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Doing Social Media Well Means Not Going By The Book

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from I lana Rabinowitz, Vice-President of Marketing for Lion Brand Yarn Company . Social media consultants often suggest developing a unified “brand voice” and creating a rulebook about how to interact on social media. This goes against two of the most basic criteria for success in social media: openness (transparency) and being yourself (authenticity). The parentheses are the buzzwords often used with these concepts, that are a pet peeve of mine. Until my company started engaging in social media, all anyone knew of our 132-year-old brand was what they saw in our products on the shelves at retailers and in a few magazine ads. Very few customers ever spoke to anyone at our company because most of our business has always been through retailers. Image by On Hooks & Needles via Flickr We got involved in social media because we were a faceless corporation and we needed to personalize and humanize ourselves. We wanted to present the human faces and voices of our people because there isn’t any way to create a relationship with a corporate entity or to connect on a personal level. We did it because people buy from people, not from corporations. Working without a rulebook has worked for us for two reasons. First, the people who talk to our customers on Facebook, Twitter and the blog are our customers. Not only do we not pawn off our day-to-day conversations on an agency, but the people who talk to customers are passionate about our company and are often heavy users of our products. They don’t need to be told what to say or how to say it because they are members of the community and know intuitively how to speak to them. Of course, we have made a few missteps. Just like real life, relationships things can get messy. When we make a mistake, we apologize, learn from it and then move on. There is a moment in the movie, “A Few Good Men”, when the defendant in a military murder case is being questioned by the prosecuting attorney. The defendant says he was only carrying out an order to perform a “code red,” an unofficial, but heavily ingrained form of punishment meted out to undisciplined recruits. The prosecutor asks the defendant to open the rule book and show him where it talks about this “code red.” Of course, there is nothing in the manual about this. Then Tom Cruise cross examines the defendant and asks him to point to the place in the book that tells him where the Mess Hall is. His point was, that just because something isn’t in the guidebook, doesn’t mean that people aren’t being guided by it. The way to interact with other people, especially in our own small circle of friends, family and community, is known to us. We learn it by being brought up in that group, interacting with them, observing them, mirroring and responding to behavior and learning. I’m not suggesting you let people loose on your brand’s social media platforms without any training, but if you need to develop a brand voice then you may not have the right people speaking for your brand. Editor’s Note: We will feature occasional guest posts from smart peeps from time to time. The following is one from one, namely Ilana Rabinowitz, Vice-President of Marketing for Lion Brand Yarn Company . Her credits include having developed Lion Media, which includes a 1.15 million subscriber newsletter, a 1 million circulation “magalog”, a Facebook page with 137,000 “likes,” an award-winning blog with 50,000 monthly visitors, a YouTube channel with 1.3 million views, 4,800 Twitter followers, a podcast with 10,000 listeners and a website with 2 million monthly visits. Not too shabby.

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Doing Social Media Well Means Not Going By The Book

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Tags: book, business, case study social media, customers, defendant, facebook, flickr, marketing, media, movie, people, products, social media marketing, social media philosophy, social media strategy

