I missed posting about my two year blogging anniversary a few weeks ago so this is my post to make up for it. In my very first post for this blog two years ago on the topic of social media I wrote:

Everything available to you through web 2.0 takes time to get off the ground. Some people will be fine with that, but for those of you with mandates and timelines you’re going to come to a fork in the road of whether you want to do something that people can see soon (old marketing methods) with something that will have an enduring impact (web 2.0 methods). Consider it your own little blue pill vs red pill. One will take you to a world you couldn’t imagine and the other…will keep you right where you are.

So, do I still believe this two years later? I sure do. In fact, I think this blue pill/red pill decision is one that more marketers are deciding on today than they were two years ago when I first wrote this. I had lunch today with some people from a company who are deciding right now which way to go. I had a similar lunch meeting yesterday. The tide seems to be coming in on social media.

Some people thought social media was a fad (and have since admitted so to me) but now see the communication/Internet/marketing world has changed and they need to change with it. Other people just weren’t paying attention or maybe were paying attention but didn’t take the time to get their hands dirty in the social media sandbox. Whatever the case, there’s is a rapidly widening awareness of the choice that needs to be made.

So which will you choose? If you choose the blue pill (blissful ignorance) then congratulations, you don’t have to do much. You can relax knowing you won’t have to go through the possible discomfort of change and new learning. I also hope you’re planning to retire in the next 12-18 months, otherwise you may regret the choice. If you choose the red pill (hard truth) then congratulations, you’re about to enter an exciting and unsettling journey. If you feel like the rules have changed you’re wrong. It’s the game that has changed and it has its own rules…but now you’re choosing to play, and that’s the best place to start.

David Alston is the VP of Marketing of Radian6, a social media monitoring company based in Canada. David recently commented on my blog post about social media and customer service. Through that comment we struck up a conversation in Twitter which led to David’s gracious acceptance of my interview request. The full Q&A is below.

One thing to note here before the interview is that David’s interaction with me though a comment on this blog is exactly what all marketing people should be doing. There are three camps that marketers are in, but only one where we all should be:

1. Some marketers don’t monitor what people are saying about their company or topics related to their industry.
2. Other marketers are monitoring the discussions but aren’t joining the conversations. This is better than the first camp because at least they’ll know when something is said about them, but it’s a very reactive posture as well. The monitoring seems more akin to just keeping an eye on social media to put a fire out rather than to serve to expand awareness of the company proactively. Monitoring potential fires is one thing, it’s just not the whole thing when it comes to social media monitoring.
3. A few marketers, like David, are raising awareness of their company by finding the conversations they wouldn’t otherwise know about and influencing people who wouldn’t otherwise know about them.

So consider this a case in point for the right way to do not just monitor social media, but to engage it as well. Here’s the interview with David…

MicroExplosion: Do you think companies are simply not monitoring their brand at all (meaning across all media…traditional and new) or is it more a neglect to pay attention to social media only?

David: Well, if you look at the 1000’s of companies that have been using traditional media monitoring companies (TV, print, radio) I would have to say that it’s probably more of an awareness thing. For example, if a company decision maker didn’t read the newspaper, watch TV or listen to the radio he/she probably wouldn’t consider monitoring traditional media channels all that necessary. The same goes for social media (blogs, online video and images, forums, opinion sites, micromedia). It’s usually when a company decides to dip its toe into social media from a corporate or personal level that the need finally crystallizes. Conversations about brands and issues are happening all the time online in social media with or without brand owners. Its probably best to be at least aware of these so engagement can be considered.

MicroExplosion: In large companies do you find that any particular departments are more interested in your services than others? For instance, is the corporate communications office more interested in social media monitoring than the marketing department or vice versa?

David: Each department has a different reason to be monitoring social media.

• Public relations – crises breaking online, monitoring effective of outreach campaigns
• Marketing – tracking brand voice vs. competitors, tracking a marketing campaign’s effectiveness, looking for possible trends, understanding the most influential sites to partner with or advertise on, discover competitor initiatives or positioning
• Customer Care – discover customer complaints and reach out, help with those clients requiring how-to assistance
• Sales – discover potential leads based on posts that declare “a need”, respond with offers of assistance for clients of competitors having difficulty
• Legal – uncover potential misuse of copyrights or patents, stay on top of any issues regarding inappropriate communications from an SEC perspective
• HR – discover potential employee candidates based on the expertise they are demonstrating or the comments they make about looking for work in a specific area of expertise/location
• Business Development – uncover potential channel partners

MicroExplosion: You mentioned in a comment on my blog that companies should “answer the social phone.” I think that’s a great phrase. Do you see organizations viewing this new task of social phone answering as something else to put on employee(s) full plates or are they carving out time and/or hiring new personnel to do this?

