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?

Yesterday was spent in a mad scramble to fix a broken blog. When I initially installed it for my client, I had suspicions; and gosh durn it, they proved warranted when I discovered last Friday that the theme was kaput. Which meant that Saturday was devoted to blog renovation, instead of shopping and gardening. You can guess my mood as I approached the task.

Online, as in every other area of life, maintenance is foundational. A boss I had in a non-profit organization eons ago pointed out that what you need in an organization is first, a janitor; and second, a person to write the janitor’s pay check.

And today, Sunday, I spent some time refurbishing my own websites, checking links, straightening up, improving. It had been a couple of months since I’d visited them.

I’m also working on a Facebook Business Page idea, and keeping up with my personal page there, as well as Twitter, LinkedIn group discussions, and a couple forums where I like to participate.

Whew. The internet demands omniscient presence, and a humongous load of interaction, content production, responsiveness.  Not to mention simple maintenance.  It’s no cakewalk.

Yet through it all – what an  immense privilege!

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.

My son, who’s twenty-something and somewhat impulsive, recently ditched his Facebook account, saying he “wasn’t doing anything with it.”

In the short time I was connected to him there, I doted on his updates, of course. Pictures of my grandson,  recommended TED lectures, reports of outings and parties, comments to his posts from other family members.

He never updated much, but it was enough.

I miss him already.

Now, he’s my son, and our closeness has nothing to do with Facebook. I am using this situation as an example, however. He doesn’t know it, but seeing my son’s infrequent appearances on my News Page would make my day.

The moral of this story is that it’s advisable to think of your social media activities as objectively as possible. What you get out of online relationships is important, but always the primary reason for participating in social media is to increase trust – in you, or your business, or your ideas, or whatever. Trust is oxygen in cyberspace.

Other people come to depend on you being there. The quantity of your updates doesn’t matter at all, really, as long as we know you’re consistently there. If you go away, you disappear.

A solid definition of your ideal client is essential to online business success. But creating that definition is no slide.  Nonetheless, lately I’ve been on the brink of progress in that department.

Identifying your niche market, recognizing the sort of person who most relates to you and your business can be tricky. You might think your market is busy moms or people with dogs or investment bankers. But to be actually useful in marketing, your definition has to be far more specific.

And not just predictably specific. It’s not busy moms who live in Peoria and are under the age of 30. That stuff’s important, but not the key. The key is that your busy moms need a shoulder to cry on, or they need affordable diapers, or they need care for their aging parents.

Who they are is of interest, but what they need is bankable.

For me, the ideal client picture has been fuzzy. When I started in this biz, I thought it was okay to focus on ‘small businesses.’  So it’s been a long road from there. You get closer, over time, to a good working definition.

But it’s what you learn about yourself that’s mind blowing.

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!

Hugh MacLeod gets my goat. I’ve been offended, outraged, disgusted by him more than once.

On the other hand, I subscribe to his daily email, and thrive on it with gratitude.

I guess that’s always the way with brilliance. It’s impossibly infuriating and totally enchanting at once.

MacLeod, an ‘early-adopter,’ a cartoonist, social media samurai, and marketing whiz has won the hearts and gizzards of large corporations as well as millions of minions like moi.  No sense trying to ignore him. Hugh MacLeod simply and powerfully just is, like a sudden storm or a rainbow.

I dropped his RSS feed and went away in a huff awhile ago, because all he seemed to be doing was selling me, and bragging. Egotistic bastard. But I’ll be whooped if he didn’t woo me back. Not intentionally, not just for me; but his presence was so large and artful, there was no resisting.

Hugh MacLeod gets social media, big time. You could say he embodies it. His brand is eccentric, unapologetic, driven. He passionately persists in relating, day after day. Subscribe to his daily cartoon, and you’ll understand. His artistry forces revised perceptions, with humor and compassion. He’s self-absorbed for all our benefit.

You may have heard the observation that the web’s divided between content-producers, commenters, and lurkers. Relatively few people want to spend any of their time producing content; not many are willing even to compose a comment.

Therefore, although inbound marketing and social media are key strategies for every business, it is not to be assumed that the business owner is the Voice of their online presence.

If you run a business but don’t wish to be a content producer for the internet, what are your choices? I’ll offer just a few basic solutions here.

1. Get a digital voice recorder and talk into it. Let your virtual assistant transcribe and upload.
2. Identify someone in your company who can be trusted to take on the role.
3. Organize your company so that all workers share in the demands of online responsiveness.
4. Work with a social media assistant who can help you devise the best solutions for your specific situation.

Generous sharing of knowledge is what you are doing online, demonstrating sufficient personal investment to win your visitors’ trust.

Your internet Voice has to be real and honest, but it does not have to be your own Voice or nothing.

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

Yes, this is a cute reference to an ancient tv ad that conferred new sophistication on American women. Are you old enough to remember? Women were offered a hair coloring so true-to-life as to fool your best friend.

This was power!

What web plan is so efficient that even your best friend thinks you do it by magic? Who has the ultimate formula for online success?

I’ve written elsewhere about the growing ties between business and art. A company’s web plan is as much a work of art as it is a roadmap.

What an audacious statement. How can art and roadmaps intersect?

Yes.

That’s the challenge. No use tiptoeing around. Inbound marketing and social media combine opposites in a new way. Personal and professional. Service and sales. Giving and getting. Sharing and listening. Art and roadmaps.

Anyhow, the thing about art is that it exists in its specificity, not its generality. So; business + art means commerce that thrives on eccentricity rather than generality. Because the market is that diverse, the long tail works, provided communications are global.

Simply, the web is what you make it.

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