In case you haven't heard, there is some bad news coming out of the Gulf of Mexico and the giant oil firm, BP, seems to have something to do with it.
What does a company do when they have a disaster on their hands and they are at fault? There is a tsunami of anger and condemnation being directed toward the company.
It is not a problem that they will ever be able to put behind them. Long after the leak is plugged and the tourists return to the beaches, there will be environmental damage for decades to come (or longer).
All that aside, could social media help BP begin the process of rebuilding its reputation and making amends to the many people impacted by their actions?
Here is a short list of things I would do if I were handling social media for BP:
I would hand out hundreds of Flip Camcorders to employees on the Gulf. I would ask them to document the work they are doing to help the people of the Gulf. As they hand out money, clean beaches and wetlands, lay out booms, and drill the relief well.
I would set up a blog to tell people what they are doing. Not the big picture corporate level actions, but name names of local fishermen or owners of charter boats who are now out of work. Reach out to these people as individuals who have names and families and businesses that they are losing.
Take videos and photos of BP executives and managers rolling up there sleeves and talking with ordinary people. Show the sweat. Show them working. Show concern on their faces.
Listen. That is the true strength of social media. Let people talk, let them vent, but listen and hear. Respond when you can, ask for contact information for follow ups and do what can be done for the individual callers.
Invite help and ideas. Involve the people effected by the oil spill in coming up with solutions. Explain the pros and cons of each plan. Treat people like adults.
Be open, transparent and accessible. Keep nothing secret. Show what you are doing without filters from public relations. You cannot sugar coat anything about this disaster, so be open instead.
What would you do if you worked for BP as a social media professional? How can social media be a tool for good in the midst of a major crises?
It's probably a safe bet that every parent of a teenager or college student has heard stories of young Facebook users who foolishly posted photos of wild parties, or exploits of their participation in the college party scene.
Later, of course, the sad Facebook user has found that prospective employers also use the internet and (surprise) those Facebook postings are likely to come back to haunt the student when looking for a job.
The message many parents learn from this is that Facebook is bad.
The lesson anyone should learn is to use common sense when posting anything online. The fact is that prospective employers, or even clients, now search online before making business decisions.
But they are not necessarily looking for dirt.
They are looking for any information that can either support or disprove someone's claims about themselves. They look for background information that can help to choose whether to hire or do business with Candidate A or Candidate B.
What smart students, professionals or businesses are doing then is to post lots of information about themselves online.
Students are posting their term papers on Google Docs, they are posting pictures of themselves volunteering for Habitat For Humanity on Flikr, videos of school projects on YouTube, or they are writing on Facebook about interesting things they are learning and doing in school.
And yes, they are also writing about having fun and college activities they are involved in. But they are foregoing posting photos of college keg parties.
Businesses are doing the same thing. They are uploading interesting content, blog articles, videos and pdf documents that prospective clients might find helpful and interesting.
What these people are doing is stacking the digital deck to make themselves easily found online. They are creating and posting valuable content online.
A few weeks ago I had this conversation with a relative who is the mother of two very smart kids. But she had only heard the negatives about Facebook.
I mentioned my opinion that resumes are facing extinction. I believe that people will instead replace their resumes with blogs to attract the interest of employers. This will tilt the advantage to students and even people already mid career to blog about their fields.
Like graphic or advertising artists, they will find that portfolios and samples of their work are much more effective tools to getting jobs.
To my mind, this would be a win-win for both employers and quality job seekers. Employers could get a better understanding of who a person is and what knowledge they have about their field. The job seeker could rise above the crowd simply by creating and posting great information pieces that demonstrate both skill, knowledge and level of interest on a topic.
The key to getting jobs or new business increasingly begins with being found online. The first thing most people do when considering doing business with a company is to do a Google search about that firm. And they don't just look at the company's website, they look to see if the company has created informative articles or videos about their products or services.
Employers too, want to see past the resume. Anyone can claim just about anything on a resume and, aside from outright lies about past employers or schools attended, can be confident that exaggerations about their accomplishments will not be caught.
Creating content, such as blog articles, videos, and even pdf documents, demonstrate expertise and knowledge.
Imagine a business person who works in the banking industry who also writes a blog about the industry. She could examine various news stories about the industry and give her thoughts and ideas about these topics. She could also write about the problems facing banks and give possible solutions.
