networking. It is the best way to gain employment and, as mentioned, the primary way we now learn about products, services and what other people, people just like us, are doing. Social media allows you and your company to expand your network exponentially for little cost.
2. Your customers, peers, neighbors, superiors, and relatives (etc.) are already part of social networks so it's a good idea for you to join the conversation, express yourself and, frankly, monitor what's being said about you, your company, your products and services, as well as those of your competition. Why would you not want to listen to the most important people in your life, which on a personal level is family and on a professional level is your customers.
3. If growing your business, circle of friends and contacts, and expanding your influence are important to you then you need to be part of the social media revolution, because it's where all the people are.

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