social media

Caffeinated ideas and views on marketing communications


Social media amplifies everything

07 May
by Deborah Brody, posted in social media, Twitter, Web 2.0   |  No Comments

Social media takes a magnifying lens to everything. It makes everything appear bigger and closer (kind of like your side view mirrors).

fun with magnifying glasses

Fun with magnifying glasses by matlock on Flickr

You’ve probably heard that social media serves to amplify your message. You tell your friends on Facebook, and they then share it with their friends, and so on.  I have come to realize that social media amplifies more than your message. It amplifies mistakes,  personality traits and  business smarts (or lack thereof).

Mistakes

You used to be able to slip up and it would be forgotten. Not any more. Now, someone will catch your mistake, and put it on Twitter or YouTube. And then people will share that. And before you know it, everyone knows of your mistake. Perhaps forgiven, but not forgotten.

Personality traits

Are you an angry person? You will appear even angrier when trying to contain your ire to 140 characters. Your nastiness will be contained and then disseminated. Are you rude? Not only will the person appalled at your belching at the dinner table know about it, but everyone else will too. Self-centered? It will be evident in endless self-promotional posts.  On the other hand, if you are a connector or naturally gregarious, it will be evident because you will have 1000s of followers.

Business know-how

Do you answer your customer queries? If you don’t do it regularly and quickly, it will be even more apparent on social media channels. People will complain. And since you aren’t used to replying quickly, the problem will grow.

Not sure what social media is for and ignoring it? You can be sure others will not be. You will either look like a fool or lose customers.

For example, today I was looking at service providers “website.” All it was a poorly formed WordPress site. There was no contact information. None. No listing of services. No reason why I should hire. In short, it was a disaster. I found a Twitter handle, and tweeted. No response.  Better to not be on the web at all!

Remember that social media gives people the ability to share the good and the bad about you. Small can become big. And that can be a good thing, or it can be a disaster. Your choice!

Don’t miss out! Sign up for the next How to blog workshop, taking place on May 17. Details and registration here.

 

 

Social media intelligence is an essential skill

16 Apr
by Deborah Brody, posted in Communication, social media   |  1 Comments

You have probably heard of Emotional Intelligence (EI), which is defined as the ability to perceive, evaluate and control emotions. EI is the ability to figure out how to respond appropriately to a situation.  There are people that rank low on the EI scale–they lack empathy or social skills. They may laugh inappropriately or not seem saddened by a tragic moment. And there are those who have high EI and are very adept at navigating human interactions.

Yesterday’s attack on the Boston Marathon got me thinking about a variation of EI–what I am terming social media intelligence. The news was just awful, and coming out in dribs and drabs. On Twitter, there was a ton of  (mis)information. There was one bomb, then there were three. Was it domestic terrorism or did this have the hallmarks of Al Qaeda? Wild speculation abounded.

The people who have social media intelligence were the ones had reasonable responses and tweets. Some asked people to check their sources before tweeting and some asked others to refrain from posting exceedingly graphic images.

Those with low social media intelligence are the people that appear unaware how their communications affect their followers and who were busy re-tweeting thoughtlessly,  spreading rumors and even engaging in fear-mongering.

Another variation of low social media intelligence was being unaware that a big news event was happening and tweeting/posting about mundane, unrelated stuff. Unfortunately some of these are communications folks who have automated posts to send out press releases and other announcements. There is little that is as jarring as reading about an upcoming event  (join us for a spectacular fun-filled evening!) when simultaneously finding out that the nation’s oldest marathon has been targeted by terror. Some people (those with higher social media intelligence) called out this behavior.

Whether EI is learned or you are born with it is an open question. Social media intelligence on the other hand, can most certainly be learned. In fact, in today’s social media fueled information age, having this type of intelligence is an essential skill. Here are a few guidelines:

  • Be aware of what is going on and act accordingly. Don’t post without checking your feeds.
  • Don’t assume that everything you see on social media is true and deserving of re-posting. Double-check facts and sources.
  • Every social media network is different–post accordingly. Perhaps your personal trials and tribulations are best left to Facebook and taken off LinkedIn.
  • Remember that people can see your posts both in real-time and in the future.
  • Discussions on social media are not all about you. Remember the social in social media.

What would you add? What makes someone have social media intelligence? What are examples of lacking or having social media intelligence?

