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The Business Value Behind Social Media: Part 4 – How to Get Started

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Lego Pieces in Box 


This blog series covers insights shared by Chris Brogan, Charlene Li, David Meerman Scott, and Martin Giles (moderator) on The Business Value Behind Social Media (part of The Premier Business Leadership Series presented by SAS).  Part 3 covers the panel's discussion on Walmart's initial social media strategy mistakes.

Part 4 discusses how companies late to social media marketing can get started.  Key starting points suggested by the panel include:

* The Importance of Linking Social Media Strategy to Corporate Strategy

* Before You Create Content, Listen and Participate 

* Figure Out Where Relevant Customer Conversations are Taking Place 

* Define the Business Goals or Results to Achieve with Social Media

This post focuses on the panel's key take-aways and discussion from 29:00 – 36:56 of the embedded video.

 


  


Link the Social Media Strategy to the Overall Corporate Strategy


Apply and Coordinate Individual Social Media Channels to Strategic Execution (32:57 – 33:18).  Charlene explains that corporate strategy isn't just about what the company does operationally.  It's about how the company coordinates the overall strategy with all the different functional strategies.

Link the Social media Strategy to the Overall Corporate Strategy (33:19 – 33:49).  Having a Facebook strategy or social media channel strategy in itself is missing the point.  The key is having a corporate strategy that the organization applies Facebook participation or social media channel tactics to.

Before You Create Content, Listen and Participate


We Can Learn a Lot by Listening (33:51 – 34:12).  David Meerman Scott mentions two (2) things companies can do as they begin their social media participation:

* Watch what's already going on online and and understand who's doing what

* Learn who's talking about your brand, your company, your products, and your industry

Take Baby Steps and Use Other People's Real Estate (34:13 – 34:18).  Deploy your social media initiatives gradually.  There's nothing wrong with commenting on people's blogs and participating in forums first before creating your own channel-specific content.   

A Common Mistake – Undefined Purpose (34:19 – 34:39).  A common mistake David observes among companies – jumping into social media and establishing a Twitter account, or a YouTube Channel, or a couple of blogs without defining each social media channel's purpose.  This just ends up being an uncoordinated mess.  That's why it's important to take your time to understand what your customers are doing online before undertaking larger the online initiatives (i.e., writing and managing a blog).

Where Are Your Customer Conversations Taking Place

Go Where Your Customers Are (28:23 – 29:29).  Understanding where your customers converse in social media channels is key.  Why?  Charlene says this knowledge can help define a specific channel's overall purpose. 

As an example, many B2B companies say they don't use Facebook in social media strategy because Facebook is a B2C medium.  But, what if the company decided to use Facebook specifically for hiring.   

On page 204 of Open Leadership, Charlene talks about how Sodexo, a food and facilities management company with 350,000 employees used Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs to triple traffic to the Sodexo Career Website.  Sodexo increased the number of applicants by 25% and also increased by 50% the number of diverse (female and minority) candidates.  

Determine the Social Media Echo Chambers by Country (29:30 – 30:42).  The panel notes that each geographic region has its own predominant social media channels:

  • United States: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube
  • Japan: Mixi.jp
  • Netherlands: Hyves.nl 

David references the phenomenon that when it comes to a specific social media platform there's usually one dominant player.  Therefore, invest your time building a presence on the dominant platforms:

  • Video = YouTube
  • Microblogging = Twitter
  • Social Networking (especially B2C) = Facebook

Define the Business Goal(s) You Want to Achieve With Social Media

Start with Specific Goals Targeted to Your Current Customers / Fans (34:54 – 35:20).  Chris suggests defining goals focusing on either customer retention or new customer acquisition.  As an example, Chris noted how the choice and purpose of using Facebook as a social media channel completely depends on the stated goal.  If your objective is customer retention of current customers, maybe your purpose on this channel is massaging people.  That tone of interaction is far different than the mood you'd be setting if the objective was new customer retention. 

This is why it's so important to understand where your existing customers or new customers are conversing online.  It makes no sense to invest time and resources in building a new channel / community if the target audience is already talking to each other in an established place. 

Particpate in the Online Conversation Because the Phone's Ringing (35:20 – 35:39).  The analogy Chris makes with social media is to think of each individual channel or community as a "ringing telephone."  If you're still sitting on the sidelines by not participating in social media, you're essentially leaving the phone unanswered (and your its your existing customers or new potential customers who are on the other end of the phone line).

 

Sustainable, Long Term Success Requires a B-H-A-G 


B-H-A-G Means Big, Hairy, Audacious, Goal (35:40 – 36:49).  Charlene says this is the long term planning or vision part of your social media strategy.  Without an understanding of the vision, your team may be setting up its social media initiatives incorrectly. 

* Think thoughtfully about what this all could really be?

* What / How could social media transform my organization?

* What will our customer relationships look like?

* What's the overall impact on our business?

In other words, your company's individual B-H-A-G could be what inspires or provides the strategic foundation for the desired outcome.

If Corporate Fear Sets In, Always Envision What Could Happen If You Succeed.  Charlene points to how the Best Buy TwelpForce initiative is transformational game changer.  Many organizations would say an initiative like that is incredibly scary.  BUT, the outcome is delivering an outstanding customer service experience that other retail competitors are not providing.  This success did not occur overnight.  It took Best Buy four (4) years to get where they are now. 

