My Foray Into the Social Media Fray
Feb 20th
By Sandra Zoratti, {grow} Community Member
“Social media makes a big world smaller.” — Jay Baer
I have been such a social media coward. Even though I am a professional marketer and certainly no stranger to technology, the whole space has seemed so quirky and even a little intimidating. Why bother?
Well, I am proud to announce that I am a new convert to the power of business relationships and the social web. And it’s all Mark Schaefer’s fault.
Here is how I went from social media coward to a full-fledged convert in less than six months!
I was curious enough about what I was missing to attend my first social media conference — Content Marketing World in Columbus Ohio (yeah, Joe Pulizzi’s on the hook too).
I had started to follow Mark on Twitter and was excited to see that he was speaking at the conference. I connected with him and he invited me to stop by his talk and say hello face-to-face during the Columbus event. How kind! I was so flattered.
I (gulp) missed our initial meeting time – admittedly, not my best first impression – and he was completely understanding. But we did finally meet and he was so kind and encouraging of my first attempts to connect with people in this social space.
During our conversation, Mark also told me about Social Slam, a conference he organizes so that virtual-based social media friendships can enjoy a face-to-face meet-up. Sort of like a Social Media love-in.
Honestly, I found it a little hard to believe that people would fly from around the world based on 140 character tweets and some Facebook photos and posts just to meet up face-to-face with each other. Could social media be that powerful? Were these relationships that real?
Well, I knew one thing for certain: I had to find out for myself.
Since then, a whole new world has been opening up before me. Prior to that nudge from Mark, I had barely put my baby toe in the water of the social media world. After his nudge, I began using Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook in new ways. And the results have been amazing.
Frankly, I have made (and still make) lots of missteps as I am learning; yet I am connecting with some incredibly inspiring people along the way.
Yes, I’m still a newbie. One thing is apparent though, social media is powerful and can create rich friendships and meaningful relationships around the entire world. It is extraordinary!
My job requires me to travel around physically. Twitter, FB and LinkedIn keep me travelling around virtually. When the physical and virtual worlds meet, it’s magic. While in New York City, I got to meet a few of the closest members of my Twitter family … and from these meet-ups, I now have new business collaborations, new connections, new friendships, and a new perspective. Some of the new connections I have made in just a few months:
Me with new social media friends (clockwise from top left) Kurt Shaver and Jon Wuebben; dinner with Vitus Feldman; hanging out with David Kugelmas and Jan Gordon; posing with Kelly Kim.
So far, my short social media journey has been nothing short of a transformational experience for me. And in April 2013, guess where I’ll be going? You guessed it. I’m flying myself to Knoxville, TN, to be part of Social Slam. In fact, I will also be participating in a panel there!
I’m a social media convert. How about you? Will I see you at Social Slam? Will you be part of the magic of social media?
See you there!
Sandra Zoratti is an author, speaker, and Vice President of Marketing for Ricoh. She was honored as Colorado’s Business Marketer of the Year in 2012. You can find Sandra on LinkedIn, Twitter @sandraz and on her website sandrazoratti.com.
Top illustration courtesy Photo Monkey
Does everybody need a social media strategy?
Jan 15th
As the hype of social media begins to die down and companies re-evaluate their efforts with a steely-eyed look at the cost versus benefits, I think it is time to re-visit this important question: Does every company really need a social media marketing plan?
This is a very complex question. So to help answer it, I looked at a few companies with brands that might not be natural fits for a social media presence. Adult diapers. Coal. Hazardous waste clean-up. Playing cards.
Let’s explore this important question by taking a romp through some unusual case studies that stretch the boundaries of social media marketing thinking.
Depend Adult Diapers
Do you need a social media strategy? It depends! Get it? Oh, never mind.
Depend, a Kimberly Clark brand, has no apparent social media offerings. With its typically geriatric customer base, the product website offers a fitting guide and coupons but no social media way to connect. A company not affiliated with the brand has set up a rogue Facebook site called “Depend’s adult diapers.” So Kimberly Clark probably should protect itself by nailing down as many name alternatives as they can on the most popular social media platforms.
