Posts Tagged ‘social media’

Spring 2009 is all about social media education, and Twitter is on the tongues of everyone from devoted power-users to confused newbs who can barely use a mouse.

Despite all the hype, news programs and even devotees haven’t quite hit their mark.  I keep running across the same question over and over again…why should I care about Twitter?  Who gives a hoot about whether you had a croissant for breakfast, anyway?

In lieu of writing a thesis on the subject (and if you really want to hear the advanced reasoning behind my use of Twitter, pretty please come to my new Twitter class June 25 and July 9), I’ll give some simple answers.

Why should you care about Twitter?

It’s all about conversation.  If you aren’t having a conversation with your potential clients and colleagues via social media, you’re missing the boat.  Twitter doesn’t just give you an unprecedented chance to engage with your base…it allows you to start, shape, and exert a degree of cotrol over the conversation that just can’t be achieved by a press release, a sound bite, or an advertorial.  And the options are endless:  you can talk directly to your base, ask them questions, gauge their opinions, solicit their feedback, be helpful and offer advice.

It’s happening.  Whether or not you like it, Twitter has taken off in a big way.  Does every business need Twitter?  No way.  But don’t dismiss it because it’s new, trendy, and admittedly overhyped.  The amount of creativity and excitement generated by Twitter is truly energizing and engaging…if you know how to use it properly.

It’s opportunity.  Opportunity to find out what your customers and your colleagues care about.  Opportunity to make mistakes, hone that brand, and get deep into voice and vision.  Opportunity to dip your toe into a huge conversation and watch it morph before your eyes.  Opportunity to be on the cutting edge before it changes into something else (just look at the evolution of hashtags over the past few months). And, yes, opportunity to get business.  I can count twenty or more instances in which Twitter has brought me business or allowed me to refer business to someone else in the last two months alone. Now that’s opportunity.

Sure, you may think you don’t care about whether your client had a donut or a croissant for breakfast…until you use that fact as the launchpad for a personal conversation.  Twitter can seem scary:  it’s immediate, vast, and fast.  It’s also vibrant, thrilling, exciting, maddening, and hilarious.  Go ahead…dip that toe in.

Readers, why do you care about (or shun) Twitter?

Photo courtesy of godsmoon

I’ve been spending lots and lots of time on Twitter lately (@vococreative’s the name if you’d like to follow) and am continually amazed by the creativity and passion being brought to this deceptively inane program by its millions of users.

Unfortunately, all the Twitter hype is made even more confusing by a growing universe of Twittiquette that is very, very easy to violate.  My recent Social Media for Mere Mortals class has prompted me to think about the most blatant violations I’ve seen of late.

Here are the top 3 Twitter mistakes I see on a regular basis:

1.  An all-or nothing mentality.  As with other marketing attempts, people tend to go whole hog or not-at-all.  The result:  schizophrenic tweets.  If all you talk about is yourself and your business, there’s no room for dialogue or relationships.  If all you do is shout out to your friends with endless @ messages, there’s no way to get a good sense of who you are.  If you tweet 92 times in one day and 2 the next, we can’t figure out what the heck you’re doing.

2.  Bad etiquette.  Calling out other users for flame wars?  Tasteless.  Failing to credit others when you retweet a message?  Lame.  Forgetting to use the @ symbol before names on a regular basis?  Thoughtless.  Auto-DMs and spammy repeat postings?  Passe.  Twitter etiquette is still a developing field, but it’s definitely becoming more standardized.  If you can’t bother to take the time to familiarize yourself with the lay of the land, should you really be tweeting at all?

3. Timidity.  In a world where  follow count is king and it’s all about who you know, there’s no point in being bashful.  Go ahead, make some friends and followers!  Sitting back and keeping your Twitterverse to your known friends closes you off from the wacky fun that is Twitter.  And it won’t do your business any favors, either.  Be bold!  Have fun!  See you in Tweet Town!

What Twitter mistakes tick you off?  Sound off in the comments!

