It’s easy to get caught up in the social buzz. We love real-time engagement and the simple fact we can get a tweet, reply or retweet within seconds when we’re having a gloomy day or simply need an ego boost. Klout, Peer Index & Kred influence scores, tweets, retweets, likes, comments, shares, pins, Diggs, Google [...]
Think back five, four, three, two and even one year ago. How different was your business? How different did you communicate with your clients, partners, service providers, and employees? A year ago were you still saying social media was just a fad? Five years ago were you one of the folks stating the internet was [...]
Wow, what a great year 2011 was for the social ecosystem. It’s amazing how much the understanding of what it takes to be a social businesses have evolved yet we still have so far to go.
Anyone who knows me know I am a data junkie. The desire to measure impact and ROI runs deep in my bones. I can’t avoid it.
As I prepare for the new year ahead I am deep in analytics to understand what went right, what could have been better. There is so much to learn from analyzing how readers interact with and share our content.
A 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 I [...]
Many businesses feel like they are the last to get online. They decide they want to “do social” and all of a sudden it becomes an emergency.Often times the CEO or other executive attends a one off social media training event such as a class for LinkedIn or Facebook and next thing you know all corporate business priorities are put on hold. Within days there is now only one priority and that is “doing social.” Nobody really knows why other than that executive management said it’s the priority.
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!”
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.
We’ve all seen the begging pleas of the wanna be social business:
-like me on Facebook
-I need likes, come visit my page
-I’ll like you if you like me
-let’s take the conversation to Facebook
-Many of us have at one time done them. The smart ones eventually stop such behavior.
What these people are not getting is that I must have a reason to “like you.” WHY should I like you? There are a million other pages also asking for my time and for me to like them. And take what conversation to Facebook? I am not having a conversation with you to begin with? Give me a reason to want to talk with you, please.
There seems to be a mad rush to get on the social band wagon. Even though you and your business have been without Facebook, Twitter, a blog, LinkedIn or Google+ for your entire life and business history all of a sudden someone in your organization who has authority has decided you need to “get on social media,” by next Friday.
Whoooaaa horsey, slow down!
It’s easy to get lost in never never circle, like, follow and link land. I recently wrote a post on this topic “I Google+ circled, followed, liked, linked, bookmarked you, now what?” I have a suggestion for the “what”! Get focused on your business and your audience my friends!
It’s important we don’t forget the reasons we are doing social media. How about the reasons you are in business? Remember those goals and objectives you set a short seven months ago for 2011? Well, guess what… you only have 5 more months to execute and achieve them.
Let me hear it…
“I am a CEO and I am not afraid to tweet!
I am not afraid of a blue bird.
I do NOT have to share what I eat for lunch every day!”
You know who you are. You don’t dream of sweet little blue birds who will bring you positive ROI or make your phone ring with qualified leads. You have nightmares instead about a crazy ROI eating bluebird with fiery red eyes who want to grab every waking moment of your Marketing VP, Customer Service VP and even Sales leadership. You wake up in hot sweats after a dream of walking into the shareholders meeting and everyone laughing about the photo that had 2200 views on TwitPic of you at the neighborhood Christmas party last year.
So you are a self proclaimed social media expert, guru, community manager, analyst or anything with the word social media in front of it. You have been doing social media for at least a year. You are doing all the right things.
You have followers. You have likes. However, nobody talks to you about business, reads your blog and your phone is definitely not ringing with leads wanting to buy from you.
Social media is free, right? Simply sign up for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Enter some data for your profile, add a photo for your avatar, dump your email contacts and find connections and you’re set. All you have to do now is tweet, Facebook and you’ll be popular online and increase revenue 1000% because you’re “doing social media.”
I see many business leaders frustrated they aren’t seeing any return on their investment on social media. Usually when you do the “double click” to find out why the majority of them aren’t seeing results you find they lack goals, objectives, a plan, or forecasted return on investment (ROI) of any kind.
For those of us who work in marketing and social media it’s time we start eating ROI for breakfast. It’s time we teach our clients, colleagues and business partners to do the same.
We all know there is no shortage of websites. For years business leaders have been building them. They spend loads of money. They put a task force in place to ensure the website rocks and can impress shareholders. The executives and marketing team dream of their beautiful website that will bring them lots of customers. You know, “that website, the one everyone will love”. They dream of email opt-ins, increased hits on their website and fancy reports they can show off to any and all stakeholders who will lend an ear.
With the new year comes new budgets, projects and social media goals. Many new businesses will be hopping on the social train. The question is how long will they last? Will they make it to their destination? Bigger question is do they know their destination?
As 2011 approaches business leaders are scurrying and hurrying to complete their business plans so their stockings of 2011 can be filled with lots of good treats from Santa.
For big business it often comes easy as it’s in the DNA of business leaders. It’s how we were educated, trained and simply wouldn’t be able to keep a job long in corporate America without a solid plan for success.
However, when it comes to small business, I see many business leaders and entrepreneurs struggling with not only developing a business plan but developing an overall strategy for conducting business. It gets worse when we add the internet and social media. What a recipe for disaster with random acts of marketing (RAMs) and random acts of social media (RASMs) if you’re not careful!
So, you click the “like” button. Now what? What does it really mean to “like” a Facebook page? Does it mean you really like the page? The brand? The product? Or are you just curious? Or might you even be guilty of lurking?
What did or would you have liked to see after you click like? Are you wanting to be inspired? What will inspire you to read a post? Click a link or a tab? Will you ever engage with the brand, or owner of the page you “like”? Do you remember the name of the product, service or brand?
The biggest question of all is, will you ever come back? Yes or No?
Random acts of marketing. We call them RAMs or RAMMIES. What are they? They are acts of marketing that are not integrated, funded or properly planned. Yes, when looked at individually they may have a great plan, cool graphics, awesome web page. However, it’s like putting lipstick on a pig. A RAMMIE is like a pig with bright red lipstick. It may even make you feel good, feel like you are doing real marketing and real business.
“Social media is free. Social media is easy. Just hop on twitter and start tweetin’!” Hmmm… how many times have we heard that? I have honestly heard social media consultants at networking events state during their 60 second pitch “social media is free, come talk to me if you want to do free marketing!” Ouch, not the case folks.
I wanted to provide some helpful tips when hiring a consultant. Consultants, just as mentors and coaches should be selected based on personal fit with your business goals, life cycle, and culture. The most important thing is that you do your research and talk to a few. Don’t go with the first one you meet.
Question: How do you keep your head, twitter bird and bottom line above water? Answer: STOP the RANDOMNESS!
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