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The Long and Winding Road of Social Media Marketing and Public Relations

"What is your social media marketing strategy?," wrote Lee Odden on his Online Marketing Blog, in March 08. I had to mention the date because I think his blog post was ahead of it's time. No, Odden doesn't owe me any money nor do I owe him anything in return. Though, I do owe myself (and you) one thing, and that's perspective on where we are (and should be) with social media today. And, that's where Odden hits the mark.

Odden wrote about social media being an "effective marketing channel." I often talk about it as being an "effective public relations tool." Both are correct, but very different in strategic development and execution. One step further, my friend Adam Metz talks about himself as being the "how to guy" (and agency) for strategic creation AND tactical execution of social media. Then there's your "Pink Floyd" of social media, Brian Solis, as Metz aptly coined. The "visionary," talking about the culture of social media. I've also heard Social Media Club's Chris Heuer be very Solis-esque.

So, yes, "There is No Secret Sauce," as Metz explains in his eBook of the same name - when it comes to social media strategy and execution. And, as you've (hopefully not) just realized - there are a lot of different kinds of sauces to choose from. Ketchup is ketchup is ketchup, yet all brands are different, and some are better than others.

I think this is why I had such a hard time swallowing the social media press release. There's no one way of doing anything. Is there? Aren't our approaches based on our respective experiences, and how we were taught to swallow and spit them back out? So, how is it that one document can be the guide for every way that we disseminate information, socially? Maybe it was just meant to be the starting point of the conversation?

Steve Rubel, Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, Jeremiah Owyang, Tara Hunt, Clara Shih, Adam Jackson, yours truly (some of whom are mentioned on Odden's blog post above) are all not the same person. Every one of those "experts" in this economy are going to do quite well, if not doing so already. Why?

Social media is new. It's like the film business was in the 20s. You could take big risks, experiment, identify some stand out talent, and make big bucks. The real question is who will be standing on the long tail, 6 months from now, maybe even 5 or 10 years from now? I have to point back to Odden. I'm not suggesting that we should add yet another expert to the list, but have to give you a virtual slap upside the head - and remind you (and myself) that social media IS AN "effective marketing channel."

I reminded a client's social media developer vendor of this in a meeting when I said, "It's not about the technology." He disagreed. Sure, the technology enables us to do great things. But, we create the technology for a purpose, not the other way around. Well, we're supposed to. Twitter got lucky.

And, if that technology doesn't exist, we can create it. That's the power of companies like Gigya, and why it is still around, and growing. It innovates to serve the purpose of its client's marketing and public relations objectives. Not the other way around.

So, who will be left standing? It will be the “digital agency” that isn’t afraid to let its marketing and public relations heritage shine when developing social media strategies and integrating them within their overall marketing and public relations programs. Oh yeah, and being able to execute on that doesn't hurt either. Most folks fall down over their ideas, and trample themselves. But, I digress...

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of social media “experts” out there which know how to drive social media strategies and tactics for clients, but so few who can actually take those clients – on a road trip with their marketing and public relations programs to show their clients' customers the benefits of trusting their brands, now and forever.

See you on the road…

How to Build a "Circle of Influence" in Social Media

Working in "Hollywood," we had celebrity clients who had millions of fans, some who had thousands, others who had hundreds, and a few who were relatively unknown. All had one thing in common - all created a "Circle of Influence." Every star had an audience who surrounded them, supported them, and were loyal to their celebrity's craft because in one way or another, that famous person touched each fan in a very personal way. What each personality had in common was an uncanny, in some cases trained ability, to believe in their character, their purpose. And, that is the cornerstone of building a "Circle of Influence" in social media.

I've heard social media experts talk about being "down to earth," "helpful to others (not just for their own commercial good)," and focused on "listening, not always talking" in conversation. Those are all tools, some inherent in who we are and other traits which we can learn. But, the act of being "nice" or "genuine" can not bare fruit unless one believes in themselves and what they have to offer.

It's that foundation, that passion, that drives visionaries to tirelessly focus on what they can do to reach their end goal. It's that studying, that dedication, which helps us connect with others, build community, and work hard together toward a common goal. That is the power of social media and how you can build a "Circle of Influence."

