Social Media Marketing

#1 Rule for Social Media Marketing Success…

May 6, 2009 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity” ~ Louis Pasteur

#1 Rule for Social Media Marketing Success has got to be TENACITY. Without a doubt, tenacity ( the ability to persevere or stick with a task) is probably the most important ingredient in social media marketing success.

See, social media marketing is not a “set it and forget it” proposition.

For those of you who are actively PARTICIPATING in social media, you’re responding with a great big Homer Simpson style, “Doh!”

Anyone with an established healthy blog knows that social media “magic” doesn’t happen in 6 days – 6 weeks or even 6 months. They will also attest that it takes a serious investment of time and effort to participate in social media – but most will also tell you that the investment is well worth it.

In the post, When Fantasy Meets Reality – Social Media Marketing Reality Check, I share what I think are the 4 “essential” ingredients for social media marketing success:

understand your customers GDP (Goals, Desires, Problems)
be able to express how your business helps customers to achieve goals, satisfy desires and solve problems
be naturally social
be technically savvy

Yet – even if you are able to bring together all of those elements – you must apply a HEALTHY dose of tenacity to the mix. Bringing these 4 essential elements together and expecting overnight success is – well, it’s like mixing the ingredients to bake a cake but failing to place the mixture into a preheated oven.

Denise Zimmerman in the article 4 signs you’re a social media failure illustrates the importance of tenacity in social media marketing as she chronicles two weight loss industry heavy weights (pun intended) epic failures in the world of social media marketing. Both Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are committing “marketing sins” commonly plaguing much smaller companies and are acting as if social media marketing is a “set it and forget it” proposition.

Denise writes:

Weight Watchers’ Twitter page contains all of three tweets, all posted Feb. 22. It has been silent ever since, although it has 1,167 followers. Rather than interact with these existing followers and build its following, it directs folks to its Facebook page.

Contrast this “set it and forget it” social media marketing strategy strategy with how Dell Computers is using Twitter. Dell is often held up as shining example of social media marketing success. Dell is serious about using social media marketing to promote and build their business. This is from Dell’s dedicated Twitter page –

Perhaps you already use Twitter to communicate with your friends, find out about breaking news, and keep up with technology and social media (or even political) leaders.

Now you can also get great deals from Dell, stay current with what’s happening at Dell, and connect with other Dell fans and employees through Twitter!

If you go to the Dell Twitter page, you’ll find over 30 different Twitter feeds as options. If you live in Ireland and are interested in the latest news about refurbished Dell computers – there’s a Dell Twitter feed for you.

Perhaps you’re digital nomad – “For individuals that travel their world, their country, their city, their neighborhood, their office, their campus with their laptop and other electronic device,” there’s a Dell Twitter feed just for you.

Maybe you’re an online video aficionado – there’s a Dell Twitter feed dedicated to letting you know when Dell uploads new videos so you can learn more and most importantly, share those cutting edge videos with your family, friends and colleagues.

Go ahead – click on a feed – any Dell Twitter feed. I’ll bet you won’t find a single one with only 3 tweets from last February.

Do you know what happens when you expect your social media marketing to operate on autopilot?

NOTHING!

I once worked with a client who, when he learned all the effort he would have to put into a social media marketing campaign decided that he would rather use television advertising to communicate with prospective customers.

I don’t fault him in the slightest. As a matter of fact, it was one of the wisest business decisions ever made IMHO. He weighed the value of his time and decided that paying for production of a television commercial PLUS air time was a better investment for his business than the investment of time needed to make social media marketing work for him.

Even though social media marketing is still a relatively new concept, the internet landscape is already littered with the tattered remains of inactive communities, stagnant Facebook pages and unused blogs.

The good news is that with a little time and effort, most of these inactive social media marketing tools can be revived and put to good use.

The bad news is that social media marketing will NEVER be a “set it and forget it” proposition – but maybe that’s not really bad news at all. Maybe that’s the way that eventually we’ll use to separate the good from the bad.

Social Media: Same Shit-Different Day

April 30, 2009 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

If there’s one underlying “theme” to the blog posts around here it’s this – Social Media Marketing is all about communication. If you don’t know what message you need to communicate to potential customers or clients, there is no “magical device” that will “improve” your marketing message.

The magic in social media marketing is found in the message NOT the medium!

Which is why I find this mockumentary so amusing:

In the mocumentary above – the expressed goal of the founders is not to solve a problem – but rather to come up with the next “big thing”. The tongue is firmly in cheek here.

There’s no POINT to Flutter… it doesn’t solve a real problem.

Twitter is a GREAT marketing tool for Dell Computers… because many of Dell’s target audience are early adopters of technology. On the other hand, Twitter is a horrible marketing tool for many of my clients because their target audience members are not early adopters of technology.

Every successful social media tool solves a communication problem.

Blogs, Facebook, Linked In and Twitter all effectively “solve” a “communication problem”.

Blogging addressed the “problem” of how non-technical users could easily get information onto the web. A blog removes the need for FTP software and the knowledge of HTML to use the web for communication.