She could even interview various executives, business professors or government regulators and write about their slants on the issues.
In short order, her blog could become a valuable resource within the banking industry. But even if it doesn't become all that prominent, it still demonstrates her expertise and knowledge about her field.
Would you, as an employer, consider hiring this person? Of course you would. In fact, you might even find her online because of the content she has produced. You might even initiate contact to ask if this blogger might consider making a career change to your company.
A college student could do the same exact thing. He could start a blog on the industry he hopes to work in when he graduates. Moreover, he could create videos, podcasts or other online content related to his chosen field.
It is hard to think of anything that would make a job candidate more sought after than stacking the digital deck with quality content that demonstrates expertise. It would also make this person easy to find on Google. And the information an employer would find would be very impressive.
But what about the job seeker that is invisible online? Employers, like prospective clients for businesses, WANT to find information about a person. A graduating college student without a Facebook account is looked upon as unusual - and a hiring risk. At best this student is viewed as bland and uninteresting. At worst an employer might wonder if the job seeker is hiding something.
There are too many negatives about NOT being found online, or not leaving a digital trail, that they far outweigh parents' concerns about Facebook. I've actually known many well-meaning adults who discourage (or forbid) students from having Facebook accounts, simply because they only consider the negative impact of posting foolish information online.
The point of all this is that success for individuals and businesses today depends largely on creating content and posting it online. Rather than striving to be invisible online, the goal is to be so visible (in a positive way) that you stand out from the crowd.
One example that I've written about before is a true story about a young lady who foolishly allowed a boyfriend to film a sexual video of her. When they later broke up, he posted the video online. This video was everywhere and it was the first thing anyone would see if they did a Google search for her name.
For this young lady, who was soon to graduate from college, this was a potential career disaster. Any employer would naturally Google her name and they would find this video. The result would, of course, stop any job offer in its tracks.
Clearly this is just the sort of cautionary tale concerned parents want their kids to read about.
But what this young lady did was pure genius. She knew she could never get this video completely removed from the internet. So what she did instead was to bury it.
She created an awesome amount of positive content to post online. She posted content on a blog, Facebook, YouTube and Flikr. All this new content pushed the infamous video back farther and farther on Google. Eventually she created so much positive content that the video was a hundred pages back when someone did a Google search for her name.
Needless to say, NO ONE looks back 100 pages when they do a Google search. The result was that this sexual video was buried, and virtually obliterated, by content she created that did cast her in a positive light.
Companies get negative information posted about them as well. When this happens, I would certainly advise that they correct the problem and try to get the information removed. But at the same time, create informative content that highlights expertise. In other words, create so much positive content that the negative is buried.
But don't wait for the negative. Post informative content proactively.
For businesses that create content that solves problems, gives how-to information or just answers common questions, this sort of educational content is a HUGE competitive edge.
Educating your customers is something too few of your competitors are doing, but it positions your company as THE experts in your field.
The simple fact is that all of us, both as individuals and as organizations, will be leaving a digital trail from now on. Take advantage of this fact and make sure this information is of your own creation. Tell your own story from your point of view. And stack the digital deck in your favor.
I talk to business people every day that are intrigued, confused and overwhelmed by social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn and their ilk.
To them, I say "Don't sweat the small stuff."
The real key is not the social media tools, or the technologies, it is the social networking behaviors that smart business people have been engaging in since Grog started his stone wheel dealership and offered to arrange financing.
Nevertheless, time-challenged business people can hardly be blamed for viewing social networking as involving a lot of time in front of a computer. Is this time really worth it?
First, let me repeat: Don't get bogged down with the technology of social media.
You can set up a blog, a Twitter account, upload a video to YouTube, start a Facebook page, or download Tweetdeck to your computer in about the time it takes to microwave a frozen dinner.
Here's a tip to help make getting started on social media easier: Go to YouTube and you can find tutorials on ANY topic. Want to learn how to set up a blog? There's a video for that. Want to upload a video? There are videos for that too.
YouTube can teach you almost anything you want to learn.
But I can hear you asking, "Okay I'm on Twitter (or Facebook, or LinkedIn, etc.), now what?"
Social media platforms are merely tools, but the real emphasis should be on Social Networking.