Image courtesy of grendelkhan

Thanks for hanging in during the hiatus…I’m feeling much refreshed after a severely needed vacation.  We will return to our regularly scheduled blog postings on Monday.  In the meantime, here’s a drive-by glance at this week’s two biggest stories in marketing and brand strategy:

Twitter is on fire:  You know Twitter’s hitting the bigtime when a Twitter race between two public entities is front page news, the local news starts running fluff pieces on Twitter, and Oprah, ambassadress of all that will be embraced eventually, finally relents and throws a few Tweets to her followers.  (We’re loving Twitter here, but all this coverage is a huge sign to be on the lookout for The Next Thing…)

Crisis management is a whole new ballgame, folks:  The nasty Domino’s YouTube scandal is only the latest in a series of online gaffes and frantic scrambling.  (Remember Tropicana, the Motrin Moms, and the Whole Foods CEO’s lame astroturfing?)  Ironically, the big D apparently plans to use social media and SEO to improve the image spit upon by its own employees.  Though the best offense is always a good defense, it’s fascinating to see crisis management adapt to these let-it-all-hang-0ut times…who will be the next victim?

What was your favorite story this week?

I frequent many Yahoo! groups and bulletin boards frequented by writers and small business owners.  Lately, among the laments about the demise of newspapers and the perils of a shaky economy, I’ve been hearing an interesting war cry:  “Social media is a huge waste of time!!! It will distract you!!! Don’t listen to its siren song…it will destroy your marketing, your career…everything you’ve worked so hard to establish!”

I personally think that you can’t afford not to participate in some form of social media, especially in a world that’s ever more populated by Net-savvy, time-crunched people.  However, it’s a tool like anything else in your marketing arsenal…only worthwhile if you use it wisely.  Here are three ways to know when to rein in your social media use in favor of more traditional marketing means:

You are unable to manage your time.  Some people are able to resist the call of a blinking Tweetdeck and a buzzing iPhone.  Others, sadly, are not.  If you’re unable to manage the amount of time you spend using social media, consider limiting it to a certain amount of time per day (timed, with a timer) and pledging to spend an equal amount of time on the marketing messages you used before you converted to Twitter or Facebook.  Yes, this may involve picking up (gasp!) the phone.

You are undercutting your existing marketing.  If your many profiles are not customized and integrated in with your existing brand, you’re wasting your time.  Sure, you may be able to better interface with long-lost-childhood-friend X, but you’re spinning your wheels in terms of your marketing.  Don’t have time to brand your social media or give thought into how it might integrate with your existing marketing strategy?  Then don’t do it.

You are uninterested or undercommitted to the marketing you did before adopting SM.  Yes, social media is slick, instantaneous, pretty, and even inexpensive.  But if your social media activities have replaced the marketing you did before you logged on, be honest with yourself.  Have they really yielded the return on investment they should?  Have you abandoned sucky marketing in favor of micro-efforts that won’t ever pay off? If the answer is yes, it’s time to reassess.  Social media should be part of a marketing plan…not the entire plan.

Simply put, social media without strategy might just be a waste of time.  Interested in figuring out how to use it to your advantage without losing your mind?  We’re giving a seminar in Denver on April 20 that will help you with jus that.  Click here for more information on Social Media for Mere Mortals.

Photo courtesy of bogenfreund

Mondays have that spinny, reeling, to-do-list spitting out tasks kind of feeling, don’t they?  Luckily, VOCO has condensed today’s must-reads into a short and sweet list!

• PR is the new marketing:  A nice vlog on the intersections of two former cousins…now conjoined twins?  [via SmartBrief on Social Media]
• AdWeek has released its Magazine Hot List for ’09.  What’s hot:  Fast Company and Wired.  What’s not:  anything that can’t (or won’t) adapt to changing times.
• Are we “exquisitely, irretrievably f*!ked“?  You be the judge.
• Say it ain’t so:  Google has a “paralyzing lack of design focus”?!

Last night Juli and I both had the pleasure of attending the kickoff of the Front Range Girl Geek Dinners.  I had heard about the Girl Geek Dinners before from various tech friends dispersed around the globe, and was pleased to see that Colorado was getting its act together in that respect.

I was not disappointed:  the room was packed, the women were fun and talented, and it was awesome to connect with other geeky women in a way more prolonged than that familiar nod of solidarity in a room full of 90% men that is common to local tech-type gatherings.

The estimable Deirdré Straughan of Sun Microsystems presented on “Social Media, the Enterprise, and You”.  My notes are below, along with a slideshow of her presentation.

I’m looking forward to getting more involved in this organization and meeting many more geeky girls!