Should they have a social media component? It’s not a conversational brand, is it? I really don’t want to participate in any diaper polls.
However, they should consider at least a modest Facebook outpost because their future customers will certainly be there. Also, more and more people are using Facebook to search for brand information. At least one competitor, Poise, does have a Facebook page.
Should they continue to poo-poo social media?
Coal
A big argument I hear against getting involved with social media is when a company sells a commodity product. And, there is perhaps no product less differentiated than coal. In a tough business like that, you simply try to excel where you can by managing the supply chain properly.
I know commenters might argue that there are ways to differentiate any business, but the reality is, usually a contract in this market is won or lost by cutting a few cents per ton. That’s life in a commodity business. Why be on social media?
Peabody Energy is the largest publicly-traded coal company in the world. It has an excellent, informative website, but virtually no social presence (a token Twitter account and a weak Facebook page).
Perhaps Peabody’s strategy is to do whatever they can to avoid social media connection. Let’s face it, any company that scrapes away pristine countrysides to mine a product that is a major contributor to air and water pollution is not necessarily part of a conversation that is shareholder-friendly. Coal is important to the world economy, but it’s a dirty, dangerous business that sparks a lot of emotion in people. Should we support coal energy? It is an argument that will never be settled, and one they can never win. If they had a significant social media presence, the debates and hater harpoons would be endless.
Instead, Peabody can provide financial support to trade organizations like American Coalition for Clean Coal, which has a significant social media footprint — more than 1 million YouTube views, a blog, and a meaningful presence on Twitter and Facebook.
Should a company avoid the cost of social media conversation and move it to a trade association? A viable strategy?
Playing cards
I play this little marketing mind game with myself. I pick a product and then imagine what their social media presence might be. Like playing cards. What can you really say about those for heaven’s sake? They haven’t changed for centuries.
Turns out, quite a lot.
I opened a new pack of Bicycle playing cards and was delighted to see an extra card promoting their social media properties: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. These sites are filled with excellent content for people who love card games, card tricks, and even card-related arts and crafts. There are tons of fan conversations going on for this ancient gaming product.
Bicycle has also launched a premium content site called Club 808 that requires a paid subscription. Are there enough card fanatics out there to support something like that? I guess they’ll find out. But it just goes to show that there are content marketing opportunities for even the most common household products.
Bicycle is not a highly conversational brand but this notably non-digital product is finding interesting ways to create new conversations, and renewed relevance, with a digital audience.
Radioactive Waste Removal
You have to love a company with a tagline of “Providing radioactive waste services since 1952.” Straight to the point. And so is US Ecology, a company specializing in one of the most demanding B2B services on earth.
The company has no social media presence with the exception of a short LinkedIn page. Let’s think about their business model. Somebody has a radioactive mess on their hands. There is a well-known and short list of qualified and trained people to clean it up. The customer inquires to see who is available and asks them to get there fast. There probably isn’t much of a negotiation.
Or perhaps US Ecology has some long-term contracts with companies who generate radioactive waste. You probably don’t want to pinch pennies in that case, either.
If it doesn’t need Facebook to generate demand or customer connection, does US Ecology need a social media presence to attract and retain employees? Apparently not. I actually met some of their workers a few months ago and they were happy to have the job. They are paid well and the hours are good. There is little employee turnover in their area of expertise.
If you were the marketing director for US Ecology would you spend money on a social media marketing program?
The world’s oldest company
Fonderia Pontificia Marinelli has been casting beautiful bronze bells continuously in the quiet Apennine Hills of Italy since the year 1000. It is one of the five oldest companies in the world and, in fact, they have been making their bells the same way throughout the centuries.
The bells of Fonderia Pontificia Marinelli toll in the important buildings of New York, Beijing, Jerusalem, South America and Korea. The family business currently employs 20 people, five of them named Marinelli. The company also has a small museum and hosts special events.
They have a basic website circa 2000 and no social media presence. That doesn’t mean that their content is not being shared by social media savvy visitors from throughout the world, but the old ways seem to suit this family business best.
