Archive for year 2012
The wrong place for a Twitter feed
Apr 26th
I would guess at least 50 percent of the websites and blogs I come across feature a widget displaying a real-time Twitter feed. I think this is a mistake and I strongly caution my clients against doing it. Here’s why.
Done correctly, Twitter is lively, personal and human. If you display your Twitter feed on your website, you’re displaying one side of a two-sided conversation. It’s conversation out of context. Why would you do this? What possible value could this create?
A couple years ago, a friend asked me to review his website. When I went to his landing page the thing that hit you right in the face was the word “PORNOGRAPHY” in the Twitter stream. In context, he was making a funny comment in response to a friend. On a website it sends the wrong message.
Everything communicates. Everything you say, and everything you don’t say, reflects on your brand. “LOL!!!! You rock Tony!” and “Delayed in Dallas for the second time this week” are appropriate for a Twitter stream but is that the right business communications you want to display on your company website?
Of course if your Twitter stream is simply company links and press releases you’re safe. But you’re also probably not too successful on Twitter.
The only possible value there could be is some symbol of social validation, like “Hey everybody, look at us! We’re on Twitter.” That just seems kind of desperate. If you provide value on your blog or website, why wouldn’t a person want to follow your social stream any way?
Meanwhile, this widget is taking up valuable real estate that could be better used to create a call to action, promote a product or service, or offer something legitimately helpful.
I know there are a lot of Twitter-on-the-webpage-lovers out there that are going to tee-off on me today so hit me with your best shot! WHat do you think?
Illustration courtesy of www.toothpastefordinner.com
What the $200 Million Tweet Can Teach You About Personal Influence
Apr 25th
Is this the new face of power and influence?
By Contributing {grow} Columnist Stanford Smith
I’ve been thinking about what makes a person influential. Can it come from a single tweet?
The other day, I saw an infographic that plotted the hockey stick growth of Draw Something. The addictive Pictionary-like app was released on Feb 6th 2012 and was slowly growing without much fanfare.
Then something incredible happened…
On March 1st, Jersey Shore cast members Vinny Guadagnino and DJ Pauly D tweeted about the addictive gaming app. Immediately app downloads took off. By March 5, Draw Something was the #1 downloaded app on iTunes.
On March 23rd, Zynga, the Farmville creator, bought Draw Something for $200 million dollars.
From this perspective, Vinny and DJ Pauly’s tweet was worth a cool $200 million. It may have not taken off at all without that tweet.
Yep – they are influential.
But wait…
Before you hang your head and say “I’ll never have that type of influence” take a moment to consider this… You actually are THAT influential. Think about it. You are surrounded by friends and family members that will buy, trash, share, and recommend products based on what you say. The only difference between you and DJ Pauly D is scale. Specifically, Jersey Shore cast members have a hit TV show to use as a platform.
Right now, you have your blog, Facebook timeline, Pinterest Board, or daily tweets.
Your challenge is to build the quality of your influence while you build scale.
Influence is Not What You Think
If you ask the social media intelligentsia about how to create influence they’ll point to tools and tips. The tools help monitor influence. Tips offer guidance on “how” to cultivate influence.
Mark Schaefer’s book “Return on Influence” is a invaluable because it clearly explains “What” influence actually is – and offers some damn good advice on how to build it. However, I often see bloggers focus on responding to every comment and dutifully referencing every Twitter @mention. They believe that these tasks are critical for building their influence.
Not so…
I believe influence is built when you are demonstrate relevance. In fact, influence and relevance go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other. For example, Howard Stern may be popular but he couldn’t influence me to tie my shoes. Howard Stern isn’t personally relevant to me and only marginally influential (if at all).
Relevance is built when a business or person focuses relentlessly on being indispensable to their audience. They eat, sleep, and dream about solving their audience’s problems. Their passion for relevance attracts followers, creates fans, and breeds fanatics. Soon their relevance translates into Relevant Influence. Their audience turns into an instant financial windfall. Everything the influencer touches turns to gold.
Answering comments and being accessible via Twitter is good. Being relevant is better.
Four Ways to Build Quality Influence with Relevance
Of course the reading Return on Influence will give you a great head start on building relevant Influence. In the meantime, start with these tips -
1) Solve Common Problem in Unique Ways
Problem solvers are always relevant and influential. Search for problems that need unique solutions and you will quickly become the “go-to” person in your niche. Use your blog and social platforms to promote your unique approach.