Six Questions To Jump-Start Your Content Marketing Plan

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Funny how all the social media pundits were screaming, “Content is King!” from rooftops as far back as there were social media pundits. If you heard that line once in advice, conference talks or webinars from 2005-2008, you heard it 10,000 times. Unfortunately, most of those very content-as-king promoters never put the words “content” and “strategy” together in the same sentence and businesses suffered as a result. “Ya know … just, like, ummmm … write cool stuff, ya know?” Fast forward to 2010 and you’d better come to bat with more than just “Content is King” or clients will laugh you out of the building. Many brands and businesses don’t know anything about content, wouldn’t know good content if it bit them in the ass, have no idea how to generate or where to buy good content and no clue how much it’s really worth. As a digital marketing (or, I would argue marketing marketing) consultant or practitioner, understanding content strategy needs to be among your chief professional assets. Image via Wikipedia That’s why the Social Media Club Louisville and International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in Louisville are again partnering to make anyone interested smarter about content strategy. We’ll present the IABC/SMC Louisville Content Marketing Summit next Tuesday, Sept. 21, at the Crown Plaza in Louisville. The lineup is, in my humble opinion, an all-star team of content marketing experts. Those attending will walk away with not just great ideas about content, but an actual blueprint for their own content strategy. You can read more about the event at the IABC Kentucky website , where you can also register. Members of either organization get access to the one-day event for just $149. Non-members, just $199. And if you want to join IABC Kentucky, you can do so for just $100 extra. While the highlights of the day will most certainly be Joe Pulizzi of Junta42 and the Content Marketing Institute talking about content marketing strategy and Michael Schechter of Honora Pearls giving brand-side perspective, or content talks from the perspective of search marketing ( Chris Baggott from Compendium Blogware ), email marketing ( Greg Cangialosi of Blue Sky Factory ), media relations ( Amy Mengel from readMedia ), social media channels ( Mike Lewis from Awareness ) or even building the foundation of content marketing success with strong social media policies (Susan Gosselin from Vest Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations ), I’ll be adding a unique spin to the day. My part of the festivities will be to walk attendees through a content blueprint exercise, specific to their business, that will give them a direction to head in as soon as they get back to the office on Wednesday. To provide that blueprint, I’ll have attendees answer a litany of questions. The ones that I start with may be helpful to you in thinking about a content strategy for your organization. Those questions are below. I’d be happy to hear your suggestions for additional ones in the comments. Six Questions To Jump-Start Your Content Marketing Plan What do we know? Generally speaking, what knowledge do you have that others don’t? There’s value in that. Perhaps it’s expertise within your industry or a different take on an existing product or service that your company evangelizes. You have knowledge as a company and individuals within your walls have even more specific knowledge that is most definitely worth sharing. What can we give? Yeah, we can all give away product, but think about the expertise you can give away. Teach your audience how to do things. Share the how-tos and the what-thens and become a trusted resource for doing so. What can we explain? You know what would make me read content from an accountant? Content that explained that world to me in bite-sized chunks I could understand. I hate math, but am fascinated to know why taxes apply to some companies and not others, why outstanding invoices count as revenue and why my accountant wasn’t smoking crack when she told me having a few more items charged on my credit card may help me come year’s end. What can we share? What other companies, media outlets or blogs can we share with our audience to make the audience smarter? Do any of them offer their content under Creative Commons in a fashion that allows us to republish it? Who can we interview? Whether it’s clients, vendors, partners, friends or even people who come to your booth at a trade show, a Flip cam and some interesting questions go a long way. What can we have fun with? Whether it’s the company softball team or the quirky old guy in the building with the funny sayings, there’s something about your business that gives you a chuckle or needed relief from the seriousness of work. Identifying it and sharing it with your audience makes you much more fun. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for what we’ll do and discuss next Tuesday. If you’re within a decent drive from Louisville, we’d love to have you at the Content Marketing Summit. Register and join us! In the meantime, what questions would you add? The comments, as always, are yours. Related articles by Zemanta Content Marketing Interview with Joe Pulizzi (verticalmeasures.com) In Social Media, Content is Still King (markevanstech.com) Content Marketing More Effective Than Traditional Advertising (eon.businesswire.com) Ramping Up For a Bigger Content Publishing Strategy (mediapost.com) Online Content Doesn’t Have an Expiration Date (hubspot.com) 7 Key Elements Of Great Business Content (hubspot.com)

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Six Questions To Jump-Start Your Content Marketing Plan

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Tags: accountant, advertising, business, content marketing summit, credit-card, funny, Louisville, online

