Posts Tagged conversation
Dispelling 4 top myths of social media
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on July 26th, 2010
As it becomes clear (at last!) that message control is dead, corporations in every industry are scrambling to learn about social media so they can incorporate it into their marketing mix. Fear and misconception abound. Here are the top four issues companies cite:
Employees will waste time with social media:
Many large corporations block their employees from accessing the Internet altogether. Others try to block employees from accessing personal email or social networks like Facebook during work hours.
With the advent of smart phones, internet access is available to workers everywhere – and employers can’t stop them from accessing the Internet.
The value of workers of having internet access – in terms of research, communication, and speed – is far greater than the threat of lost productivity. Companies like Best Buy, Dell and many others have increased not only customer satisfaction, but also sales, by having hundreds, and even thousands, of employees monitoring and resolving complaints and issues in social media.
Companies have a right to make policies and rules about personal use of the internet, but blocking it during work just doesn’t make sense.
What if people say nasty things about our brand?:
Most people exercise common sense, when reading reviews. That is to say, any obviously vindictive and negative comments will simply be ignored.
And besides, complaints may very well mean that there may be things you need to change about your brand. In that case, you should thank them for letting you know what they are. Then you should make changes.
If you have built an online community that includes people who don’t hate you, that community will rise to your defense and they will handle the problem for you.
We’ll lose control of the brand.
Every person with a computer and even a tiny skill level has the tools to make their opinion about your brand heard by other people. They’re already talking about you.
You cannot control the message in the internet Age. You can affect it, but you cannot control it. Your workers are talking about you in closed Facebook groups designed to keep you out so they can talk about you in peace. Your customers are emailing, Tweeting, Facebooking, and that old standby – calling – their friends about their experience with your brand. You don’t have control. You might as well join the conversation. At least that way you can influence what is being said.
Employees will give away corporate secrets on social networks and that will help our competitors and affect the stock price.
If you don’t already have a social media policy, you need to create one.
If you don’t trust your employees to talk to customers, or to represent the brand, you need to look at 1) your hiring practices, 2) your training practices.
The truth is that there are more emerging media success stories than there are failures.
Some tips on social media best practice for business.
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, E-Commerce, Facebook, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 24th, 2010
Social networks and blogs are changing how consumers find places and services, how and where they share their experiences, and eventually, where they will spend their time and money.
Without an understanding of, and participation in, social networks, you can miss shaping and contributing to the decision-making process of those who define the success of your business.
While social media cheat-sheets and short cuts are available almost everywhere you look, the truth is that we have some work ahead of us. To help, I’ve assembled a list of five best practices to help you build, cultivate, and measure success in the new web right now.
1. Dedicate the time
Because time is a big concern, think about social media as an opportunity cost. Will your investment in identifying and connecting with prospects, customers, and influencers outperform your other activities? The answer is yes for most businesses, so carve out time for strategic experimentation. In short, you get out of it, what you invest.
2. Conquer your fears
Many business owners believe that social media gives people a chance to criticize their business. That’s true, but avoiding social media doesn’t mean that their opinions will never see the light of day.
Your brand is at the mercy of those who take to social media to share their experiences, so you might as well take an active role to contributes to the stature and perception of your brand. You might even learn how to improve your product and service in the process.
3. Listen and research to learn and contribute
Social networking is far more effective when you realize that creating profiles and updating social networks aren’t arbitrary. There’s an art and science to all of this, and the process begins with listening and research.
Step one: create a list of keywords that represent your market and then use the search box in each social network to see what people are saying about you. As you examine the results, you’ll identify the people who are leading conversations and the dialogue that invites and inspires participation. If local business is paramount to success, use services such as Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn. Also monitor location-based networks such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt.
4. Establish an attractive and expansive presence
Your presence online is far more valuable than you may realize. While you may think that you should focus on your website, your social-media presence also represents you and what you offer. The ability to showcase your products and services to attract customers and spark conversation is arguably greater on social networking sites than your own website. In any case, connecting the dots between social networks, websites, and the real world is now as important as the service and products that you offer.
5. Use engagement as the new customer service and marketing
It’s not what you say about you, it’s what they say about you that counts. Customer service and engagement overall is a new and genuine form of unmarketing. Customers, prospects, and influencers are already engaging with others to contribute, learn, and discover.
They are forming and sharing opinions and making decisions based on the information they find online—with or without you. You should use engagement as a fast, free, and powerful way to reach and serve customers.
This is your time to engage! Doing so will earn you permanent residence in the hearts and minds of the people who make up your markets. This will expand market opportunities, build brand awareness, stimulate demand, and engender loyalty and advocacy.
Talk is no longer cheap in the social media community: Conversations are now Markets
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, Facebook, Online Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, Traditional Marketing on May 12th, 2010
We’re seeing an advertising revolution like we’ve never experienced before. Banner ads, adsense, flash messages, coupons, direct mail, spam mail or anything that the advertising and marketing industries have thrown at us in the past simply don’t work anymore. Advertisers can no longer push intrusive ads in our face rather they must start listening…and now some are willing to spend ad money to do it! They will give you money to listen to what you have to say.
The Great Enabler:
Social Media has enabled society in many astonishing ways. However, the ability to “design, produce, direct, and sustain” conversations that have specific, predictable and tangible economic outcomes, remains the Holy Grail of Social Media, and indeed a true Innovation Economy.
The people who have the ability to generate value in this new economic paradigm are those who have the ability to start and sustain conversations in social media space. The objective for those seeking success in social media is to empower and compensate conversation designers, producers, directors, and sustainers.
Perfect information in markets will always benefit the highest integrity companies, the most trustworthy brands, and the most socially relevant industries. Imperfect information favours low quality, corruption, and misrepresentation. Imperfect information facilitates the “transfer” rather than “creation” of wealth. An innovation economy will always seek to create new knowledge rather than suppress it and conversation is the currency of exchange.
Billions of dollars of Advertising revenue is being reallocated to listening to the market rather than shouting at it. The brands are listening to you. Like never before, customers have the control.
How do I use Social Media to get me business if I am a 1 man band?
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, Facebook, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions, World News on April 28th, 2010
In short; it can only be achieved by building stronger relationships.
You can have the largest network around, but if you are not engaging in conversation, little fruit will be borne out of your efforts.
Social media can expand your freelance network exponentially and yield opportunities that you’d never find elsewhere. But just like knocking on doors in the traditional way, it takes investment, hard work, and time.
Perhaps the most obvious advantage of social media is connection building. As a freelancer or a small business, you are your brand, and like any social marketing campaign, it’s not about racking up followers or flooding the space with links. It’s all about the conversation, that will generate ultimately pitches and then business.
In each type of social media where you participate, you should have a core group of friends who you talk to regularly. The primary way to get to know others through social media is to respond to their comments with questions.
It does require consistent effort and ability to monitor and focus on which methods are giving you the biggest feedback.
Social media offers small businesses the chance to compete with large ones online; but your must be prepared to invest that most precious of resources..time.
Some of our clients have acquired business via Twitter, and others through LinkedIn.
How have you managed to use social media to generate business? We would love to get your experiences to share with our customers.