The potential business outcome could be a powerful and inspirational rallying point which aligns all team members around what you want to achieve with social media. 

Conclusion

Goal-setting and objectives are a common emphasized theme throughout The Business Value Behind Social Media series.  Defining the business outcomes and results your company wants to achieve with social media should be determined and then prioritized. 

Once you know what you want to achieve as a business outcome, it becomes clearer how to:

* Link the social media strategy to the overall corporate strategy

* Understand what you should be listening for in online customer conversations

* And once you know what to listen for in customer conversations, it can help you figure out where the online conversations are taking place. 

For example, if you're a B2C company, you're probably being talked about in Facebook.  If you're a B2b company, there's an increased likelihood conversations are taking place in LinkedIn Forums or LinkedIn Discussion Groups.

You Can't Just Throw Stuff Together in Social Media and Hope It Comes Together Naturally.  If you want to escalate your social media initiatives especially on a global scale, you have to take a structured approach that accounts for all of the aforementioned suggestions.  Having a process to define business goals, link social strategy to corporate strategy, listen carefully, and then go where the customer conversations are taking place is the approach Intel is executing with its 2011 social media efforts. 

You may experience and achieve online visibility initially by just "jumping into social media.  "But, if you want to be a relevant, long-term, online player, you better start figuring out your company's B-H-A-G to inspire the troops.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you will stop by next Saturday for Part 5: How to Measure Social Media's Impact on Your Business.

 

Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist.  He writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy for organizations and individuals in his marketing strategy blog, Social Media ReInvention.  Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.   


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The Business Value Behind Social Media: Part 3 – How Walmart Learned From Initial Social Media Failures

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Milk Spill 

This blog post series covers insights shared by Chris Brogan, Charlene Li, David Meerman Scott, and Martin Giles (moderator) on The Business Value Behind Social Media (part of The Premier Business Leadership Series presented by SAS).  Part 2 provided the panel's insights on successfully implementing social media guidelines, processes, and goals focused on customer engagement.

Part 3 covers the panel's discussion on Walmart's initial social media strategy mistakes. 

I've supplemented the panel's discussion with examples described in pages 229 to 230 of Open Leadership, Charlene Li's latest book.  In these examples, Charlene writes how Walmart learned and recovered from these initial mistakes by continuing to experiment with different social media initiatives and refocus on its core audience.

The panel's discussion on Walmart's takes place from 19:00 to 20:50 of the embedded video.


 

Wal-Mart's Initial Struggles in Social Media

Many Retailers Made the Same Mistakes in Social Media (19:00 – 20:02).  Chris makes the point how many retailers (not just Walmart) and manufacturers made the mistake of initially viewing social media as just another "push channel" or "another way to push stuff down a different pipe."   

Walmart's Initially Looked Like It May Never Understand Social Media (20:03 – 20:50).  Charlene noted several missteps by the retailer that seemed to proceed one disaster after another.  I've added additional details from Open Leadership to provide additional context:

* 2006 – The Hub Social Network Lasts Only Ten (10) Weeks.  The Hub was Walmart's attempt to compete with then-leader MySpace.  Actors and models populated content and pushed visitors to buy Walmart's products.

* September 2006 – Media Coverage Reveals a Fake Blog.  A blog portraying a couple's cross-country travels in an RV and staying in Walmart parking lots was revealed as a Walmart supported venture.  Broken customer trust followed due to the significant negative news coverage this story received.

* Fall 2007 – A Facebook Group Misaligned with the Intended Target Audience.  A Facebook group focused on back-to-school shopping for college audiences was well-executed, but the group focused on fashion.  The problem is the intended target audience associated Walmart with low price — a complete disconnect.  Further compounding problems were Facebook members who started protesting Walmart's labor practices via comments and turned this site against the company.  


Walmart Learned From Each Social Media Failure 

A Return to the Corporate Mission: Helping Families Save Money.  In pages 229 to to 230 of Open Leadership, Charlene explains how Walmart's determination and persistence sustained the company through some early struggles.  Eventually, the company achieved online victories by focusing on social media initiatives focused on helping families save money. 

* CheckOutBlog.com.  A site which shares the perspective of Walmart's employee buyers' and how they go about selecting merchandise for their stores.

* Bazaarvoice.  A service that provides user ratings and reviews on Walmart's sites.

* Elevenmoms.com Blog.  A collection of mommy bloggers who share tips on how to save money.

The Resolve to Succeed and Courage to Experiment.  Despite all the previous setbacks and struggles, Walmart was determined "to figure social media out," and it tested different ideas along the way.

The Results – A Legion of Facebook Fans and Customer Engagement on Twitter.  These additional anecdotes from Open Leadership are inspiring.  Walmart achieved these online results because it didn't give up:

* Facebook Membership of 500,000+

* Dozens of Employees Engaging on Twitter with Customers

Conclusion

The Walmart example shows how maintaining your resolve to succeed in social media marketing is a big part of the game.  Even though it failed on a very public stage, Walmart kept at it and learned from these initial mistakes.  Now, they're succeeding in directly communicating with their core audience through selected social media channels.