Online Marketing Tips from the Farmer’s Market

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

My wife and I have been attempting to hit the local farmer’s market every Sunday. Our intention is to eat healthier and support some local businesses. This last Sunday marked our second trip and being quite the “people watcher” I had a few observations that struck me as having similarities to how marketing on the web works. For instance, compare the throngs of people browsing the stands of fresh produce to the eb and flow of the world wide web. Many of the stands sold the same items as their competitors who were only feet (read: clicks) away. Vendors with more easily accessible product layouts, a wider variety of items and better prices were seconds away from any of the patrons. I saw some interesting parallels to the world of online marketing. Here my tips based on my observations during my visit to the farmer’s market: Show your wa res & give them a taste It was surprising to see just how many vendors at the market did not have samples to share with customers. Those who did had sliced up fruit and samples of their best baked goods on hand and within reach. Customers who might have been reluctant to snag a bag of peaches two stands down seemed persuaded to finally shell out some dough after tasting a succulent sample available at a more generous vendor. Circle Back: How could you do the same to attract potential customers who are riding the thin line between consideration and purchase? Do your competitors display their “wares” or do they hide them behind sign up forms other other “hoops”? Try listing out some of your products that your customers might be able to “taste” and lower (or remove) the barrier to do so. Display your credentials While there were quite a few vendors that had big banners hanging from their stands displaying which farm they were from and where it was located seized the opportunity to take it a step further. I’m not sure what it takes to be “ certified organic “, but those who had earned the title had their certificates visibly mounted where customers could see it. Same for those who received an award for their cupcakes or fresh flowers. Either printed next to their name or displayed on a sign nearby and in view. It added an extra level of confidence in these folks and I had a feeling that they were serious about their work. Circle Back: Does your business have any awards, certifications, or industry recognitions it could put front and center on the homepage of your website? How much added confidence would this give your customers? Try finding a spot on your homepage, above the fold , where you can proudly display at least 3 of your credentials. Social proof is a powerful influencer. Do you have testimonials from customers or trusted experts in your industry that you can add to your website or social media profiles? Engage with your customers and be remembered There was one produce stand in particular that stuck in my mind. My wife was nabbing some plums and one of the guys working the stand walked up and asked me “How’s it going there sir?.” I replied “Good. Just grabbing some plums here.” He proceeded to chat with me while he helped other customers bag their items. Although our encounter was very brief, I will remember that friendly vendor each time I revisit the market (and probably grab more plums). Moments later his co-worker approached me and asked about the zombie themed design on my t-shirt. He recommended a movie that he thought I might like based on the Bruce Campbell like motif of it. I think I might check that movie out and report back to him what I thought next time I’m there. Circle Back: Social media provides a variety of ways for businesses to reach out and connect with their customers. Do you engage with your customers before, after, and during the sales process? Do your conversations revolve only around your product/service or do you take the time to discuss things other than “YOU”? How can showing a genuine interest in your customer create an opportunity to be remembered when they are ready to spend money? Besides yourself, do you encourage your staff to be themselves and engage with customers whenever possible? Try to be less reactive and more proactive using your social media channels. When an opportunity arises to be helpful, friendly, and conversational … take it! Being social takes dedication Interestingly enough, this experience was directly related to a vendor who was using social media to market their product at the farmer’s market. One of the first things you notice when you get out of your car near my local farmer’s market is the aroma of freshly popped kettle corn. Upon arrival I checked in using the popular location base service Foursquare . I noticed that someone had left a tip at the location . “Look for the Gold Rush Popcorn stand. They sell deliciousssss kettle corn. Also, if you follow @goldrushpopcorn on Twitter , they post a password daily that will get you a free bag of popcorn!” said someone named Lee (read on to learn who Lee is). I quickly jumped onto Twitter, found @GoldRushPopcorn and followed them only to find that not only had they not posted any secret password that day, but they also did not tweet anything since July 18th. I shot a message their way and still have not heard back from them. Since then I also discovered their somewhat inactive Facebook page and another recommendation by Lee on Yelp regarding the free popcorn password tip. With a little investigation I was able to find out that the helpful Lee happened to be a tech savvy teen living in the area who happened to have a penchant for Gold Rush popcorn. So much so that he wanted to share it. Unfortunately the crew at Gold Rush Popcorn seemed to have given up updating their social profiles shortly after the word seemed to really start spreading about their insider offer. Even if they didn’t have the offer for free popcorn available it would be nice to see a little engagement spring up with people (like me) who had reached out and asked about the offer. Circle Back: Leaving your social media channels dormant for extended periods of time is akin to not being present at all on the social web. Don’t spread yourself thin by engaging in more social channels than your staff can handle at once. Better to be active in one place than to have dormant profiles in 3. Identify and reach out to people like Lee who are helping you spread the word without compensation. Especially those who seem to understand the medium. One or two of these folks might be willing to dedicate a little time posting and engaging with others on your behalf as community managers. Have you shown your special channels and company advocates some love lately? That about wraps it up. Which tip resonated most with you? Anything you might go try today? I’d like to hear what you think.