I'll even go as far to say that the size of your circle will vary depending upon what you believe. Some people believe in some things (and people) more than others. It's just natural. And, you don't need to have thousands, even millions of people in your circle, to be influential. I would, as a matter of fact, advise you to be careful not to attract too many people as you may then cause them by nature to believe that you have a social responsibility to be the pied piper within your circle of unconnected fans.

It's a rare superstar who can manage that level of influence because to be everything to everyone all of the time is to be no one at all, but to appeal to the masses at a great cost. The cost of not connecting with those who are actually connected with each other - and to you - through a common purpose, whether they know it or not.

It's also important to take calculated, strategic risks within your circle to challenge your followers, make them think, encourage them to participate, allow them to attract others, become part of the conversation, and grow with you.

We have great influence over our peers if we take responsibility for our actions and act morally within our cultures and societies, of which many are not even the same across the United States. We need to tap into what we really believe and stop thinking about how we can influence others because of how many people we can attract. We need to stand up for who we are even if it means letting some people down. 

I'll say it again. We can not be afraid to take risks. We need to believe in who we are and what we do to create a "Circle of Influence." It's just not good enough to be a nice person. We have to have a great product too that many can believe in whether you're the product or it lives on the web. 

Either way, it needs to live within you.

We Don’t Know Enough about Our Customers

“We don’t know enough about our customers,” kicked-off Andy Allbritten, 28 year veteran of international high technology and customer services experience with companies such as Oracle, PeopleSoft and National Semiconductor, at the East Bay MashEX in Pleasanton, CA. The event was hosted by yours truly, and Chris Symank and David M. Lu, financial advisors, respectively. Below are my notes from the event.

I hope you learn something, I did (a lot).

“Most businesses don’t even know who their customers are,” Allbritten continued. “Traditionally we used our sales teams to gather customer info, but after the initial sale it stops. Then someone calls for support – and we don’t know enough about them; who they are and what they need.”

Allbritten followed talking about how some  companies don’t match up who calls the help desk versus who is paying for it. Others don’t even know which products some of their customers own. Keeping track of what a customer bought and what they’re entitled to is even challenging at some of the best tech brands out there today, he added.

“Real business intelligence is knowing what your customers have bought and what they’re really using. You want to know what you can sell back into your customer base versus what they already bought from you.”

Allbritten resonated when he exclaimed, “In these tough economic times, you need to market and sell into your customer base.”

For retailers, discount cards are a great way to capture information about your customers. You can spend money to market and use it to capture information. You can also create services to market back into your customer base, assuming you know what your customers purchased and what they are using.

Unless you have comprehensive information about your customers it’s very hard to sell back into your customer base. With a new product, you need to know which person in your customer’s organization to market to. You know who purchased the product, but is that person the point person for what you’re selling now?

It’s important to “understand who the real customer is,” added Allbritten, “and creating services and products that serve that customer’s needs.” Customers can also provide you with great feedback on your competitors, and what they’re doing.

“You have to get the details,” says Allbritten.  An example is “The ‘customer hierarchy’.” How is the business of your customer structured? Who owns who? Has your client’s company been bought or merged?

Who is the customer? The person that approves the products, uses the products, pays the bill – it’s all of the above. In terms of measuring satisfaction, who are you going to ask? Knowing all of the people involved is important.

Customer data goes bad at a rate of 3 percent a month. If you’ve got less than 90 percent accurate data then it’s hard to make decisions on your business. People look at data clean-up efforts, but it’s not a one-time thing – but an on-going process to keep clean.

In providing support to customers “Problem solving should start immediately,” Allbritten continued.

“I’m not a fan of moving support offshore, unless the product is designed offshore and they know it well.” One company wanted better support and waited for the Australian support team to come online to solve their problems because those support teams were “better” than the people in Santa Clara.

If you are making major changes or going through an acquisition it’s critical to put together a communications plan. You can prevent from losing any customers by knowing who the customers are and communicate with them through email, direct mail, web sites, the “portal” and what every it takes.

