The GBA Blog provides insight for Marketing Decision Makers and other fun people

by Nick Barron

Recently I spoke with a marketing executive who quizzed me on what my social media strategy for his organization would look like, were he to enlist my services.

His eyes popped open when I said I would create a strategy that focused on an eventual hand-off to his team.

“So you see a time in which we no longer need you,” he said.

“Absolutely,” I replied.

I’m sure there are social media consultants crafting strategies requiring long-term financial commitments from their clients. I’m sure these consultants have their reasons ($$$$), but I think it’s bad form and bad for social media.

I got into the application of social technology for business because I love the technology first, and because I need to make a living, second.

I’m a Millennial. I’m an idealist with a touch of pragmatism.

What this means is that I believe social media can make organizations and everyday citizens better, simultaneously improving business functions and our lives.

What kind of social media purist would I be if I sold clients on overloaded strategies that don’t align with their current staff and knowledge capability?

With the previously mentioned executive’s organization, he has a staff. They’re just too small and too inundated with work right now to draft a social media strategy, plus they don’t have anyone with as much immediate experience in the space as someone like myself.

He’s a bright guy and I’m sure he hires bright people.

It’s in their best interest that I construct a strategy that not only aligns with their marketing/communications goals, but that also fits with their ability to execute, over time, on the strategy.

Starting out, I told him, I would launch the strategy and ensure objectives are being met, while making any adjustments or tweaks that are needed. Almost immediately, though, his staff will be involved, with the eventual goal that they take over and drive.

It just makes sense.

An organization’s long-term social media strategy most likely cannot function off the efforts of an outside consultant. At some point, pieces of, if not all of, the strategy need to be executed in-house.

Social media is a way for organizations to converse with the public. It’s not just marketing, it’s not just PR or customer service or any other business function.

In order for social media to deliver for brands like I believe it can, the social media efforts of organizations eventually need to be executed from within the organization. Who better to speak with people about your brand than those who know the brand best?

A consultant can live on as an adviser to the client, helping make adjustments and introducing ways to leverage new technology, but a solid social media strategy should be focused on helping the client take over.

Social media is about empowerment, for both consumers and businesses.

A good social media consultant shouldn’t be out to snag you into a long-term financial commitment. They should be focused on finding ways for you to use social tech to make your job and your business better.

A social media consultant worth the money you’re paying them should treat your strategy like an A & B conversation, and they should see their way out of it.

- Nick Barron, Green Buzz Agency Social Media Consultant

Learn more about GBA and our video production prowess!

Learn more about GBA and our video production prowess!

The GBA Blog provides insight for Marketing Decision Makers and other fun people

by Nick Barron

The one question I get asked, when someone learns I use social media for a living, is, “So what’s the next BIG thing?”

I tell them I don’t think it’s another Facebook or Twitter or some other new twist of technology we haven’t yet seen.

Instead, I tell them I believe people are going to start pulling back. They’re going to realize how much social media has consumed their life and how much privacy they’ve sacrificed, and they’re going to start the Social Media Pullback.

As a social media professional, I’m not suppose to say this. I’m suppose to champion the technology that puts food on my table, and it’s sacrilege to publicly suggest the hordes of people flocking to social media (which is what gives social media value to companies and brands) are about to realize they went too far.

But this is what I’m hearing, seeing (hello Facebook Exodus) and feeling. (Besides, isn’t what makes Don Draper such an excellent ad man is that he is the consumer his clients are trying to reach?)

If people increase their privacy settings, begin weeding out Twitter followers and Facebook friends, start limiting how applications interact with them in online communities and even delete accounts, it doesn’t render this social-media-as-a-tool-for-brands thing useless.

It will, however, cause at least two things to happen:

1) The pretend social media professionals will disappear.

2) Brands will have to get smarter about how they interact with social media users.

On the first point, and I don’t mean to call out anyone in particular, but I’ve noticed over the past year that the number of “social media experts” has exploded. I’m all for more people evangelizing the technology I love and believe in, but it’s getting loud and crowded and something is going to have to give.

I can’t imagine being a brand trying to hire a social media professional right now. There is no certification process, no defined way to prove you are what you say you are, except what you put on your Web site and Twitter page.

(And I’m not just talking about individuals. I’ve noted agencies who’ve rushed into the social space without proving they know what they’re doing.)

This will change, though, as people begin pulling back their use of social media because those who really understand the social space, who truly get the space’s foundation, will know how to adjust with this shift in users’ attitudes. These true social media professionals will be right there with the shift, not fearing it and even taking part in it.

On the second thing that will happen, brands that are jumping into social media as a function of one department or another are going to have to change.

As I’ve said before, social media is not a marketing or PR or advertising or customer service tool. It’s all of the above. It’s none of the above.

Brands that continue to insist social media lives within one area will find it harder and harder to derive value from their investment in social media because, as people pull back, they will start by eliminating their interactions with those brands that annoy them in their communities and then those brands that provide the least value.

The only reason users of social media ever embraced brands in their communities is because they thought they would get something out of it. Whether it was to save money, an easy way to resolve an issue or to learn about the inside of their favorite brands, users didn’t opt to interact with brands as a way to show support for the brand, at least not primarily.