This case study highlights the importance of "failing well."  If you're going to particpate in online conversations (like writing a blog), you're going to fail and commit mistakes.  I know I have.  Hopefully, I will continue learning from those mistakes (just like Walmart). 

Most importantly, participation in social media channels means there's always a chance, you'll fail publicly (in a small or large scale depending on your online visibility). 

But, if you're persistent and resilient, you will:

(1) Prevail in the long run and

(2) Learn a ton about what works or doesn't work for you as an online publisher

That opportunity to continuously learn and experiment is what I love about participating in social media. 

Just ask these self-made entrepreneurs profiled in this recent Business Week – Bloomberg article: Ivy League and Privilege Not Required to Make Billions.  In each case, these individuals cited the value of learning from their mistakes and how those lessons helped them become wealthy in the process.

 


Since next Saturday is Christmas Day, the plan is to publish the next installment of this series on Sunday, December 26th.  I hope you'll tune in to The Business Value Behind Social Media Part 4 – How to Get Started in Social Media.

 

 

Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist.  He writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy for organizations and individuals in his marketing strategy blog, Social Media ReInvention.  Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.   

 

Photo Credit: by russelljsmith Via Flickr 

 

 

 

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The Business Value Behind Social Media: Part 2 – Open Leadership, Guidelines, Process Discipline, and Goals

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Open Sign 

This post represents Part 2 of a series covering the insights shared by Chris Brogan, Charlene Li, David Meerman Scott, and Martin Giles (moderator) on The Business Value Behind Social Media (part of The Premier Business Leadership Series presented by SAS).  Part 1 provided an Executive Summary of the hour-long panel discussion.

The panel discusses the characteristics of model organizations currently succeeding in social media implementation and management.  Common success factors describing these companies included:

* Social Media Guidelines and Employee Rules of Engagement

* Process Discipline

* Open Leadership (the rules for playing in the social media sandbox as explained by Charlene Li)

* Goals (e.g., defining the business outcome the individual organization wants to achieve with social media)

The summary of key takeaways pertains to 3:33 to 15:38 of the embedded video.


 

Companies Succeeding in Social Media Established Employee Guidelines and Processes for Customer Engagement

The US Air Force and Guidelines (3:33 – 5:08).  All 30,000 members are allowed to participate in social media.  The establishment of guidelines and a structure for interaction were key success factors.  David references a favorite quote from from a high ranking officer about giving Air Force Team Members the opportunity to engage in social media: "If we trust them with a $300 million airplane, why can't we trust them on Facebook?

CitiBank and Defining a Process First (5:11 – 6:45). Charlene describes how the key learning from here is the importance of establishing and putting a process in place first.  This process should define the employee interaction with customers via social media.  Defining the process provides senior management (especially the legal department) with a level of reassurance.  Establishing this process is especially important if the company is engaging in social media for the first time. 

Dell Corporation's Uses Twitter as a $6 Million Revenue Generator (6:46 – 7:30).  Chris liked how Dell started using the Web initially as a means of deploying customer service.  This initiative eventually morphed into IdeaStorm which is their collaboration forum to share ideas on new products and services that customers would like Dell to develop.  He also noted how Dell generated $6 million in revenues for bargain hardware via Twitter.

The Confidence to Let Employees Engage Customers

Open Leadership – The Sandbox Covenant (7:57 – 8:45).  Charlene says "open leadership" is your company's definition of how "open you will be."  It's important for companies to define what are the filters for communication because no company can be completely open – that's unrealistic.  But, the companies using social media effectively have defined their social media strategy and set up the rules of customer engagement within that strategy.  If you don't provide the discipline and structure, you're leaving open the possibility of anything happening online.

The Use of 1st-Person Singular in Online Communications (8:48 – 9:37).  Something David has seen work effectively is implementing a guideline asking employees to express their views in the manner of "I believe" or "I think" to show the employee isn't speaking directly on behalf of the company.  The fear of companies is they now have 1000 company spokespeople.  Far from it.  What they now have is 1000 employees directly communicating with customers.

Preventing Chaos – Deploy Social Media Gradually and Define Goals

Starbucks and Its Gradual Release of Social Media (10:02 – 10:57).  Charlene says Starbucks is one of her favorite examples because its small team successfully and gradually deployed the company's social media strategy.  According to her book, Open Leadership, the Starbucks' social media team consists of six (6) people: two (2) community managers who directly interact with people and four (4) programmers and support people. 

The book also describes how Starbucks chose a more centralized approach at the corporate level for selected channels (i.e., Facebook, Twitter).  According to Alexandra Wheeler, Starbucks' Director of Digital Strategy, the goal is to eventually give their thousands of baristas freedom to operate in social media "but not until the right structures and training are in place to ensure a consistent customer experience." 

IBM and Goal Definition (10:58 – 11:54).  Chris spoke about how IBM started out as "1000 flowers blooming," but it eventually found a way to purposefully harness their social media activity.  They did it by asking what's the goal: 

* Enhance customer service?
* Generate more revenue?
* Be more promotional?
* Build more awareness to our sales funnel via lead generation?
* Is our purpose related to B2C or B2B? 