Where do you gather information? Excel unfortunately has become the everything and anything solution, but is better than nothing. Companies also use CRM, ERP, FMS and SFA and other systems to manage customer data. Pick one place to store  customer data and integrate it all together. No one in the SMB space needs to buy software – because software as a service (SaaS) does a great job.

“What’s your single source of truth, for your customer data” was Allbritten big take-away message.

Customer data needs to be linked together, even if all of the systems are integrated together. And, what are some customer data common mistakes? According to Allbritten…

1. Don’t use an IT asset management system as a CRMS
2. Don’t use a trouble tick system as a CRMS
3. Don’t use sticky notes as workflow
4. Don’t use Excel as an SFA or customer database long-term
5. Don’t wait to address the data problem
6. Don’t think it is just a sales’ problem
7. Don’t interact with a customer without information
8. Don’t ignore the issue 

You can also provide incentives for the customer to update their own information through a portal. Customers don’t always update their information with the information you need, but the incentives will help.

What you SHOULD DO is to:

1. Create a process to capture and store customer data
2. Continually cleanse your data
3. Implement a real SFA system
4. Implement a real CRM system
5. Use SaaS offerings if possible
6. Do image contracts if possible – get rid of those dozens of boxes filled with paper contracts
7. Think globally / customers do
8. Automate product data capture
9. Create a “single source of truth.”

If you’ve acquired a company or merged with another, move quickly to integrate data quickly. You can use that information to communicate with customers – fast – to tell them what’s happening. You also really need to reward the forums and bloggers who are helping you support your customers.

“A simple definition of a satisfied customer:

• those who pay their bills on time
• buys more from you
• and tells others to buy from you

that’s what really makes up a satisfied customer.” 

Once you have customer information, measure it for profitability. Sales sometimes sells a lot more software than customers use aka “shelfware” or customers take a long time to implement the software purchased a long time ago. But, if you know what your customers bought and how they’re using it, your company could offer advanced customer service to take better care of those customers, helping them with what they already own beyond what your customer is using today.

How are you measuring customer profitability? Costs of attaining new customers is very high - do you know which customers generate the most profit? Can you shed the others? What are your floor prices? Are you billing everything owed?

Almost everybody needs to be supported. Most CEOs & CIOs will not buy software without support. It’s important to understand an agreement gets renewed. When we put in the proper sales process for selling services, you can get renewals at a 95 plus renewal rate and have a much more “comforting” financial projection. You are the trusted advisor and partner – not the vendor – the person who is part of the vision of your customer’s company.

How well do you know your customers?

Andy Allbritten is Founder and Principal of AE Consulting. In the fall of 2006, Andy Allbritten founded a consulting practice focused on providing international operational and organizational analysis to executive management of global enterprise software vendors.

Mr. Allbritten has provided services that have ranged from global pricing recommendations to analysis of global support, services, sales, IT, and development. He identified for one client over $10m in incremental revenue and cost savings. Mr. Allbritten’s clients have included Hyperion Solutions, iSOFT Group Plc and IBA Health Plc. Engagements have been in the US, UK, the Netherlands, Germany, India, and Australia. 



Prior to founding AE Consulting, Mr. Allbritten was most recently Ingres Corporation's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Support and Services. With more than 28 years of international high technology and customer services experience, Mr. Allbritten joined Ingres from Oracle, where he was Group Vice President of Worldwide Support Services Sales & Operations. Before that, he was Managing Director/ Group Vice President of Support Services, Worldwide Sales & Operations at PeopleSoft. In this position, he was responsible for PeopleSoft’s worldwide customer services organization, the global maintenance line of business and tiered services programs that accounted for $1.4B -- half of the company’s annual revenue.

He also held several other leadership positions within PeopleSoft, including Vice President of Worldwide Customer Services, Vice President/CIO of Technical Operations and Vice President of Business Operations for PeopleSoft eCenter (a hosting business), and Director of Corporate Pricing and Licensing. Before that, he spent 17 years at National Semiconductor in various operational management and production control positions. 

Mr. Allbritten has a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s in business administration from the Anderson School at UCLA.