Fonderia Pontificia Marinelli has made it through wars, natural disasters, and economic calamities without fail. Can it keep going without a social media strategy? If you are looking for an epic bronze bell, would you buy from this company, even if they didn’t have a Facebook page?
Somehow, I think they will outlast us all.
So what do you think? Does every company need a social media strategy? Any of these case studies ring your bell?
Case study: Using social influence to build a personal brand
Oct 4th
By {grow} Community Member Don Stanley
In addition to being a small business owner, I’m lucky enough to teach at the University of Wisconsin. I teach marketing and communication courses with an emphasis on social media, strategic planning and design.
One of my favorite courses focuses on building personal brands with blogging and social media. Students, many of whom have never blogged or used social media for professional reasons, are required to:
- Identify their personal brand
- Create a personal branding strategy
- Promote their brand to key audiences and thought leaders
- Prove they can bring value to the community they want to be a part of and connect with their audience in a meaningful way
It’s a challenging course because we cover a lot of ground in only 16 weeks. But a key takeaway from the course is, if you do the right work, you can reap incredible rewards.
One of my star students, Erin Podolak is a testimony to that. Erin is a science writer and blogger, and she had dabbled in Twitter, but she wasn’t getting the recognition she wanted (and in my opinion deserved). Here’s the story of how she got it.
THE PROCESS:
The process we follow in class is straightforward and repeatable. Using Mark Schaefer’s The Tao of Twitter and Scott Stratten’s Unmarketing as required readings, students learn to:
- Set clear, specific goal/s (what will success look like?)
- Identify influencers to connect with
- Identify how to connect with influencers (choose tools and messages to use)
- Do the work to get recognized and build meaningful professional relationships
- Learn to self-moderate to determine if you are getting closer or farther from your goals
STEP 1: Set a clear goal
Erin was a graduate student when she signed up for my course. She had experience, but wanted to gain the attention of a larger audience, particularly because she was nearing graduation and would be looking for a job. Her main goal was to get recognition from the holy-grail for science writers, Scientific American.
STEP 2: IDENTIFYING INFLUENCERS
Erin learned through her research that Bora Zivkovic is the blogs editor at Scientific American. Zivkovic is extremely active in social media. He is easily one of the most important people to connect with if you want to be a science blogger. So Erin started following Bora on social channels.
STEP 3: IDENTIFY HOW TO CONNECT WITH INFLUENCERS:
Erin laid the groundwork with Twitter and Blogging. She used her Twitter account (@erinpodolak) to make initial connections. She says, “my first order of business was to follow science-related accounts and other science writers. I followed Zivkovic, and immediately realized that he was a crucial person to connect with because he has a large following and is extremely interactive. He re-tweets the work of other people all the time and in fact has re-tweeted my tweets and links. When he followed me back, I had my blog to back me up.”
STEP 4: BLOG TO BRING VALUE TO THE COMMNITY AND PROMOTE YOURSELF:
Like many experts suggest, having a blog as a point of reference is an excellent way to bring value to your community and get yourself recognized as a thought leader.
Erin had a head start here. “When I started graduate school two years ago I launched my own blog called Science Decoded,” she said. “Having a blog is important as a science writer for two reasons. First, as a writer I need a way to show people what I can do, and a blog is the perfect platform. The second reason is because the science blogging community is very active; there are a lot of power players watching the multitude of science blogs on the Internet. Having my own space that highlights my work gives anyone interested in what I do an anchor they can use to gauge whether or not I’m someone worth their time and attention. Also, having started the blog two years ago and slowly built up a following shows readers that I’m dedicated to it, and not just trying to court pageviews.”
STEP 5: ASSESS YOUR RESULTS:
Did Erin reach her goal? “The word overwhelmed pretty accurately describes how I felt the day I received an email from Bora Zivkovic. The email was to inquire if I would like to be featured in an interview piece on their blog dedicated to new and young science writers – the SA Incubator. Would I like to? I’ve wanted to see my name in Scientific American since I was six years old, of course I wanted too! When the interview with me went live on their site it was thrilling.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Erin provided a few tips from her successful networking initiative:
“I took the time to build up targeted connections. I made myself known and shared content that showcased my style and abilities. I also connected with someone willing to check out my work, and who manages a platform that aligns with my career goals.”