The Zappos Model Isn't Right for Everyone

Determine the Appropriate Level of Openness for Your Individual Company (12:18 – 12:58).  Chris points out that the Zappos Way isn't for everybody because that model exposes an organization to be in "situations filled with opinions."  And for a lot of companies, these are situation they don't feel comfortable operating in.

Ask Who and How Should Employees be Engaging (13:00 – 13:56).  David says companies engaging in social media shouldn't assume that every employee wants to participate.  Employees shouldn't feel forced or obligated to communicate this way.  In his opinion, he talked about how there's probably a specific personality profile for people who enjoy engaging in social media.  Therefore, if you have these folks in your organization, encourage them to be part of the online conversation. 

How Best Buy's Twelpforce Personally Engaged Charlene Li (13:57 – 15:11).  Twelpforce enables around 2,400 Best Buy employees to share their electronics expertise directly with customers.  These employees use Twitter to converse directly with customers by answering questions usually asked everyday on the store floor. 

Charlene personally tried out this service to better understand what's the best phone with parental controls that she could purchase for her 11-year old son.  A Twelpforce team member replied back with an Android phone recommendation and asked her to stop by the store that Saturday so they could evaluate phones together.  Essentially, someone on the store floor reached out to her and said: "I'd like to build a customer relationship with you."  This type of innovative initiative gives Best Buy a competitive advantage especially over Wal-Mart, Target, or any of the phone carriers.

Conclusion

The biggest fear of large organizations when it comes to social media is their loss of control.  Their customers now have low-cost tools (e.g. social media channels) that can influence the outcome and perception of the most elaborate and sophisticated advertising campaign. 

However, the organizations described by Charlene, Chris, and David are prime examples of companies who have successfully implemented guidelines, procedures, processes, and goals so their employees can directly engage these customers.  And, it's that customer engagement that enables their employees to positively influence customers who not only purchase their company's products and services but are also Blogging, Tweeting, Liking, Sharing, and Digging about these offerings as well.

Please stay tuned for next Saturday's Edition of The Business Behind Social Media, Part 3: Lessons From Wal-Mart and The Importance of Failing Well.

Bonus Section: Additional Links 

The US Airforce and Guidelines from Web Ink Now

* The US Air Force Armed With Social Media
* The US Air Force and Social Media: A Discussion With Colonel Michael Caldwell
* Launching Ideas at The US Air Force
* Free Social Media eBook and Video: New Media & The Air Force

IBM's Participation in Social Media Covered in Web Ink Now

* IBM Blogging Guidelines and the Company's 3,000 Bloggers
* Ben Edwards on the IBM Transition from Outbound Marketing to Inbound Marketing

Altimeter Group and Wet Paint Report on Starbucks and Other Social Media Case Studies

* July 2009 Report: The World's Most Valuable Brands: Who's Most Engaged

 

Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist.  He writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy for organizations and individuals in his marketing strategy blog, Social Media ReInvention.  Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.   


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The Business Value Behind Social Media: Part 1 – Social Media Strategy from A to Z

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ABC alphabet 

David Meerman Scott shared an informative YouTube video in his November 16th blog post, The Business Value Behind Social Media.  The video took place during The SAS Premier Business Leadership Series and included a panel discussion on The Business Value of Social Media with the following participants:

* Martin Giles, The Economist, US Technology Correspondent.  Martin moderated the October 2010 panel discussion.  In David 's aforementioned blog post, he notes how Martin Giles is the best moderator he has ever worked with.  After viewing and studying this video, I understand why. 

* Chris Brogan, President of New Marketing Labs, popular blogger and co-author of Trust Agents and author of Social Media 101.

* Charlene Li, Founder and CEO of Altimeter Group, popular blogger, and co-author of two (2) books, Groundswell and Open Leadership.

* David Meerman Scott, popular blogger and best-selling author of the two (2) books The New Rules of Marketing & PR and Real-Time Marketing & PR. 

 


 

The discussion topics covered the following issues relevant to social media strategy, emerging trends, and several case study examples of its successful execution (or in some cases, unsuccessful):

* How should organizations build a social media presence?

* Who within the organization should own the social media function?

* How can organizations measure and analyze the value of social media?

* Who are the model organizations of modern social media management and strategy execution? 

Part 1 represents the first piece of a multiple-post blog series describing the insights shared in this video.  My goal is to publish the posts from every Saturday morning until completion (but please bear with me if I slip on a date).  Part 1 will be the A to Z Executive Summary provided by Martin Giles at the end of the panel discussion.  In the future posts, I will publish the deep dives generated from the panel's discussion.  And trust me, there's a lot of substance in this panel discussion because I recorded 20+ pages of notes.

Martin's A to Z Executive Summary starts at 1:01:57 of the video.  His Executive Summary recapped Chris', Charlene's, and David's insights from different parts of their hour-long conversation.  Where appropriate, I sprinkled in my point-of-view (I hope you don't mind).

Executive Summary: Social Media Strategy from A to Z

* A = Analytics.  Understanding the value and ROI your social media initiatives produces requires analyzing the data with analytics tools. 

* B = Brogan and Boeing.   Chris did a great job as a contributing member.  Boeing showed it was listening to the conference's live Twitter Feed by acknowledging David Meerman Scott's positive comments citing Boeing as a model organization in social media strategy and execution.  Here' the tweet, Boeing sent to David: @dmscott thanks for citing us during #pbls10. Here's the air show effort DMS mentioned. http://bit.ly/dkQEqC 

* C = Control.  Control in social media means you have to give it up.  Learn to lose control.