 

Getting “scroogled”

14 Mar
by Deborah Brody, posted in Blogs, social media   |  No Comments

I am sure you have probably seen Microsoft’s ad campaign against Google, where the company claims you are getting “scroogled” by Google. It is clever, and has some basis in reality. If you haven’t, one of the ads is for Outlook.com, which is being presented as an alternative to Gmail. The ad implies that Google is reading your “private” email to be able to target advertising to you.

I am not sure Microsoft is the correct alternative to Google, but I think they are on to something with the term “scroogled.” Google, which is ubiquitous, is desperately trying to get more people on its (useless in my opinion) Google Plus platform. To force you to join, they are now killing the extremely useful Google Reader.

I have been using Google Reader for years, and often advise attendees to my blogging workshops that they should set up a reader. I also think readers are the only way to keep up with blogs, since you may follow dozens (if not hundreds). Readers give you one place to see what is new. If you only follow one or two blogs, then getting email updates works.

Alternatives to Google Reader: Get one ASAP!

In any case, Google Reader will be gone as of July 1.  Luckily, there are some alternatives out there. Here are some reviews and compilations for you to check out:

CNET: 5 Worthy Alternatives

Silicon Angle: 6 Alternatives to the Dying Google Reader

Lifehacker: Google Reader is Shutting Down; Here Are the Best Alternatives

Don’t get “scroogled!”

The lesson I draw from this is that any free service is free to let you down in the end.  Many individuals and organizations put all their eggs in the proverbial free basket, and will suffer the consequences when organizations like Google and Facebook change the rules of the road whenever they like.  My advice is to make sure you own your own website or blog (don’t depend on Blogger or WordPress.com), have your own email (which you can usually get when you have your own domain and web hosting) and have alternatives to the free behemoths, which after all have their own agenda to push and ultimately, don’t care about your needs and wants.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel that Google is treating you fairly?

 

 

Invigorate your organization’s blog

05 Feb
by Deborah Brody, posted in Blogs, Communication, social media   |  No Comments

Is your organization’s blog feeling tired? Perhaps it’s time to try  a few new things like soliciting guest blog posts, or live blogging a conference. Read the five tips to re-invigorate your blog that I share as a guest blogger at Bates Creative Group‘s Align blog.

My thanks to Director of Business Development Heather Shelton and Marketing Specialist Amanda Jennison of Bates Creative Group for including me in their blog!

 

How to tweet like a marketer

22 Jan
by Deborah Brody, posted in Communication, Marketing, social media, Twitter   |  2 Comments

Yesterday, about 1.1 million tweets were posted regarding President Barack Obama’s Inauguration ceremony. That’s a lot of tweets! People commented on everything from Michelle Obama’s coat to Richard Blanco’s poem to Beyonce’s rendition of the National Anthem.

As I watched the Inauguration ceremonies and followed my Twitter stream (using the second screen), I noticed a  social media “expert” tweeting out content management tips. Then I noticed another marketing/social media person promoting a blog post, which had absolutely nothing to do with politics, Martin Luther King or inauguration. It struck me as dissonant.

I tweeted out that I was ignoring anything not Inaugural-related, and I thought anything regarding other topics would most likely get lost. This led to an exchange with Kathy Dodd, a Washington, DC-based marketer. It went like this:

Twitter conversation @dbmc and @kathydodd

So it wasn’t just me. What was happening was that those tweets were not following a main tenet of marketing communications: molding your message to the audience’s needs.  As Kathy said, the people putting out these messages were not being aware of outside events or of the timing involved.

In those tweets, there was nothing wrong with the message, but the message failed to have an impact. They came off as extraneous and irrelevant.

Twitter has often been described as one big cocktail party. Can you imagine if you were at a party where everyone was talking about the how much fun they were having at this event, and somebody crashed the party and announced that bananas were on sale across town. Everyone would shake their heads and continue talking about the party, no matter how much they liked bananas because it was a message that wasn’t suited to the occasion.

Perhaps the non-Inaugural tweets from yesterday were previously scheduled, we can’t really know. But what we do know is that they failed to achieve their goal (selling bananas if they were the party-crashers above) for one simple reason: the people tweeting were not thinking like marketers. Marketers want to make sure their messages get to the right people at the right time.

Here are some tips to tweet like a marketer:

  • Be aware of major events (some are scheduled and some are not) that will hold a majority of your target audience’s attention.
  • Time your tweets for when they are most likely to be well received. For example, if you are promoting your lunch specials, don’t do it at dinner time.
  • Be human, not an automaton. Remember it is social media.
  • Don’t talk at people; have a conversation with them.

What are your thoughts? Agree or disagree?

