Social Media for Marketers

Tell The World Who You Are

2009-01-04T18:28:24Z

Suppose we were meeting for the first time. What would you think of me if I handed you a blank business card?

Yet, that is exactly what happens when you follow someone on Twitter and you haven't taken the time to properly complete your own Twitter profile. You've handed me a blank business card and in the process wasted an opportunity to make a favorable impression.

How do I define "properly completed profile?" Start with the basics: A current photo or avatar along with the basic pieces of data that will be displayed. For Twitter, this is your name, location, a URL that points to more information about you, and a brief, meaningful bio. I recognize that not everyone wants to divulge this much info: In this case, something like "Montana, USA" is fine.

Here's the point: I review each new follow personally, and a lot of other people do too. The value of connecting on Twitter (or any other social network) goes well beyond assembling a megaposse. It's about understanding who I am adding to my network so that I am able to tap *your unique skills* and then share with you my unique skills as they apply to your situation. I can't live up to my end of the deal if the only thing I have to go on from you is a blank profile.

In "Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day" I emphasize the importance of completing social profiles. On Linked In, they have a little bar graph that shows you how complete your profile is. When we build social applications we include this type of feature, precisely to encourage completing enough of your profile so that others who find you can learn about what makes you special.

Take a minute today and review your profiles, across your networks. You'll be amazed at how many more people "friend" or "follow" you as a result. It may well be the most important minutes you spend investing in yourself and how others see you.

Grab Your Name (Before someone else does)

2008-12-22T19:51:38Z

You've probably seen "JanetatExxon," the brand jacking of ExxonMobil's corporate identity on Twitter. The message to brands and brand marketers ought to be clear: Start monitoring the Social Web, and take a minute now to at least secure if not invest in your social presence as new networks and services open up. OK, maybe you can't be in all of them...but places like MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn...are all big and mainstream enough that you should be paying attention to these.

Which brings me to this post about a recent Facebook episode that is still unfolding. You can read the details by following the link: The short story is that a bunch (make that a big bunch) of college alumni pages on Facebook have been co-opted for potential use as forced marketing platforms. Check it out, especially if you are involved with higher ed marketing.

Again, the message is clear: Take the time now to sort out your social presence, and begin securing the many references to your brand, ideally before they are used by someone else for something you;d have never done, much less want associated with your brand as if you had.

Your Customers Seek Reassurance. Lead them to it.

2008-12-15T14:53:37Z

Driving in to the office this morning NPR's feature focused on the use of social marketing and the role that social content plays in changing behavior and encouraging smart choices by instilling confidence. A timely topic, no doubt.

To be sure, no one has money to waste on poor products: good time or bad. In challenging times the need to make smart economic choices is all the more important for an larger share of your audience, and therefore it's all the more essential that you provide your customers with the information they need to make a smart choice.

What's the easiest way to do this? Participate in social media, and help your customers put your own best foot forward. In Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 of my book, "Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day" I provide practical and hands-on steps for doing this along with the industry best practices and links to proven resources.

Check it out, and show your customers the way to the confidence they seek.

It's All About Interactions

2008-11-29T14:42:04Z

When considering social media and marketing applications, a lot of us focus on the content--a YouTube video or a blog post--or an online place where people congregate--like Facebook. That makes sense, too, given the way we behave in the real world: As marketers, we create content and then put it in places with lots of traffic, where it will get seen.

There's another aspect of social media, and more correctly of the Social Web itself, that I believe is much more important. To be sure, content is important: You need to say, do, or show something if you want to participate in a conversation. And true as well, it would be great if others joined with you. "But wait," as we say in marketing, "there's more."

]]> What I'm getting at here are the interactions themselves. The key to effective participation--whether as leader or follower--is knowing what just happened so that you can choose what to participate in. Managing your brand on the Social Web means staying aware of what people are saying, knowing who is saying what, and responding where and when appropriate. Think of your personal social circle and the holiday parties that will occur in the coming weeks. You probably won't make all of them, and you definitely won't be talking about the same thing at all of them. You'll choose, filter, and offer your thoughts in the context of the specific audience and event itself. JD Lasica posts about social media, marketing, and businesses and makes this very point in an excerpt from John Battelle on the importance of understanding the nuances in social settings versus the relatively broad standards of "targeted media."

Social media works the same way: using Twitter, the *status updates* on Facebook and similar tools and then linking your comments and those of people you are interested through tools like Ping.fm, Identi.ca, and Friendfeed you can efficiently track and effectively participate within a very large social network. Check out this spot-on video clip from Jun Loayza, CMO and co-founder of Future Delivery. Jun literally shows you how to connect Facebook and Twitter via Ping, a technique that you can extend to all of your social interactions and thereby greatly increase your scope and ability to participate while staying relevant. Let's face it--anyone can blast a message: What's important now is placing just the right message into an appropriate context.

