THINKing

Too Much Social, Not Enough Sales?

Is social media wearing you out and getting in the way of your real work? It’s not bad enough that you have to keep up with a blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendfeed, Youtube and maybe Plaxo, but every day I’m being asked to join yet another social network. There are hundreds of them, it seems. I’ve said no to Viadeo, no to Friendster, no to MySpace, and by-bye to Goodreads.

How many social networks is too many to handle? As in every other facet of business, I believe focus is the answer. Pick three to four that make sense for you and your organization and do them right.

If you are spending all of your time blogging, Twittering, adding posts on your company Facebook page, when are you going to have time to keep the business afloat? After all, the first rule of business is to stay in business. To do this, you must make money.

How many networks are you trying to keep afloat? Have you jettisoned any? Which ones? What is working – or not working – for you?

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Time To Plan

There’s usually some downtime at work around the holidays. What are you doing with your break? I’m using mine to meet with clients and prospects and to complete my planning for 2010. Do you have a marketing plan for the year? What new items are you incorporating into your plan?

Here are a few things I’m thinking about for 2010.

How much should I budget – both in terms of my time and money – toward marketing and PR? Does it make sense to spend it in traditional marketing, in PR, in direct marketing, in social media or in some combination?

Have the media habits of my clients and prospects – marketers and HR executives in Fortune 1000 companies – changed? With which media are they spending more time and which ones have they abandoned? Where is their pain in 2010? Are they still short-staffed and looking for outside resources to round out their teams?

Based on some of the research I’m seeing, it looks like marketing budgets will be up a bit this year.  According to eMarketer,

Next year, while broadcast television, radio, newspaper and magazine spending continue to downsize, though more slowly than in 2009, online ad spending will enjoy a nice bump-up: eMarketer currently forecasts 5.5% growth. And the increase won’t all come from search—banner ads will grow 3.3%, and online video will jump by 40%.

This is shaping up perfectly for My Creative Team, since we have a great deal of expertise in the online environment and in developing flash animation and corporate video for online use.

LinkedIn now connects me to 52 million professionals. Is there a better way to utilize my nearly 600 connections on this social platform? How can I use LinkedIn’s advertising capabilities to reach my target audience, specifically the HR audience? We develop a great deal of employee communication and training materials for Nucor, and would like to expand into HR with other Fortune 1000 firms.

Does a My Creative Team presence on Facebook still make sense since we are focused on Fortune 1000 contacts?

Tell us what you are thinking about. We’d love to hear your thoughts on how you plan to market in 2010.

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Social Media Confuses Businesses

It seems businesses of all sizes are conflicted about how to use social media effectively. In a recent CitiBank/GfK Roper study, about 75 percent of small businesses said that social networks are not working for them.  On the other side of the equation, Gartner says that most Fortune 1000 companies will delve into social media by 2010 but more than half of them will fail.

First of all, small businesses may not clearly understand how social media can help them. Nor, do they know how to measure the impact of social networks.  For instance, friending a brand may not always result in immediate sales. So, the small business reporting that social media doesn’t work is probably not giving the program sufficient time to develop.

Additionally, like businesses of all sizes, small businesses have trouble focusing their efforts. They want to jump into Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter all at once. Now, I believe in utilizing all three of these networks, as does Paul Chaney. However, small businesses should pick one platform that makes the most sense for their customers and master that one before adding another one.

And most of them don’t have the necessary resources to make the most of social media.

We’ve written about this often: strategy should drive tactics, no matter what type of business you run or what type of program you are planning to implement.

Duck Tape Marketing’s John Jantsch agrees that the most successful organizations approach social media with a strategic bent. According to Jantsch,

It’s about connecting, not automation. The best companies are using the latest communication tools not for automation or as “just another tactic,” but to truly connect and create relationships with customers.

Are you having any luck with your social media forays? Wade into the discussion and let us know.

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Links 11/6/2008

A lot of brands are jumping onto Twitter, the latest being Dunkin Donuts. Here’s the Dunkin Donuts Twitter page. Where’s Krispy Kreme?

While we are on the subject of Twitter, Darren Rowse of Problogger has launched a new blog, TwiTip, that’s all about Twitter. If you are into Twitter you’ll want to read this. If you are into blogging, read Problogger. It’s on my must read list.

Here’s another blinding glimpse of the obvious: LinkedIn users have higher incomes.

And, in case you missed it, check out my recent posts on cause marketing.

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Social Media: You Are Wearing Me Out

Apparently, many people are tired of social media. According to a Synovate study about social networks,

We spoke with over 13,000 respondents aged 18-65 years in 17 markets around the world to find out who’s connected and who’s not, as well as attitudes and online behaviours. Some of what we found surprised us… like more than a third of social networkers say they are losing interest in social media. And how many people do not even know what it is.