2) Start Teaching
The most powerful influencers are teachers. The Content Marketing revolution builds on the premise that educated consumers buy more, refer more, and stay loyal longer. How can you use your Facebook page, Pinterest boards, and blog posts to teach your customers about your unique value?
3) Make Real World Connections
Over a year ago, Mark Schaefer called me on the phone. It shocked me. I remember waiting for him to try and pitch me on a product or service. He didn’t. He just wanted to meet me and see if he could offer any help. Wow. Work to build real-world connections with your audience and watch your influence grow exponentially faster.
4) Be a Filter
Your audience, customers, and prospects are drowning in information. They are struggling to decipher the signal from all the noise. Help them. Use your deep understanding of their challenges, problems, and aspirations to deliver the right information at the right time. Your audience will reward you with new sales, leads, and referrals.
Relevant Influence focuses on being useful instead of being busy. Relevant influencers build devoted audiences that take action.
How are you staying relevant as you build your influence?
Contributing Columnist Stanford Smith obsesses about how to get passionate people’s blogs noticed and promoted at Pushing Social, except when he’s chasing large mouth bass!
PeerIndex Founder reveals social marketing developments
Apr 24th
Click here is you can;t see this video interview with Azeem Azhar, founder of PeerIndex.
I had a chance to catch up with PeerIndex founder Azeem Azhar at his homebase in London. Azeem is prominently featured Return On Influence and this was a golden opportunity to catch up with him about some of the newest developments. In this interview we cover:
Is social scoring getting traction? Is it creating measurable value for companies and brands or is it still experimental?
How is the company going to use its new round of funding?
Why is social scoring so disruptive for many traditional advertising agencies?
How are companies realizing “TV ad-like” results by approaching influencers?
What is the “magic middle” of influencer outreach?
Is this still experimental or are companies beginning to dedicate real money towards influence marketing?
How are companies measuring benefits from this new channel?
I think you’ll find this conversation quite interesting!
Using Klout and social scoring for sales and marketing teams
Apr 23rd
One of the things I have been interested in is examining practical applications of Klout and social scoring to an internal enterprise.
If you are unclear about social scoring systems and what they attempt to measure, it might be useful to start with this blog post about Why Klout Matters. Like a credit score, let’s assume that companies like Klout, Kred and Appinions are beginning to measure something that correlates to an individual’s social media effectiveness.
I had an opporunity to test some of these ideas last week when I conducted a social influence workshop with a global services company in the UK.
I began with an overview of the basics behind these systems and what we can really learn from them.
Then, thanks to Andrew Grill, president of Kred, we were able to construct an internal dashboard that approximated the relative social media effectiveness of many company employees. It was nothing short af a revelation to these top executives. Here are a couple of observations:
Who is the real company spokesperson?
One of the executives said, “I don’t know any of these people on this list! You mean they are representing our company?”
Indeed. I told him the story about how one of his IT employees — the person with the second-highest Kred score in the company — connected with me through this blog and on Twitter, and over a period of two years we had become friends. When he found out I was coming to London, he offered to introduce me to the company’s marketing team. That led to organizing the workshop.
“You see,” I said, “to me, this web developer IS the face of your company. The only reason I am here today is because he is representing you so effectively on the social web.”
This was a profound lesson for the executives. They were discovering their most effective representatives on the social web — and it was quite eye-opening. Now they are wondering about: How do we thank them, learn from them, and find ways we can work more closely together? How do we transfer their expertise to other parts of the organization?
Where is marketing?
It was illustrative that 80% of the top influencers where in no way associated with PR, sales, service, or marketing. This was an equally shocking revelation. Shouldn’t these departments be highly visible on the social web, especially in a technology and services-oriented company?
This company prided itself in being on the forefront of technology and best management practices but this simple ranking made them realize they were missing an enormous opportunity to discover gaps with their customer-facing strategies. This led to a lively discussion about further training and how some of the key ideas from Return On Influence could be incorporated into basic sales best practices.
Influencer Outreach
The exercise also started them thinking about using these scores to discover unknown or under-utilized resources at prospect companies, possible partner companies or even as a way to find high-potential new employees. How could they find like-minded and passionate individuals who have a natural interest in their ideas and technologies? They had already observed how it could be used to find a resource like me. The possibilities seemed vast.
It was exciting for me to see some of the core ideas of Return On Influence come alive in this corporate setting and I wanted to pass along some of the experiences to you. Can you see how some of these simple lists can help you and your sales efforts?
Welcome to {grow}
You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow.
Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here.
-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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