David: It is still early in the game for many companies deciding where the “social phone” should be primarily answered. The key thing would be at least assigning it to someone as a start. This could be someone in PR, marketing or customer care. Once a company gets a feel for the types of “social web calls” coming in and the volume they could better assess the best fit for this role within their company. Radian6 is working with leading companies now to help determine the best approach for them and how our platform can best serve each of their own unique situations.

MicroExplosion: How do you recommend a client respond if they have found their brand to be unfavorably mentioned in a blog, podcast, or some other social medium?

David: I guess it entirely depends on what is said, who is saying it, and whether or not the company has developed a relationship with that individual or with the community that individual belongs to. Generally I would say that the response needs to match up with the company’s brand promise for all other communications with clients and potential clients. Responding quickly in an appropriate way can also show that you care to listen and you want to help out. Not only will this buy a company credibility with the person who posted but it will also with those who read this person or are part of his/her network. In the end its about developing and maintaining relationships with people.

MicroExplosion: What does Radian6 do for a company that Google Alerts doesn’t?

David: Certainly most people usually start out this way. It can at least give them a snippet of what’s out there involving their brand. Our clients generally tell us that Google Alerts don’t get them the entire coverage they need across all social media types, don’t allow them to understand which posts and sites to pay more attention to, and can’t show them which trends are happening. They also find that Google Alerts don’t always get delivered in a timely way – which is important if you plan on engaging on a post with a majority of commenting and viewership happening in the first two days.

Our solution covers all types of social media (not just blogs) and delivers findings in real-time as discovered. It tracks conversational dynamics on each post (viewership, total comments, total unique commenters, and calculated engagement) which enables sorting ability to zoom in on the most viral conversations. With all of the posts on a topic in one place, users can then run ad hoc analysis charts and graphs based on keywords. Analysis capabilities like this enables a client to see trends and potential issues (ex. “forest for the trees”). Finally we can also determine the top influential sites on a topic based on a user-defined formula that includes conversational dynamics as well as total on-topic posts and on-topic inbound linking. Determining influencers allows a client to focus their engagement and outreach efforts for the best ROI.

———-

David, thanks for the interview. You provided some great insights here. Check out the Radian6 website to learn more about their company and services.

Becky is a marketing strategist for a large company here in Nashville. One evening she was planning some snacks for an evening with friends when her search for a snack led her to purchase a book she didn’t know she wanted. Here’s the email Becky sent to her director the next day:

“I Googled Chili’s because I wanted to find out how much it would cost to get chips and salsa to go. When I Googled Chili’s, this link came up that said “Brand Autopsy: Would you miss Chili’s?” That intrigued me, so I clicked on it and found the blog of a marketing guy who used to work for Starbucks and Whole Foods. He, in turn, raved about this new book that is all about marketing and social networks. I thought it might be something that our whole team would benefit from. Isn’t it ironic that I was looking for chips and salsa and found a marketing book? But it hit the right audience at the right time!”

I really like this story at a number of different levels because:

• It shows the power and influence of blogs even in the most unlikely of connections.
• It reminds me that people trust blogs that seem trustworthy.
• It reminds me that your target audience cannot be segmented so neatly all the time because Becky the marketer wasn’t looking for a book but she found one and bought it (and will likely buy one for the entire marketing team at the company) when she was Becky the snack shopper.
• It reminds me of the power of a Google search and how blogs could make (or break) the positioning of your brand.

The book Becky found was called “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed By Social Technologies” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. I’m reading this book now too but I found out about it through Twitter via Jeremiah Owyang.

I’m keenly aware of the irony here (and also the affirmation of the power and influence of social media) that a book called Groundswell benefited from the groundswell in at least two cases I can point to directly (mine and Becky’s) and I’m sure countless others. So the question is, what are you waiting for if you’re not getting in yet? Don’t fight the groundswell.