* D = Disaster Recovery.  Mistakes will happen in your business. Have a disaster recovery plan in place to address these mistakes through the right social media channels.  For example, if an irate customer makes a highly publicized complaint via their blog, respond quickly by commenting on that customer's blog.  Responding via a press release is a mistake. 

* E = Earpiece and Earning Credibility.  Martin made light of having to constantly readjust his earpiece during the panel discussion.  He also pointed out how much of the discussion focused on "earning credibility" through your social media efforts versus the traditional advertising mentality of "buying credibility."

* F = Facebook and The Future of The Web (two highly debated topics among the panel members). 

* G = Grab Audience Attention. On the World Wide Web, you have to creatively think of ways to grab audience attention.  Martin also said G stands for Go Giants because he lives in San Francisco.

* H = Human.  Be human and don't be afraid to put real human beings on The Web to support and implement your social media efforts. 

* I = Innovate and Influencers.  Identify the online influencers in your impacting your organization's online reputation and think of innovative ways to reach them.

* J = Journalists.  Martin noted The Internet's impact on traditional publishing and how he may be searching for a job soon (so please hire him).  Also, David suggests organizations bring journalists into their social media operations because of their storytelling abilities and gift for creating share-worthy content. 

* K = KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).  Carefully think about and select your KPIs and how they can inform your decision-making.

* L = Charlene Li and Listening. Charlene Li contributes great insights to the panel and cites many different examples particularly in the Fortune 500.  Martin thanks the live in-person and online audiences for listening.  Most of all, he cites how organizations need leverage social media in listening to their respective online audiences.

* M = David Meerman Scott, Modeling (a humorous reference to David's former career as a male model in Japan), and Measurement.  An ongoing and important future trend in social media is understanding how to best measure its impact.

* N = Need to Respond Quickly.  Martin notes how he and his fellow journalists are online 24/7.  Learn to respond in real-time because if you're not, there's a problem. 

* O = Open Leadership and Ownership.  This is the title of Charlene's recently released book (I purchased my copy this past week).  Her book describes the required organizational and leadership attributes required to effectively compete and successfully engage audiences in today's World Wide Web.  In addition, her new book discusses how to determine, manage, and execute the right open leadership strategy for your organization.  Ownership is for who's going to own and execute your social media strategy (and what's the best way to do that).

* P = People and Paris Hilton.  As Martin says, I'll stop right there …

* Q = Questions.  Pose better questions to your audience because we've discussed numerous examples of how really smart companies benefit from seeking audience feedback.

* R = ROI and Real-Time.  The panel shared examples where companies have achieved ROI and how they measure it.  Furthermore, companies who learn or take the initiative to respond and act in real-time will have future competitive advantages in areas ranging from product development, interacting with the media, and capitalizing on real-time events impacting your industry.

* S = Sharing.  Social media is about sharing great content so be willing and generous in sharing it.

* T = Twitter and Trusted Advisor.  The panel provided a number of examples of using Twitter to generate revenues, enhance customer service, and promote content.  Consistency, commitment, responsiveness, and a genuine attitude to help customers make better, informed decisions described organizations developing Trusted Advisor reputations online. 

* U = Understand Customer Insights.  A lot of these insights come from "L" Listening and "A" Analytics.

* V = Virality.  Whatever you're publishing on the World Wide Web, learn to accept that your content will flash across at the speed of light.

* W = Word-of-Mouth.  That's the real goal here.  If you get existing customers and potential customers to talk about you to one another, you've created a fabulous success story.

* X = X  Marks the Spot.  Martin joked this is what he figured what the audience was wondering for what he would write for "X."

* Y = You.  Martin also joked "you" (as in the audience) must be wondering "when I'm going to shut up."

* Z = Zero.  Zero because Martin had zero time left.  

Conclusion

Watching and studying this video was a labor of love.  How many times do you get the opportunity to learn from thought leaders like Brogan, Li, and Meerman Scott interacting on the same stage.  I personally want to thank SAS for publishing and sharing the videos from The Premier Business Leadership Series.  By allowing thought leaders like David Meerman Scott to share this content, everyone in the social media community benefits.

Thank you for reading and if you watched the video, please let me know in the comments.  What did you enjoy and learn?   I would love to hear from you.

Please stay tuned for next Saturday's installment – The Business Value Behind Social Media: Part 2 – Open Leadership, Guidelines, Process Discipline, and Goals. 
   

Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist.  He writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy for organizations and individuals in his marketing strategy blog, Social Media ReInvention.  Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.   


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Audience Engagement: Responding to Blog Comments in Real-Time

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Audience Engagement 

David Meerman Scott recently published a new book, Real-Time Marketing & PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now.  I'm looking forward to reading David's latest book because his content and insights are outstanding.  He's also published a series of blog posts and a new eBook to introduce his concepts driving real-time marketing and PR. 