Dealing with the haters (on social media)

19 Dec
by Deborah Brody, posted in social media, Twitter   |  No Comments

Perhaps its a sign that our social fabric is stretched too thin. Perhaps people don’t know how to behave when they have the cover of social media. What is happening more and more is that people are expressing hate and hateful things to strangers on social media channels.

On Twitter, haters will search for ideas that they disagree with and then attack whoever tweeted those thoughts.  On blogs, people will leave nasty comments. On news sites, people will disparage others they disagree with. Social media seems rife with haters and trolls.

How do you deal with all these haters?

First, do NOT take these comments personally.

Second, ignore the hater/troll. Most of these people are attention-seekers or enjoy getting an angry reaction from others. On Twitter, go to the hater’s profile and block him or her. On your blog, discard the comment (you are under no obligation to provide a platform for others’ ideas, especially if they are contrary to your own and expressed in a disrespectful manner).  If feasible, delete the comments on Facebook.

I am not saying to get rid of all comments that show a different viewpoint or even that question you, just get rid of comments that are obviously motivated by hate or the desire to incite argument.

Third, move on. Social media is a constantly changing landscape, and what was interesting and hot five minutes ago may not be now.

How do you deal with haters or trolls? Would you add anything?

 

As easy as 1, 2, 3 (or not)

07 Dec
by Deborah Brody, posted in Marketing, social media   |  No Comments

Last week, I read a guest post on a popular PR blog that counseled people to spend 10 minutes a year on their LinkedIn profile and to schedule one or two tweets a day “to maintain a presence on Twitter.”

Can you do social media in a few minutes a year? Sure you can.  But, the question is not whether you can, it is whether you should. And if you think you can achieve good outcomes by doing it the easy way, you are in for a big surprise.

hard work 2

Photo by idlphoto from Flickr

Marketing in general, and social media marketing in particular, are not easy tasks. In fact, to achieve results, you have to spend lots of time and effort (and sometimes money too). Anybody who tells you you can do it a couple of minutes a day is lying to you (or maybe just misleading you).  Just having or maintaining a presence is simply not enough.

Your goal may be to just have a presence. But why would that be your goal? If you are marketing (yourself, a product, a cause, an idea), you probably have goal that involves movement (more followers, more buyers, more supporters). Just being is not going to move your goal very far forward.

Take Twitter. If you schedule your tweets and then do nothing else, what exactly are you achieving? Not engagement, that’s for sure. Twitter is a responsive platform. People comment and respond in real time. If you don’t participate in real time, and respond quickly, I am not sure you should be on Twitter at all. Beside the fact that one or two tweets a day will likely get missed, especially if there is something else going on (and breaking news breaks on Twitter).

Take LinkedIn. If you refresh your profile one time per year, and then don’t do anything else, you aren’t going to appear on the timeline. People will forget about you.

Perhaps what the guess blogger I referenced above was trying to say is that you have to have a minimum presence if you are going to participate in social media channels. However, you can’t and shouldn’t be satisfied with the minimum. You need to MAXIMIZE your presence if you are trying to achieve goals. And perhaps you don’t need to be on every social media channel. Perhaps you choose one or two where you can make an effort.

Social media marketing may be easy to understand, but it is not easy to achieve. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of effort. That’s a fact.

What are your thoughts? Do you think social media marketing can be accomplished easily? Do you think a minimum works? I would love your thoughts in the comments.

Can you sell on social media?

20 Sep
by Deborah Brody, posted in advertising, social media   |  No Comments

All sort of companies sell (sponsored Tweets, for example) on social media, so a better question is should you? In my opinion, the answer is no.

Wedding crashers

Think of it this way: you are at a wedding reception. You are busy chatting with relatives you haven’t seen in ages while enjoying one or two glasses of champagne. Then, someone (think of this person as a wedding crasher) pops up, out of nowhere, and starts discussing health insurance options with you. First, you know this person is not invited to the wedding. Second, this person is a buzz kill. Right?

Time and place

Same thing happens when you are on Facebook or Twitter and someone you don’t know is talking to you about something you don’t want to discuss right then.  And the truth is you may be interested in the product or service being offered, but the time and place are all wrong. It is wrong because you are on social networks to be social. You are not there to shop.

Are you pushing?

This is not to say you can’t market or communicate with target audiences on social networks. If your emphasis is brand awareness or image building, I think social networks can be hugely helpful. But selling is a “push.” And people don’t like to pushed when they are relaxed.