In Facebook’s case – it began as a way for college students to connect online. However, when you graduate from college, it’s easy to lose touch -which is the “problem” Facebook solves for people. Facebook makes it easy to find and communicate with people from your past and your present.

Twitter solved the “problem” of how to reach your blog readers when they weren’t reading your blog. While blogging made it easy to get your thoughts onto the web, your blog readers have to “come” to your blog to read it. Twitter reaches out and allows you to speak to your readers when they’re NOT at your blog. (If you don’t “get” Twitter – download and install Tweetdeck. Without Tweetdeck or Twhirl, Twitter is pointless, IMHO.)

All of these successful social media tools solve a communication problem…. which is the foundation for business success.

What problem does your product or service solve?

I can’t tell you how OFTEN I get “pushback” on this issue. I’ve had many clients who didn’t want to address what problems their product or service solved. Unfortunately, many of those people’s businesses are either struggling or no longer around today.

I will admit that it is possible that your product or service doesn’t solve a problem. It’s possible your product or service helps to satisfy a desire or achieve a goal.

A soft drink satisfies a desire while financial planning services help to achieve a goal. Those are but two examples of products/services that fall outside the “solving a problem” product or service.

Whether your product or service is solving a problem, helping customers achieve a goal or satisfy a desire, you’d better be able to articulate exactly WHAT it is your product or service DOES for your target audience if you want to make social media marketing (or any OTHER kind of marketing) work for your business.

Social media is communication. Figuring out WHAT it is you want to communicate is the key to success. It doesn’t matter if it’s radio, television or the web – getting the marketing message on target is the HARD part.

The magic is in the message NOT the medium!

Social Media and Communication: How your mindset shapes the mesage.

April 9, 2009 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

Social media marketing is all about communication.

Communication is a funny thing in that such a small part of communication is the words we say, write or read.

The whole “context” issue is a huge one in communication.

I got a clear lesson in this today.

How I ended up with a brown paper bag filled with 10 multi-colored condoms instead of moist towelettes.

This morning, I had to take my oldest son to the health department to get a vaccine he’ll need to live in a dorm in college next year. As we signed in, I was acutely aware that we were entering a place filled with “ill patients”.

I guess the recent conversations I’ve been having about a horrible flu virus that is going around must have been triggered as I was signing in. One of our friends was actually hospitalized recently because of this “super bug” and a client of mine was complaining that one of her trainers was sick with it yesterday. I share this to properly frame what happened next.

As I’m signing in, I see a basket on the counter with a sign that says,

“Take one and protect yourself.”

The basket is filled with brown paper bags, neatly folded and taped shut.

Remember, the overwhelming thought in my mind at the moment is, “Oh please, I really don’t want to get sick with that flu.”

So I grab one of the packages, confident the “protection” it provides will be against the myriad of diseases being incubated in the life sized petri dish called a waiting room. I pick up the brown paper bag along with the number assigned to us and I head to the crowded waiting room.

My son asks, “Hey! What’s in the bag?”

I reply, “The sign says it’s “protection”. Maybe it’s a shank!”

I’m not joking as much as I’d like to be. A couple of the people in the waiting room were kind of scary looking and a shank might come in handy.

My son snickers at my comment. I continue, “No, seriously it’s hand sanitizer.”

With that statement still hanging in the air, I open the bag and reach in. I was expecting to extract those little packets with the moist towelette inside. Instead, I pull out a brightly colored condom.

It wasn’t exactly the kind of “protection” I was expecting.

I guess my utterance of surprise was very audible. My mistake was on display for all, much the distress/ amusement of everyone in the waiting room.

I spent the rest of the visit enduring relentless razzing from my 18 year old son. I made sure to let him know that the proper use of one of those 18 years earlier would have meant I would have had this morning free to do what I wanted instead of dragging him to the health department.

I still defend my misconception… er, misunderstanding of the sign!

I mean, my greatest concern wasn’t catching an STD or preventing pregnancy – my most pressing concern was making sure I didn’t contract one of the multitude of diseases being incubated in that waiting room!

By the way, I did eventually find an antibacterial goo dispenser when we entered the 2nd “inner” waiting room and I doused myself liberally.

The moral of the story and how this applies to social media marketing…

When people arrive at your blog, website or other advertising material, they already have a conversation going on inside their head. If the conversation on your blog – on your website or in your advertising materials isn’t clear – you might be surprised at how “distorted” you message can get.

Had I seen that basket at the check-in counter of a strip joint, I probably wouldn’t have been confused as to what they meant by “protection”. However, as I looked at the sea of coughing and visibly ill people – I wasn’t thinking sexy thoughts – I was trying to figure out how to escape without catching what they had!

I just wonder how many children have grabbed one of those bags and been treated to an impromptu sexual education lesson in the lobby of the county health department. I’m just happy I wasn’t having to explain to a six year old why he couldn’t play with the brightly colored, individually wrapped balloons.

Context plays a HUGE role in communication…. both on and off the web!