The Power of Social Networks Panel @SocialMediaClub Event, Part 2

Here's my take from the 2nd part of the Social Media Club event at Duarte Design on The Power of Social Networks. Panelists included were Clara Shih, who wrote the Facebook Era; Tara Hunt, who wrote The Whuffie Factor (it came out today!); Adam Jackson of 140 Characters; and John Hagel.

The focus is on trust, Heuer leads. The rise of the celebrity culture, and the difference of strong vs. weak relationships. We need to be building the strong relationships. Isn't trust at the center? "Strong and weak connections are essentially important," states Hunt. That's important for our personal growth. We all had to build social capital from ground zero, doing good deeds. Oprah has an arsenal of "whuffie" aka likeability and brand trust. Now she's speaking at a conference on Twitter. "Expert," Heuer yells.

Oprah is the Godzilla in the Twitter City. All of sudden the context gets changed, and all of a sudden the bar is raised. Mainstream media is disrupting social media, Heuer adds. How do we express that better? Doing it from the Facebook perspective, the Facebook profile started with a trusted source. People are willing to give it up to get something back in value, Shih states. 

This is where I LOST my Internet connection at the event and LOST the next two paragraphs – so you will have to read Hunt’s book “The Whuffie Factor”…

The behavior of people on Facebook is not really to buy. Search is focused on intention to buy, Shih states. As we move off of Facebook, we are going to web sites where people do have an intention to buy. Ads are only shown to people who we know want products, people who are prime targets. Facebook is “hyper targeting” Shih continues. What’s really powerful is if a 13 year old girl shops for a camera and is shown age appropriate products.

Should we strengthen the weak ties? There is strength in the weak ties, Hunt says. In our strong ties, people that “have my back,” will help me move, I can cry on their shoulder. Reciprocity is important. You can ask a weak tie for a favor or an introduction for a job.

Final thoughts…

Your weak ties – your business relationships – is where most of your business will take place. Your friends and family are just that, friends and family, but not the source of your income. Facebook is more casual and more personal, because of the online identity template. Shih cold called people through her Facebook profile because it gave them context on who she was before they decided to buy her book “The Facebook Era.”

Business is not the be all end all, Hunt adds. Business and the personal has crossed over a lot. Her life does not revolve around how much she can leverage her personal relationships. Success has come to her. The most important thing is a friend who can bring you soup (when you’re sick). That’s what these social networks are all about.

Heuer adds, we have a different impression of the world around because we are consuming personal media from each other. We’re not consuming it from big media. Big media cares about the big numbers.

“People ask me if I should have a personal and professional Twitter?,” Jackson adds. How do I get the real big numbers in followers? If you’re going to go online, don’t be a big conglomerate, but “human.”

Hagel finishes, trust is a hugely broad concept. There’s a notion of situated trust. My doctor can give me good medical, not fashion, advice. The power of social networks is around talent development and learning, we have to holistically get to know people. The personal and professional need to be integrated - most of us compartmentalize each other. It’s important to create a presence and visibility. I worry about these tools which Facebook is using which “compartmentalize” our lives, Hagel said. 

How do we bring it all back together again and create trust?

The Power of Social Networks with John Hagel III @SocialMediaClub Event, Part 1

"Most people really don't care about privacy," started John Hagel III  at the Social Media Club's The Power of Social Networks event at Duarte Design in Mountain View, interviewed by Chris Heuer during a fireside chat.

What people really want is value. The point is getting value is getting value in terms of conveinence, and that which relates to you. Facebook isn't really an infomediary. The real potential is to become an advisory of what we're not aware of in terms of connecting with people and becoming aware of the right products.

Most of the social networks are having trouble harnessing advertising. Advertising is still seen as the panacea. The business model is advertising, Hagel adds. He's skeptical of advertising as the way to build a business on the Internet. It's "blasting them with your message" and marketing is more about attracting, getting people to seek you. Advertising will take different forms. The real necessity for businesses online is what is the value business can provide to customers, and what value will they really perceive as best for them.

"The Internet is at odds with the desire of the business world," Hagel was quoted by Heuer. 

Overall, the tendency is to focus on short term profits. Moving too quickly can undermine the long-term profitability of relationships. You really have to be focused on building the relationships, before you address building the business that relate to the relationship.