What's the best way to do that? Tap the collective intelligence! Use the tools that distribute knowledge of what you've just done to your social contacts: Then, let them filter it and re-distribute it to exactly where it needs to go. In "Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day" Chapter 12 goes in-depth on this concept. Take a look, and put this to use in building and maintaining your business-minded social presence.

Ad-Tech NYC 08

2008-11-10T17:07:26Z

Back from Ad Tech in New York last week. Another excellent show, as always (disclosure: I am a prior Ad Tech Advisory Board member). Most notable for me was the extent to which savvy brand managers are now adopting and using social media.

]]> Zappos' Brian Kalma--krian_balma on Twitter--talked about the importance of getting the customer experience right in a social context versus the temptation to measure and manage. Brian's point is that too much measurement can actually lead to deterioration in service, because the end-points (e.g., a conversion) rather than the process (e.g., the social experience) take center stage. How does this translate into practical action? Simple: Instead of measuring CSR productivity, Zappos measures customer satisfaction with the CSR interaction.

Kraft Foods' Andrew Markowitz and Intuit's Scott Wilder provided solid insights as well, in particular through examples of the benefits of genuinely ceding control to customers. All Intuit products have a supporting community and/or forum associated with them.

Engauge EVP Karna Crawford alone made her panel worth with practical guidelines on the application of social media to business: starting with the business, understanding the audience, and then doing the things that connect the two.

Check out Ad Tech online ( http://www.ad-tech.com ) or follow 'adtech' at Twitter. ( http://twitter.com/adtech ) for more action around upcoming shows.

Get up to speed on Social Media

2008-10-23T15:31:47Z

My friend and colleague Andy Sernovitz is presenting a great social media and marketing seminar. It features excellent examples of successful social media implementations, and shows you how to apply the tips and best practices that i talk about in "Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day". Among the topics covered are these essentials:

Measuring ROI
Obtaining buy-in from management
Managing legal and HR issues

And that's just for starters! With brands like Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and UPS there is something here for everyone. Even better, you can save some money: I've got a special promo offer for you that helps me promote my new book, "Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day". It gets you a deal on the admission and *free copy of the book* at the same time. Here's what you do:

Go to http://www.gaspedal.com/blogwell
When you sign up, use the discount code davebookdeal (all one word)

That's it. In the single click of a mouse you'll save 15% off the seminar fee, get a free copy of my book, and be on your way to developing and implementing a solid social media plan.

My Interest in Social Media

2008-10-05T17:45:34Z

I was asked recently about my passion in social media by fellow Austinite and author Scott Allen. My quick answer: I wanted my son, now 7, to grow up in a world with less interruption and access to better information with regard to making a smart choices.

]]> My passion and motivation for exploring social media and its use in business came as I was thinking about the primary ways in which we advertise: Typically, through a paid, planned interruption. Whether it occurs on TV, a magazine blow-in card, through a phone call at dinner, or a pop-up demanding my immediate attention (to close it, if nothing else) as marketers we've gotten in the habit of interrupting people as a way to get our message across.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with an interruption per se, especially in a medium where the interruption is expected. Most of us understand, for example, that TV is free because an advertiser has paid for it. Same with most of the content we consume on the web.

At the same time, however, I started to think about some of the early Forrester and Intelliseek research that suggested viewers were starting to push back hard on interruptive advertising. And as they did, advertisers sought increasingly clever ways--e.g., the pop-under--to ensure that their message got through. It occurred to me that in a protracted battle like this, there'd be no winners. Put simply, If I have to interrupt you, how receptive are you really to my message? As a marketer, that's fatal.

Kids are funny in the way they change you: as a new parent at the time, I started thinking about the world I wanted my kids to grow up in. That's when it hit me: "A world without interruption." As marketers, let's find a new way to participate with customers instead of talking at customers. I started looking at advergames and similar forms of participative advertising, and this led me to what would later be called "social media."

What's your story? How did do you come to be reading this and to be interested in what social media and the larger Social Web can do for you?

Social Media: An Hour a Day

2008-09-21T17:48:22Z

My new book, "Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day," is for marketers wanting to combine social media skills and expertise with their existing, established capabilities. Much of the book is based on my experience as a marketer and product manager, positions where success is largely dictated by what others, outside your direct span of control, think of you. That is, more or less, how the Social Web works.

]]> Social Media: IntroductionIntroduction to 'Social Media: An Hour a Day' by Dave Evans.

This book is about learning how to properly use the Social Web to your business advantage and about how to effectively participate as a marketer by adopting the underlying behaviors that power the Social Web and making them the basis for your business and marketing plans. It's about the fundamental paradox between giving up control--you can't control conversations that aren't yours--and simultaneously gaining influence by becoming a respected member in the communities that matter to you. This book is about realizing and putting to business use the powerful connection between participation and influence, and ultimately preparing for and embracing what's next.