Flashback Friday :: The Business of Social Media (circa 2011)
Patrick Daly
Insightful Technology Leader and Business Partner | SVP of Information Technology
Since it's Friday, I thought I'd share a post I wrote previously that provides a peek back at the landscape of social media as it existed back in 2011. This article combines the three-part series that I wrote as a follow-up to a talk I gave to the Arizona Retailers Association in November of 2011 on the topic of using social media for business. As you'll notice, there have been many changes over the past dozen years, but, surprisingly, some things haven't changed too much.
So, grab your coffee, or other beverage of choice (since it's likely 5 o'clock somewhere), and enjoy the journey in the "wayback" machine.
The Business of Social Media :: Part I
Original Post Date: December 12, 2011
I recently gave a talk to the Arizona Retailers Association in November with a focus on concepts for using social media in business for a group that was a bit new to the medium and I’ve outlined the first set of some of the key points from that talk below. ?The ARA includes a variety of representatives from small businesses to large, well-known companies and provided a great audience that brought some good questions.
We started with the most basic question:?What is social media?
In short, it’s the variety of user-created content, which covers text, photos and video, that anyone can publish. ?And that does mean ANYONE! ?The barriers to publication are long gone and it’s only gotten easier to publish more content from almost anywhere.
If you have an online connection, you’re connected. ?Whether it’s your?YouTube?video channel, photos on?Flickr?or short text posts on?Twitter?— or all three right here on?Tumblr.
So, if that’s the?what, what about the?why?
If you go back to the definition, social media, which some will argue is just ‘media,’ is essentially a way to communicate and share. ?That communication might be bi-directional or focused in one direction, driven by context.
Depending on your goals, which are normally focused on personal, you’ll have a variety of reasons. ?Follow the thought leaders in your industry, get in tune with your customers or find channels for targeted advertising. ?There are ways to expand your brand, test messages or get involved.
The important part is to define your goals. ?The variety of social media platforms, and supporting applications like?Hootsuite, provide tools that should complement each other and your existing communications. ?However, if you don’t define your goals, you won’t be able to measure for success and adjust as a you learn from your interactions.
I’ll stop here, but this is just the start on a topic that’s nearly endless. ?Stay tuned over the coming days for more material from our November talk, which I’ll expand on further.
In the meantime, dive in. ?There’s no time like the present.
The Business of Social Media :: Part II
Original Post Date: December 15, 2011
As promised earlier in the week, I’m posting the second installment in this series, based on the talk I gave in November for the Arizona Retailers Association. ?Today, I’m focusing on where to start and ideas for choosing the right platform.
In the previous post, we left off with the need to define your goals, which is truly the place to start. Don’t put on the brakes and let analysis paralysis keep you from getting started, but you do need to have a reasonable set of goals in mind. ?It’s those goals that serve as your landmarks against which you map your strategy.
For some of you, your primary goal might mean expanding your brand through visibility and recognition, or engaging with your customers to build a loyal following that can influence others to become new customers. In that vein, here are some ideas of the types of opportunities you’ll have with many of the current major platforms, broken down by category.
Blogs/General Publishing
Once upon a time, getting published normally meant leaping tall hurdles to convince someone, like an editor or publisher, to print your work. ?That time is long past with so many choices now available that allow you to put up anything you want in a matter of seconds. And, by anything, I do mean?ANYTHING. ?Poof… you’re published.
You can use these platforms to publish information, whether it’s sharing a tip about how to best use a particular tool or an editorial about recent news that impacts your industry, which gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise to help grow your reputation.
Best uses: Self-publishing articles; Outbound messaging.
Community Networking and Sharing
I consider these platforms, including Twitter, the bread and butter of the overall social network. ?These are the platforms that have drawn the most traffic, which means the largest audiences. Find where your customers or colleagues are spending there time, and you’ll have found your true audience. ?MySpace also fits this space, but their relevance?has been on a steady decline since Facebook established their foothold.
Best uses: Building supporters and brand recognition; General Networking; Follow industry information (most platforms); Outbound messaging; Targeted advertising (most platforms); Participate in conversations.
Media Sharing (Photos/Video)
Examples:?Flickr,?Photobucket,?Picasa,?YouTube
Sharing is about much more than just words. ?Just like a picture might be worth a thousand words, seeing is truly believing. ?And it doesn’t matter where you are, or where your audience lives in the physical word, sharing rich content gives you unlimited ways to share your story.
Best uses: Sharing of Integrated Media; Brand reinforcement; Advanced ‘Storytelling’; Training.
Microblogging
Examples:?Twitter
I separated out Twitter from the standard blogging or publishing apps given the somewhat unique nature of this platform. ?There may be other similar sites that allow publishing of short messages, which is what drove the term ‘microblogging,’ but none have caught on like Twitter.
