Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

As I mentioned in my last post, so called ’social media experts’ are crawling out of the woodwork. I have certainly noticed a proliferation of individuals and agencies who’ve positioned themselves as such, and have met with many ’social media experts’ in the course of doing business.

I have also supported many agencies in developing social media skills internally and delivering social media expertise to their clients.

With thousands swarming to social media, how do you tell who’s really a ’social media expert’ from one who’s not?

In BusinessWeek’s Debunking Six Social Media Myths, author B.L. Ochman reviewed Robert Scoble’s (a real social media pioneer and very very nice guy) Twitter followers using Tweepsearch and found:

• 4,273 Internet marketers
• 1,652 social media marketers
• 513 social media consultants
• 272 social media strategists
• 180 social media experts
• 8 social media gurus
• 58 Internet marketing gurus

Ochman asked: “How many of them have actually created a successful campaign for clients using social media tools? I bet you’d be hard-pressed to find half a dozen with real track records.”

I’ll bet you would fine a few more than half a dozen… but believe me when I tell you:

Comparatively few of us have had real social media experience - the kind that thickens your skin, gives you real-world perspective and toughens your resolve….

As you’re contemplating getting help in the social media realm, ask your ’social media expert’ for proof of their social media expertise.

Here are a few questions I’d throw out there:

1. Tell me about your experience when something went wrong for you or a client in the social media realm
2. What did you do about it?
3. What did you learn from it?
4. How have you seen social media marketing change over the past few years?
5. What is your methodology for social media readiness?

As you look at social media options, look hard at your internal and external resources. And do not trust an expert who can’t back up their claim with real-world experience. We’re too early in this game, and there are too many mistakes yet to be made.

Most brands still need real sherpas to help us all up the social media climb.

If you’ve got a heartbeat and are looking to improve your business results in “today’s economic climate,” it’s likely you’re looking into social media these days. In the years I’ve been consulting and participating in social media, there’s never ever been more interest in the space, which is delightful to me.

But the reasons you should (or shouldn’t) try Twitter or Facebook or (insert the latest social media darling here) are often unclear - until you begin answering questions about your brand.

Amplifying Conversations Online

Social media are blogs, podcasts, videos, and news that enable people to participate with your brand by commenting, rating products (think Amazon) or statements (”like” is the new Black), by uploading files (think YouTube, Flickr).

As my esteemed colleague Dawn Foster notes:

“Social media is generated by the people and for the people with content created by anyone with a voice (average Joes, village idiots, respected journalists, CxOs, etc.).”

The important thing to note is that each of those groups are out in force online with loud, amplified voices. Putting your brand in their hands is exactly what you’re looking at when you’re looking at social media.

When people ask me for an overview of social media channels they might consider, I always start with the caveat that it will depend on their prospects and customers, and where they hang out. And then I’ll talk about specific types:

• LinkedIN is on the business-centric end of the scale of social media sites. Traditionally it’s been used for recruitment, hiring and general networking; but there’s a growing use of LinkedIN Answers that allows participants to develop thought leadership for their products, services and brands inside of LinkedIN.
• Business blogs are becoming more popular, with even the most regulated companies like banks and healthcare organizations entering the blogosphere - too often, these blogs are treated as extensions of the PR department’s mouthpiece, so fall flat in their potential to drive thought leadership and compel conversations about a market. Consumer trust of corporate blogs is dropping as a result.
• Facebook’s use by brands is growing quickly, as are the aging population demographics. Many large brands are exploring Facebook Pages and Groups where users can post their own content in support of their favorite products, groups, even cities.
• YouTube is arguably the most viewed social network. The #1 activity of people who are active in social networks is to watch videos online, according to Universal-McCann. More than 100M people watched videos on YouTube in October, 2008. The average visitor watched 92 videos in the month. Much of that activity was driven by the election, but the power of the medium to attract viewers is indisputable.
• Twitter, the popular microblogging site, has grown more than 750% in the past year, with 5K - 10K users joining every day. Twitter is oft used by customer service folks to make sure user experiences are good, and is a source of immediate hits of a brand’s online reputations - whether they’re good/bad/ugly. But with everyone jumping on the bandwagon (heck, you’ll even find John McCain Twittering - albeit “slowly”), it’s only a matter of time before the digerati leave it in droves.

