The Definitive Post on Social Media: My Two Cents

Any conversation about marketing and communications strategy these days involves social media. This is as it should be; social media is an important component of any marketing (big M) and communications (capital C) strategy. In this blog post you'll discover why I (and many savvy marcomm pros) believe social media is way overhyped and overrated.

When you've finished reading this post, please add your comment.

This blog entry is inspired by a truly insightful article at TECHi.

To be done engagingly, effectively, and consistently, social media marketing must be a full-time job. Small business owners can't do it full time; they haven't the resources. The best they can do is hire someone, generally a self-described "Social Media Expert", who claims to know how to establish a small business' social media footprint but doesn't take the time to know the business. PR Agencies and Ad Agencies are falling over themselves to hire "social media managers", usually fresh-out-of-college graduates who've never planned or managed a comprehensive marketing communications strategy.

What small business owners need to do is FIRST, carefully consider their target audiences and available resources and SECOND, determine the social media platforms that give your business the most visibility. Don't rush to be on Facebook if you're not updating your status daily. Don't fly to Twitter if you're not Tweeting several times a day. Don't be on YouTube if you've got no compelling videos. Don't be on LinkedIn if you're not answering questions, participating in discussions, or completing your profile. Not all platforms are relevant or appropriate for every business.

Choose wisely, because if you seek to be everywhere in social media you'll get nowhere.

One social media approach doesn't fit all, and if some self-proclaimed expert suggests you need to be everywhere, she or he has just indicated to you their fundamental misunderstanding of the marketing and communications purpose of social media. It's one component of a carefully considered and thoughtfully implemented marketing and communications strategy: Not a panacea.

Small business owners, marketers, social media experts: What do you think?

Editorial Decisions at Facebook Reek of Censorship

Today I had a confrontation with Facebook. The confrontation was based on a post I listed regarding the recall by Kellogg Co. of 28 million boxes of their sugar cereals (here's a link to the article in the Wall Street Journal).

Facebook's actions regarding my posts on this legitimate news story--one which certainly could affect the millions of people who enjoy sugar cereals produced by Kellogg Co.--smack of the worst kind of censorship. You'll read the postings below and decide for yourself, but as a marketer with some experience in the opaque relationships between social media companies and companies trying to sell products (like Kellogg Co.), Facebook's arbitrary and capricious squelching of the facts should alarm all of us who use the platform.

Here's my first post, made at 2:23 PM today:
Kellogg Co. today recalled about 28 million boxes of cereal largely marketed to children out of concern that unpleasant smells and flavors emanating from the boxes' plastic packaging could be causing nausea and diarrhea. Hmmm. Maybe it's all those processed foods in the box that's contributing to the nausea?!

The post lasted about 13 minutes on the news feed, when suddenly it disappeared.

Noticing that my original post has mysteriously disappeared, at 2:38 I posted this:
Conspiracy theory o' the day: Bruce posts on FB a true (but disparaging) comment about Kellogg Co.'s recall of 28 million boxes of sugar-infused cereal. Post is on FB for ten minutes. Post mysteriously disappears from News Feed but remains on Bruce's profile. Question: What is FB's relationship with Kellogg Co.?

Apparently my first post alerted the Facebook Censors, because my second post only lasted less than four minutes on the news feed.

I figured Facebook might want to see the actual source of this information, the venerable Wall Street Journal, so at 2:41 I posted the following:
Dear FB editors: Here's the link to the article about the Kellogg Co.'s recall. Please explain why you are selectively removing my factual posts. What you're doing is censorship, pure and simple. I'm sure Mr. Zuckerberg would have something to say about that.

My friends, like the USSR's Izvestia or Pravda, like the Dear Leader in North Korea, or like any of the other powerful regimes (legislative or commercial) that have throughout history sought with varying degrees of success to suppress the truth, it's painfully apparent that Facebook only wants you to see content that it deems appropriate.

What Happens When Twitter and Facebook Go Down

As anyone (and that's almost everyone) who uses Facebook or Twitter knows, yesterday both services went temporarily offline due to a hacker attack. Not coincidentally, I was unusually productive during the eclipse of service, causing me to remember those halcyon days in the pre-timesuck era, when Facebook and Twitter were known as "personal business" not to be conducted at work.

Anyway, my non-Facebook (and taciturn Twitterer) friend Steve the New Guy (writer and editor for the award-winning publication Heath Plan Week) responded to my productivity with the following (not so tongue-in-cheek) press release:

* * *
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON — Aug. 7, 2009: Work productivity spiked dramatically yesterday within the Communications and Outreach division of the Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program office, according to an internal departmental review conducted by the Massachusetts Institute for Technology. Also on August 6, social networking sites Twitter and Facebook were offline most of the day.

