Social Media and You

In the ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ category, kudos to Starbucks for innovations that might impress any marketing mastermind. Get a load of this article about the launch of Starbucks’ own  Digital Network.

Their concept – offering a select (and hotly popular) set of internet picks, free for the taking when on site (when they’d usually cost the viewer at least some pittance) –  is brilliant. It’s a marketing gimmick, a free plastic toy to beat all and to please all, as well. As the cited article’s author says, “Imagine a customer-only network chock full of ‘In Network’ freebies that you can ONLY get while on ‘location’ …  Free access to premium news sites such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, free iTunes downloads, and for the kids free access to Nick Jr. games that typically require monthly fees.”

Talk about no-brainers. The cheap and easy value-add boosts Starbucks’ appeal astronomically. This is at least as phenomenal as Facebook Places, IMHO, though it approaches the wooing of customers from a different angle. While Facebook Places distinguishes a business establishment through its visits from individuals, the Starbucks initiative wins customers through the irresistibly of its personality.

A fascinating dichotomy, n’est-ce-pas?

This article at SearchEngineLand.com brought a number of threads together for me. I’ve been railing against emailed newsletters for driving business because filters are so virulent that they bar a huge percent of your list from having the slightest inkling that you ever sent them anything.

On the other hand, a client recently said how happy she was with conversions after her email went out, even though the open rate was typically unimpressive.

When I suggested using text emails, linking to landing pages with intense focus on Calls To Action, my client asked, “You mean, no more education?” That’s not what I meant, of course, but finding the right mix is tricky.

The article says, “Conversion content marketing extends a content strategy with savvy but appropriate conversion optimization tactics and techniques.” This is important, because content without conversion defeats your business purposes.

The article places the onus squarely on the copywriter. While leaving an exit always available for the potential customer, copy must test and re-test, be flexible about formats, and continuously vet the target market. Working ‘vertically,’ that is, speaking as directly as possible to your customers through a variety of platforms and customized messages is today’s best practice.

I don’t profess to understand this, entirely, but I suspect it’s essential information and good guidance. Al Franken, Senator from Minnesota, urges us to protect our rights of free speech by enforcing net neutrality.

As Franken says, ” … telecommunications companies want to be able to set up a special high-speed lane just for the corporations that can pay for it. You won’t know why the internet retail behemoth loads faster than the mom-and-pop shop, but after a while you may get frustrated and do all of your shopping at the faster site.”

He concludes with, “Net neutrality may sound like a technical issue, but it’s the key to preserving the internet as we know it … ”

If this seems speculative and unlikely, consider another couple of news items from the past two days. The FBI is freaking out because their logo appears on Wikipedia.com. It’s illegal, they say, to duplicate their logo without their permission.

And then how about this story, in which the Saudis are blocking Blackberry service because it’s too permissive and could facilitate threats to reigning powers.

So, maybe it is necessary to defend our internet liberties. At least, let’s not take them for granted.

It’s been two weeks since ThoughtLead recorded The Influencer Project, but I finally had the chance to tune it in today.

Fun concept, informative even if you already know a lot about inbound marketing, and worth the 60 minutes if you are interested in brand building. Sixty thought leaders are each given 60 seconds to share their best tip on “Increasing Your Digital Influence.” Their tips for online success are varied and challenging.

While the worn-out theme of “being helpful” was dominant, there were other, more exciting and exacting viewpoints as well. The resulting collection amounts to a pile of gold.

Amongst admonishments to

• be consistent,
• develop multiple streams of influence,
• use video
• create great content,
• and focus on a niche,

there are other voices speaking of larger meanings.

One said that we used to debate, and digital influence allows us to dialog, instead. We used to compete; now we can value and admire. We used to seek to prevail; now we seek to engage.

But the coolest came from Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project, who said, “self expression is the new entertainment.” Want to develop your influence digitally? Ask your peeps to express!

The two are so closely related that it’s hard to distinguish between them, sometimes. But actually, they differ in important ways. Important, that is, if you’re wondering how to sell your products / services online.

Social media is a sub-set of inbound marketing. It’s much easier to understand and manipulate than inbound marketing. Social media is to inbound marketing what a rowboat is to an ocean vessel.

It’s like writing a letter, versus developing an entire postal service.

What you consider to be social media may range from a narrow perspective, in which only the networks of Twitter-Facebook-LinkedIn and such are included, to a broad definition inclusive of almost anything about your business that exists on the internet.

Perhaps social media goes even further than that, extending to in-person meet-ups and Foursquare events.

Social media is a set of tools.

Inbound marketing is a state of mind.

Inbound marketing is about moving beyond a competitive economy to a branded one, where value is derived from observed behaviors and relationships that are relatively personal.

(Traditional business values subliminal seduction through mass communications.)

Social media’s easy. Inbound marketing’s hard.  It’s tough to teach: it begs intuitive understanding.

More to come on this.

