Mike’s Points

(NOTE: The below is a cross post of a post I wrote for the Techrigy Blog from Aug. 7. It’s not exactly the same as I use a different image here than I did at the Techrigy Blog.)

You don’t really need to be active in social media.

Twitter? No. Blog? No. Facebook Page? No. Social bookmarking? Nyah. Second Life? Forget about it.

Social media — like any other tool for marketing — should be researched and evaluated based on how best to reach and communicate with your audience.

But (you can tell it’s a big BUT), you do need to be monitoring and listening in to social media.

1. Do you have comment cards available for customers and prospects?
2. Do you have a suggestion box in your location(s)?
3. Do your sales people listen to customers?
4. Do you have a customer service department or person?
5. Do you have your company name in Google News Alerts or have a paid clipping service for news releases and such?
6. Have you ever conducted a focus group or other similar market research?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you need to monitor social media.

I’ve been involved in SM monitoring almost since I first became active in social media in 2005. There are a lot of monitoring tools available, both free and paid. (For reference, see a previous post on online tools, and my Delicious bookmarks tagged social-media-monitoring.)

How and why you should monitor social media? Let’s look at four key ways to use social media monitoring:

Monitor your company and product names, as well as any other trademarked, marketing and related terms about you. This is a no-brainer. People are talking about you whether you are listening or not — so you might as well listen. You also can track competitors. During your monitoring:

• During your monitoring see what negative, neutral and positive things are being said. Before jumping in to respond to negative streams, gauge if the content is emotion- or fact-based — it’s tough to sooth a debate filled with emotion, so be cautious. Also determine if the author receives a lot of traffic or seems to have a lot of influence. If either are low, consider your timing if you should respond at all. (This point requires another post to really discuss.)

Gauge how effective your marketing messages are. I’m talking more than just negative or positive reactions. Those do not necessarily come from your branding efforts. Review the results for your company and related names used above and see what’s being said and what main points are associated with your terms. Then, adjust as you see appropriate. You also can track your efforts over time and compare to sales data to determine what impact social marketing has on sales.

Market research: Don’t look for your company-related names; look for trends and issues associated with your industry and your marketplace. You may have conducted surveys and other research in the past — with social media you can do the same in real-time (or at least pretty recent time). See image at right for an example: Tracking “glass and recycling” v “plastic and recycling” for a recent two-month period.

If you are planning an outreach, use social media monitoring to smooth the process: For the subject or topic you plan to use for SM outreach, search for it first. See who’s already blogging, tweeting and discussing it. Then, see if those people are ones you want to engage: Gauge their level of influence, their comments on your topic, etc. — all the while learning more about them. That will help you better connect with them if you do contact them.

For the image, I use Techrigy’s SM2 service. However, other services also have graphing and analytical tools. Even with free services, you can take the data and develop your own charts.

Point to Ponder: No matter if you use a free service or a paid service, there’s still an investment. Both require an investment in time to fully analyze the data. The trade off is in the amount of money you pay for a comprehensive service that will compile the data and start to analyze it, compared to the amount of time you need to gather and compile the results and then analyze using the free tools.

-Mike

I first heard of SXSW in 2007 when Twitter was the rage of the interactive-music-film festival. In fact, because of all the buzz, I joined Twitter and have been using it since.

Since being on my own, professionally, I’ve enjoyed the freedom of getting out and about: being one of many others who are helping develop the social media community in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, attending a couple conferences, and even being involved in some presentations.

And, “being out and about” means submitting proposals like the one I did for SXSW 2010 on social media monitoring. Lo and behold, mine was one of 2210 selected for public voting for Interactive 2010.

The neat thing about the SXSW voting process is that, it’s not just a popularity contest. It’s not just determined by a small, select group. It’s both. The votes for determining the final 300 panels and presentations for the final program comes from three key groups:

• 40% SXSW Advisory Board
• 30% SXSW Staff
• 30% Public Voting

And that last portion is where you and I come in.

I’m a firm believer that social media monitoring is a fundamental foundation of any marketing program — particularly if a company or organization wants to be active in social media. If you hold that belief as well, here’s what I want you to do:

Check out the handful of social media monitoring-related proposals. You can do so here (it’s a search for “monitoring” in SXSW’s PanelPicker. There are some that are not exactly applicable, but most of the eight results are.). Of course, mine is included.

Check out the proposals and vote. (Yes, you have to register to vote or comment.)

I’ve already voted a “thumbs up” for my proposal.

If you think mine is worthy of being among the final 300, great! Thank you. And, if I somehow do become part of the final program, HOLY TOLEDO! I don’t know how I’d get to Austin or how I’d pay for it, but I definitely will go. You’d just call me Carl Spackler.