Social Networking refers to human behaviors. These are the same behaviors smart business people have been engaging in for generations. Things like:
Making business contacts,
Turning these contacts into relationships (or even friendships),
Focusing on building trust and credibility instead of jumping in and hawking your services,
Listening (REALLY listening) to clients and potential clients,
Building a brand by educating and informing people (regardless of whether they are potential customers or not),
Helping people solve problems or achieve their goals,
Getting noticed by potential clients before competitors even know an opportunity exists,
Enlisting "evangelists" who will tell your story via word of mouth communication.
Let me put this another way: Suppose you had an opportunity to meet with a group of your ideal potential clients for lunch every day. Would you consider it time well spent if all you did during these lunches meetings was listen, educate, help them solve their problems or achieve their objectives - but was never able to pitch your own products or services?
I'm guessing a lot of you would say "yes," this would be time very well spent.
And that is why social networking is so valuable. Social networking is simply a virtual version of this daily business lunch with your ideal prospective clients.
So, repeating myself once again, don't get bogged down with the technology of social media. Learn the basics and then focus on building relationships.
Don't get alarmed, I'm not going to get all political on you. But I would like to explore the business applications of learning how the Barack Obama team used social media to put their man in the White House,
As I write this in September 2009, think back to September 2007, just two years ago.
Assuming you had even heard of Barack Obama, did you honestly think that he had even a remote chance of beating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination - let alone becoming President of the United States?
Come on, tell the truth.
At that time, Clinton looked unbeatable, at least for their party's nomination. She had name recognition, lots of money, a superb organization in place, connections, and experience. Not to mention a Campaigner-In-Chief by her side who understood the process of running for top office better than anyone in their party.
Bill Clinton alone was a formidable asset. He was beloved by the party faithful and was a one man money-raising machine.
But, at the same time, there was a relatively unknown senator from Illinois who was quietly making use of this thing called social media.
Lately I have been reading a book called, Barack 2.0: Barack Obama's Social Media Lessons for Business by Brent Leary and David Bullock. This little book has become required reading for anyone wanting to learn how to use social networking for business.
It's hard to argue with the book's thesis: Without the masterful use of social media and social networking, Barack Obama would not be the President today.
Not only did the Obama team use social media to win votes, it also raised more money than any other campaign in history ($650 million), with the average donation being under $100.
But even more importantly, it used social media to create and energize a volunteer organization of people to knock on doors, make telephone calls and show up for events.
If ever there was an example of the kind of community-building Seth Godin talks about in his book Tribes, the Obama campaign was it.
Barack 2.0 is not a particularly well-written book stylistically, in fact it consists mostly of transcribed podcasts made by the authors as the campaign progressed. But it succeeds in accomplishing what it was intended to accomplish. It is a case study of a hugely successful social media campaign in action.
In addition, it also contains a lot of useful supplemental materials through out each chapter that can be found on the web. It provides links to a wealth of tools and resources that a business person can grab online and start using today.
What it does do very effectively is educate the reader on how to make use of social media for purposes other than running for office. It is, at its heart, a business book that just uses a political story as a case study.
Here are some of the telling facts Barack 2.0 contains:
About five months into the campaign, the authors got a snapshot of Obama's and Clinton's Twitter accounts and found that Obama had 44,596 followers and Clinton had 4,164. But more telling was the fact that Obama followed 46,252 people, whereas Clinton followed 0.
In other words, Clinton viewed Twitter as a means of telling people her message, but demonstrated little interest in listening to, and having conversations with, other people.
Obama was also one of the first people to start using LinkedIn Answers. He posed the question, "What are you looking for in your next president?" and received over a thousand replies.
This is another example of how he viewed social media as a platform to engage in two-way conversations, not just a means of shouting out a message.
As of the authors' July 9, 2008 podcast, Obama had 1145 short videos posted on YouTube. These were typically under 3 minutes each. But think of how effective these videos were. It was like he had over 1000 little salespeople online delivering his message day and night.
This is a simple tactic that any business can do that will deliver significant results.
Obama didn't just focus on the high profile social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In the same week he reached 59,000 followers on Twitter, he also had almost 54,000 followers on migente.com, which caters to a Latino audience.
It wasn't just staffers who were using social media on his behalf. Remember Obama's ever-present Blackberry? He was doing a lot of his own tweeting, posting his own updates onto his Facebook page and sending out his own text messages.