Inbound marketing is a complex subject, and includes endless technical variables as well as a few shifts in fundamental thought patterns.  It’s no wonder that adopting the internet as a primary vehicle for marketing communications is no quick process. No wonder that the vast majority of small businesses haven’t harnessed the cyber winds profitably – yet. Very few think they can afford the time to learn these new systems.

But we recognize that learning internet processes has to take place sooner or later. We know the internet saves money and time. And we like the idea of a much larger pool of potential, even qualified customers.

To help small businesses get started laying claim to their online glories, I’ve published a quick’n'easy-to-read ebook entitled, DIY Social Media Marketing Plan: A Beginner’s Guide.

It’s free for the taking on my website. It’s partly a workbook, with fill-in-the-blanks exercises to help you define your best internet practices. It’s short and to the point. If you’re new to internet marketing and don’t know where to begin, download this book.

Inbound marketing is complex, but getting started doesn’t have to be so hard!

Oh, and please let me know if you find it useful.

What is required if you want to take full advantage of marketing opportunities for your company on the web?

Not many businesses have figured this out. Most have no idea where to start, and so can’t begin to plan. Those with enough staff may send them to seminars on internet or social media marketing. The company’s web presence accumulates haphazardly, with new bits and pieces patched in as the learning curve steepens.

Executives are beginning to understand that the internet is not going away, and that they must take it seriously. Their efforts so far are certainly not wasted. But creating a comprehensive strategy remains problematic. No one proven guideline exists that will equally satisfy everyone’s questions:

• What can we appropriately expect from internet branding?
• What elements need to be included in our internet marketing plan?
• How do we measure progress?
• How will internet strategies affect other aspects of our operations?
• Should we hire a staffer?
• Should we outsource?
• What is the range of appropriate cost for internet branding?

There’s no one method for online participation: all strategies are customized.

What can the web profit you? Only your hairdresser knows for sure! *

* To Be Continued

Measuring your social media marketing endeavors is not difficult, since there are many tools that gather more data than you’ll ever use to tell you about your audiences and the effect of your marketing messages. Google Analytics provides all you need, in case the industry standouts such as Radian6 are beyond your budget.

And certainly, setting goals and measuring your progress towards them is a great way to operate. The way I work with clients in social media definitely reflects this method.  The first thing we do is get clear on goals, how we’re going to measure them, and a schedule for reporting progress.

Nonetheless, consider for a moment the probable reality that measuring social media is beside the point. Sort of like measuring your company’s use of the telephone may be helpful in some way, but likely won’t be crucial to your success. Like the telephone, SM is a tool for communicating. As with the phone, we should concentrate on proper use of the tool, and not so much on whether or not the tool is useful.

Is social media profitable? Well, is the telephone profitable? Of course not. It’s the people who use these tools who win profits.

Are you selling locally?  Is your market defined by a geographic area? If so, are you tuned into your LBSNs?

That’s what my amazing social media marketing teacher calls them.  Sites that celebrate and offer opportunities for local businesses are location-based social networks, or LBSNs. Yelp.com; FourSquare; Open Table; Groupon; Loopt and the like.

It’s fun learning about these multiple channels that truly help bridge the communications gap for brick-and-mortar enterprises. It’s a thrill to examine the brass tacks of what social media is becoming for Main Street. I work with these people, the small businesses who are the lifeblood of all commerce.

It’s also a remarkable privilege to receive these teachings through Craig Cannings of VAclassroom.com. The guy is nothing short of brilliant, as an observer and even more as a teacher. The sheer volume of info he conveys digitally is awesome in itself; but the efficiency as well as sensitivity with which it’s delivered is especially rare.

I interviewed Craig for the Virtual Assistant Forums a while ago, if you’d like to read more about him.

Isn’t it divine? Through the guidance of a guru from across the continent, I’m brought closer to businesses in my own community.

I’m doing a mini-series on how to make your writing for online publication more attractive.

When something’s hot, in our lingo, it’s attractive; it draws attention. But like fire, it’s beautiful yet can also easily offend. So setting the dial to red-hot is not always in your best interest. The solution is a custom mix of hot and cold. All your internet updates operate on a hot/cold continuum.

(Note that dead center, exactly inbetween hot and cold, is where much writing lies, inert.)

In the effort to avoid middle of the road writing, decide the proper synthesis of hot and cold, and then write to the allowable extreme of hot. Here’s a sample tweet (the audience is internet marketers):

1. (Dead Center) Digging Ingram Hill on Pandora… Worth the $36 for the year just to hear music that’s not on the radio here!

2. (Cold) Ingram Hill via Pandora.  Unusual radio fare. Glad I bought the subscription.

3. (Hot) Ingram Hill ecstasy. Kudos for playing non-mainstream stuff, Pandora! (Worth every penny of $36 a year).

4. (Best solution) Listening to Ingram Hill. Kudos for playing non-mainstream stuff, Pandora! (Worth every penny of $36 a year).

Make sense?