I commented on one of the posts titled: Make Your Web Site a Real-Time Machine: A Manifesto.  Here are some screen shots of our dialogue:

DMS Real Time Blog Comments 

 DMS Real Time Blog Comments 2

 

David Responded to My Respective Comments in Real-Time

Speed wins in the Internet Age.  David responded to my first comment in less than 30 minutes! His response to my second comment arrived in less than 2 hours.  To say I'm impressed by his actions is an understatement.

   

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

David's responsiveness is impressive because his book talks about achieving competitive advantages by connecting with customers in real-time.  Even though he was in a different part of the world for a speaking gig, he took the time to genuinely acknowledge my blog comments.  His actions and real-time speed demonstrate his consistency and credibility in thoughtfully engaging and conversing with his audience.

 

Conclusion

Credible audience engagement occurs when you consistently practice what you preach.  In the blogsphere, achieving credibility for one's individual online and professional reputations is critical.  When I read David's responses, I can see these aren't cursory acknowledgments.  And that means a lot to me, because I took the time to read and understand his published insights from both the posts and the eBook.  This is why I often link to his blog posts and cite his content.  It's also evidence of how he consistently works to engage and maintain the trust of an audience he's worked hard to cultivate.

 

Bonus: Links to David's Real-Time Posts and a Recent Video

When you have a chance check out David's posts because they describe the competitive advantages real-time marketing and PR can have in:

* Capitalizing on Real-World Events as These Events Unfold in Real-Time
* Developing New Products and Services
* Testing Marketing Messaging and Positioning With Target Audiences (before final product launch)
* Understanding the Current and Future Implications for Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Here are the links and a video he's published describing a great case study in competitive advantage when leveraging real-time marketing and PR:

* Make Your Web Site a Real-Time Machine: A Manifesto (the new eBook is also here)
* Developing Products Based on Instant Gratification
* How B2B Companies Use Real-Time Blog Posts to Get Trade Media Exposure
* How Real-Time Communications Drives Measurable ROI at Fortune 100 Companies

 

Real-Time Marketing & PR from David Meerman Scott on Vimeo.

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3 Findings on Real-Time Trust and Influence in Online Communities

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TrustI recently wrote a blog post titled: 3 Social Media Tips for Oogy — The Dog Only a Family Could Love. I wrote this post because I wanted other people to discover this moving and inspiring book about a very special dog and the people who rescued him.  The post was my small contribution to promote the book and hopefully increase its public awareness via social media.  I have no personal or business relationship with the book's author and its publishers.  I just love this book and its beautiful story.

 

After publishing this post on November 1st (late evening), I sent out this message via Twitter on November 3rd (mid-day):

  

Trust - Tweet 

 

I couldn't predict what happened next.  In my opinion, I think the following events and findings are an example of the real-time power of trust and influence in online communities.

 

Thursday, November 4th (approximately 10:30 AM Central Time)
My wife calls me at work and says my blog post is posted on Oogy's Facebook Page!  Unbelievable!  I was busy at work so I couldn't go to Facebook until later in the afternoon.

 

Thursday, November 4th (a little after 4 PM Central Time)
I checked Oogy's Facebook Page and look what I find — I was thrilled and honored!  People even commented on the link posted by Mr. Levin (the author of the book and Oogy's owner).  I left my own Facebook comment thanking Mr. Levin and Oogy for their kindness and generosity in linking to my blog, and I commented on how Oogy's book genuinely inspired and moved me.

 

Trust - Oogy Facebook 
 
 

That evening and over the next few days, I asked myself the following questions:

* What could be the potential impact on my blog post traffic due to Oogy's inbound link and personal referral to his growing legion of Facebook Fans (9,550+ and growing)? 

* What type of real-time influence do Oogy and Mr. Levin have with their Facebook Fans online behaviors (i.e., positive / negative)? 

* Is there a way to quickly measure the impact of this real-time influence?

 

Here's my analysis in addressing these questions using some of the basic features of Google Analytics.

 

Finding #1: Oogy's Facebook Fans Trusted His Referral to My Post

Why? Mr. Levin inserted the link to my blog post on his own.  In my tweet, I made no solicitation or request for an inbound link.  The purpose of my tweet was to bring the attention of Mr. Levin's book and my blog post to my Twitter Followers (and it's a modest 400+ following).  Mr. Levin and Oogy's inbound link was confirmation that I wasn't some spammy website.

 

 

Google Analytics - Oogy FB Referrals 
 

And maybe, they thought I had some worthwhile content to share …

As a bonus, here are some of my favorite articles covering trust and online word-of-mouth (WOM):

* The State of Online Word of Mouth Marketing [STATS] from Mashable
* What Advertising Do Consumers Trust from eMarketer
* Trust Word-of-Mouth from eMarketer
* Does Anyone Trust the Media from eMarketer 

 

Finding #2: If Readers Trust the Source, Positive Word Travels at Real-Time Speed

Here's some back-of-the envelope analysis with Google Analytics on how quickly Oogy's Facebook Fans clicked on Mr. Levin's inbound link to access my blog post.  These fans were clearly positively influenced by Mr. Levin and Oogy's referral because they didn't take long in accessing my blog:

* Date/Time Inbound Link was Posted on Oogy's Facebook Page – November 4th, 8:31 AM Eastern Time (assumption because Mr. Levin lives in the Philadelphia, PA area)

* Date/Time of 1st Facebook Visitor's Click to My Blog Post – November 4th, 9:00 AM Eastern Time (my Google Analytics Time Settings are in Central Time so I did the conversion here)

* Real-Time Elapsed Between Inbound Link Post and 1st Visitor Visits – Less than 30 minutes.  This 1st visit could have come even faster but I can only measure visitor traffic in Google Analytics on an hourly basis.  I examined data from another web analytics tool, and that tool tells me the post was accessed six (6) times within the first 5 minutes of the Facebook inbound link's placement.