It's going to take a lot of lost money to drive home the message that if you're in it for short term profit, it's not the place to be. The Internet is a black hole for most large companies, Hagel continues. Metrics are tied to sheer numbers for impact, and eventually the lesson will be learned once they lose enough money.

There's a fundamental shift in society, from a world of push to a world of pull. What we're focused on, Hagel says, is how you're dealing with an uncertain world in a world of pull. How do you pull the resources to you which fulfill your needs. Search is the archytype of that. How do I create opportunities for me to be presented with opportunities and things that I didn't even know about. Most executives just say that's luck. 

"I think there's an opportunity to shape serendipity," state Hagel. 

Another level is achieving our most potential. How do you create environments where you build things and create things and build new knowledge in that process, so we all get better faster working collaboratively in these kind of environments.

"Not only how do you survive, but how you thrive?"

Most companies don't measure return on retention. Financial measures tell you how you did in the past. What you have to focus on are operational metrics which give you a view of the future. This return on attention is really critical, both from a customer viewpoint, 1) what am I paying attention to and 2) what am I getting in return.

How about return on information? How much time is a customer giving a company information? How much value is the customer getting in return for the information that he/she provided. The user needs tangible value for the information given, which builds trust. It's a return on information for the customer and vendor.

@SocialMediaClub Talks Big Issues Affecting Social Media with @briansolis @cathybrooks @chrisheuer

Cathy Brooks and Chris Heuer talk about the big issues affecting the social media industry today. This week, they are joined by Brian Solis to discuss his take on Social Media Club's Question of the Week #6, Is social media a popularity contest or is social media about genuine relationships? His blog post on Ashton Kutcher and CNN's race to a million twitter followers was a great exposition of this topic - "The Race to 1,000,000 Followers Sends Twitter and Social Media into Relevance and Irrelevance." You can listen to future radio shows by visiting http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Social-Media-Hour

Here's what I caught from their conversation...

"Things are changing toward the human," Brooks says. Are we learning to be better communicating using tech and how does that translate in the real world? Solis says that social media is opening new communication for many. Some haven't found their cadence or rhythm and others have. Some use social media to broadcast and self promote and many have used it as a way to pay it forward, spotlight others and for "good old fashion relationship building."

Heuer adds, "The more we use tech, the more we write, the more we Twitter - being forced to get those big ideas down into a Tweet have helped my writing skills." But, are you thinking in a 140 characters? Everyone is different, Heuer says, but, seriously, there are folks who don't even have a high school education and they're using these tools to communicate to friends and family. "We're expanding our overall media literacy."

Today's NY Times, front page of the science section, on "What are Friends For?" Brooks reads that friendship trumps friends and family. Now we're connected again to friends from high school, we're re-connected with our 9 year old friends. "For the most part," Solis adds, "I've used social networks to create relationships around social context, talking with people who share the same interests and passions." Consumption is an art of curating, an "attention dashboard - I still pick up the phone to communicate with family and friends."

"Social media is based on respect," Solis adds. Even if you have opposing views, you have an opportunity to express yourself, and you can walk away with different impressions and beliefs. Brooks says that a lot of her followers don't necessarily agree with her views, but follow her anyway.

Solis talks about the "race to a million" - @aplusk (aka Ashton Kutcher) wanted to have a million followers first on Twitter, to beat @cnn - and @oprah gets involved. Initially he was put off by the competition. Celebrities don't need to get that many followers to fund a charity. Ashton's video expressing the power of the experience was a good video. "You are going to be judged by your last 20 Tweets." Whether or not, these types of competitions might inadvertently change the culture of Twitter. It could change Twitter into a popularity contest, that is juvenile.

We have to talk about intent, Heuer adds. Though, celebrities are just now experiencing Twitter, and getting as excited as we did when we first came upon the tool. "Can you imagine if Princess Di had social media at her finger tips?" Another good reason for Oprah to join the social media fray. Interested to see if she will carry her brand onto Twitter.