I was challenged recently to think about customer service representatives as part of an organization’s social media response and tracking team. I had never thought of using customer service reps to keep tabs on blogs, Google Alerts, and any other social media that may be talking about an organization but it really makes sense. After all, customer service reps serve as a front line for companies already and they know the ins and outs of the company about as well as anyone, so why not pull a rep or two aside for social media monitoring?

What if a company started allowing its customer service reps (or any other employees for that matter) to be proactive in engaging prosumers? Why not monitor and respond to complaints voiced in Twitter? Why not leave a comment of thanks from a blog post that had something nice to say about your product or service or company? Why not leave a video response to a YouTube video that discussed your product? Why not join a social network group or entire social network that was dedicated for (or against) your organization? Why not have your reps start a blog on the company website?

The new world of customer service is going to be proactive engagement unlike what the average customer service representative is paid to do today. It’s going to require as much trust from the company as they have in their reps now but with more freedom. It’s going require the legal department relaxing just a bit. It’s going to require the marketing department working closer with the customer service department. It’s going to require customer service being a part of your social media training. It’s going to require rethinking the roles of marketing, public relations, and customer service. Perhaps a “customer relations department” is more in order. Whatever it may be, it’s going to change

“All right stop, collaborate and listen…”

Vanilla Ice in “Ice Ice Baby”

Ever think Vanilla Ice had anything to teach you? Me either…but my friend Scott Mills jokingly pointed out at lunch recently that Vanilla Ice had a few things to say about social media marketing when he said to stop, collaborate, and listen. Scott was joking. I’m not.

Vanilla’s advice is actually pretty good for social media marketers. We have to stop, collaborate, and listen if we’re going to be good social media marketers. Checking out the hook while his DJ revolves it is optional.

Stop: If you’re dabbling in social media marketing you need to stop. Do you have a plan or are you playing around with social media because it seems like the thing everybody is doing these days? Do you have measurable goals? Do you even have goals? The worst thing you can do is not stop and figure out how social media will work for you and then how best to move forward within it. If you don’t stop first you’re probably going to create a meatball sundae…and nobody wants that…so stop first. Once you stop I recommend you begin to think about a content strategy to really take full advantage of the new marketing tools.

Collaborate: In some form or fashion collaboration is at the heart of every good social media initiative. It may be the type of collaboration that involves a wiki (which Google spreadsheets even does now) or simply allowing comments, tags, trackbacks, and other forms of feedback to your social media. Collaboration is both active and attitudinal. You must convey that you actually care what other people think…and not just that you care, but allow them to participate and contribute in some form. Mitch Joel does a great job of this by allowing audio comments on his podcast, Six Pixels of Separation. Mitch actively allows people to collaborate and also has an attitude that reflects this. Collaboration is one of the biggest shifts from web 1.0 to web 2.0. It was a shift in technology that enables collaboration and it was a shift is tone and attitude toward collaboration.

Listen: Social media is as much about conversation as it is collaboration. The two go hand in hand really, but did you ever talk to someone who was more interested in talking than having true conversation? The missing piece of course was that they weren’t listening. They were just looking for an opportunity to talk. Social media marketing isn’t about one way communication or disruption tactics. That was the old way to do marketing. True conversation, like true social media marketing, doesn’t interrupt. Rather, it engages and listens. The fact of the matter is these conversations are already happening. You just have to decide whether you’re going to join the conversation or not.

So there it is…wisdom from Mr. Ice. Word to your mother.

We have another batter up for social media batting practice. Dave Delaney has recommended five tips for a pediatrician. The full scenario and his ideas are below. While we’re on the social media batting practice topic…Mitch Joel included a comment from me on his most recent episode of Six Pixels of Separation. He had some great additional info to include. Here’s the scenario that was pitched to Dave and his ideas follow…

Scenario: A pediatrician wants to know how she would be able to use social media to promote her practice. She’s currently spending money on local advertising in multiple areas and wants to know how social media marketing would work for her. She’s not viewed as the best pediatrician in her community but is widely recognized as one of the top five.

Dave’s ideas:

1. I would recommend that the pediatrician create a Google Adwords campaign targeted to her local zipcode(s).
2. I’d advise that she be sure she is included on Goggle in their business search results by adding herself to Google maps.
3. Depending on her available time and interest, I would suggest developing a blog and posting to it regularly. The blog would also offer all appropriate social bookmarks and tags.
4. She should also considering posting on local parenting forums always being sure to link back to her website.
5. Finally, she should consider sponsoring a quality parenting Internet radio show (AKA “podcast”) like Two Boobs and a Baby.