 

Google Analytics - Oogy FB Visits 

 

The swift reaction by Oogy's Facebook Fans to access my blog post emphasizes the real-time speed of the World Wide Web.  David Meerman Scott has published a recent series of blog posts and a new eBook on the World Wide Web's power in real-time marketing and communications for individuals and organizations.  You can access the links here:

* Make Your Website A Real-Time Machine: A Manifesto
* How B2B Companies Use Real-Time Blog Posts to Get Trade Media Exposure
* How Real-Time Communications Drives ROI At Fortune 100 Companies
* (eBook) Real-Time: How Marketing & PR At Speed Drives Measurable Success

 

Finding #3: Oogy's Fans Actually Read The Blog Post — How Cool!

This made me feel really good.  It looks like these new visitors took time to read the article, and I believe the referral from Mr. Levin and Oogy had a lot to do with that.

 

Google Analytics - Oogy FB Referrals 

Conclusion

Oogy's Facebook Fans came to my blog and read my post because they trusted the referral from Oogy and Mr. Levin.  These fans didn't come to my blog because they knew me, or because I'm a widely known blogger.  I'm just starting out in blogging, and I'm trying to build a loyal following and positive reputation one blog post at a time.

It's telling how Oogy's Fans literally arrived at my site in 30 minutes or less after Mr. Levin posted his inbound link to my blog.  The real-time power and influence of trust is truly a driving and powerful force in online communities.

Photo Credit: Terry Johnston via Flickr

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Part 2: Tina Brown and The Daily Beast Understand the Importance of Buyer Personas in Online Strategy

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David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and World Wide Rave, talks extensively about defining, identifying, and personally talking with your target buyer personas.  Understanding your buyer personas guides and informs the choices you'll make in executing your online marketing strategy.

I don't know if Tina Brown or members of The Daily Beast team follow or study David's work, but it's clear they understand their audience's time constraints, desire for entertaining engagement, and digital channel preferences (i.e., articles less than 900 words, video mashups, smartphone viewing, etc.).

If someone as high-profile and accomplished as Tina Brown personally meets and interacts with her audience, perhaps we should too (and that's regardless of whether our organizational focus is B2B or B2C).

Understanding Your Audience Starts with Personally Meeting Them

When Brown was the Editor-in-Chief of Vanity Fair, she invested significant time and energy in high-profile marketing events such as the A-List Only Vanity Fair Oscar Parties.  These annual events successfully generated and powered the buzz and upscale image of Vanity Fair.

J0402041[1]In the New Media world, Brown also attends and participates in events that enable her to directly interact with important buyer personas to The Daily Beast.  To her credit, she's personally meeting and conversing with key segments of her target audience.

This year, Brown attended a Chicago conference targeted to women bloggers.  She personally interacted with several of the 5,000+ attendees and learned firsthand the daily issues influence their blogs (i.e., child-rearing, husbands, women's health issues, empty nesting, etc.).  She said the personal experience from attending the conference helped her better understand:

* "Who these people really are"
* The audience for female-focused content was bigger than originally dictated by conventional wisdom
* The audience's needs, desires, and concerns so The Daily Beast can credibly earn "inbound links" from these female bloggers

"Read This, Skip That" and "The Daily Cheat Sheet" Focus the Attention of a Busy, Overwhelmed Audience

J0386036[1]The " Read This, Skip That" editorial mantra is driven by the fact that The Daily Beast's upscale and well-educated audience is already "information-overwhelmed."  To Brown, focusing the audience's attention is a significant challenge.  If you want to successfully compete in an online world, focusing the audience's attention is critical.

The Cheat Sheet quickly and simply displays The Daily Beast's viewpoint on what is the day's essential reading.  Brown and her team know they're competing for our fleeting time and attention.  During the Q&A session, Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs.com, highlighted this clever curation strategy of The Top 10 Stories.  Brown acknowledged how this curation strategy "makes people's lives easier" versus "adding to the existing noise."

In addition, Brown cited their weekly, Sunday morning video mashups as another time-saving feature for her audience.  These mashups summarize the week's events in mainstream news, entertainment, and politics.  It's a convenient and efficient option for consuming news highlights so the audience member can spend more time enjoying other weekend activities after a long workweek (i.e., time with family and friends or a round of golf).

 

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Delivering Value With Twitter: Three Lessons Learned

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Twitter Button I love Twitter, and I’m a proud and devoted user since March 2009.   The 140-character or less micro-blogging service is an important aspect of my online personal branding or online personal reinvention strategy.  I utilize Twitter like it’s a blog and link my tweets to news content relevant to M&A activity in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, new trends in social media / digital marketing, and important developments in technology.

