Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

This post isn’t exactly ‘publish or perish,’ but it is definitely born of a push to publish. It’s been weeks since my last confession here. I’m hoping an explanatory post will help those who’ve:

• Been awaiting a response to an overdue email from me
• Gotten used to a certain rhythm of tweets
• Been wondering why I’m almost impossible to schedule these days

…to understand why. But mostly, this post is to help me feel better about finally being back here, blogging.

Full-time Focus

It seems I’m a contrarian once again: millions are leaving corporate work. I’ve just taken a five-month, full-time assignment within a corporation.

Just as social media has heated to the point where I have been invited to speak almost every week on the subject; my focus has shifted (for the past few weeks anyway) to traditional marketing strategy and best-practices in communications.

And I must say, I love the pace, the practice, and the product. (And, apparently, alliterations.)

I’m reticent to say exactly whom I’m working for yet - especially in such a public forum. But I shall “let the cat out of the bag” as soon as possible. I’m just awaiting permission. I hold client trust and confidentiality dear. I’m not one to speak about any client without express permission. Patience, please…

Missing Social Media

As a result, I’ve lived almost completely off the social media grid for weeks. It’s been an interesting hiatus. As time has gone by, I’ve gotten increasingly twitchy about my social interactions.

Not so much on Facebook or Twitter, but here. On my blog. Which has surprised me.

I’ve spent more time on Twitter recently, and have really appreciated the discipline and creativity of 140 characters. And (as a business tool) I’ve been a huge proponent of clients exploring the possibilities of the micro-blogging platform. So those who’ve listened to me for years might be surprised at the fact that I’m really

Missing my Blog…

My blog! I actually have been:

• Visualizing the date listings down the side of the page here, each day wondering when July 2009 will show up in the Archives… list.
• Trying to imagine what I’d write about next that would make George Dearing want to syndicate another post over on his Content Management Connection blog. (He’s got fabulous taste, and is selective, so this one won’t show up over there…)
• Ruminating mostly, though, about my readers; two of whom encouraged me to just get back to writing. (Thanks again, Jeremy and Georell!)

Turns out my blog is a real relationship… Between me and my thoughts. Between me and my readers. It’s sometimes a conversation, and sometimes a voice in the wilderness. But it’s a relationship I’ve nurtured for almost five years now.

So tonight I feel better. Not for the Archives… list being updated. Nor for the content (or lack thereof) of this particular post. I feel better for my reconnection to this relationship. This is a purely selfish post.

Sometimes, simply doing the thing you really miss is enough.

What does the business media think about Twitter? Three stories will help you understand.

A Deep Dive into Twitter

1) Time Magazine’s cover article “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live” starts out with one of the best first lines I’ve ever read about Twitter:

“The one thing you can say for certain about Twitter is that it makes a terrible first impression…”

And it goes on to talk about the incredible innovation that’s happened around the Twitter platform in the past two years, with more than 11,000 applications built using Twitter - my favorite example on NPR a couple of weeks ago was one that helps plants Tweet when they need water - and the fact that users created the @ reply convention that turned Twitter from a broadcast-only medium to a conversation medium.

….And don’t get me started about the usefulness of hashtags - which Twitter users also came up with - capturing events or topics for immediate recall. Take a look at the #140tc conference tweets from a couple of weeks ago for an example of a Twitter conference unfolding before your eyes.

Editors Embrace Twitter

2) A little blurb from The Daily Beast that covers the fact that Twitter usage - via TweetDeck - has taken down the NY Times computer system:

“Further proof that print-based communication are on their way out? At the offices of The New York Times, Twitter usage has become so rampant that it brought down the Gray Lady’s computer system…. NYT stopped short of actually discouraging the use of Twitter, promising to look for an alternative that is “both safe and easy to use, for both casual and power users.” Admitting you have a problem is the first and hardest step.” - Gawker

Anyone who thinks editors and analysts don’t use Twitter is completely and utterly wrong. So marketers better learn how to use this medium to reach the media.

Hint: a pitch in 140 characters is a complete relief to most journalists!

How Twitter Compares to Other Social Networks

3) And then there’s the Harvard Business Review weighing in on Twitter’s usage and demographics, telling us:

“Twitter’s usage patterns are also very different from a typical on-line social network. A typical Twitter user contributes very rarely. Among Twitter users, the median number of lifetime tweets per user is one. This translates into over half of Twitter users tweeting less than once every 74 days.

….At the same time there is a small contingent of users who are very active. Specifically, the top 10% of prolific Twitter users accounted for over 90% of tweets. On a typical online social network, the top 10% of users account for 30% of all production.”