Thanks for the ideas Dave. I’ll include a similar real-life scenario I discussed a long time ago about a blogging dentist I know here in town.

The next episode of The New Mediology is now online (or in iTunes if that’s how you like to listen to it).

In this episode, Nathan and I discuss social networking and how (and even if) new media marketers can use it well. This was a different sort of podcast for us because we’re usually on the same page but we have some different views when it comes to social networking. Personally, I struggle with social networking platforms as a helpful means of promotion. I think they’re great to connect people together but most people don’t want to be sold or promoted to in the same space. I know I don’t. I think a better thing to do is create a more focused social network in Ning, though Nathan made a great point that you don’t want to miss an easy opportunity to gain awareness through the use of a Facebook group. I think I’ve just seen a lot of Facebook and MySpace groups that were started because it was easy to do but then there’s virtually no upkeep to it. It’s easy to create one but should you do it just because you can? I question whether that’s a good enough reason to do so. Without a plan and intention to maintain it I don’t think it’s the right move.

This week’s social media batting practice involves a local, upscale music venue trying to figure out how social media marketing can work for it. This “pitch” was submitted by Steve, a MicroExplosion reader and our batter was Lynn Terry of ClickNewz.com. Lynn’s full list of recommendations and ideas follows the entire scenario below.

Scenario: How would a local entertainment venue (mainly musical arts) use social media to grow its fan base and increase single performance sales and season memberships? Assume the venue has a reputation of being a “black tie only” establishment, but in reality caters to music lovers from all walks of life. It recruits some of the most famous acts in classical, jazz, pops, cabaret and rock music and is known throughout the region. They sell out several shows a year for the more famous names, but want to be full for every weekend and weeknight show as well. What should they do?

Lynn’s ideas: They obviously want a social media campaign that will cover two objectives: gain local interest and also create a specific impression. In order to attract people from “all walks of life”, those people need to see others just like themselves.

I would recommend a photo/video campaign as the base for the online marketing strategy. They can be used to display the wide variety of entertainment available, as well as crowds & individuals (various types) that frequent the venue.

Use Flickr to host the photos and YouTube to host the videos. This serves two purposes: it saves on hosting space & bandwidth usage, and it also helps to create a broader reach. The goal is to “go wide” so that you are easily found online in a variety of places online. Not only will you be found at various social sites, but it will create more opportunity to be found in search engine results as well.

The primary web presence should be a blog, or a website + blog. Using a blog format will allow people to engage in discussions about specific shows they attended, subscribe to the calendar of upcoming events, and interact both with the business and other customers.

Elements to feature on the site/blog might include:

• About Page -written to give the impression desired
• Location/Directions -including photos and Google Map
• Entertainment Calendar -with RSS & Email subscription options
• Show Reviews -photos, videos & written reviews of recent shows
• Photo Gallery -invites visitors to submit photos as well
• Mailing List -notification for upcoming shows
• Testimonials -encourage visitors to send feedback & publish it

A great way to encourage visitors to sign up for the email list is to host a monthly giveaway. It might be a dinner, appetizer or door pass from a random drawing of subscribers. You can also use the drawing strategy to get customers to submit testimonials.

Tip: A prize of higher value could be offered for video testimonials, shot on scene.

Using the blog to feature reviews of recent shows will serve two purposes: it helps create the impression desired by featuring the variety of musical arts available, and it also allows you to optimize pages for keyword phrases such as: acts, names, music types, etc. Ranking well in the major search engines for the name of a well-known band can help you reach their fan base online.

Setting up a well-optimized blog and website, and optimizing your photos on Flickr and videos on YouTube, will allow locals and fans to find you. The next step in the marketing campaign is to find them.

Set up an account on MySpace, as their primary share in the social media market is with music. Use the name of the business for the account so that the URL is myspace.com/business. This makes it easy to find online, both by memory and by search. Use the calendar feature to display upcoming events. Search for bands and independent musicians that have played in your venue and add them to your friends list. Next, search your town and local area and send friend requests liberally.

When a band is scheduling a show, ask them if they have a MySpace account. Offer to feature them on your Top Friends space prior to the show and encourage them to send out an invite to their own friends list by posting a bulletin.