Many corporate execs make excuses that they are too busy to engage in these activities themselves, but it's hard to argue that they are any busier than a man running for president. Modern smart phones like Blackberries and iPhones make social networking a breeze.
The book goes on an on with examples of what Obama and his team were doing at the time. But more importantly, Barack 2.0 gives readers a lot of advice that they can use themselves to make things happen for them on social media.
It is, as I said earlier, a business book that uses the Obama campaign as a case study.
Let's face it, nearly every business faces a Hillary Clinton: A more established competitor with greater name recognition, more resources and a huge head start in the marketplace.
This book is for businesses that want to overtake their Hillary Clintons. Consider it a game plan that also comes with the tools, resources and actionable ideas needed to implement the strategies it talks about.
I've had several discussions lately with business people who are self-admitted social media skeptics.
They've heard all the "buzz" about how great tools like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube or Flikr are for attracting new clients, but for them, it just hasn't clicked yet.
Let me start by admitting that social media can become a giant "time suck" if you let it. Like anything else involving the internet, it is very possible to spend more time online than you can actually afford.
Moreover there is the issue of allowing employees the freedom to check out YouTube videos or their Facebook account during business hours. There is always that balance between getting the work done and actually making business contacts that are valuable for the business itself.
That said, I think the biggest barrier is simply not understanding the difference between the "social media" and "social networking."
"Social media" refers to the technology of the actual sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. These are merely the tools.
"Social networking" refers to the human behavior using these tools that is the real reason some business people are finding such incredible success with these sites.
"Social networking," in a business setting, refers to making friends, generating word of mouth, building trust and credibility, positioning one's self or business as an authority within your field, educating potential clients, solving problems, sharing information, giving and receiving referrals, being generous (even when your generosity is directed toward someone who can never put money back into your own pocket directly), and a whole host of other behaviors that enlightened business people engage in every day.
Moreover, "social networking" is actually not new at all. In fact I often tell people that the very best book ever written on the topic of social networking was written in 1936.
I was very fortunate to speak to a local chamber of commerce yesterday about this very topic, and I was impressed by the fact that many of the business people there who had very little understanding of how the technology of social media fit into their business model, were absolute experts in the area of social networking - even if they had never visited Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.
It was going on all around us. Business people helping others by simply sharing ideas and contacts, or by simply building relationships.
That's really all social networking is. Except that when you throw in the technology of social media, this networking works faster and enables relationship building to reach beyond the limits of local geography.
It's kind of like working a giant room.
The principles Dale Carnegie wrote about in 1936 are still true today on Twitter and its companion social media platforms:
Be a good listener and encourage others to talk about themselves,
Give honest praise and appreciation,
Become genuinely interested in other people,
Talk about what interests the other person,
Make other people feel important and do it sincerely.
Certainly that is still good advice for us today.
In closing, I read a tweet just today that said, "Twitter is a conversation, not a microphone." I think Dale Carnegie would agree.
This past Saturday, I reached 20,000 followers on Twitter. Which, along with about five dollars, would probably buy me a coffee at Starbucks. In other words, I’m pleased and feel I’ve reached some sort of milestone, but it’s hardly significant in the big scheme of things.
You could say it's still just a "big whoopty doo."
These numbers might qualify me to sit in the cheap seats among other Twitter users who have tens of thousands (even hundreds of thousands of followers) more than I do. So I’m trying to put some serious thoughts down without coming off like I am "all full of myself."
(That’s a Southern expression that means I don’t want to appear “too big for my britches”).
Anyway, a milestone only has significance if one learns some things along the way. And that is what I want to write about today.
The very next day, I was sitting in an auditorium that holds about three to five thousand people, and it hit me that my Twitter followers would not fit in that place. I tried to visualize what 20,000 people would look like, and all I could do was realize that it was a lot of folks.
Now let’s get this straight. Only a tiny few of my followers actually pay any attention to what I have to say on Twitter. Most of us have other things we have to do in our lives besides tweet and retweet all day long.
So it's not as though I have 20,000 people hanging on my every word, taking notes and paying big bucks for my sage advice.
It hit me though, that one thing this milestone does mean is that these people made a conscious decision to follow me, for whatever reason they may have had at the time.
