7 social media lies the gurus want you to swallow
Jun 20th
By {grow} Community Member Gregory Pouy
Every time a new marketing “technique” appears, it’s seems like the next revolution. Everything is suddenly going to be easier, faster and cheaper, right? Social media is unfortunately no exception to the rule and there will always be people (often those who claim to be experts or “gurus”) to sell you the newest bells and whistles.
It seems important to me to describe some of the lies that you may confront.
1. The social web is free
Starting around 2006, viral marketing was announced as the end-all be-all to getting a low cost audience. Today we realize that it’s far from reality. When there are more than 100 hours of videos uploaded on YouTube every minute, you’d better ante up.
It’s the same with the social web. Since it is actually free to post items on the web, the shortcut to “free” is easily sold. As you know by now, success on the social web comes at a cost in terms of time and the expense to produce content that gets noticed.
With the flood of attention on Facebook, it is not easy cutting through the Edge Rank formula to get noticed without being ready to open your wallet!
2. We’re going to create a brand community
It’s pretty rare to see an advertiser that isn’t talking about creating a “brand community.” I’m with you – the idea is attractive. Which marketer doesn’t dream of his own community that we can talk with directly — a kind of simplified and low-cost CRM ?
Do you really believe that all brands can create communities just by opening a Facebook page? For many companies, it is a mistake to think so and a waste of money to even try.
Remember that being part of a community means sharing a value system. It is also typically viewed as a way of defining oneself to others.
A much more clever idea would be to attempt to become a part of an existing community by respecting the way they structure themselves, and by learning the rules they use. This changes the way you should act and measure, and it will therefore change how you perceive your actions to be effective or not.
3. You must have a “social web” strategy
How many requests have we all seen for “social web” strategies? I’m considered to be a “social media expert” so I’ll admit I’m part of this whole quagmire. The reality is that there is no such thing as a social media strategy, just like there is no such thing as a digital strategy. There is a communication strategy in which you use an entire set of tools — including digital spaces.
It may not always be necessary to know all of these tools in detail; what is essential to understand is how the social web has affected the way we do business and, in particular, the relationship between the company and its stakeholders (employees, shareholders, suppliers, community members, and customers).
Rather than view social as its own strategic silo, it is best to view this option as part of a fully-integrated into your communication strategy.
4. You’ll get fast results
This is probably one of the worst lies you’ll ever hear but as marketers who are under pressure for short-term financial ROI (read: “what will I get out of this month’s blogger operation?”), the guru’s message of quick results can be seductive.
Success on the social web is neither easy nor quick. It requires embracing marketing basics — research, planning, experimentation, content development, measurement. Does this quick or easy? I didn’t think so.
Of course some actions may have a short-term return on investment but the social web is built mainly on conversations and building relationships that are sustainable.
For short-term results, there are plenty of tools available such as adwords if one is confined to the Web, or using TV spots which are unsurpassed in short-term conversions. And …. NO, increasing one’s Facebook fan base is not a goal. It’s just the beginning of your relationship with your Facebook page and using Facebook for ROI.
5. Just get a Community Manager Intern and you’re good to go!
Community Management is increasingly important … but brands rarely allow an adequate budget for this position.
It is essential that the person who takes the floor for your brand is passionate and knowledgeable, is a gifted communicator, can navigate company politics, knows the industry, knows the company, can answer questions authoritatively, has access to decision makers …. Does this job description make you think of a student who has a Facebook account and has used Twitter once or twice?
Ideally, this person is in-house and should be guided fairly close by a senior person. Moreover, it is a position that takes time to master because you must be present for some period of time to learn the community. Clearly this is not a job for an intern!
6. To be successful on Facebook, you must have a Facebook page
Facebook, the sanctuary social network, seems to be the answer to every marketing question these days. Granted, with its 901 million members, it’s kind of hard to miss.
The question you have to ask yourself is simple: Is it actually possible to be successful and NOT be on Facebook in 2012?
At first glance it seems logical to open a Facebook page and access its community (yep, we came full circle!) but for many brands, a Facebook page is not necessarily relevant and cost-effective because it costs money (buying fans through deals, creating contests and content, purchasing visibility).