Jay Small recently riffed on the topic. THINKing also has discussed the topic of social network fatigue before,

Like everything new, people will flock to it initially and then the ones from short-attention span theater move on to the next thing. Bound to happen. It does every time. But that doesn’t mean that social networks are a thing of the past. There still is value in them. I believe the biggest value is in those social networks that center on some niche. Smart marketers will develop their own networks. Think Apple. They had a network of brand evangelists before the term social media was in gestation.

Here’s my advice if you are going to be involved in social media, or anything for that matter: focus. Don’t try to be involved in every new network that comes along. I turn down requests everyday from someone trying to get me into some new network. Pick no more than four and work them.

What are your favorite social networks? Have you abandoned any because you are worn out on them?

UPDATE: I just ran across this and couldn’t leave it unremarked. Social networking has just passed porn as the most popular online activity.

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The ROI Of Social Media

This is the first in our guest blogger series. Today’s post comes from DJ Francis, Online Marketer.

Marketers know that social media is impacting their business, but no one knows exactly how much. In what ways is social media changing business, how is this new medium different, and can we measure it? Should we even try? In short, what is the worth of social media?

• Listening: Social media offers infinite market research, branding, and listening opportunities. I dare you to search for “[Your brand] sucks” and see what you find. Listening – a simple yet often over-looked aspect of human life – may be the Web 2.0 killer app and smart companies are catching on.

TNS/Cymfony found that “Revolutionaries” – companies that focused on listening rather than selling – “have a more sophisticated approach to creating strong relationships with consumers and as a result are gaining a competitive edge,” said Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Jim Nail. (Bill Green at MakeTheLogoBigger has some more great insights.)

• Responding: Social media gives marketers the chance to give quick feedback and break down unnecessary walls. Businesses are using twitter to quickly solve customer’s problems or connect straight to the CEO (try @Zappos or @ComcastCares). I have also had success reaching VIPs through LinkedIn questions – it is amazing the number of higher-ups who gladly answer queries on the site.

So how does this change business?

First, it means that business success will increasingly be more merit-based rather than on spin or sheer advertising dollars. But marketers will also need to be ready to change their strategy to adapt to this new medium. This involves less top-down thinking and a different consideration of what makes a site profitable.

When I heard AOL had bought Bebo I cringed just thinking about the energetic startup in the clutches of a Web 1.0 holdover. From The Economist: “The non sequitur is to assume that the new service will be a revenue-generating business in its own right.” But the service could be amazingly valuable if marketers used it as a listening mechanism.

Second, expect customer behavior to change as social media changes from a destination to a platform. Marc Andreessen, one of the creators of Netscape and all-around Web wunderkind, said it best in an interview with ZDNet on April 25, 2008:

“It’s been this cliché in the industry that email is used by old people like you and me, and then instant messaging is used by kids. Well, it turns out instant messaging was used by kids 5 years ago…It turns out that kids – real kids – today are communicating primarily through social networks.”

Has your business changed its strategy because of this? ‘Nuff said.

The Gist

In most instances, when marketers talk about measurement or ROI of social media, they are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. You can’t apply a Web 1.0 gestalt in a world where the audience cannot only respond, but can also generate more content than any single company.

Instead of measuring how well we are pushing our message onto potential customers, we should instead gauge our success on the number of conversations listened to, problems resolved, and useful suggestions received from the community of customers we already have.

One day, we may be able to get quantitative metrics on social media (the folks at Forrester Research are on the right path). While we have to settle for qualitative data right now, I believe that this will prove the best type of information in the end.

Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus, said in AdWeek that “The other risk is that in the zeal to track, marketers and agencies will lose sight of the need to trust that getting closer to customers is a worthy goal in and of itself.”

Marketers seem obsessed with assigning value to interactions on social media sites. But real success comes when you value the interaction itself.

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What’s The Top Social Network?

Anita Campbell at Small Business Trends posed the question to 17 web entrepreneurs who she considers to be savvy,

“If your goal is to grow a small business online, and you had time for only one social networking / social media site, which would you choose and why?”

Two gave the correct answer. Oh, does that sound a little arrogant of me? Here’s what Jonathan Fields and Tamar Weinberg said. Let’s see if you agree with arrogant me:

Jonathan Fields, Awake at the Wheel – “It depends on the nature of your business and the reason you are joining. Each hub has it’s own culture and preferred content type, so I would familiarize myself with the major ones, learn what drives each (content sharing, casual friending, business networking), then devote your energies to the hub that aligns best with the nature of your business and your reason for wanting access.”

Tamar Weinberg, Techipedia — “This is a really tough question to answer. Some social media sites cater to certain audiences whereas others cater to an entirely different demographic. Some sites have strict rules for allowable content and others give the submitter free reign and then let the members decide on whether the content will be promoted to a larger audience. The answer really depends on your own small business’s goals: are you aiming for brand awareness? Conversions? Dialogue? All of these factors and clearly-defined goals need to be considered before you can settle on a single social network, as some are better performers than others.”

Here’s why they are correct. Just as with any other marketing tactic, strategy must drive it. What’s your business about? What networks do your customers and prospects utilize? What are your business objectives? Too many marketers and business owners latch on to a tactic that is cool just because it is cool. Do the heavy lifting up front and the tactics you select will sort themselves out.