And that means I don’t want to waste their time.
20,000 followers is an incredible opportunity, but it is an even greater responsibility. It means I have to make sure I add value to my Twitter activities so that the people who actually do read my tweets will gain from them.
That thought led to another thought: What am I all about online and why should someone follow me? What value can I add to other busy people who have chosen to let me into a corner of their lives?
After all, I really can’t expect people to read my chatter if I don’t give them tangible reasons to follow my tweets and read my blog.
Which led me to pull out a piece of paper and jot down some notes about what themes I represent. It turned out this was surprisingly easy to do. My themes are a combination of my beliefs about social media and the subject matter I write about.
I believe social networking is first and foremost an act of generosity. It is sharing ideas and information with a lot of people who will never become my clients or put money in my pocket. Nevertheless, I want to continue to share because it makes this community better and more fun.
Another way social networking is about generosity is in promoting others. Recommending others who can never return the favor. Retweeting, or spotlighting others’ quality content, helping others build up their own followings through conventions like #followfridays or just bringing a good person to light because it is the right thing to do. It is a lot like making business or social introductions in the offline world.
Social networking is an act of making friends, building trust and credibility and believing that profits will follow these actions.
Social networking is intimately connected to creating and sharing quality content that solves other people’s problems. As David Meerman Scott puts it, it is a matter of “thinking like a publisher.” Activities that are “All tweet and no meat” are not productive.
Accordingly, social media is a delivery system, not the message itself. But the message is never “Me, me, me.” Instead it is “You, you, you.”
Quality content, when delivered with true generosity, is what builds brands. This is true regardless of whether the brand is a company, product or a person.
One of the themes that I want to explore more is about building and growing communities. My thoughts on communities are still formulating, but the idea of communities communicating and helping each other via social media is very intriguing to me. It is where social networking diverges from mere marketing.
Nurturing communities is having the faith to empower your "audience" to do your marketing for you, even if it means giving up some control.
I just realized this article is more of an essay than a how-to article. But I was in a reflective mood and wanted to take stock of where I've been and where I want to go in social networking.
What are your thoughts? I'd love to see your comments and get your ideas on what responsibilities we owe the people who read our blogs, watch our videos or follow us on social media platforms.
Not only is this this video full of exciting statistical information about social media and how it has impacted our world today, the story of how Barret and the video's creator, Chris Griffith, is illustrative of how relationships are formed and cultivated via social media.
Please read Barrett's article, and watch the video. You will have a renewed appreciation of just how important social media has become.
This article shows how to derive hard data and measure actual results from your social media efforts.
30+ More Ways to Create Twitter Groups One of the givens of social media is that it is all about groups. Smart marketers find their way into groups and becoming part of the culture. Once in, the job is to then build relationships by being transparent, informative and generous. In other words, build social capital.
But it is also possible to create groups. This article shows how to create groups on Twitter.
5 Things Your Social Media Expert Should Know Anyone can put "Social Media Expert" on their business cards and make big claims. But how do you really know who can help your business? This article shows you how.
Build Your Mailing List with Downloads The money is still in the list. Your list of people who entrust you with their email addresses in order to receive information from you, is your most valuable assett. This article has some great ideas on how to attract opt-in subscribers.
This article explores some of the experiences some companies have had from implementing customer service groups
9 keys to the perfect corporate blog What good is a blog that is simply used to disseminate the same talk you find in press releases? In other words, what good is a boring blog?
Make your blog interesting (or even fun). According to one source quoted in this article: "The purpose of using blogs and social media for businesses is to build up a community around a product or service." Don't always be spouting off your company's talking points. Engage readers and ask for their ideas as well.
10 Steps to Social Media Success This article compiles the branding and social media insights and ideas from various speakers at the recent event: "Brand Exposure: Practical Strategies in Social Media".
Among the speakers are Tara Hunt, author of The Whuffie Factor, Faris Yakob, Ian Schafer and Paul Worthington.
Spread Your Wings- Get More Retweet Action Today Having your messages retweeted is the viral component of Twitter. Not only has your tweet gone out to the people who follow you, they now go out to the followers of the person who found it compelling enough to retweet it.
Chris Brogan offers some straight forward advice on how to get more of your messages retweeted.