To sum up all three articles, we are only beginning to see the innovation and usage of Twitter. Just as the media jumped into the blogosphere years before business did, so are they jumping into the Twitterverse. Apparently Robert Scoble said the following at the #140tc conference (I saw it quoted from my desk here in Portland, and it’s been haunting me since):

“…we are at the command-line era of Twitter.”

What You can Do About Twitter

So what should people do about it? Well, first, go grab your brand’s handle on Twitter. I’d argue that that’s what’s driving most of the HBR’s findings… people are gearing up, trying to find meaning, and preparing to get over that first awful impression.

I’ll be covering how to get started on Twitter in a full-day, hands-on social media workshop June 19 here in Portland.

Would love to have you join us and learn how to get started so it suits you and your business.

People are starting to wonder how they might get the word out about the social media surrounding events these days. For example, attendees who Tweet would surely want to learn what the hashtag for an event might be.

I was privy to an email from the folks running the recent SOCAP conference last month that I think did a wonderful job of socializing the event before hand, and thought I’d share it here…

It came the “old fashioned” (yet incredibly effective) way - via email. Use this as a template:

Are you planning to attend the 2009 Symposium and are interested in sharing ideas from the conference? Or are you unable to attend the Symposium but still want to be a part of the great conference discussions and networking opportunities?

Whether or not you plan to attend the conference, SOCAP International is pleased to bring the 2009 Symposium to your desktop via social media! We are offering SOCAP members the opportunity to share and discuss ideas and topics from the conference using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and/or our NEW SOCAP blog. The SOCAP home page will also host a feed from our blog so you can read posted comments about the Symposium.

Using the SOCAP Communities blog, Symposium attendees can share their best takeaways and networking with the entire SOCAP membership.  And since blogging is not just a one way conversation, comments are encouraged from everybody—whether you are onsite at the Symposium or sitting at your desk at work.  Blogging at the Symposium is a great way to keep the discussions going about SOCAP’s new industry benchmarking survey, our relevant sessions and our great industry speakers.

Using SOCAP’s social media tools for the Symposium is simple and convenient:

• You can become one of SOCAP’s official Symposium bloggers. Check our blog information page to learn more, and contact us for specific details on how to get started with the SOCAP blog.
• You can subscribe to the RSS Feed, read the blog feed on SOCAP’s home page or keep checking the blog during the Symposium and participate in the conversation. Subscribing to the feed will enable you to read blog posts from the convenience of Microsoft Outlook or a Web reader of your choosing. See our RSS instruction page to learn more.
• Using SOCAP’s Twitter identifier for the Symposium, #symp09, any attendee or offsite participant can share brief comments about the conference in real time. The #symp09 identifier makes it easy for other participants to find what people are saying about the Symposium. Check our Twitter instruction page to learn how you can follow or participate in this conversation.
• SOCAP’s Facebook fans and LinkedIn group members will receive frequent updates. Check our Facebook and LinkedIn instruction pages to learn how to join these communities.

No matter where you feel most at home in the Web 2.0 world—on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or reading a feed—SOCAP has a place where you can follow and discuss the Symposium as it happens.

SOCAP is here to help you with any questions you may have. Contact us for assistance or for more information on how you can participate, whether you can make it to the Symposium or not.

You can follow their lead - and check out their blog for some great information on customer service via social media means. (BTW, I never recommend following an event on a mobile phone, as SOCAP does on their Twitter instruction page… Especially one that I live-Tweet… it’d drive you nuts!)

I’m speaking on a panel today at the annual SOCAP symposium in Chicago. Academic Network, a Stericycle company, invited me to join other panelists in talking about social media in food recall situations, and I’m going to live tweet the day’s events.

Follow my tweets @academicnetwork or use the #symp09 hashtag. I know I’ll learn a ton today, and hope to share some social media in action…

According to Nielsen NetView, US traffic to Twitter grew 1382% between February 2008 and February 2009 — from 475,000 unique visitors to 7 million, and it’s not slowing down. (By comparison, Facebook grew “only” 228%.)

The age 25-49 demos comprise over 60 percent of visitors, and almost a quarter are 55-plus (although I have an issue with their scale - the 50-54 year olds seem to be missing…)

Average visit time low

I found this interesting, and a low consumption use as far as those I know who Tweet:

“In January, 735,000 unique visitors accessed the Twitter Web site through their mobile phones. The average unique visitor went to Twitter.com 14 times during the month and spent an average of seven minutes on the site.”