Well, am I arrogant or dead-on?

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Get The Flock Onto Your Computer

Flock has supplanted Firefox as my favorite browser. It is powered by Mozilla, the same engine that supports Firefox, however it has so many more features designed for our new social, digital world. There is a nice demo of Flock by Candy With A Why, so I won’t recreate the wheel.

Here’s what I like about it. It is a nice tool for handling all your RSS feeds. Sometime back I said that we needed an Outlook type platform to make RSS as ubiquitous as email. Flock is close. It also makes it simple to handle all of my accounts: del.icio.us, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, you name it. Finally, it has a feature that allows you to track your friends on all their accounts. Get it and use it.

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Connections Revisited

I asked what social networks you are a part of and several of you have waded in. Let’s see what’s working for our readers:

Ashleigh Hunter of Bank of America wrote:

I am a part of linkedin and facebook actively. I have an account on jigsaw but have not figured out how to effectively use it. I typically end up X-raying linkedin for the right folks as opposed to going through my network. This is the one I find the most useful.

Your PR Guy Blogger Rodger Johnson wrote:

I’m in 5 social networks: Facebook, Linkedin, MyRagan, Smaller Indiana, and Twitter. I’m finding that Facebook is meeting my business objectives the least — but connecting with other professionals has been more fruitful in MyRagan, SMIN, Linkedin and Twitter. I must say, however, Twitter is still new to me.

WebMarketCentral Blogger Tom Pick wrote:

About 40. For standard websites: StumbleUpon (by far – better than all others combined). Then, in order best to least, Bibsonomy, Mister Wong, BeeTooBee.com, Ma.gnolia, del.icio.us and Netvous. For blogs: Technorati (again, by far — as valuable as the next four combined). Then, in descending order, StumbleUpon, Searchles, Facebook, Digg, del.icio.us, Zimbio, IceRocket, BeeTooBee.com, Clipmarks and Sphinn

Social Media Explorer Blogger Jason Falls wrote.

I’m involved in too many to name, but because I’m supposed to know and understand them for my job. (Advising people on how to use them.) But I’m primarily active on the following, all of which have business implications: SocialMediaExplorer.com – My own blog and mini community, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Groups, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us.
A number of niche forums/message boards and communities connected to my clients (like RobbysUprising.com, a Ning community for fans of Robby Gordon, Jim Beam’s NASCAR driver.)

Blogger Joe Pulizzi wrote:

LinkedIn is most effective (outside of Junta42 of course). Other network I’m involved in is Facebook. I’ve tried others as experiments, but they are so unimportant at this point that I can’t remember the names.

Sandy Vasseur of Little Architecture wrote:
LinkedIn gives me the best opener a person can have, regardless of whether or not I am personally acquainted with someone. I can say, “We’re linked in via John Doe.” Or, “I’m two-times removed from you on LinkedIn.” Most of us are online for the same purpose, and those opening lines always get me a response.

Blogger Carter Langston, ABC wrote:
I incorporate LinkedIn as one element of my larger email database for my ‘connected’ networking. While I think I understand what you mean by ‘social,’ my offline social networking is much more extensive and diverse. Some very important people in my sphere of influence just aren’t part of the Internet Social Revolution, so my networking takes place online, offline, face-to-face, etc.  Within the greater LinkedIn population, there are sub-groups that I find personally beneficial. For instance, there is the ExecuNet Group, IABC Group, CEO Exchange and more that refine the target audience a bit.  In terms of business objectives: Have I received business directly from those in my network? No. But I interact with people, share information, help other professionals address their issues and concerns. In the process, I learn from others, sharpen my own counsel, build relationships and earn referrals.  In terms of sales objectives: There is nothing more effective than face-to-face networking and talking to people about meeting thei tangible business needs.

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The Value Of Connections

As we have discussed before, the value of connections in business cannot be underestimated. I’m talking primarily about tight connections that you use ruthlessly to help you achieve your personal and professional goals. Friend and business coach Brent Dees of Focus Four tells us that you if want a $1 million business, you should have 40 contacts (your Focus 40) each of whom can bring you $25,000 in business. Your job is to help each of these contacts achieve their goals and they, in turn, will help you reach yours. This is a spin on the method that made Andrew Carnegie a millionaire many times over.

Now, Brent says that you can’t support more than 40 contacts like this. I agree. However, with the advent of social networks like LinkedIn (feel free to connect with me), you can have access to hundreds of contact to help you connect with others who may be able to help you.

Now, here’s the point of this story. I’ve begun building my LinkedIn network over the past few days and I sent invitations to all my contacts. I get one angry missive back from a female newspaper ad sales representative telling me take her off my email list immediately. OK, no problem.

But let me ask you: if you were an ad salesperson wouldn’t you want to be connected to the owner of an ad agency? Do you think I’ll ever deal with her – or her newspaper – again?

What are your thoughts on using LinkedIn and other social networking sites?

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