Set up an account at Twitter.com also, which is a micro-blogging service. Again, use your business name for the account. Publish updates daily that feature upcoming shows and artists, and link to the full write-up on your website. Use the search box in your Twitter account to find bands and locals just like you did with MySpace.

You now have presence on five different online properties - your own domain, Flickr, YouTube, MySpace and Twitter. Done right, you can “own” 50% of the search results for phrases your ideal visitors are searching for online. Meaning if someone searches for XYZ Band on Google, you can easily show up in 5 out of the top 10 results.

Getting them to your site is the key. Interacting with them and engaging them in your content is what will turn them into loyal, repeat customers at your local venue.

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Lynn, thanks so much for your ideas and giving us a lot to think about. Anytime a business can own 50% of the search results for the keywords or phrases they want is a big win. That’s the beauty of what social media marketing can do. Interestingly enough, almost everything you suggested here costs nothing to get started but it takes time (sometimes significant time) to set up and maintain well. It just shows that in the economy of social media marketing time is the new money!

Also, thanks for the pitch Steve. All right…who’s got another pitch and who’s our next batter?

Last week I was in a meeting with people from a number of different organizations all discussing a common issue. I was the “social media” guy at the table with a few traditional marketers with various specialties along with non-marketing people working through an particular situation. During the course of the discussion I realized again how stark the difference is between the way I approach marketing and promotion compared to some more traditional marketers. I attribute this difference in thinking to people like Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, and Robert Scoble…all of whom have provided books and blog that have formed the way I approach the new technology for marketing purposes. I took some notes of my thoughts at the time and here’s what came out…

It’s not that television as we’ve known it doesn’t matter. It’s just that it doesn’t matter as much as it used to.

It’s not that newspapers as we’ve known them don’t matter. It’s just that they don’t matter as much as they used to.

It’s not that radio as we’ve known it doesn’t matter. It’s just that it doesn’t matter as much as it used to.

It’s not that marketing, advertising, public relations, and any other form of promotion as we’ve known it doesn’t matter. It’s just that it doesn’t matter as much as it used to.

It’s not that the way you’ve been marketing isn’t effective anymore. It’s just that it’s less effective today than it was yesterday and it will be increasingly less effective tomorrow, next week, and next year.

The lesson here isn’t that you have to make a total switch to social media marketing today. The lesson is that you need to be moving toward social media marketing and as you do, you can’t think about it the same way as the old way you did marketing.

I’m going to admit this up front: I have a few issues when it comes to advertising agencies and marketing firms. I don’t think they’re all bad, but I believe there are a lot of new options (which are better for the client) for people who need the same types of services that ad agencies and marketing firms offer.

For instance, you can find really good graphic design, web design, or web development services from a multitude of companies that have no more than two people in the company. More than likely, if you go with one of those you’ll pay about half of what the agency will charge you because you’re not covering a large overhead. I once worked for a company whose annual rent was more than what most of the people who worked there made in a year. It wasn’t that the work was that much better or that the technology was that much more expensive or that the staff was that much more talented. It was just that the company had a lot of overhead to cover and that was passed along to the clients. Again, not all the larger places are bad, but the best big ones are specialists, not generalists.

Here are three things to think about that may lead you to fire your current marketing firm or advertising agency:

If your agency doesn’t communicate with you, fire them. If you don’t recall the last time you heard from them, how are they supposed to know what your needs are? Even worse, I know of a company today that has an agency on retainer but doesn’t use their services. Their agency never contacts them and doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on with them, but they keep on collecting the fees every month. I think it’s dumb for the company to keep paying the retainer and very bad business for the agency to keep collecting without doing a thing for their client.

If your agency isn’t a learning organization, fire them. The world of marketing is changing too fast these days. If they’re not keeping up then they’re selling you outdated (and less useful) services. Many agencies did something well many years ago and are still trying to sell those same services. A lot of them have come to the cold realization that the old way doesn’t work anymore and are scrambling to figure out what to do next. I can only imagine how confused their clients are.

If your agency hasn’t given you a new idea in the last six months, fire them. This goes along with the learning organization point above but takes it a step further by actually expecting the agency to be leading in some way. It’s not enough to be learning, you have to be applying the new learning as well. If your agency is still making the same recommendations you got from them a year ago, they’re probably not learning and they’re certainly not leading.