Brand or Be Branded I recently wrote about this article in my post, Why Personal Branding is All About Creating Content. Today it is simply a given that recruiters and H.R. specialists will Google any job candidate at some point during the hiring process. What they find, or don't find, will not only impact whether you get a job offer, it will also be a huge factor in whether you even get an interview.
Confused About Twitter? Just Be An Information Resource This is one of my own articles on this blog, and it is one of the links I most often send to people who have questions about how to use Twitter as a marketing or personal branding tool.
5 essentials for social media marketing All too often I've heard people talk about social media as if it is an easy fix for a company's marketing problems. While I do believe almost any company can gain from using these tools, they must be used strategically. Before realizing any benefit, an organization must understand how social media works and how to best use it to reach an intended audience.
15 Business Benefits of Using Twitter For those who scratch their heads and say, "But how can I help my business in just 140 characters?" this is just a very good list of how Twitter can create more traffic, attract more new clients, become a channel for learning more about your customers, etc.
This Twitter Post a Long Time in Coming This is just a great little essay on Twitter that delves into the human behavior that has made it successful and that also poses its biggest problems. It is a great read.
Giving Away Your Expertise IS Your Competitive Advantage I've already mentioned that social media is a tool, not a strategy. In most cases, the strategy is to deliver quality, free content in order to create a following. This article is another display of Joe Puzilli's insights into why giving away your ideas and information makes absolute business sense.
7 Reasons Why List Posts Will Always Work It's hard to think of a greater treasure trove of great information than Copyblogger. This is just a great article on why list articles are so effective in gaining readers, traffic and, ultimately customers.
I wasn't going to write a post about the YouTube video by Canadian musician, Dave Carroll: United Breaks Guitars. It seemed that everything that could be said about this world wide rave has already been said. But I think the latest news angle on this story is in how United Airlines has failed to respond to this social media tidal wave.
For those of you who may not have heard about this viral phenomenon, Carroll and his band, Sons of Maxwell, were traveling to Nebraska and had a stop over at Chicago O'Hare. While on the tarmac, they witnessed United ground crew throwing guitars on the ground. Carroll tried to bring the matter to the attention of three United employees who couldn't be bothered.
Later he discovered that his $3500 Taylor guitar was damaged, but when he tried to get United to pay for repairs, he was given the run around for nine months and then finally told that the airline would not compensate him for the damage. They did not even offer him the old standby of travel vouchers.
So Carroll wrote a song about his plight and posted a video on YouTube. Even though he posted on the day of Michael Jackson's memorial service, it has now received almost 3 million hits and tens of thousands of comments both favoring Carroll and rebuking United.
Clearly this has been a public relations disaster for United, but what I find particularly telling is how the company has failed to mitigate its black eye with a suitable social media response.
Many bloggers have written about the video and almost all of their posts have received dozens of comments. These comments represent the tip of the iceberg because many of these people have shared their own airline horror stories. This means that for every blog post and every news article about this story, there are many passengers who have faced the same sort of contempt from airlines.
Yet even though United has now been forcibly shown the power of ordinary people in the age of social media, it has to date only posted a single "tweet" on Twitter to address this nightmare.
One of the bedrock principles of public relations is that bad news must be responded to. If the response requires humility and contriteness, so be it. If it requires admissions of error, it is better to bite the bullet than to allow a vacuum.
The airline has not posted any mention of the video on its own website, nor has it responded by posting a humble, contrite video on YouTube. It has posted a paltry number of responses through traditional public relations channels, claiming "Mr. Carroll’s experience 'an anomaly, not the norm,'" but has not used Twitter (other than the single response mentioned earlier), no blog articles, no videos, no nothing.
There are several lessons to be learned from this situation:
Every customer now has the power to embarrass a large company and bring it to its knees. Anyone with an internet connection can expose your dirty laundry.
Customer service is more important than ever. Companies can no longer just give it lip service while at the same time failing to empower customer service reps to solve problems, or by shipping their jobs to India.
Customer service reps still tend to be the lowest paid / most overworked employees in most organizations, even though they hold a company's future in their hands.
Customer service reps' job performance are measured by things like the number of calls handled, and "talk time," which put pressure on them to get callers off the phone quickly, rather than to solve their problems.
Top executives have not set up direct lines of communications so they can be attuned to what customer feedback comes into their companies. (I argue that every CEO should have a PERSONAL blog, and that blogging should be a Non-Delegateable duty).
