Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

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.”

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.

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

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.