We in tech are in a bit of a vacuum. But, actors like Ashton and Oprah are old school media types, Brooks said. Are they going to absorb us into the old school media world or are we going to drag them down into the weeds with us. "Can the statusphere save journalism?" Solis asks (as blogged about in TechCrunch). Instead of trying to get people to come to them, why not go to where the people are and build a community that represents them and get them to follow you. It's a great way to build a community around what you stand for, finishes Solis.

Five Ways to Influence Perception

Yeah, I can't sleep. I wasn't tired when I laid down. Oh well. Messing around with the iPhone I found a TypePad blogging app. The app was easy to download, and so my amazing thumb is softly caressesing each shrinking word. The challenge is what to blog. 

I took most of last week off and kept the iPhone handy so as not to feel too much out of the loop. Most of my time was spent with my nuclear family and the extend(eads) on both my mother's and wife's sides. What was the great takeaway? Public relations only works if you achieve how you want to be perceived. 

Family is the master at spinning the truth. Doctors call it denial. Others call it protection or if put on someone else, projection. Though, whatever the label, and however it gets sliced, some believe that the truth really doesn't matter as long as the perception is believed to be true. Here's my top 5 ways to get across being perceived, as you want others to, truthfully. 

1) Have a story - no matter what age, people love being told stories. And, the more believable as it pertains to your shared experiences, the better. 

2) Say it with heart - stare off into the distance, shed a tear, say your story with heart. If you don't believe it no one else will. 

3) Be consistent - keep the story plain and simple (and short) and make sure it's the same one you're telling everyone else. 

4) Get others involved corroborate your story with others so factual events bring truth and meaning to your story. Ask others to contribute as that adds another notch of credibility for your story. 

5) Dont lie - if you lie it will come back to haunt you because a good story is told over and over and eventually someone will catch on. 

Perception is simply another way of viewing the same situation. Very few of us ever see anything in the same exact way. Colors are different, even sounds. But if you choose to share your way of thinking with another then they may come to perceive your way as their new way of thinking on any truth be told given subject.

Keanu Reeves Where Art Thou?

I've got the next greatest idea for a sci fi film and need to find Keanu Reeves. It's about a guy who, for decades, adds to his social networking profile through blogs, social networks, micro blogging, and other unheard of tools, only to find - two hundred years after his death- that he wasn't real at all, but only a network of interlinked web sites and social media tools. Scary, huh?

I was reflecting with my wife on the fact that it's unlikely that our children will know the names of and identities of our great grandparents, if even we do today (which I don't). Yet, my great, great, great grandkids, and beyond - assuming my kids have kids - will be able to "Google" or find me through some "WayBack Machine." Anything is possible.

As a matter of fact, I may (or my kids may, which is more likely) be able to sit down with their great great greats to do the search, assuming that our society can find a way to regenerate our cells at such a rapid rate that will cause us to age over 80 years, maybe even more. We've all seen those classic cars, still on the road, maybe not with wooden frames, but still on the road.

This is not science fiction. The possibilities of what we can achieve are limitless, if we don't kill each other first. Oh, and for those of you that want to follow Keanu Reeves, click here...even if it's not his "official" Twitter site.

Digital Engagement: The Book - by Leland Harden and Bob Heyman

If there's one thing that we share, and can not decrease or increase, it's a matter of time. Time is a constant. If you tell me you do not have enough time to go somewhere to eat, drink, sleep or read - Digital Engagement: The Book, then you just don't know how to manage the time you have, and are wasting time when you could be gaining knowledge.

There are some things that are definitely worth doing. And, besides the natural have to dos which keep us healthy, reading Digital Engagement will keep us informed as if we were digital experts from the very beginning. It's an unusual book in that it takes a person back and sets the stage for how that person can leverage - in the present - search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and all of the Web 2.0 tools you need to compete in the digital marketplace.

The book, written by Bob Heyman and Leland Harden gives hands on advice on how-to "capture customers and build brand loyalty," in plain English. Don't believe me? Get a sample of it for yourself here or read a digital engagement expert's opinion on the subject. Either way, the book is a must have for any wannabe digital marketer who wants to get real world advice in case study form from many of the top brands of today like Toyota and Tommy Hilfiger, among many others.

Purchase a copy on Amazon here to learn how to engage customers online - or risk missing out on what you think you know...and don't!