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Online Marketing Tips from the Farmer’s Market

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Tags: business, credentials, customer, customers, facebook, Gold, Insider, Internet Marketing, mind, online-marketing, sales, Social Media, tips, Twitter, work

Starting Fires

Monday, September 6th, 2010

Two weeks ago, I posted a call to arms for anyone who wanted to be a regular blogger here at Social Media Explorer. It was a call-to-arms for, “smart thinkers, status-quo challengers, tool reviewers and people who understand social media marketing better be about business or you’ll be flipping burgers soon.” I put an exclamation point on the post by saying, “I want to share this platform with thought fire-starters.” Today, I have my fire-starters. Twelve new authors join Social Media Explorer now, each with a unique perspective, experiences, insights and attitude. (Yeah, I dig attitude.) I’ve asked them to challenge themselves, me and each of you, too. It’s a challenge to raise the level of conversation and discourse here, to make Social Media Explorer an intellectual stimulus for conversations around social media marketing, public relations, digital marketing, online communications, advertising and branding and more. My challenge to you is to hold us accountable. Sure, there will be posts or topics that don’t stir the pot or challenge our thinking as well as the day before, but what I think we all want is content that doesn’t follow the crowd a chow time but still delivers smart insights to running your business or serving your clients or organization. We want to be helpful, but thought-provoking. Insightful but pot-stirrers. I think that’s what I’ve delivered in the last three years and what you expect of me. My new colleagues will have to be held to that standard. And those colleagues are stellar. Each was chosen carefully. There are no social media gurus here. They’re all experienced and proven in business, not just blogging. They’ve served their companies, clients or passions with great thinking, smart doing and even smarter questioning over the years. We have category expertise in everything from strategic planning to humor writing, from design to coding. But more importantly, we have 13 people with a passion for learning as well as teaching. More on how they were identified in a moment. First, and in no particular order other than ladies first (because that’s how my mother raised me) and without me, here are your new contributing authors for Social Media Explorer: Angela Maiers @AngelaMaiers Angela Maiers Heather Rast @heatherrast Insights and Ingenuity Stephanie Schwab @socialologist Socialologist Eric Brown @Eric_Urbane The Urbane Way Jordan Cooper @notaproblog Not A Pro Blog Mark Dykeman @MarkDykeman Thought Wrestling Broadcasting Brain Andrew Hanelly @hanelly Engage (TMG Custom Media) Really Bad Parenting Advice Adam Helweh @secretsushi Secret Sushi Jeff Larche @TheLarche Digital Solid Ike Pigott @ikepigott Occam’s Razr Mark Smiciklas @intersection1 Intersection Consulting Tom Webster @webby2001 Brand Savant And Helweh has already compiled an SME Author Twitter list for those interested: http://twitter.com/secretsushi/socialmediaexplorer-team The authors were chosen carefully. I published the call-for-authors because I wanted people who read SME and authors who wanted to write for me. I didn’t want to go begging people to contribute. I established some expectations in the post and reviewed each applicant (I wound up with over 50) for those qualities. Some of the ones I chose I was familiar with (and thrilled they raised their hands). A couple of them I didn’t know well but quickly discovered they had the qualities and experience I was hoping for. I would humbly submit that I will push them to be better than they are. They, in turn, will push me. Each of you, however, will push all of us. And as an aside, I am not going to stop blogging. No, I won’t write every day in addition to these fine folks. My blogging will be more sporadic, but I’m not going to stop or even slow down. Having more authors means I can focus on diving deeper into some subjects and not worry that missing 2-3 days of posting will affect your expectations. What I’m doing is finding a way to provide you with more excellent content from smart people. Thank you for continuing to count on Social Media Explorer . Hopefully these new colleagues will further your confidence in us and help you continue to learn and grow as a communicator.

Could Consultants Offer Incentive-Based Pricing?