If you develop great content (videos, pictures, etc..), it will be shared by users on social networks and will naturally be posted on Facebook even if that isn’t where you originally posted your video/pic of the day. Sometimes it is better to put money into developing content and ensuring the appropriate SEO rather than embarking on a battle for the fans.
I believe the key to social media success is interesting content, wherever it may first start. Simply opening a page on Facebook does not necessarily translate to visibility.
7. There is no ROI on the social web
You’ve probably heard this from a number of sources and yet, why invest if no return can be expected?
As Forrester explains, it is important to understand that ROI is not as simple as “the return on a short-term financial investment” (“does my action lead directly to increased sales?”); you must also consider ROI’s other 3 dimensions:
1. Brand equity (long-term financial)
2. Top of mind (short term – non-financial)
3. Brand image (long term – non-financial).
The real issue is not so much whether there is a return on investment from social media activities but rather how integrating these activities into an overall communication strategy impacts organizational goals holistically.
To conclude briefly, I would hate for you to underestimate the importance of the social web. But you also need to think critically, especially when you hear any of these seven “promises” I’ve discussed. Do not lose your common sense over the fear of being left behind.
Pay attention to what people are trying to sell you. The social web is a set of tools will undoubtedly meet some of your goals if used wisely; nothing more, nothing less.
Do you agree with what I have described here? What do you think?
Gregory Pouy is based in Paris and one of France’s leading marketing bloggers. You can learn more about his work on Slideshare and by following him on Twitter @gregfromparis
How to Save a Sputtering Social Media Program
Jun 6th
By Stanford Smith, {grow} Contributing Columnist
I pray that you never find yourself in this position but I suspect that many “community managers” find themselves in a dire situation.
The numbers don’t look good. The social media conversation around your brand looks worse. Even though you’ve put in a herculean effort, you always run out of time, money, and people. The management team, already dubious about social media smells blood in the water.
How do you turn the ship around? What can you do now that demonstrates that you have a grasp on the realities of your program and have a realistic strategy for getting back on track?
The first step is to understand why social media programs fail. After you identify the pitfalls, you can devise a response. Let’s start with the pitfalls.
Why Programs Suffer
Social Media programs sputter and fail for a variety of reasons. There are several factors that are particularly lethal:
Checking the Box
There is tremendous pressure for businesses to “do something” with social media. Marketing teams are forced to create platforms to check off their social box. This often leads to fancy social profiles on Twitter and Facebook that lack meaningful content. Worse sporadic updates to the platforms communicate the organization’s lack of commitment.
Wrong Objectives
Social media is still a relatively young discipline. This makes it difficult to properly align social media’s capabilities with an organization’s objectives. Often, the marketing team lumps social under a vague “brand awareness” goal.
This lack of clarity leads to confusion about content creation. Worse, wrong objectives often leads to poor (even unfair) evaluation of social media’s performance. Bad evaluation leads to poor decisions creating a program death spiral.
Scarce Resources
Social media is resource intensive. A well-resourced program includes copywriters, designers, metrics analysts, along with support from other departments such as customer service, product marketing, etc.. Unfortunately, poorly performing programs are often staffed with junior-level people who lack broad marketing expertise and little authority to get management level buy in.
Crippled Content
It’s important to understand that social media is a tactic in an overall content marketing strategy. Content Marketing relies on creating a steady flow of high-value information designed to build rapport, establish thought leadership, and pre-sell products. Sporadic or non-existent content results in an anemic social program focused on rehashed information and generic updates.
A heavy reliance on social chatter tactics like facebook updates and Twitter tweets is a tell-tale sign of a content starved social program.
What You Can Do Today
Find What’s Working
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Look through your metrics and find areas that show promise. Look for social platforms that are delivering high-value traffic to your ecommerce and/or conversion pages.
Over the long-term it’s wise to rely on social platforms that you own such as your blog. You have direct influence on a blog’s content and can quickly optimize its performance. From there you can focus social platforms that generate high-value traffic.
Double Down on Success
Once you find an opportunity, dedicate resources (people and budget) to increase performance. For example, if Pinterest drives high-quality traffic to your ecommerce website then increase content production for this platform. Realigning your resources will boost traffic and offer more data for testingand optimization.