When Social Media is Good:

1. Brand awareness - Skittles recently turned over their corporate web site to feeds from their Facebook page (with more than half a million fans) and Twitter (where they quickly found the dark side of social media - some people posted bad/nasty stuff just to be seen on the Skittles.com site. Remember Dawn’s ‘village idiots?’) But they got HUGE press as a result. Regardless of the adeptness of intention, awareness is one result.
2. Brand engagement - letting users interact with your brand is a great opportunity for your company to learn from your users and advocates - in areas like product development (asking questions about what customers would like to see in future products, etc.), research and stimulating awareness among their peers.
3. Thought leadership - when surgeons at Henry Ford hospital in Mass. Tweeted a surgery live, they got great press and were able to position themselves as innovative and forward-thinking.

When Social Media is Not Good:

1. When it doesn’t have the support of the leaders of your organization - you must get buy in and support from the folks at the top
2. When it doesn’t support the strategic goals of your business - that’s why you and I would start any social media conversation with a series of questions about your brand…
3. When your brand values are not embodied in every employee in the organization.

As I’ve told many people, had the social web been as active in 2000/2001 when I was at Enron, the folks in charge would never have been able to hide the things they did - precisely because of my last point. Neither the leaders nor the foot soldiers of any organization can be out of synch with the values their brand holds - and exhibits in the social web. There are too many opportunities for employees to share their observations and ideas in public.

Ping me when you’re ready to answer some questions. I’d love to have a fun discussion about your brand, and your values and objectives around it.

Then we’ll get to the social media stuff.

I just read a great article over on BusinessWeek called Debunking Six Social Media Myths (a must read for those who think social media marketing is a piece of cake) and found a very cool little tool called Tweepsearch mentioned in it. Basically, it allows you to put anyone’s user name into it, and it’ll pull up all their followers’ bios and city, and give you an idea of how the people who follow anyone characterize themselves.

Try it on your own followers… (here are mine…) it’s pretty cool.  I can see using it for profiling people I might want to follow or reach out to for more like them!

Okay, for those of you in health care that need a little reality check on the use of social media by doctors (who’ve embraced it in a big way)… check out this article on CNN that describes surgeons Tweeting their surgeries. From the article:

“Dr. Craig Rogers, the lead surgeon in the Henry Ford surgery, said the impetus for his Twittering was to let people know that a tumor can be removed without taking the entire kidney.

“We’re trying to use this as a way to get the word out,” Rogers said.”

Imagine! They use it as an educational tool for those of us looking for information. And check out people’s reactions to the #hfhor thread - they love it! I’m totally signed up to follow @HenryFordNews, and they tentatively plan to live Tweet another surgery on March 6.

And… in case you were wondering:

When I found this on Rhohit Bhargava’s Influential Marketing Blog, I was absolutely delighted. Because they’re dead on.

Personally, I’m at Stage 4 with Twitter most of the time, and fight to stay in Stage 5… I have ushered clients through Stages 1, 2 and 3 regularly, and hope they’ll figure out how to hit Stage 4 and 5 when they’re meaningful to them.

When you hit (or follow someone who’s hit) Stage 5, you will experience the true power of the Twitter experience.

To check your Stage, here’s what you should do… check your own personal Twitter profile every time you login. Ask yourself:

• What does your most recent page of Tweets say about you?
• Are you having meaningful conversations and publishing information of interest for others to read?
• Are you Re-Tweeting (RT) other people’s posts and replying to posts as much as you’re telling others what’s up with you?

As I’ve said before, with Twitter (and with any other social media tool) you’ve got to give to get. Seriously. The conversation economy is thriving because (as my friend Marsha noted in her comments here):

“Our brains are wired via 350,000 generations of community cooperation - looking out for one another.”

Let’s go online and help each other out. Keep me honest, folks… is my profile screaming Stage 5 to you?