As users begin the social media pull back, they’re going to limit and eliminate interactions with brands that don’t interact with users in the true spirit of social media.

Brands expecting users to show support for them in social media and expecting users to care what the brand has to say, without wanting to hear from the users, will find their followers/friends dropping. They will notice that when they speak, fewer and fewer are listening.

The Social Media Pullback is nothing to fear or deny. It’s simply a shift by consumers (users) and the good social media professionals and the strong social brands will benefit from it.

- Nick Barron, Green Buzz Agency Social Media Consultant

Learn more about GBA and our video production prowess!

Learn more about GBA and our video production prowess!

Make room for social media in silo-structured organizations.

Yesterday on my Twitter stream I see Ford’s social media guy, @ScottMonty, ask a fellow Twitterer the name of a Ford dealer with whom she was having an issue.

She responded with the dealer’s name and Scott thanked her. What likely happened next is that Scott asked someone at Ford to contact the dealer to find a way to solve this customer’s problem.

That’s what social media can do for a business.

In order for that to happen, though, a company needs to realize social media is its own thing. It is not just marketing. It is not just public relations, or advertising, or customer service.

It is a communications platform allowing organizations to interact with customers, potential customers and the general public. This is the value of social media to business.

Current customers connect via social media with a company for many reasons, including to have a pipeline in case they need help or have a complaint, to hear about new discounts and ways to save money, as well as new product or service offerings. Potential customers can discover your company through social media, and you can use social media to quickly and naturally communicate with the general public.

The individual who reached out to Scott Monty was able to do so and set the wheels of resolution in motion in less than 30 minutes. That’s good customer service.

To anyone following the conversation between Scott Monty and this customer, this experience goes down as marketing. If any media, including bloggers like myself, are paying attention, this becomes a public relations story. Like it is now, thanks to this post.

That’s the beauty of social media and that is why it naturally reaches across the silo-structure that exists in many companies.

It is also why fully implementing social media in companies takes time and causes strife, because our org charts are created based on tasks, purposes, duties and expertise.

The marketer wants social media to live in their silo because they hear people using the term “social media marketing.” The PR person wants it because they’re already responsible for all outgoing messaging. You have technical people saying social media belongs with them because it’s technical in nature, and you can even have other departments wanting their own social media presence run by their own employees.

Operating in this atmosphere may still produce some Twitter accounts, a few social media press releases and a slathering of social media stuff, but it won’t allow for what social media can really do for an organization.

In the example of Ford’s Scott Monty, he was in a position to respond to that customer’s issue because he was given time to be on Twitter, he is plugged into Ford’s massive structure, he has the blessing of Ford leadership and he could interact with the customer without fear of having his hand slapped.

Keep in mind, the conversation between Scott and the customer happened in real-time on Twitter for the whole world to see. Anyone paying attention now knows the name of a Ford dealer that has treated a customer poorly. Scott could have taken the conversation with the customer behind closed doors with a private Twitter message, email or phone call.

But Scott knew the damage was already done. The customer had already told the world that she was having a problem with a Ford dealer. Had he taken the conversation private, her complaint about the dealer would stand alone, without any knowledge that Ford had resolved the issue.

Scott needed to reach a public conclusion with the customer so that the public conversation would be resolved. Whether he damages that dealer’s reputation a little by having their name aired publicly is irrelevant because of scale.

It was more important that Scott show Ford is responsive and cares about its customers than it was to protect the dealer because fewer people listening into the conversation will ever have a chance to visit the dealership anyway. All of them, though, have the chance to buy a Ford.

How many PR people or how many leaders at your company would be OK with Scott’s actions?

It’s not easy embracing and making room for the shift social media is bringing, but it is going to happen. The organizations who fully embrace the shift now are those who will have more loyal customers, a stronger brand and growing customer base.

Those that don’t are the companies that will be playing catch up to how brands and businesses communicate with the public in the 21st Century.

Social media is not a fad and it’s not a marketing or PR tool. It truly is a communication platform allowing organizations to interact with the public, and it’s here to stay.

Did you miss part one of “Social media puts on its business suit?” Read it here.

- Nick Barron, Green Buzz Agency Social Media Consultant

Learn more about GBA and our video production prowess!

Learn more about GBA and our video production prowess!

(First of two-part series looking at how social media is affecting businesses and how we work in them.)

The times aren’t changing, they have changed. At least in regard to social media serving a business purpose.

Recently I met with some people to discuss using social media for business, and I was met with some resistance and doubt. This kind of thing happened all the time way back in 2007 when I started leveraging social technology for business, but I thought we all had moved past the doubting phase and into acceptance.

Anyone who knows of JetBlue’s All You Can Jet pass has done so because of either Twitter or a press release sent on PRNewswire. And most of us know that Dell has sold $3 million worth of computers through Twitter.

Despite these success stories, though, some walking among us still doubt social media’s ability to work for business and organizations because of basically two things.

1) They don’t think their organization can pull it off. Whether it’s a lack of infrastructure, budget, time, etc., some people will acknowledge the success other businesses have enjoyed via social technology, but insist their organization wouldn’t enjoy the same success.