Fix problems quickly.
More than ever, complaints are opportunities, not aggravations to be swept under the rug. The real test of a quality company is not that problems never happen, but that when they happen they get dealt with.
Twitter is turning out to be like a huge party that everybody RSVP'd for and very few people showed up. You know that feeling you may have had in the back of your mind wondering how interesting it would really be to let everybody know about what you were doing every hour? You may have been right -- it's not interesting at all.
Sigh.
Okay here we go again. Twitter (and other social media platforms) really don’t work well when they are just duct-taped onto old school ways of doing business. But Twitter works quite well when used together with blogs as a means of social networking instead of social marketing.
Here’s an analogy. Social networking is like attending a party. You don’t want to be THAT GUY who goes around the room handing out business cards and trying to steer social conversations toward your business. Yet this is exactly how many businesses try market themselves with Twitter.
This does not mean that you cannot get business as a result of meeting people in social settings, but you have to go about it differently. You have to interact with people as people and not as targets.
Below is a list of 33 ways even larger organizations can use Twitter:
Drive Traffic to your company’s blog. Yes, you must have a blog. Twitter, with its 140 character limitation, only allows you to entice people with a brief headline. Then you must send them to a link for more information. A blog enables you to continue that conversation with your readers. It is where you can inform them, show value to them, draw them into a relationship with your company. And ultimately turn them into customers.
Get new content noticed. Whenever you create new content (whether on your blog or static website) tweet about it to attract visitors. Make sure your content is interesting and valuable and not merely self-serving. Link to videos, quality articles, or slideshows.
Twitter is the tip of the sword for publicity efforts. Many traditional journalists aren’t yet paying attention to Twitter. No problem, they are paying attention to bloggers and others who are online thought leaders. Twitter can get you noticed by these people, who will in turn be noticed by traditional media.
Broadcast your PR pieces. As a publicity tool, Twitter can get the word out about something new and can link to online news releases. More often than not, a release posted online is ignored. But what if your release actually contains some really interesting information and not mere fluff? How do you get it noticed? Tweet about it to get those online thought leaders to see it.
Get more mileage out of publicity. If a favorable article appears in small media market or obscure publication, how to get it seen all over country? With Twitter you can spotlight such an article and keep giving it exposure long after it’s news cycle has passed.
Find out immediately when your company or product is in news. if you don’t find out about a news piece right away, your opportunity to maximize exposure from it can be lost. Twitter enables you to find out about these favorable mentions early by having a pre-set keyword search in place.
Offset bad publicity. Get your side of the story out quickly. Because Twitter gives you an early warning whenever someone tweets about your company, you can rebut or present offsetting information about the bad stories before they gain traction.
Use Twitter to distribute white papers and case studies. The trouble with producing great informational pieces is that they have to be read by the right people to be effective. Twitter gives you a way to put them into the right hands.
Humanize your executives. The more your audience can relate to your top people as humans, the better.
For example, Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks uses his blog and Twitter account to talk about his ideas and opinions. Cuban is loved by some and hated by others, but no one doubts that his humanity and passion. He puts himself out there gives his voice and views on a wide range of topics When he puts out a new blog post, he sends a tweet out about it as well to bring visitors to read it.
Humanize your company. Highlight individuals who work hard to create great products and deliver great service. Don't just claim that your company is different, show it.
Showcase customer service “heroes.” What happens in most companies when an employee delivers exceptional service for a customer? Usually they are given a pat on the back and an “attaboy.”
Nothing will convince people that your company has a culture of caring for customers more than showcasing individual employees who go the extra mile for a customer. Not only does this build loyalty from outside the company, it also builds it from within.
Educate your prospects and customers. These days you just cannot go too far in educating people about how to use your products, how to avoid problems, how to solve problems once they occur, etc. Helpful information builds a bond between you and your audience.
Create "news you can use" pieces full of tips, solutions and ideas, and then get them out to people via Twitter.
Highlight your high standards. It’s one thing to claim that you have high quality, it is another thing completely to show your quality control standards in practice. Do you have procedures that demonstrate your fanaticism for producing quality products or insuring great service? Show the world how your company goes the extra mile.