“I was real and realistic about who I am and what I can do. All considered, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so gobsmacked that all of the work I put into developing my online presence paid off.”
“When the opportunity came around I folllowed through. I showed that I would come through and reply to emails, provide content and finish a project. I made myself someone easy to work with, and other opportunities followed.”
I’m proud of Erin’s efforts. What are your best practices for networking through the social web?
Don Stanley is an educator at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and blogs at 3 Rhino Media. You can follow him on Twitter at @3rhinomedia
Case study: Finnair puts social media community to work
Jul 10th
By {grow} Community Member Ana Silva O’Reilly
One day last year I received an email with quite the provocative title: “How can you improve air travel?” At first, I thought it was a joke, but the sender seemed reputable — Finland’s flagship air carrier, Finnair and the Helsinki Airport. They were launching a worldwide search for airline best practices called Quality Hunters.
The application form wasn’t complicated, and it encouraged you to share your best airline and airport experience in one of several categories — business class, shopping, food, airports, entertainment, and socialising. The seven people with the best ideas would win a seven week journey around the world to find the best travel ideas on earth! This sounded like my kind of fun!
Stupidly, I never realised that votes for your idea were key for selection and with only one day to go in the contest, I still managed to get in the top 10. A good effort, but not good enough to be selected. I was actually disappointed.
The birth of a community
The airline’s “Quality Hunters” project had a blog (qualityhunters2.com) and a Twitter account (@qualityhunters), and a vibrant social media community actually began to form around this key idea of improving air travel. Participants were invited to attend online chats about a variety of travel-related topics. Such chats could last all day and were attended by hundreds of people!
Even though we had not won the prize, the team behind the Twitter account was determined to keep all of us connected to the project by tweeting the adventures of those lucky seven winners.
Of course this was quite compelling Twitter content — it was great to know where they were, what they were up to and so on. But what kept me interested were the daily twitter chats and knowing that we could still suggest topics for improvement. The Twitter chats covered everything from cocktails, to airline alliances. After a while, strong connections and friendships began to form in this community.
A week before the epic seven week journey was scheduled to end, the community received a surprise – an eighth Quality Hunter was to be selected, to join this adventure for the last week, and the winner was going to be chosen by the community! This time around, I wasn’t disappointed because one of my new Twitter community friends, @arjantupan, was selected.
A return on the social media investment
When they returned from their trip, the hard work began. The Quality Hunters submitted their best ideas to the judging panel (made up by Finnair and Helsinki Airport execs) and the most feasible ones were shared with the entire QH community.
One of the easiest ideas to implement was an airport Book Swap lounge. Simple, straight to the point, and obviously useful. Using Pinterest, we were encouraged to submit design and branding ideas and it was incredible to see how many of us, almost six months later, were still interested. I certainly was. My suggestion was that each book should have a sticker sharing the Quality Hunters story and allow those using the book swap lounge to record where each book has traveled. Here is a picture of how my idea was implemented:
It was nice to be recognized by the airline but being part of this company’s social network meant more to me than they would ever know. You see, by participating, I was constantly encouraged and inspired to start my own travel blog and create my online alter-ego @mrsoaroundworld. I made some valuable business connections and authentic friendships. The people in the Quality Hunters community were the first ones to read my new blog and spread the word. It rapidly became a very popular site for tales of luxury travel.
Finnair’s social media effort was effective, helpful and sincere. It was a win-win for the company, the Quality Hunter community, and certainly any one traveling through the Helsinki Airport.
And I have to admit … every time I walk past a Finnair check-in desk … I smile. I am even thinking about a trip to Finland. After all, I really have to see that book-swap lounge, right?
What do you think about this case study?
Ana Silva O’Reilly is UK-based social media enthusiast and luxury travel blogger. Follow her on Twitter at @mrsoaroundworld.
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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