• Social media is exploding: Sites that call for user-generated content (Twitter, Facebook, eBay, and the ilk) are the fastest-growing on the Web.
• Why do we care? Because social media helps us create serendipitous connections, collaborate with others, and engage the experts.
• Social media isn’t just fun…it’s the new résumé.  It’s more important than ever to drive awareness of yourself and why you’re wonderful…to develop your personal brand.  (You are signed up for VOCO’s free personal branding bootcamp, aren’t you?)
• Transparency is paramount if you’re going to be taken seriously. Sun is doing an amazing job of fostering conversations while remaining transparent, be it via wikis, self-policed blogs, or the dissemination of tons of user-produced content throughout the ether.
• Put a human face on your business. Twitter isn’t just a little chatterbox watercooler, it’s a way to build personal connections (however small and ephemeral) with other businesspeople.  You never know when it might pay off.

Um, how’d it get to be the end of February already?

Here’s a quick roundup of what’s what in the world of marketing, media, and brand strategy:

• Death to buzzwords.  Finally!  Someone else is taking up the anti-buzzword buzzkill.
• Crocs CEO resigns, is replaced.  Not news to many who have been following the ups and downs of this early-stage success story.  My prediction:  Crocs will get worse — way worse — before it gets better.  It’s dealing with oversaturation, intense competition and knockoffs, and some sad brand stigma.
• LinkedIn is not Twitter. I repeat, LinkedIn is not Twitter.  [Via Deb Kolaras]
• Wait, what?  Pepsi is starting throwback branding in addition to its lame new branding?  Color me confused.

Where does the time go?  Our Google Analytics series will be back for the attack later this week…in the meantime, here are some marketing and branding-related links to whet your appetite:

• How on earth do you monitor social media?  Social Media Explorer shows you how.
• Some most excellent facts and figures on the effectiveness of different marketing channels…hint: e-mail wins [via AAF SmartBrief]
• Oldie but goodie on using Google Alerts to track information about your business
• They’re getting real about marketing messages at Women’s Wear Daily

• My current obsession, Help A Reporter Out, is hosting a conference call on “How to Pitch a Reporter” that is promising to be a goldmine (and for just $50 it’s pretty much a steal).
• Here’s a quite comprehensive article on finding the tweet spot and using Twitter to your advantage.
• SmartBlog asks:  “Are you getting in the way of your customers?“
• Celebrity magazine circulation is down? Say it ain’t so!

We’ve been asked so many times in the last month what we recommend for clients in these uncertain financial times that the answer bears repeating:

Chill out!  Keep on marketing!

Yes, it’s somewhat self-serving to suggest that our clients continue doing the very activity we provide for a living, but the answer isn’t just a facile brush-off.  Panic, desperation, and a sense of lack are the first steps down the road of instability, decay, and stagnation for your business.

I repeat:  Chill out!  Keep on marketing!

Why keep truckin’ when times get rough?  Isn’t marketing a luxury item?  You may think so if you have a full or near-full client roster, but the reality is sad and simple:  you are engaged in a daily battle for your clients’ and potential clients’ valuable time.  If you’re not on the top of the heap and first in their minds, you’re not doing enough marketing…and you’re going to be expendable when they start making decisions that affect their bottom lines.  In fact, an economic downturn is a great time to expand your marketing!  Why?  Because when they’re ready to spend again, your clients will remember you and your business.  Guess who’ll be at the top of the to-call list when business picks back up?

It’s hard to overstate the fear and uncertainty that is permeating our media, our culture, and our daily lives these days.  That can be bad news for your business…a bit of doomsday thinking and you’re ready to move into a bunker with your kids, your cats, and your Toaster Strudels and wait out the coming storm.  But are you willing to let your business become a casualty of your own fear?  I didn’t think so.

In times of stress and hardship, turn to what you know.  Turn to those routinized tasks that can make the difference between sink and swim.  I’m talking a commitment to your blog, your monthly e-newsletter, your networking and your follow-up calls.  A tiny bit of footwork and a re-commitment to even a shoestring marketing budget can prep your business for the long haul.

Here are some great links for dealing with stress and anxiety around today’s economic climate:

• Career Couch:  How to Quell Financial Anxiety [New York Times, login may be required]
• Talking Truth to Fear [The Fluent Self]
• Tips for Surviving Tough Economic Times [Trish Thomas, Akamai Consulting]