Looking back, if I only knew then what I know now, here are three pieces of advice I wish I someone would have shared with me before using Twitter for the first time.  These three learnings focus on:

·     Selecting What to Tweet

·     Understanding Twitter Etiquette and Writing a Compelling Twitter Headline

·     Simplifying Tweeting

Lesson 1: “What Are You Doing” Really Isn’t the Question You Should Be Answering
People ask me why don’t I consider Twitter a tremendous waste of time.  After all, who really cares about random strangers sharing what flavor of cream cheese they put on their bagel for breakfast.  I agree that tweets of this sort hold zero interest for me.  To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with using Twitter as a real-time Facebook status update.  This June 2009 USA Today article titled, There's an Art to Writing on Facebook or Twitter – Really, is an excellent example of this phenomenon.

However, if you desire to thoughtfully and consistently demonstrate your knowledge or opinion of a specific industry, industry event, or other business-related content, “what are you doing” is not the question you should be answering.  David Meerman Scott addresses this very topic in his blog post titled: Hey Twitter: What are you doing? Wrong question!  The comments generated on David’s post provide very diverse opinions on this subject (including my own comment) and provide a representative glimpse of how people utilize Twitter.

Therefore, the litmus test question I ask before publishing a tweet is: “Will this information personally or professionally benefit another person today?”

This is why I consistently link my tweets with news or online content.  I invest significant time researching and selecting what type of industry or business content I share with my Twitter Followers.  My motivation is to deliver content that mutually benefits a fellow follower.  Marc Meyer’s blog article, Do Twitter Users Have an Obligation to Provide Value, is a great example of this personal motivation.  My comment and Marc’s kind reply are included in his article.  One of the best articles I've read about what makes a Tweet valuable comes from this recent Mashable article titled: Twitter Talkback: What Makes a Quality Tweet.  The author, Soren Gordhamer, provides his analysis of four (4) categories of Tweets.  The examples I provide in this post focus on Mr. Gordhamer's Category #1 called Informative: Help Us Learn … 

The trusted folks I follow on Twitter are often a better source of professional content or personal learning than my own Google Search.  I’ve carefully selected the individuals and organizations I follow on Twitter and 90% of them graciously follow me back.  It’s my hope that they’ve stuck with me for the past 4 months because I’m “giving something valuable back.”    

Okay, time to put my money where my mouth is.  Here are four personal examples of tweets I composed, and I know a trusted follower found useful.  How can I validate or quantify that statement?  The ultimate Twitter Compliment or “Shout Out” — A follower retweeted / RT’d the example tweet (e.g., she/he forwarded the tweet to their Twitter following).    

·     STILL THINK TWITTER'S A FAD-THINK AGAIN; Dell Generates $3M in new revenues via Twitter|Bloomberg http://bit.ly/Po3VE

·     NPR'S 3-PRONGED STRATEGY: Local-Social Media-Ubiquitous Access; Why NPR is Future of Mainstream Media http://bit.ly/13ejaL

·     For Sales Growth, C-Suite Worries Most About Opt Mktg Mix ; C-Level Execs on Mktg Success | eMarketer http://bit.ly/3Hv0a

·     Celebrity Patient's Backing Turns Sour for Drug Company | WSJ http://bit.ly/12xHAL

Lesson 2: Review Trusted Resources on Twitter Etiquette and Writing a Compelling Tweet
There are multitudes of “how-to” blog posts and articles about effectively writing a tweet or Twitter Headline.  Here are two trusted, online resources I still refer to when I need to get back to Twitter basics:

·     The Twitter Book Sneak Preview eBook by Tim O’Reilly and Susan Milstein: My favorite resource in Twitter Etiquette particularly in how to build a loyal and relevant following through the use of the retweet / RT.  Heard about positively influencing co-workers’ egos with the power of the e-mail cc: or forward?  The Twitter RT is Web 2.0’s powerful equivalent of the email cc: or forward, and O’Reilly and Milstein share their advice in an enjoyable and easy-to-understand format.

·     Everything I Need to Know About Twitter I Learned in J School by Ann Handley:  Want to learn how to write compelling Twitter headlines and content – read this article now.  Ann is a journalist, author of the Annarchy blog, and the Editor-in-Chief of MarketingProfs.com.  When it comes to great writing and compelling tweets, Ann knows what she’s talking about.

Lesson 3: Download and Learn How To Use TweetDeck
TweetDeck makes using Twitter so much easier. You can download TweetDeck and it’s a free application.  It’s very intuitive and highly user-friendly.  Key features that make "tweeting" simpler include:

·     One-click “retweeting or RT’ing” that automates forwarding another person’s tweet

·     One-click URL shortening so you can link your tweet to useful online content (i.e., a news article or blog post)

·     Multiple column viewing or an executive dashboard view that allows you to categorize the tweeters you follow (i.e., industry, discussion group, news)

For iPhone users, the TweetDeck app is fantastic.  If you haven’t already downloaded it, go to the App Store today.  I’ve been using this app since its release and highly recommend it.

TweetDeck is just one example of a Twitter application that simplifies tweeting.  For a general overview of helpful Twitter Tools and apps, I also recommend these two articles:

·     Software That Makes Twitter So Much Tweeter by Katherine Boehret of The Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital

·     Top 5 Twitter Applications by David Meerman Scott of WebInkNow.com