This will be a quick post, but I want to reiterate the importance of the social part in Social Media. Just because you are on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Digg, etc. doesn't mean you will automatically transform your business into an Internet sensation. If you think by simply tweeting "buy our product" that millions of people will follow you, you will be set up for disappointment and failure.
Social Media isn't that much different than traditional marketing in some aspects. Your end goal is to increase brand awareness and keep your business "top of mind" with the appropriate demographic (aka your core customers). So why then do companies still expect to get a million followers on Twitter and a million fans on Facebook by simply signing up and sending some general, boring messages? If you run a TV commercial / print ad that simply says "Hi we're company X, buy our product" it won't succeed. However if you make yourself stand out from the crowd (like Geico does with their Cavemen commercials or how Budweiser did with the frogs) you are likely to see more success. The same applies to Social Media. You can't just throw something to the wall and see if it sticks. You need to communicate properly and make yourself stand out in order to succeed. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Digg, LinkedIn, etc. are only successful if you use them properly.
Again, by having a "I need to be on Twitter so let make as much noise as possible" mentality, you will fail. Focus on the Social more than the Media.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Reddit Reiterates the Importance of Transparency
Reddit.com's, my favorite Social Media website, hottest submission as of this morning reiterates one of the most important rules of Social Media. Transparency is key. To get an idea of how big of a deal this is, Reddit.com has hundreds of thousands of submissions on a daily basis. A front page story can get you anywhere between 2,000 to 50,000 uniques (maybe more) in a 24 hour period.
You can view the submission and comments here: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/bfbjx/saydrah_still_spamming_pic/. I put a screenshot of the submission below:
To get an understanding of how big of a deal this is. Saydrah has been a Reddit member for over two years. During these two years, she has significantly built up her link karma and comment karma by frequently interacting with other users and submitting interesting (apparently) content to the site. She has earned trust among fellow Redditors and has received many Reddit trophies outlining the respect the community has for her.
Then she was outed.
Saydrah is a marketer. Reddit doesn't necessarily care about this (although you'll find people who will automatically hate her because of it). However, in a recent submission, she made a comment saying "this site is good", began explaining the site, and discussed the site as though she just stumbled across it and never heard of it in her life. Somebody did a little digging, found that the same website she claimed she never heard of was featured on AssociatedContent.com where she works. Now, AssociatedContent.com is pretty big so it could be just a coincidence, but the commenter went on to out her strategy behind spamming.
What has happened is that the Reddit is now gunning for her and demanding she leave. Think about this. She has spent over two years building relationships and trust within Reddit to achieve success for herself and her clients. Now she will forever lose that trust because of her lack of transparency.
What could she have done? Well, she could have promoted the site, but she should have said her affiliation to it. People want great information, regardless of the source. If she was marketing a website and it was appropriate to the conversation, there is nothing wrong with saying "here's my website, here's how it's pertinent to your specific question, let me know if you have any questions". As long as the website is actually relevant to whoever you are responding to, it's ok. As long as you are transparent.
Lying and deceiving people worked a couple of years ago because Social Media was still a fairly new concept. People didn't realize that when somebody on Yahoo Answers went "buy Nike Shoes, they are the best" that it could have been a Nike representative. Now that strategy has been overdone to a point where most Internet users are weary about recommendations. The more they get exposed to the bullshit, the more angry they get. That is why when you spam a forum, website, social network, etc. you immediately lose your credibility and can never gain it back.
Marketing through Social Media is okay, you just need to be honest and open about who you are. If you have a great product or service to offer and are communicating properly to other individuals, you'll rarely run into an issue.
You can view the submission and comments here: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/bfbjx/saydrah_still_spamming_pic/. I put a screenshot of the submission below:
To get an understanding of how big of a deal this is. Saydrah has been a Reddit member for over two years. During these two years, she has significantly built up her link karma and comment karma by frequently interacting with other users and submitting interesting (apparently) content to the site. She has earned trust among fellow Redditors and has received many Reddit trophies outlining the respect the community has for her.
Then she was outed.
Saydrah is a marketer. Reddit doesn't necessarily care about this (although you'll find people who will automatically hate her because of it). However, in a recent submission, she made a comment saying "this site is good", began explaining the site, and discussed the site as though she just stumbled across it and never heard of it in her life. Somebody did a little digging, found that the same website she claimed she never heard of was featured on AssociatedContent.com where she works. Now, AssociatedContent.com is pretty big so it could be just a coincidence, but the commenter went on to out her strategy behind spamming.
What has happened is that the Reddit is now gunning for her and demanding she leave. Think about this. She has spent over two years building relationships and trust within Reddit to achieve success for herself and her clients. Now she will forever lose that trust because of her lack of transparency.
What could she have done? Well, she could have promoted the site, but she should have said her affiliation to it. People want great information, regardless of the source. If she was marketing a website and it was appropriate to the conversation, there is nothing wrong with saying "here's my website, here's how it's pertinent to your specific question, let me know if you have any questions". As long as the website is actually relevant to whoever you are responding to, it's ok. As long as you are transparent.
Lying and deceiving people worked a couple of years ago because Social Media was still a fairly new concept. People didn't realize that when somebody on Yahoo Answers went "buy Nike Shoes, they are the best" that it could have been a Nike representative. Now that strategy has been overdone to a point where most Internet users are weary about recommendations. The more they get exposed to the bullshit, the more angry they get. That is why when you spam a forum, website, social network, etc. you immediately lose your credibility and can never gain it back.
Marketing through Social Media is okay, you just need to be honest and open about who you are. If you have a great product or service to offer and are communicating properly to other individuals, you'll rarely run into an issue.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Whoa Hiatus
I know it's been a while. My computer screen broke and it took me a couple of weeks to get a new one. I'll be posting regularly starting in a couple of days.
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