Use Twitter to do good. Support causes, talk about the needs these causes address and show how others can help. Use Twitter to create buzz about needs, issues and concerns you feel are being overlooked. If you know of certain people suffering dire plights, you can champion their cause as a corporate white knight.
Raise money for charity. Going hand in hand with supporting causes, supporting good charities allows companies to bask in the light of their good deeds. Use Twitter to raise money by offering matching donations, or by publicizing a charity's work.
Keep your old content working. Old content need not die out or fade away. Twitter can drive traffic to even old content as long as it is still relevant.
Show how the sausage is made. Add value to your products by using Twitter to highlight pieces on your manufacturing process. Customers like to see the inner workings of how the things they buy and use are made. Not only would a video of your process build more brand loyalty, it also removes pricing barriers to premium products.
Preview launches and rollouts. Get pre-orders in advance of your product hitting the stores. Build excitement and anticipation for the product before it can be bought. Offer beta versions or advance copies to some key people on Twitter to help build buzz.
Create buzz for upcoming events. Twitter can help make sure an event is well attended and gains the maximum exposure.
Get television viewers. If a company executive will be appearing as a guest on a television show, use Twitter to let viewers know in advance. Afterwards, tweet about a video of that appearance.
Spotlight commercials. Let’s face it, your most creative and expensive commercials are probably going to be ignored. Use Twitter to make sure they get more attention than it otherwise might receive.
Create a video of the commercial's production. Give some insights into how the spot was made, who made it, why the message was worded as it was. As a result, a few more people may stay and watch it instead of making a refrigerator run.
Listen. One of the little-known uses of Twitter is that you can learn so much by just listening to the stream of conversations going on. For more on this, check out my article, The Art of Listening on Twitter.
Create evangelists. Using Twitter’s keyword search you can find people who love your products. If you can turn them into “evangelists” (or as Seth Godin refers to them in his book, The Idea Virus, “sneezers”) they will tweet and blog about your company and product.
But how can you reward these people without paying out money? How about giving them inside access to information before it is made public? Such as a review copy of a book before it is released, invite them to a sneak preview of a movie, invite them to take part in focus groups or come to company events.
Group evangelists. Sometimes you find your evangelists in groups. Create new groups around your interest area or encourage existing groups that have aligned interests. Find them on Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups and other places. Just search for groups that exist around your subject area.
Give groups special attention with inside information or access. Invite them to events, ask them to be involved in focus groups.
Get more out of trade shows and conferences. When members of your team will be attending a conference, trade show or forum, tweet about it beforehand. Invite attendees to visit your company booth, attend breakout groups in which your people will be presenting, or just look them up as individuals going to the same event.
Market research. If you build a following of people likely to use your product, send out open-ended questions with a link to a site to leave their responses. Invite them to participate in focus groups and surveys.
Generate leads. Use Twitter to lead people to your opt in page and invite them to subscribe to your email newsletter. Reward them with some “bait piece” like a free ebook, video or report.
Ask what people want to talk about. Let them know you are willing to answer their questions about your company. This can be through your company blog or an online form. Be sure you actually follow up on these questions in a timely manner or word will get out that you don’t really care.
Create two way conversations with your customers. The above invitation to talk can lead to more than a one round exchange. These dialogues can wind up on Google. The people who respond will undoubtedly have a greater interest in your products than the rest of your market. Treat them well and show them respect.
Get testimonials. Inviting people to talk can lead to some very positive feedback which can be used as case studies or testimonials.
Innovative new uses for your products. Customers may find new uses for your product before you do. Think of baking soda. There must now be hundreds of uses that people have discovered. Use Twitter to share these new uses and applications to others.
Gain deeper understanding of your target market. Twitter can enable you to learn what makes your customers tick by getting inside their heads. Using keyword searches allows you to almost read their thoughts as they tweet about things that bug them or excite them. This is valuable intelligence if you use it.
Narrow your target market. Twitter allows you to define your niche with more exactitude. By listening, surveying and eliciting feedback with Twitter, you can learn far more than you could by other means.
I consult with businesses on the strategic use of social media, web marketing and email marketing. I also speak and conduct workshops on social media marketing for organizations.
My team offers outsource solutions and training for companies needing to engage with their target market with social media.
Contact me at 817-501-6892 or by email at: or chbrown/at/webmarketing-coach.com.
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