A Love/Hate relationship with Social Media Marketing

March 27, 2009 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

It seems like EVERYONE is in LOVE with social media marketing and I thoroughly understand the appeal. After all, most of the tools of the social media marketing trade are notoriously easy on the checkbook.

Anyone with a little web savvy, a sense of adventure and the willingness to put in the time and effort to learn the rules of the social media sandbox can make a lasting online impression with a minimal outlay of cash.

If you’re a bootstrapping entrepreneur who has more time than money, social media marketing might seem like answered prayer.

Chris Brogan likens using social media marketing to a popular non-prescription mother’s little helper ( a.k.a. Hamburger Helper) in his blog post Pirate Moves.

[Social Media Marketing is like Hamburger Helper because it’s] less expensive and it stretches everything out more. Nothing listed above costs more than a single advertisement placed in a mainstream magazine or large market newspaper.

Chris’ argument is flawless – yet it overlooks an important element – one skillfully addressed by Jason Cohen in his blog post, “Please stop saying social media marketing is free.” Jason writes:

Social media is expensive. In fact, it’s more expensive than traditional media. It just comes in the form of spending time instead of spending money.

Jason points out that for those who aren’t already up to speed on the basics of SEO and other realities of the web, that hiring the TALENT needed to make social media marketing work can be a VERY cash intensive expense.

In the beginning, when many solo entrepreneurs have more time than money as they’re building their business, many are willing to trade time for money.

Social media marketing may be the BEST investment you can make in the future of your business – but you have to make sure you do it RIGHT! There is definitely a “dark side” to social media marketing!

Social Media Reality Check

It’s important to remember that the blog posts and comments you create today will live forever because the internet never forgets.

Brian Friedlander tells a compelling tale from the “Dark Ages” of social media of a marketing manager who left a blog comment on a blog post reviewing her company’s product. The blog post not only became a platform for discussion in the moment- it continues to get GREAT SERPS for the term [product + review] five years later. Brian writes in The Power of One Knowledgeable, Dedicated Social Media Marketer:

Katie followed the basic tenets of corporate social media:

find where the conversation is happening

listen

get involved

be transparent

be helpful

These are GREAT rules for anyone who wants to participate in social media marketing to take to heart. If you follow them, you’ll find that blogging and other means of social media marketing will be the best thing since – well since Hamburger Helper for building your budding business.

However, it’s not always rainbows and buttercups when it comes to social media marketing.

In Social Media Marketing – What you don’t know CAN hurt you

For a lesson in what NOT to do when it comes to social media marketing – let’s take a look at a situation over at Sugarrae SEO Consulting.

A while ago, Rae Hoffman paid to have a WordPress plugin created and in the spirit of social media – offered the plug in for free to others who needed the functionality the plugin provided.

It’s said no good deed goes unpunished, and such is the case here.

Remember, Rae has a business to run and she’s providing this plug in FOR FREE. Despite preparing an EXCEPTIONAL FAQ for the plugin, she still gets email from people who expect her to hold their hand and walk them through the process of getting the plugin to work exactly as they want it to on their blog.

To quote the movie Mystery Men, “The mooch factor is high with this crowd.”

Remember when I said you needed a “sense of adventure” to succeed in social media? Well, there’s nothing more “adventurous” than crashing your blog and then rebuilding it! Does it suck? Of course it does! However, you’ll learn more in that experience than any 5 credit hour course can teach! (If you have to PAY someone else to fix your crashed blog – well, then writing that check will be equally instructional in nature as well.)

Well, James Cook of Kawink didn’t want to get burned and asked for free help from Rae. When he didn’t find it forthcoming, he got angry. So despite the fact that Rae proudly declares in her header, “Never mess with a woman who can pull rank” James decided to throw down with Rae.

As a result, the preeminent conversation about James Cook of Kawink lies in the hands of a woman at whom he has hurled email insults and threats.

A Google search of [James Cook of Kawink] shows Rae’s blog post at #1 and #2 – above any content he carefully crafted in order to promote his start up business.

At the moment – I’m pretty sure James Cook is HATING watching the “laws” of social media marketing at work. He’s about to discover the new and exciting world of online reputation management.

I hope for his sake, the saying is true, “There’s no such thing as bad press” but I kind of doubt it. I can’t imagine anything WORSE for a top Google Serp on my name plus business than that particular blog post.

Cath Lawson says, You’re Nobody until You Get Hate Messages. If you’re tempted to send such a message, take a lesson from my Pest Control company, Truly Nolen. When you’re dealing with a blogger who can definitely pull rank (page rank that is) take the conversation OFF LINE.

Most blog owners just can not resist posting a nice, juicy bit of hate email – especially one riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. However, if at all possible, try to avoid sending such a hate message to someone who spends 10 hours a day eating/drinking/breathing SEO.

When you have a beef with someone who has a blog – it’s best to heed the wise words of Betsy Wuebker left in a comment on my post The shit fight is beginning- should you join in?

The big questions anyone has to answer when these situations arise are: what’s the hunt about and for; do I have a dog in it; if I do, how big is my dog; and finally, does my dog really and honestly hunt – to the best of its ability?