Sacrifice the Good to Promote The Great
Have the courage to pull resources from areas that are not working. It’s important to focus your best talent and resources on platforms that deliver results. I know from experience that It’s tough to postpone work or abandon a platform. However focusing your team will create the performance required to lobby for additional resources and budget. You’ll also gain valuable expertise (i.e. content production) needed to improve other social programs.
What You Should Do Tomorrow
I’ve learned that frank conversations with the management team is the only way to save a floundering social program over the long-term. Many times the management team harbors misconceptions about the capability of social media. Other times, C-Level executives are genuinely interested in social media but don’t know what it takes to create a successful program.
In both of these situations, you will need to commit to educating management and your peers. Your initial efforts will consolidate resources and create successes, use these wins to gain credibility for future improvements. I know of a social media manager that created an internal blog geared towards educating her team and management. This effort was invaluable for building support, patience, and enthusiasm for her efforts. You could do the same.
Your Turn
Which of these problems are crippling your social program. Which of the solutions makes the most sense for your organization?
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!
Six ideas to win executive sponsorship for your social media effort
May 22nd
One of the most difficult problems in the social media world is getting the boss to understand and support an initial effort.
Executive sponsorship is a vital topic. If you are not being supported by your boss and you hope to pressure him/her into supporting your nascent social media initiative through a “grassroots” effort, it’s not going to work. Not in the long run. For effective, lasting organizational change to occur, it must be supported from the top. How do you gain that support when your boss doesn’t get it?
Who is the “sponsor” of your social media effort?
Let’s be clear about the term “sponsor.” The person who controls the budget and job assignments of the people working on social media is the “sponsor,” in our definition. This may not necessarily be your boss. It might be your boss’s boss or even the head of the company. When winning support for your project, be clear on who the real decision maker is!
Here are six ideas to get the boss on-board:
Conduct a “pilot” program. One of the most effective ways to get something started is to propose a temporary project. For example, go to your boss and tell her you want to try a new idea for 12 weeks (which sounds shorter than 3 months!). Explain that you will do this as an added, incremental effort that will not interfere with your normal job duties, you will measure and re-evaluate at the end of the period, and together you’ll decide whether to continue or not. Once the effort gets going and gains momentum, it’s going to be difficult to stop unless you completely blow it. So don’t blow it. : )
The small victory strategy. Here’s another simple idea that is remarkably effective: Plan your social media pilot program around easy “small victories” (SV). An example: “By week one, we want to have 100 followers, by week two we want to have 25 mentions, etc.” Notice how different this is compared to “we want to increase our customer satisfaction rate 28% by 2012.” SV’s allow you to announce lots of happy news when you need it most — at the BEGINNING! People will get behind a winner. Establish a culture of support and enthusiasm by building easy wins into the program and promoting those SV’s every week!
Money really does talk. Whatever you do, don’t go into a meeting with a company executive explaining that you want sponsorship to measure your company’s “quality of conversations.” Present the opportunity in the language of the company. If a priority is brand awareness, or customer service, present the opportunity in those same terms. Remember that any activity in an organization SOMEHOW must relate back to money, whether it’s profits, donors, or funding. Social media is no different. Be prepared to explain how your initiative ties to the company’s objectives. If you can’t, you’re not ready for this discussion.
Patient education. Your boss probably truly wants to do the right thing for the company … if they understand what to do. So many times before jumping into an initiative, you need to patiently, relentlessly educate your sponsor on the truths of social media. If your executive sponsor doesn’t “get it,” begin sending regular links to articles that explain why social media is relevant to your business. Bring in guest speakers. Maybe get them to attend a conference. Follow up. Discuss. Repeat as needed.
Preach fear in the morning and redemption in the afternoon. Scare ‘em. Seriously. Let’s be honest — Fear is a great motivator: Fear of what the competition is doing, fear of being left behind, fear of missing a trend, fear of making a wrong decision. There is often a significant first-mover advantage in the social media space. So if the competition is gaining ground, or customers are dialing you up on the social media “phone,” they really need to pay attention.
Plan for problems. When implementing change in an organization, it’s important to have a counter-measure for every obstacle you’re likely to face. Literally write down every possible argument and reason people will argue against your social media proposal and then formulate a reasonable counter measure to address them. And the hurdles aren’t just money and resources. It could be politics and competing priorities. Get your supporters to help you think-through effective answers to anything your boss can throw at you and be well-prepared.