Bruce Mendelsohn, Director of the Communications and Outreach office, denied there was a link between the increased output within his department and the downed Internet sites. The productivity increase was not seen in any other MIT departments, according to the study.

* * *

It's true: The most amusing jokes contain a grain of truth.

Three Easy and Affordable Ways to Position Your Marketing and Communications for 2009

The turning calendar year inevitably brings with it a tidal wave of retrospectives, guides, and lists about how you can do better—or differently—in the coming year. Every source purports to be expert; every “how-to” article authoritative.

Well, friends, as you’ve read in my blog, that ain’t me. I don’t pretend that what you’re about to read is the authoritative article on how to plan your marketing and communications efforts so they’ll generate measurable and quantifiable results in 2009. You can get that guesswork elsewhere; I won’t waste your precious time with it here.

What you will get are three simple ways to position your marketing and communications efforts to meet—and hopefully overcome—the challenges of 2009. Taking these three steps won’t cost a lot of money, either: Odds are some whiz-kid on your staff knows all about website coding and social networking; he or she will embrace the opportunity to implement some of “your” ideas.

Start with the assumption that the first six months of the year will remain economically moribund. We’re looking at a U-shaped bottom; the economy should start to rebound in the third quarter. Consumers will probably not regain much confidence until late in the fourth quarter—hopefully around the time the holiday spending binge kicks in.

So what do you need to do in the first 6-9 months of 2009 to prepare marketing and communications strategies and tactics that match the economy’s projected path?

Here are three simple and cost-conscious steps you can take now—-and build on in the coming months—-to position your marketing and communications for 2009:

1) PASS your web-based communications:
According to a new survey from Larstan Business Reports, the online communications market is growing at nearly 100% a year. Your web-based communications plays an increasingly critical role in marketing, communications and especially in sales.
Your website is your public face; it’s the first place potential customers interact with you and your product. Of course you know the KISS method; when it comes to websites, I advise my clients to use what I call the PASS method:

• Perfection is your goal: Make sure your content is perfectly aligned with your messaging. Use short sentences and clear, compelling grammar. Make it easy to navigate. Make key information easily accessible (no more than two clicks drilling down). Eliminate spelling errors. Feature concise calls to action.

• Analytics, Adhesivity, Accuracy, Attractiveness: Use Google Analytics (it’s free!) to track traffic to each page of your site. Determine what’s popular and what isn’t. Keep the popular and fix (or jettison) the unpopular. Focus not on website hits but unique visitors and time on site. Check your competitors’ numbers at sites like Compete.com, Quantcast.com, or Popuri.us. Make your site adhesive, accurate and attractive.

• Simplicity is king: The more complex your site, the harder to convey your unique sales proposition. Look at your site critically: Do you have too many pages for the message(s) you’re trying to convey? If so, downsize your website. After all, you don’t spend time clicking through your favorite sites—why should you require your customers to?!

• Separate your site from your competition: Yes, I know, you’re doing this already. Your content is better, your navigability simpler, your product better, blah blah blah. Well, how about doing a low- or no-cost thing like putting your company logo in the web browser’s URL window box? Or featuring your logo on every page, rather than just the home page? Leverage every opportunity to separate and distinguish your company and your product from your competition.

2) Social networking:
This one’s easy, cheap and highly effective. Remember, it doesn’t matter how great you say you are; far more meaningful are comments from others about how great you are.
Use Flickr to post photos of your customers interacting with your product; of your staff at work; etc. Use Facebook, MySpace, or Bebo to create an interest group around your product or company. Use LinkedIn to generate professional interest in your company or product. Expand your personal and professional network through Plaxo, Naymz, Brightfuse, or others. Generate content exclusively for your “friends” and “groupies”. Use social networking sites to generate loyalty and business.

3) Customer contact:
In challenging times, surveys show that nothing is more important than empathy and the quality of your communications efforts to build trust and long-term loyalty between your business and your customers. Here are just two of many suggestions to increase your contact with customers.
• Make your newsletter shorter and send it more often—at least twice a month. Fill it with discounts for loyal customers—make these soft sell offers to reflect your empathy for the tough economic times. Every issue, feature a photo and Q&A with a loyal customer; repurpose that content for your website, Facebook site, LinkedIn group, etc. If your customer has a Facebook site, post the feature on his or her wall. Show your customers you care.
• Advertise carefully: Revisit your advertising plan. You don’t need a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal (Bob Nardelli and Chrysler, note!) to underscore your company’s value. Advertising in niche publications is cheaper and more effective—plus more likely to reach your target audience. Online, invest in a long-term Google Adwords campaign.

Do these three things right, integrate them, and your marketing and communications efforts can generate positive results as we navigate next year’s uncharted and murky water.