Nutrimus Posticus. A {growtoon}.
Nov 16th
Join the growtoonists each Friday for a humorous take on marketing, social media, and current business events.
Joey Strawn is a social media strategist that loves enjoying a good book and then drawing in it. Check him out on Twitter: @joey_strawn
What Proctology Exams Teach Us About Social Media
Nov 15th
By {grow} Community Member Chris Reimer
As Hurricane Sandy swept across the Eastern seaboard, killing hundreds of Americans, racking up billions of dollars in damage, and wreaking havoc on millions of lives, certain intrepid bloggers thought it a wise idea to write about “What Hurricane Sandy can Teach us About Social Media.”
Ripping an event from the headlines and attaching “lessons for social media” to it is a common and cheap way to develop content. But sometimes I have to wonder if these bloggers are even thinking. Comparing social media to a deadly hurricane when so many people are suffering? Do we really need that?
Original blog post topics are hard to come by (I don’t know how the Mark Schaefers and Mitch Joels of the world do it). And it sure is tempting to write about what the latest movie, celebrity or news event “teaches” us about social media. But let me state this plainly — Using a devastating hurricane superstorm to draw attention to your blog is a desperate attempt at attention and a breach of good taste.
Yes, we need to keep learning about social media. But I’m not sure we need a superstorm to happen upon these truths. If you believe this is the only way you can get through to people, perhaps you just need to quit now and board up the business (I guess it is easy to do hurricane analogies).
With so many of these ridiculous “social media is like …” posts out there, I did a little brainstorming to figure out the most ridiculous analogy to social media I could think of. Here it is. Proctology Exams.
So, in tribute to all these dumb blog posts comparing social media lessons to something in the news, I submit to you “The Top 8 Things Proctology Exams Teach us About Social Media:”
1. Everyone’s afraid to get started. No one wants to go to a proctologist, even though statistics show cancer detection and prevention saves lives. Companies are similarly afraid of jumping in on social media, even though statistics show that adoption is accelerating, ROI is provable and communication as we know it (TV, radio, print) has been terribly disrupted.
2. You have to fully undress. No one likes to be fully exposed. This is complete vulnerability. Someone else is in control, and a host of embarrassing things could befall you.
3. Abdication of consciousness. During the holiest of holy examinations, you will probably be anesthetized. “Just knock me out and get it over with.” This sounds quite similar to the relegation of all social media responsibility to an intern – “I don’t have time and I don’t want to know what’s going on. You’re young, and this is a young person’s game–just handle it.”
4. You better use the correct tools. A rubber glove, social media monitoring software. Make sure you tweet from the right account, and watch where you’re going with that finger… “MOOOON RIVER.“
5. It takes a sensitive touch. One false move and assholes are inflamed. I think that is self-explanatory.
6. You might be afraid to discover the truth. Upon examination, sometimes you find an inflammation, or worse. In the wrong circumstances, social media provides amplification of a problem that’s already there. Your company is completely unprepared and unable to spring forth to bigger and better things. Social media will lay bare that truth.
7. The procedure sometimes leads to much more. A proctology exam sometimes precedes a full-blown colonoscopy. Neither is terribly fun. If social media reveals inherent, systemic problems with your business, you might need a full brand refresh and messaging platform overhaul.
8. Sometimes you need to go beyond manual. Doc uses his finger, but sometimes a proctoscopy is done instead where a device called a proctoscope is used to examine the “cavity.” Similarly, social media can be done manually, but sometimes you may wish to employ a device or series of devices like Hootsuite, Sprout Social or Radian6.
Well, suddenly I’m feeling a bit green. What say you? What did I miss? And oh yes … tune in next week for my post on what Pauly Shore teaches us about social media.
Chris Reimer (@RizzoTees) is VP of Social Media at Falk Harrison
The level playing field has turned into a content arms race
Nov 14th
Have I ever told you how much I love Gini Dietrich? For me, she is such an amazing role model for dong it right on the social web. And if you’re one of the five people on earth not already following her Spin Sucks blog, go do that now.