Perhaps this a personal bias of mine, but I don’t like being sold in general. The other day I was doing a bit of shopping at Tysons Corner (and I was in the buying mode), and I got hawked walking from store to store from the various vendors who sell their wares from carts. I found it hugely annoying (one of them even asked me if was lazy because I didn’t have a manicure and she was selling a manicure kit).

Do you think selling on social networks is effective? Have you bought something that was advertised to you on a social network?

3 Rs: Who to avoid on social media

06 Sep
by Deborah Brody, posted in Communication, social media, Web 2.0   |  No Comments

My Google reader has more than 100 subscriptions. On Twitter, I follow more than 1000 folks. I also have connections on LinkedIn and pages I have liked on Facebook. All in all that is a lot of content to which I am exposed each day.

I have come to realize there are three types of content providers that I just don’t have time for. They are the raconteurs, the recyclers and the reprobates.  They seem to be everywhere and I just want to avoid them!

Raconteurs

Raconteurs like to make a fuss. They are there to criticize anything and anybody just to get a rise out of their readers. There is one writer in particular who is such an extreme example of this that I recognize him from his blog titles alone (things like “Are we really better off today?” or “The Gender Gap is a Myth”) which are designed to perk your interest because they AIM to be controversial. The sad thing is many raconteurs are seeking controversy not to enlighten but to rile up.

Recyclers

These are not your environmentally-friendly folks, looking to reduce, reuse and recycle cans, bottles and paper.  Instead, these are idea recyclers. They are so devoid of original thought that they recycle ideas posted by other folks and pass them off as their own. A couple of weeks ago,  the big rage on Twitter was an article from Fast Company on how to be more productive. Now, there is nothing wrong with re-posting or retweeting that information (heck, we all want to get more out of days it seems). What is bad is taking the content but changing the title, taking only the main points,  or whatever and passing it off as your own post. There’s a blogger,  often featured on a blog I read regularly, who is a mistress of this format. If it was all over Twitter yesterday, she is posting about it today.

Reprobates

Reprobates are people who just post nasty stuff–either because they think it is amusing or because they are seeking to shock. Mostly, they love to use obscenity in their tweets and their posts. The more f-bombs they can cram into a paragraph the better.  Reprobates also make inappropriate remarks about serious or sensitive topics– like the CNN guy who called the Democratic National Convention “The Vagina Monologues.”

Do you have some of these in your content stream? Do you have types of bloggers/Tweeters that you avoid? Let me know in the comments.

Is social media making us more passive-aggressive?

27 Aug
by Deborah Brody, posted in New Media, social media   |  No Comments

If you are on Twitter, chances are you’ve seen tweets like this:

Hey smelly guy on the Metro, invest in some deodorant!

This girl at the gym is hogging the machines. 

People are tapping away their snide commentary on their smartphones, knowing full well that the person they are discussing will never see these commentaries or know he or she was being discussed at all.

People seem to be avoiding a confrontation. Or maybe the are avoiding an uncomfortable conversation. People seem to be expressing anger and distaste quite passively–by sharing it on Twitter– without actually solving the situation.

Perhaps this avoidant behavior is related to technology. Over the weekend, the Washington Post ran an article regarding entitled “It’s over. Didn’t You Get My Text?” (weirdly, the digital article is titled differently: “The Art of the Digital Breakup”).  More and more, people are hiding behind their gadgets and avoiding talking to each other, especially about difficult things. In the article, Lisa Bonos writes:

And it’s not unheard of for Facebook users to get news about their romances when the other person changes his or her status…

Bonos says that digital rejections seem easier because there is no interruption or arguments. But, it could be painful for the “dumpee” since there was no chance to interact, to ask questions.

I see it all the time (and have been guilty of myself): using email or social media to say something that we couldn’t say to someone face to face.

It’s affecting conversations for sure. But more distressing to me is that it seems to be affecting empathy and connection with other people. We figure that if we “like” something on Facebook, then we’ve connected with someone. But have we? Not really.  I have seen many people who say they would rather text than talk. Some people even prefer posting things on social media to communicate with lots of people at once instead of bothering to talk to friends individually.

In the end, social media may not be MAKING us more passive-aggressive or socially awkward, perhaps it only exacerbates what was already there. And for me, social media has been the springboard to more meaningful personal connection. Sadly though, there are far too many people hiding behind their gadgets, making snide comments rather than confronting or connecting with other people.

What do you think? Have you seen the rise in passive-aggressive behavior? Does it affect you?

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