If your boss is intelligent and well-meaning, eventually they should come around. If they are not intelligent and well meaning, getting them to understand social media is probably the least of your problems!
What problems are you having with sponsorship and how are you addressing them?
How does a small business move into social media marketing?
May 13th
I recently received this excellent question from one of my students:
Big global companies usually have a social media department but medium and small companies usually add this job for some marketing or PR manager in addition to his area of responsibility or hire some cheap employee or intern — with negative results. So how should a small business with limited resources realistically approach social media marketing?
The time and resources needed to be effective in social media is certainly a problem for companies big and small. I think we can burst the bubble by now — social media is NOT free. In fact, large brands are devoting a significant part of their marketing budget into these efforts.
There seems to be no choice — most companies must develop some competency in this channel. In addition to the obvious reason that social media has become a preferred method of communication (and complaining) for many demographic groups, other marketing channels are drying up.
The transition to a social marketing mindset is difficult for companies of any size! One huge consumer goods company laid-off 1,500 marketers last month because they didn’t have the right skillset to move into the future. Another global brand I work with has literally tested the digital competency of every marketing person in their company. Low scorers are going through mandatory training, medium scorers are going through advanced training and even high scorers are going through a series of “TED talk”-like seminars.
These represent two strategies toward this transition — jettison ineffective resources or aggressively re-train them.
But let’s get back to the original question, what if you’re a small business and have very few resources to begin with? How do you make this transition?
The big difference is, as a small business owner, you have less room for error. You probably don’t have the luxury of hiring a new team to create a social media effort. So here are some ways to minimize the risk during this transition:
1) Do a reality check. Before committing to a new plan, conduct a simple survey or get out and talk to your customers. Where are they spending their time? What are your competitors doing? Keep in mind that there is probably a first-movers advantage for many businesses so don’t overlook the fact that creating a competency in social media marketing could be a source of competitive advantage.
2) Learn. To move ahead with social media for your business, you don’t have to be an expert, but you do have to learn enough to at least ask the right questions. If you’re just starting out, here is a video series that can help get you quickly up to speed on the basics: Social Media From Scratch.
3) Set real goals. What are your company’s critical needs right now? How can some of these new social media opportunities specifically align with your goals? Don’t get caught up in the hype. Your budget probably does not have much room for “extra,” so think through how this activity will best move the needle for your business.
4) Get professional help. 95% of the companies I see engaging in social media are simply checking a box and not getting much out of the effort. In other words, they had somebody’s cousin create the company Facebook page. For the first six months, it usually makes sense to invest in a marketing professional to give you some guidance and speed you through the learning curve.
It’s like strapping yourself to an instructor the first time you skydive. After a couple trips, you’re ready to go it alone. When seeking expert help, ask this question: What previous marketing experience do you have and can you show me measurable results of your social media efforts? That will weed out most self-proclaimed “gurus!”
5) Don’t view social media as an “add on.” Before you hire a new social media team, I would first look at where you are spending your current budget and resources – is it time to simply re-adjust? For example, spending on newspaper advertising has declined by 75% in the US (down to 1950s levels). If you have been spending much of your time on traditional forms of advertising, it might be time to move those resources to something else. You have to go where your customers are. Should you re-allocate? If you just pile more work on to existing employees this will probably fail.
6) Re-frame the opportunity. Here is some good news. Ten years ago, you would take out an ad and wait for something to happen. Today, literally every employee can be involved in “marketing” as a beacon for your company on the social web. It’s a new way of thinking, isn’t it? How can you capture employee incremental time or down time? How can you involve and engage the many networks of your employees, customers, and other stakeholders?
Another way to re-frame the opportunity is that marketing through the social web can possibly be a great equalizer for small businesses. For a little bit of time and effort, you can potentially have a very powerful impact and possibly reach vast new audiences.
7) Realistic expectations. For many small companies, the result from social media marketing is more like the long-term benefits of networking at a chamber of commerce meeting than the short-term benefits of issuing a coupon in the newspaper. Don’t get me wrong — short-term benefits are certainly possible — but in general, aim for long-term benefits such as increasing customer loyalty.
I’ve worked with many small businesses and start-ups so I know how painful and risky these marketing decisions can be. I’d love to hear from you. What additional recommendations would you give a small business trying to make begin a social media marketing program?
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