2) They see social media as a threat. In my experience, the people most often resistant to using social media are those who have something to lose by giving it a shot. From an experienced marketer who needs focus groups and ad buys, to a public relations person used to controlling the message and delivery vehicles for that message, those who fit this description are not just resistant to trying social media, but they often find excuses to not use social media.

Those in the first group need to live a little. Give it a shot. If you don’t think you can successfully handle social media internally, go outside. I can recommend a great agency of hard-working folks called Green Buzz Agency. (Full disclosure: I’m a consultant at Green Buzz.)

Folks in the second group cling to studies claiming Twitter is just babble and try to disprove social media’s value by applying old-school models on top of this new paradigm.

These are the people worried that Facebook doesn’t let you specifically control which demographics become fans of your brand. Or they are afraid someone will post a negative message about their organization on Twitter or LinkedIn.

In yesterday’s world, these are relevant concerns.

Today, however, they’re moot. People will always bad-mouth your business, but by participating in social communities like Twitter and LinkedIn, you can show the world all the positive things others also say about your business. You may not be able to target your Facebook page to a particular demographic, but obviously the more people who want to be a fan of your business, the better.

I understand, these are nervous days we are living. As this article in The Chicago Tribune points out, we’re all being forced to rethink what we’ve always known.

For some marketers and public relations people, the accelerated growth and popularity of social media is adding to the anxiety. It challenges what they learned in college and how they’ve worked their entire lives, and of course that’s a scary thing, especially in the middle of a recession.

The thing people clinging to their traditional model need to realize, though, is that they can’t stop what’s happening and they’re only making themselves more expendable by resisting. Recessions trim fat, and if you’re a communications or marketing person thumbing your nose to social media, you’re in danger of becoming your organization’s fat.

What social media is doing for business is not just changing the way we market and communicate. It’s changing how we work.

- Nick Barron, Green Buzz Agency Social Media Consultant

Part two of “Social media puts on its business suit” is now available. Read “Make room for social media in silo-structured organizations.”

Learn more about GBA and our video production prowess!

Two experiences today demonstrated to me the importance of seeing the big picture.

This morning I was trying to work at the Caribou Coffee I’m at every morning, except the WiFi wasn’t working. As I tried to connect to the WiFi, I overheard the shift manager speak with an employee for nearly two minutes about making sure the right-sized cups were placed in the right spot in their work area.

Once the manager finished talking cup location, I approached her for assistance with the WiFi. As soon as I said, “I’m having trouble with the WiFi,” she blurted out, “That’s an issue with the Internet service and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“I was just thinking you could reset the router,” I said, taken aback at her brusqueness.

“There’s nothing we can do,” she said again.

I walked back to my seat, had her refill my half-empty cup, and left.

This afternoon I read on Fast Company that an 18 year old has developed a tool that lets Twitter users quickly find people to follow with similar interests as their own, called FollowFormation. I go check it out.

I did what I needed to do and clicked “follow” to start following those with the interests I had selected, but nothing happened. I ended up waiting eight minutes and still, nothing happened. It seemed to me the application this 18 year old, named Brian Wong, had created wasn’t quite ready for primetime.

I went back to the Fast Company post and wrote:

Decent idea, except I’ve selected six categories w/ 10 people to follow per each and have been waiting 5 minutes for it to “get into formation,” yet nothing has happened. Perhaps you can select more than one, but selecting more than two breaks the app.

If you’re interested in social media, Web, tech, sports or entrepreneurship, my Twitter is http://twitter.com/nbarron.

As I’m leaving work today, I see Brian Wong has started following me on Twitter, and then e-mailed me to see if I was still having trouble with FollowFormation. In order to contact me via e-mail, he had to click through to Societrends from my Twitter profile and fill out the form on the blog. Not exactly manual labor, but more effort than a lot of people would extol to reach out to someone, especially if that someone had not spoken too kindly about something they had worked hard to create.

Yet Brian put forth the effort, and I gave FollowFormation a second try, which I wouldn’t have done had he not reached out to me. FollowFormation worked like a charm the second time around.

The Caribou manager had in front of her a daily customer with a problem. Even if she couldn’t help me, she should have at least taken more time to hear me out and then offer an explanation. Instead, she brushed me aside.

I plan to go back to this Caribou in the morning because I took the initiative to look up the phone number I need to call when having an issue with WiFi at a Caribou Coffee. I think this is probably a phone number the manager could have provided me. Instead, she seemed more focused on where coffee cups were placed.

These stories serve as reminders to all of us that good leaders and successful people are able to see the big picture, even when human nature may pull them in another direction. I gave Brian Wong every right to ignore me, or be curt with me, but he saw the big picture. He didn’t see an angry customer, he saw an opportunity.

In doing so, he gained a user and a fan. It’s people like Brian Wong who create the stuff I write about on Societrends. By reaching out to me, Wong has ensured at least one positive blog post, as well as an automatic connection to me for any future innovations he may unveil.

Brian Wong sees the big picture. Do you?

- Nick Barron, Green Buzz Agency Social Media Consultant