Jul 31, 2009

Boris at TheNextWeb.com posted an awesome image from @armano. It is pretty self explanatory.

Twitter vs. Facebook: What you know vs. Who you know?

Thomas Crampton at Social Media Today conducted a very interesting study with the following deduction:

I think it is a very interesting concept that I tend to agree with. I follow mostly subject matter experts (SMEs) on Twitter with several of my “real life friends” (for lack of a better word) and mostly friends on Facebook. I don’t focus at all on thought leadership or building expertise on Facebook either which further supports this conclusion.

It is definitely worth reading!

Note: The study’s conclusions are from video links which isn’t entirely representative, but I do agree with the findings.

Social Media Practitioners: Your help is needed!

Help Social Media.

They say social media is dying. They say social media has too much publicity. They say nobody really knows what social media is. Is that what you say?

The Situation

If you haven’t heard, NC State has added a social media course to its MBA Curriculum. For those in the Raleigh area and the many @triangletweetup folks, this is great news! MBA 590 Social Networks and Web 2.0 Media in Marketing will serve as a trendsetting course exploring all things social media, virtual world, and Web 2.0.

The Kicker

I’ve worked with Claudia Kimbrough for years in various Marketing courses at NC State and am fortunate enough to be a Visiting Lecturer for this course. Having dipped my toes in social media, I’m smart enough to know that I don’t know everything. There are tons of subject matter experts, and even a large number within driving distance to the NCSU campuses. This leads me to my main point.

The Call to Action

With most of us having full-time jobs, massive amounts of responsibility, and priorities involving multiple departments in our organizations, social media has become a great personal branding outlet. You can show your expertise, offer insight, connect to others, and build your network. This is where we need your help.

Social media by nature is a living, breathing creature that is constantly evolving. We want to keep this course fresh, up to date, and balanced. This post is going to serve as a stake in the ground. I’m appealing to you, the social media practitioners to propose what you feel should be included in this course. It could be a number of things:

A core concept
A fundamental tool or product
An up and coming strategy
A social media network
Things to avoid doing or practicing
Tips for successful implementation

You are all smart people. Please help us continue to add value to this course by suggesting what you would like to see included. We may even call on some of you to join us in class for a session and impart your knowledge!

Trust is also important. I can assure you that anything you suggest will be credited to you. Whether it is in a course slideshow, or teaching a concept, we will make it a point to stress who suggested that “module” and help to increase your personal brand.

The fact that the course itself can be a social media outlet by having interactive content and suggestions is exciting. I hope that some of you find this as appealing as I do. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Please help and post your feedback or suggestions below.

Why Companies FAIL at Social Media in One Word

BALANCE

More precisely, a lack of balancing social media efforts with clearly focused company objectives. Social media is growing rapidly. It’s exciting. It’s scary. It’s changing the way companies are viewed, presented, and talked about. There are a fair number of companies that are skeptical at how social media can benefit them and a large number of organizations that are so excited about this new “trend” that they rush forward blindly at 100 miles per hour. Lists and acronyms are easy to remember, so I’ll try to make this simple. Here are four things to consider to help establish balance and prevent your company from FAILing with social media.

1. Focus

What are your goals of using social media? How can you connect and participate to improve your brand? Which outlets best serve your purpose (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc)? What is your 30 second elevator speech for why you use social media? If you can’t answer each of those questions, you aren’t focused. Remember the 6 P’s: Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. You won’t use every social media outlet in the world, if you try, you’ll fail. Find places where you can make an impact and that relate to your goals or needs.

2. Anticipate

What will be going on at your company over the next year? Are you starting a blog? Are you launching a new product? Are you gathering marketing research? Do you anticipate any customer feedback, positive or negative? I’m guessing Nostradamus isn’t on your payroll, but try to anticipate where you’ll be and what can happen and align those things with your efforts. Social media is growing rapidly because it is interactive. It’s collaborative. It is the largest scale cocreation campaign in the world. Find where you fit in and be proactive with your approach to social media.

3. Interact

How can you improve your brand perception? What can you offer to a customer? How can you help with training? How will you handle negative feedback or complaints? Please know that interacting with your customers, potential customers, industry leaders, or just generally interesting people is one of the biggest benefits of social media! This is not a one-way conversation. This is not an advertising push. This is not an infomercial about your company. How else could I have some insight as to what Shaq is doing every day, or how a conference is going for David Armano and Chris Brogan, or even what Andy Beal is reading? Social media gives you a window into places that you couldn’t get to before and if you are smart with how you interact in this environment, you will learn a lot!

4. Listen

What are people saying about your company? What are people saying about your industry? How can you contribute to their conversation? Let’s be honest, if you don’t listen, you won’t ever engage anyone. If you want bananas and I’m talking about oranges, I’m not improving your daily experience. People talk. Ask Tropicana, Pepsi or Motrin if people talk. These are big brands obviously, but if people aren’t talking about you…do something to make them talk about you and listen to what they say.

Hopefully you can remember this short four pointed acronym and apply it to your social media campaign!

Focus
Anticipate
Interact
Listen

Did you know that 93% of Americans want companies to have a social media presence? Read more.

My Favorite Super Bowl Ads of 2009 (XLIII)

Super Bowl 43 was a memorable one.

It was an excellent game that went down to the wire. Some commercials also stood out despite the dire economic situation. Below you’ll find some of my favorites. Enjoy!