The curious case of the Twitter Quitters
Nov 22nd
One of my customers is a brilliant management consultant. An engineer by training, he does not come by marketing instinct naturally and asked me to help.
This is a customer tailor-made for Twitter:
- Small business-owner
- Enormous, global market potential (needs a lot of awareness)
- Small budget
- No time to blog, develop content, etc.
- Tech-savvy
- Is a charming, bright person with engaging personality.
And yet he WILL NOT TWEET. I coaxed, cajoled and threatened. I’ve trained him patiently and even prescribed a daily Twitter regimen. I demonstrated the power of the platform when I found him a potential new business contact on the first day of operation. He didn’t follow-up and seems content with his tweet-free existence.
This may seem strange, but it isn’t. I’ve found similar resistance from many people who can benefit from this business tool. I asked my client ”why” and (published with his permission) here is his answer:
Not sure why really. I guess the idle chatter (which is mostly what I seem to see when I log on) just doesn’t make any sense to me. There’s obviously some self imposed barrier that I can’t or just don’t want to cross. You were kind enough to introduce me to Twitter, and I appreciated that. There’s the old expression about leading a horse to water. Guess I’m just not that thirsty for Twitter water… at least yet.
This type of reaction is not unusual. In fact I was a Twitter Quitter myself and had to really push through a few weeks of of this non-intutive communication platform before I had an expereince that changed my view forever …
I was bored one night and noticed a trending topic titled #newnameforswineflu. I clicked on it and was entertained for a half hour as people from all over the world chimed in with alternaitve names like “Hamthrax” and “The Aporkalypse.” Although this event was playful, it dawned on me that I was watching a real-time global brain-storming session. Now THAT was very cool. That was something that could never have happened before in the history of mankind. I got it. The light bulb went on for good.
I’m wondering, what did it take for YOU to “get” Twitter? Was it simply perseverance? The fear of falling behind? Or did it take an “a-ha” moment like me? For the 40 percent of us who didn’t quit after trying it, what lit the lightbulb for you?
Illustration: Natalie Dee
Kiss and Tull
Nov 20th
I had just listened to a Jethro Tull album on my iPod and then saw on my news alerts that the rock band is launching a new, massive tour of the U.S. To me, this is the universe telling me I need to write a blog about Jethro Tull. This is how my mind works by Friday.
If you give me a minute, I PROMISE there will be an illuminating point at the end that will make you gasp in wonder.
When I was a boy, Jethro Tull was the most amazing band around, combining blues, rock, folk and classical music in incredibly complex tunes. They made an entire album that was one song. Twice. Their great rock anthem “Aqualung” was about a homeless pervert. Their live concerts were theatrical spectacles. JT was the coolest of the cool.
Since about 1980, most of their music has been crap. They have not had a hit song since the 1970s. That hit was “Bungle in the Jungle” which is arguably the worst song ever written. The two core musicians, Ian Anderson and Martin Barre are bald and in their 60′s and Ian just can’t hit the high notes any more. They continue to limp around the world, playing to elderly, devoted fans.
Like me.
Why would I stick with a band long after they have been relevant … or even very good? Because there is a deep emotional attachment there. Their music and image evokes some of the best, most exciting times of my youth, some of the best years of rock music. Jethro Tull MEANS SOMETHING to me!
OK, here is the point you’ve been waiting for. The world’s greatest marketing associates emotional meaning with a product. Coca-Cola. Apple. BMW. Each evokes an emotion and meaning. The brands mean something to the customers. Just like Jethro Tull. Ready … set … gasp!
This is my goal: to build an emotional connection with my readers so they will still love me even when I’m old and writing crap. (This is when you say: “Like today?”)
Have a great weekend!
The best business opportunity in social media marketing
Nov 18th
Awhile back I put forth a “success formula” to create business benefits through social media:
Connections + Meaningful Content + Authentic Helpfulness = Benefits
The more I see and hear and learn about the social web, the more I’m convinced this is spot-on. You can see the whole article here, by the way.
I’m learning that within this formula, content is a SEVERE bottleneck for most companies. Here’s why:
- Companies are piling on to the social web and are desperate to provide content that will cut through the clutter. It takes a special talent to do that. Typically, they don’t have that special talent … but are willing to pay for it.
- I’m sure you’ve heard stats like, “more content has been created in the last five years than in the history of mankind.” I either made that up or I heard it someplace (or both) but I’m sure you’ve heard similarly ridiculous statements. There is a kernel of truth in there, however. There’s already too much freaking content for any normal person to keep up with. And the problem is going to get worse. In fact, it will never get better. The need for content seems insatiable. This exacts more pressure on companies to not only develop “meaningful” content, but content that will knock your socks off. Every day.
- The need for “authenticity” is an artificial barrier set by the social media country club that is keeping some people from ghost blogging. (Article on how to do it RIGHT is here.) That barrier will go down as the price companies are willing to pay for content goes up. There will be plenty of content-whores around for everybody. And I mean that in the most respectful way.
So here’s the business plan: Come up with a posse of technical writers/content whores who can churn out blogs on a variety of subjects (maybe organize by verticals) and fill this out-sourcing market niche. I would do it myself but I’m far too lazy.
So there it is. Business Idea of the Year! Go be the Wal-Mart of content. The Blog Super Store. Content Whore Warehouse. Whatever, just go do it and I’ll be the first to hire you for my customers. See, you can’t tell me I never did anything for you. : )
Surprising research shows high social media involvement from B2B
Nov 17th
Yesterday Business.com released additional results of its milestone study of social media usage across American business, this time with a focus on B2B. This research should put an end to the argument over the relevance of social media in the industrial sector. In fact, it appears that by percentage, B2B is ahead of B2C in some key categories.
Like the general study I reported last week, this report is chock-full of details by industry, job type, and social media platform. It’s significant because of the scope of the study and the statistical rigor applied to the results. I recommend spending time with this survey, but here are some highlights that caught my attention:
- B2B (defined as companies with >2/3 sales to other companies) actually show as much, or more, involvement in social media as counterparts in B2C.
- Professionals working on social media devoted 21% of their time to this activity versus 18% for the study average (this would imply a much lower rate for B2C but the number is not broken out).
- B2B company respondents have somewhat more experience with business social media initiatives than their peers in B2C and mixed companies – 30% of B2B respondents have less than one year of business social media experience versus 35% across the study
- The study showed a statistically significant difference in social media activity with B2B’s dominating in 11 out of 14 social media categories. The three exceptions are – there’s no B2B versus B2C difference in the percentage of companies managing online communities, and B2B companies are significantly less likely than B2C companies to monitor online ratings/reviews of their products or services and to advertise on social media sites.
- B2B’s are more likely to pay for social media monitoring platforms.
- B2B’s are having better fortune seeing an impact of social web projects on their web traffic (70% versus 62%); Revenue (60%/52%) and sales leads (57%/53%).
- Marketing owns the social media initiative in 76% of the B2B’s versus 63% B2C.
- B2B companies maintain a high presence on social media sites, with 81% maintaining one or more accounts on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. B2B companies are much more likely to engage in micro-blogging on Twitter than B2C companies.
It should be noted that of the total survey participants, just 25% were B2B, indicating that overall adoption of social media probably lags B2C. And while the most highly-publicized success stories are eminating from B2C, this study shows conclusively that among those participating in the social web, B2B’s may be engaged more deeply and more broadly than their B2C counterparts … some of the most surprising, and compelling, conclusions I’ve seen in this field.
What are your thoughts on this research?
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-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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