If you find this video topic interesting, you may want to check out Gregory Ng discussing Effective Ways to Use Video in the Marketing Plan. Gregory also approaches his topic from a college athletics perspective.
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In the video above Graham Nelson, Executive Director at Beam Interactive, discusses how to create social media content for college athletic teams and other organizations that are strapped for resources. This video was shot at SXSW Interactive 2010 by Green Buzz Agency.
Have you ever walked into the middle of a conversation and suddenly had the awkward feeling that everyone was talking about you?
Motrin has. About a year ago, they became a trending topic on Twitter when Moms, one of their key customer groups, were talking about the insensitivity the company displayed in a recent ad campaign. The consumers summed up Motrin and its use of social media this way: “They don’t get it.”
One year later, we see Motrin exerting an active presence on Twitter and other social media sites and doggedly determined to become “Part of the Conversation” rather than the “Topic of It.” But just “Being” on social media does not necessarily mean you are “Doing it Right.”
The Green Buzz Agency Blog provides insight for Marketing Decision Makers and other fun people
As someone who helps companies wade into the social media waters, but do it in a way that is authentic and in alignment with their brand, I have picked up on a few red flags that I would like to pass along. I call it:
The 5 Ways to Know if You’re Using Social Media Wrong
1) Your Twitter page reads like the CNN ticker. Social media is NOT the place to post your newsfeed! That has become a staple of many homepages, where it is ideal for SEO bots that are scouring the web for updates and new content. But social media is about interaction and one-to-one contact. Nothing says “impersonal faceless corporate entity” like following your favorite brand on Twitter and receiving the Tweet “Thanks for following us. For more information, visit our website.”
2) Your company Facebook friends are also your kids’ Facebook friends. Like any marketing initiative, social media campaigns should be targeting Quality over Quantity. With more than 370 million users, chances are that you have actual customers on Facebook. A simple step many companies overlook is the proactive promotion of their social media sites to gain targeted customers and build relationships with them. Do not let it become a web-based popularity contest where every fan, follower and contact is weighted equally.
3) Your Social Media Marketing is something you’ve assigned to the Interns. Successful marketing campaigns always stem from being integrated across the company. That requires buy-in from the top down! I get very nervous when an executive tells me the company is already on “MyFace” or “SpaceBook.” Too many execs think that new technology is beneath them and refuse to take the initiative in learning what it can do for their business.
4) It Doesn’t Seem Like Your Social Media Profile is “Doing Anything.” Although social media functions in areas like SEO and PR, it is, at heart, a marketing device. And somewhere along the lines, people have forgotten that marketing’s job is to create sales. Which means that social media should be attached to business objectives! That actually generate revenue! A strong advantage of social media over traditional marketing vehicles is its built-in trackability. There are great tools out there to set goals and determine ROI on any social media marketing efforts.
5) You tried social media and it didn’t work for you. I have heard more than my share of marketers explaining, “It detracted from our messaging” or “It’s not a good fit for us.” 9 out of 9 times, what they’re really saying is they didn’t like it or understand it, they didn’t integrate it into an overall marketing campaign and they got tired or bored of it after a few half-hearted attempts. My favorite is when I later find out that the boss’ 16-year-old niece put them on Facebook. I’ll be the first to admit that for many companies, a Facebook Fanpage makes zero sense–so don’t waste your time. But you are missing valuable customer insight if you are not monitoring these powerful online conversations. Effective use of social media, like traditional media campaigns, requires an intelligent strategy tied to real world objectives, executed consistently over a long period of time.
If these all made perfect sense to you, congratulations, you are among those who “Get it” in the new media environment. If any of these sound like you or your company, I would encourage you to re-evaluate what you are doing or who you’ve put in charge of it. Like so much in life, there is more to success than just “being there.”
Shawn Butler is a campaign strategist at Relevant Social Media based in Atlanta. You can contact him at Shawn@RelevantSocialMedia.com.
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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
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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.”
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