BufferPin ItA new network, tool or feature launches on a social network and we all flock to it. Business leaders attend social media class after social media class searching for the social media “guru” who will once and for all be able to show them the magic answer to social media ROI. I don’t think [...]
When was the last time a big national brand made you feel special via the social waves? Are we starting to lose the hope we once had in social media of humanizing brands? The hope of the brand coming out from behind the logo and showing they care and want to connect with real people? The possibility of them actually demonstrating their brand promise via social media versus just plaster the words on their Facebook page?
Are some brands falling prey to traditional mass marketing methods that are simply masked with a coat of new paint in red and marked with a K+ and called social media? Are some fooling themselves into thinking they are engaging by leveraging only automated tweets, retweets, and direct messages?
I am a geek at heart, a lover of data, analytics, measurement, and ability to provide and measure real return on investment. When Klout launched I was one of their first fans. It was exciting to see something that could possibly help us finally begin to start measuring and justifying the hours we spent on the social networks.
If you have been any part of the active social ecosystem the past few weeks it’s hard to miss the noise about the Klout algorithm changes and the backlash that followed.
When building an online persona and brand usually we start with the most basic aspects including over arching brand, logo, colors, core messages etc. All of these are foundational to success. We develop our plan, develop our platform, create and launch our brand presence, integrate social with our business goals and start the social media engagement. However, after a few months goes by we realize nobody is buying from us. Nobody is opting in to our email lists. What has happened? Why don’t they want to further engage with our brand? Do they not trust us? Do they not think that we could bring them value?
Social media is not a band-aid for a broken business. Focusing only on Twitter followers, Facebook likes and influence metrics is unlikely to help you meet your business goals.
Integrating social media within the DNA of your business is the only route to success. Does it take more time? Yes. Does it take more work? Yes. Is the end result better? Hopefully yes.
We all know the story, the problems, the laughter, the tears, and even the drama of becoming a social business. Those that have attempted, are working toward or have succeeded know it’s about much more than a tweet or a Facebook page. We must get in the head of our communities, audience, partners, and more. We must learn how we can best connect the dots of technology and conversation. It’s both art and science. It’s both communication and function.
So we’re kicking off a fun experiment. This is the first in a series of an interactive social business video series where you get to be the director!
The interactive video series is titled “The Days of Our Social Biz!”
If you have been online Twitter or Facebook this week it would be hard to miss the chatter on Klout and their new algorithm. We are not social puppets. We must refuse to behave like puppets for any score. We are not defined as a human being by our Klout or any other score. What you do in the lives of others offline is what matters. Social media is simply a way for us to impact business and lives. It’s how we use it and what we use it for that will determine our influence. Our influence in reality is not measured by +Ks, topic lists or other.
Wrong game, right field or right game, wrong field? Many businesses are showing up to the game but they’re on the wrong field. They also have the wrong attire and mindset. It’s not about a quick win or dunk in the basket with 500 likes and a Klout score of 70. It’s about building relationships, fostering a community, inspiring people to connect with your brand by helping them achieve their goals and objectives.
Humans are creatures of habits. Often times our behaviors are predictable. Old habits are hard to break, good or bad. Why would we expect social media to be any different? Why should we expect that just because marketers can now connect with anyone across they world in a simple 140 character tweet that they will by default do it any different than the days of email spam, direct mail and traditional broadcast marketing advertising.
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t is my mantra of life. I am who I am take it or leave it.
There is not one way to tweet, Facebook, Link or circle. The only way to do social media is the way that works for you. Here is a summary of what works for me and my tweets.
There is definitely no shortage of social data, metrics, measurement strategies, analytics, influence scores, listening platforms, reputation management approaches and experts ready to take your credit card to help you figure it all out.
I have received several tweets and messages recently asking me for tips to help people raise their Klout score.
If you are focused on trying to raise your Klout or other influence score I have only one answer for you… you are measuring the wrong metric!
A word that has been on my mind the past few weeks is relevancy. It is a word we all talk about yet many don’t understand.
I have also received several comments asking me “relevant to who?” on posts that include discussions of relevancy.
Why are they asking me “who” their brand should be relevant to? I think often times people get to the bottom of a blog post and become frustrated they weren’t provided all of the answers to complete their business and integrated social marketing plan.
Wow, is it me or is it starting to be more and more steps to follow someone.
We round em’ up in circles. We click the Facebook like, send and share buttons. We accept or invite them to LinkedIn. And if they’re lucky we may even opt-in to their email list via their blog or website.
Build it and they will come. Add some features & we can charge more. Build the social media tool & they’ll switch as long as we give it away for free.
The social ecosystem looks a lot different now than when Facebook joined the game. MySpace didn’t have the social footprint, the mindprints, heart prints or the handprints that Facebook does today.
People are not going to immediately migrate to the Google+ network just because they are ticked off at Facebook.
What would you do if for free 600 million people would share their life with you? Everything? And you could capture it in a data base to monetize?
What if you could learn what they like and don’t like. What they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and who they ate it with.
What if they told you who all their friends are and what they ate as well?
Can you imagine the data and what can be learned about people, their preferences and behavior if you could pull off a free life time survey with 600 million people!?
So you tweet into a Tweet chat, a Facebook LinkedIn group or page, Quora stream, Empire Avenue community or blog comment discussion with good intentions. So what is it? Why do you have difficulties “gelling” with these online groups? Your offline relationships are “just fine.” You simply wish people would spend more time “offline” living “real life.”
How many times have you heard these remarks? “Yes, we are on Twitter. We hired an intern. He/she tweets links to our blog” or “yes, we are on Facebook. We have a website with the Facebook logo on it that links to our Facebook business page.”
At the core everything about social media is about the people.
You have read the blog posts, listened to the webinars and even bought the books. You’ve been watching the tweets go by for at least three to six months. One consistent message you keep hearing is that social media is one big conversation. Twitter is all about the conversation, connecting with real people. You wish you could have a conversation. You wish even one person would talk to you on a regular basis.
What is a Twit? It’s not the same as a tweet although it’s sometimes referred to as one. Is it a person? Is it short for Twitter? Is it a tweet gone viral? Or a tweet gone bad. Or neither? Check out these 33 tips to not be a twit on Twitter.
Let’s quit bantering over the semantics & get real with people. Authenticity is a word being over used in social circles. Does it begin to lose meaning to some? Absolutely. However, just because we may be tired of the word “authenticity” does it change the importance and ability to embrace, desire and appreciate real relationships both online and offline? Absolutely not.
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