Gini is a smart and savvy friend and we don’t always see eye to eye, which makes her an even better friend. Last week she penned a post about how Facebook seems to be unfairly squeezing money from us by forcing us to use paid promoted posts to reach people who are already following us. It’s a good point of course, but I fell off Gini’s wagon at this point:
The awesome thing about the web and social media, in particular, is it levels the playing field. No longer do you need millions of dollars to spend on PR firms and ad agencies in order to build your brand and reputation among the masses.
Today all you need is a good writer, a self-hosted website and/or blog, and organically grown social networks. With those three things, you suddenly are competing with the big boys for reputation and credibility. You’re seen as a thought leader in your industry. You’re creating kinship among your prospects. And you’re selling in a way that has never before been possible.
All of the tools are free so it’s a really low barrier to entry. And it works.
You see, I have been thinking just the opposite about our social media world. Yes, three years ago Gini was probably right. When the social web was young almost any foray into social media was novel and attracted attention. It was pretty cheap and the entry barriers were indeed low. You could post a video of a bride falling into a swimming pool and it would go viral.
No longer.
Today YouTube is mainstream entertainment fueled by slick corporate video content. People have increasingly sophisticated expectations about what they’re going to find on your Facebook page, Twitter stream, or blog.
I recently saw a statistic that stated there was more information created on the web in the last two years than all of human history combined. I don’t know if that is true or not and I rarely let facts get in the way of a good story anyway, so let’s just say it makes a point — there is an enormous amount of data to get through these days. Heck, even Mashable makes me dizzy.
The content arms race
To succeed on the social web today you better bring your A Game and a bucket of money. To connect with customers today you need to consistently provide useful, relevant, and entertaining content — and that is not cheap. And as the information density on the web increases, so too will the cost to produce that great content.
Yes, yes, I know there are plenty of companies who are still finding niche success with modest social media programs but as soon as their competitors get in the game, the content arms race begins.
As I wrote recently, the social web is NOT a level playing field. There is definitely a first-mover advantage for people who have the money to create useful content and overwhelming amounts of it (which then become entrenched in the search rankings). In the long term, you probably will NOT be competing with the “big boys” (as Gini states) with just a writer and a blog.
Social media is a mainstream marketing and communication channel that will increasingly be dominated by those with the fattest wallets. Agree?
Photo: I took this shot during a visit to the Kremlin in Moscow
Why do rich people get better service on the web?
Nov 13th
I’m involved in this fascinating new project called The Social Habit. We’re focusing the power and experience of Edison Research on the field of social media and it is producing some incredible results, including one that blew my mind.
Some of the most interesting and useful set insights have come in the area of social media’s impact on customer service.
Jay Baer, one of my partners on the project, wrote a superb post articulating some of the revelations about expectations of social media and customer service. A few highlights included:
- Among respondents to The Social Habit who have ever attempted to contact a brand, product, or company through social media for customer support, 32% expect a response within 30 minutes.
- 42% expect a response within 60 minutes.
- Our research found that among those respondents who have ever attempted to contact a brand, product, or company through social media for customer support, 57% expect the same response time at night and on weekends as during normal business hours.
Whoa. Huge implications for companies and their customers.
But a deeper dive into Social Habit data reveals a perplexing new insight about companies providing service through social media:
Rich people apparently get better service. Check it out:
Now, let me emphasize that this is no casual data set. This is a conclusion from robust research and there is a statistically significant difference between those in the income “over $100,000″ category and the others. Why?
I have three hypotheses but I bet you can come up with other possibilities in the comment section.
Hypothesis one is that perhaps rich people complain to companies who are more likely to provide an effective response via social media, like an airline or luxury brand.
The second possibility, and this has somewhat of an icky factor, is that companies are baking consumer profile information (including income) into their CRM systems and respond more effectively to the people with the fattest wallets.
My friend and {grow} contributing columnist Kerry Gorgone has a third fascinating observation: “There are a number of factors at play, but I’d say the rich expect better service online because they get better service ‘in real life,’ where the trappings of their wealth are more readily apparent to customer service people. Having gotten used to a higher level of service, they make it clear they expect a response quickly.”
In other words, have the wealthy developed better complaining skills because they have been conditioned to expect better service?
I really have no idea. All of these are just guesses. But there IS a difference.
What do you think? What is your reaction to this study?
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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