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

Karen Klein asked a tough question of me at Social Media Club Seattle last week. Karen is the CEO of SilverPlanet.com , a website focused on helping boomers and elders with aging products and services, particularly home facilities. She expressed an interest (past or present) in hiring a consultant to help with her company’s social media marketing. But, like many small business owners, non-profit organizations or recession conscious companies might agree, Karen seemed to say that consultants are often too expensive. Her question was a good one: Would you consider incentive-based pricing, so I could afford you? (For the record, I’m paraphrasing. She offered some other context. I just simplified it for the sake of argument.) Not really knowing how to answer and having never thought of the possibility before, I said that I would consider it because if I don’t perform, I should be held accountable for that. But I also said the problem arises that you’re getting my time and counsel, which is worth something whether the projects and programs we develop work or not. I also can’t pay my bills on the possibility your social media marketing programs work. But the question is an interesting one to consider, social media notwithstanding. Chris Brogan’s now infamous pricing post got people talking about what a national social media consultant charges for his time and services. Peter Shankman , another elite PR and social media expert even posted this flippant (but perfectly valid point) tweet recently: I can certainly attest that being someone who has built his reputation on sharing knowledge through blogs, tweets, conference talks and even responding to the occasional email asks, there are lots of people who mistakenly think you’ll just counsel them for free all the time. My typical approach is that I provide general opinions and observations on my blog , Twitter stream , Facebook Page and even direct communications (in-person, email, phone call, etc.) free of charge. If you ask my opinion, I can’t help but give it. But when you ask me to consider your specific business challenges, the meter is running. So I can sympathize with Shankman’s tweet, even if Kami Huyse thinks its egotistical . But even that general, free advice comes with a catch: I don’t have enough hours in the day to only do that. My time is valuable and a 30-minute lunch or a 15-minute phone call do answer your question is probably 30- or 15-minutes I’m unable to bill. No disrespect and I don’t want to be rude, but by asking for my nice guy helpfulness, you’re costing me money . No, money isn’t all that drives me. But I have kids to feed, friends. That’s just life. And please know: I recognize daily how blessed I am to be able to make a living doing what I’m doing. To take something I did as a hobby for years on my own time and turn it into a viable job is like winning the lottery in a lot of ways. If you can’t sympathize with someone who is constantly asked for free advice, “10 minutes to pick your brain” and friendly lunches that are all about what their business should be doing on Facebook, I’m sorry. It’s the perspective I have. Every time someone approaches me with their somewhat-of-an-imposition ask for free advice, I’m not earning money that puts food on the table for the three people who matter most to me. No offense, but I choose them. The premise of Brogan, Shankman and other consultant’s business model is that you’re paying for their time. The price of that time varies by consultant based on their experience, availability, ego (yeah … that plays into it, too) and opportunity. I typically charge $200-250 per hour for my time. It’s far less than some consultants I would consider at a similar level of experience and ability. But I’ve also had PR and marketing folks hear my rate and laugh, saying no one should ever pay that for my efforts. My hours are typically booked at least 60-90 days out, so I’m not sure others agree with them. And no, I don’t charge people to go to lunch with me like others may. Perhaps I’m leaving money on the table. But I just think that’s a dick move. If you think they’re trying to milk you for advice, just say “no” and offer them an hour of consulting at your standard rate. Being asked to price my services on performance alone is terribly problematic. While I agree that if I don’t deliver, you deserve some form of discount, restitution or break, it’s not only the social media marketing program I’m giving you. It’s my time, energy and expertise. And we are working together on it. I don’t just wrap it up and hand it to you. Social media marketing also doesn’t exist in a vacuum. How are we to know the promotion to drive Facebook fans didn’t work because your media company placed the ads in the wrong venue or your oil well ‘sploded the day before the launch? (Hypothetically. I have not worked with BP.) You don’t buy traditional media on performance alone, either. An ad in the New York Times costs a ton of money whether it compels people to buy your stuff or not. Sure, Pay-Per-Click advertising is a step closer to a more efficient system, but all you’re paying for is the click. The performance should be judged on the lead or purchase capture. Yes, I sympathize with Karen and businesses in similar circumstances when it comes to paying consultants. Small businesses get the raw end of the deal when hiring social media help. For what they can afford, they typically get inexperience or a limited perspective. And yes, I think social media marketing consultants are generally overpriced … at least the good ones. But capitalism teaches us interesting things, like when the market is ripe, you charge more. I want to see the world from the incentive-based perspective. It’s the only true measure of a vendor’s worth in many ways. But even with a ton of capital and even more balls, I’m not just charging for productivity or success. I’m charging for my time, experience and wisdom. And isn’t that worth something? Am I an egotistical prick or fair-minded capitalist? Would you resent it if I said “no” to your lunch invite? If you’re the person who has emailed five times, called 10 and DM’d me on Twitter everyday for a month would you clue in and realize I’m not going to give you constructive feedback on your strategic plan, “when I have a moment?” I’m here for the whoopin’. The comments are yours. Related articles by Zemanta Peter Shankman and Kami Huyse Engage in Epic PR Blog Battle (mediabistro.com) The Audacity of Free: The Products and Services Edition (techipedia.com)

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Tags: business, consultant fees, education, facebook, lottery, media, media marketing, Peter Shankman, philosophy, possibility, reputation, Seattle, shankman, Social Media, social media consultants

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