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The constraint of 140 characters has driven people to become more efficient in their communication, resulting in what’s almost become a brand new language.?Add in hashtags (e.g. #hashtag) and the convention for targeting a message recipient by adding the @ symbol to the front (e.g.?@patrickdaly16), and you’ve built in a way to mark messages with keywords that become easier to find.?That constraint has also created opportunities for other related providers, such as link shortening services that compress long links into something much more compact.
Best uses: Outbound messaging;?Follow industry information;?Measuring customer sentiment; Brand reinforcement; Open customer service.
Wrapping it Up
This is really just a small sampling of the platforms and potential uses, and there are many other options in these categories.
Don’t forget, many new platforms are sprouting up everywhere, so it’s important to know that you may need to adjust your approach or expand to other channels over time. Information moves quickly, so be prepared to track to where your audience calls home.
In my next post, I’ll provide some additional general tips, such as integrating social media platforms into your overall strategy, to help guide you in taking your next steps.
The Business of Social Media :: Part III
Original Post Date: December 19, 2011
If you haven’t jumped into the swirling social media waters, the prospect of learning how to use yet another set of tools might be daunting. ?To help you on your way, I’ve provided some tips below that should give you a good basis to build on.
This is a quick list of five tips, but know that this is just a start. The variety of possibilities is limited only by your imagination.
Tip #1 – Integrate
Like we’ve seen with every new communication medium that has come along over the years, the ‘new’ ways don’t necessary provide a wholesale replacement for the ‘old’ ways. ?Instead, you’ll find the most success in integrating and aligning your social media efforts within your overall strategy that includes the more traditional channels.
After all, the introduction of television advertising didn’t kill print ads, nor did the rise of web sites. ?Instead, we’ve seen greater success with the use of new communication channels that is complementary existing modes. While approaches certainly did change, those that have mixed the new methods in with the old with well-defined goals have prospered.
Your voice and your messages should match what your customers or readers find in other channels. Consistency remains important.
And that right there is the one of the biggest keys.
Tip #2 – Be Authentic
Regardless of the channels that you use, you have to be authentic in your writing. If you aren’t, your readers will know and most will be turned off by that.
What does that mean?
Don’t adopt a demeanor that isn’t natural to your personality. A sickly sweet, ‘I’m always happy’ vibe won’t feel right to your readers if that doesn’t match you or your business.
Do use humor where it makes sense. Readers will be more likely to remember you if they can associate it with a good feeling. However, be careful, since we don’t always share the same idea of what is funny.
Do write for your audience. That’s always been the first rule of any piece of writing, and that remains unchanged regardless if you’re writing 140 words or 140 pages.
Tip #3 – Get Help
No, I’m not talking about that kind of help. No appointments and couches are necessary, unless you work best from your couch.
In this case, getting help means finding tools that will make your life easier. ?All of the social media platforms provide their own interfaces, but it’s the additional tools that will help you tie all of your channels together.
I’ll admit, it’s tougher to keep my information channels updated when they’re not integrated into my tools. Yes, Google+, I’m talking to you. The harder it is to complete your task, the less likely it is that you’ll finish it, so don’t make it hard.
I’ve gotten great results from?Hootsuite, which allows me to share information in multiple channels (like Twitter and Facebook) in one place. They support a variety of channels, with the ability to schedule times for your posts so that you can send your message at a pre-defined point in the future. Hootsuite also allows you to set up multiple users to manage content (most often using the paid version) and has added Google+ for paid subscribers, which I’m expecting to see filter to the free version.
Even if your goal is to follow and choose conversations to participate in, tools play an important role. ?There are many other options, so don’t hesitate to give a few a test drive. Most will provide a web-based interface along with support for the major mobile platforms so that you can stay in tune while on the go.
Tip #4 – Learn from Others
If you haven’t figured it out already, you’re not alone. Find resources that will help guide you. Use the experiences of others to your advantage and you’ll save yourself time, especially when trying to figure out the right solution to your situation.
Don’t forget to look at what others are doing. Find similar people or businesses for ideas about what and what not to do. You don’t have to copy others, but it’s certainly easier to generate ideas when you’re not staring at a blank slate.
Tip #5 – Do
Go. Move. Act.
Pick any word you want, but don’t stand still. Chances are that your competition is already moving, but that’s not the only reason.
You’re going to learn your best lessons through experience, and that won’t happen until you get started. Make sure you’re investing the appropriate amount of time in your ‘doing.’ A lack of commitment will quickly become obvious to everyone else and you’ll lose in the long run.
There are many other tips to share, some general and some more specific, but this is a great place to start. ?I’ll have more to provide in the future, but if you have a social media challenge that’s just begging for a solution, let me know.
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