If you don’t think my proposal should be among the final, hey, that’s okay. Please at least vote for one of the social media monitoring proposals.

And, if you have any feedback on what I proposed, please leave a comment at my SXSW PanelPicker.
Thank you.

-Mike

For other SXSW PanelPicker proposals to consider and related posts on SXSW 2010, have a look at:

Industrial to Interactive: From Old Town to Tech Town: A panel discussion with a focus on Detroit, lead by Brandon Chesnutt, but applicable to other cities trying to develop a strong digital community. Several solid Detroit and area folks are involved (many of whom I’ve met and know).

Please Vote: A Smorgasbord of Learning for SxSW Interactive 2010: Kami Watson Huyse’s solid overview of several panels she is involved with and recommends. She invited others to plug their own proposals in the comments section (which I did), so you can check out other SXSW possibilities.

SXSW PanelPicker or panelpPimping?  Sonny Gill’s good discussion with good comments on the public voting aspect of the PanelPicker process (and yes, I left a comment as well). The post includes a link to one that he and Bryan Person proposed.

As I said, Aug. 20, 2008, stunk.

In writing that post, I remember my original word was that it sucked.

But, I resisted from letting emotions get in the way.

Being laid off from a job — whether you are single or married with four children to support — really does suck. At the time. The emotions of fear, worry, self-doubt, anger and countless other negative ones the minutes and hours afterward collide like the line of scrimmage of a Sunday afternoon football game. It ain’t pretty.

You can either wallow in that quicksand of emotions and sink, or you can be thankful for what you do have and get determined.

You also can rely on what faith you may have. My wife, Amy, and I were already strong in our faith in God. And then that faith grew when she became pregnant with our fourth child. And, it grew yet again during the past year.

The past year has definitely been a tremendous learning experience. Severance. Freelance work. Unemployment. Food stamps. Plenty of job interviews — and a few near hits. Self-employment. Off unemployment. On unemployment. Scary times. Family times. Sleep deprivation. Meeting great people. Humility. Up. Down. More sleep deprivation. Personal growth.

It doesn’t matter where I am right now, but overall, it’s been a positive experience.

What does matter is that — rather than dive into some personal, introspective self-therapy crap — I try to provide value and share with you what I’ve learned with the hopes that you will get some benefit from it.

Assuming you have some level of skill, it matters as much who you know as what you know. Part of human nature is an innate desire to help others. Most of the solid opportunities I’ve had were due to the actions of others — setting up introductions, bringing me in on a project, referring me, etc. So, get good at your craft and then network. Have a sincere interest in others. If you’re an introvert, get out of our comfort zone, and meet people. Look outward; not inward.

As you hope others will watch out for you, be sure you watch out for others. Whether you call it karma, the Golden Rule or just being nice, get to know the needs of your network so you can connect people who can help each other. I can’t point to a specific example of when this has helped me, but it definitely can’t hurt for you to get a reputation as a resource. It’s something I need to be better at and do more of.

Add value to the relationships you have with others. It could be saying thanks for help; it could be forwarding an article that might be of professional or personal interest; it could complimenting someone to one of his or her peers; it could be empathy; or it could be giving without expecting anything in return. Contribute somehow to the lives of others.

Don’t ever give up. If you’re seeking work, operating your own business, or even if you have a job and you’re trying to improve. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Don’t blame others. Don’t rely on others. Nothing will happen unless you take action. So, get off your butt.

Finally, you must have faith that, whatever challenging situation you are in, it will work out for the best. You may not know what the “best” is, but you must have faith in God that it will work out for the best.

I hope the above has been of value.

-Mike

Okay, if you’re an individual, naked launches are okay. I mean, just go already and do it. No planning really required.

But, if you’re a business or a similar organization, naked launches are not needed. Planning and work are required.

I define naked launches as a business or organization starting/publishing a blog, Facebook Page, YouTube channel, Twitter profile, etc., in name only. No or very little content, or solid thought as to what the heck to do with it.

I’ve seen many companies and organizations publish Facebook Pages with little more than their name, URL and logo.

Before moving on, let me say that I understand the need of businesses to protect from name squatters. Okay, save your name even if you have no plans for it — but then state your corporate ID/brand protection intentions so it is clear, and visitors know that it’s not a dead account or that you don’t know what to do with it.

So, what can you do to prevent naked launches? Here’s some help with select popular social media tools:

Twitter: First, be sure your audience (customers, prospects, influencers, etc.) are using Twitter or that you expect they will in the soon enough future.  Because Twitter is so fluid, you don’t need a detailed plan. You do need to have a plan for the types of information you will tweet. Sure, some will be broadcast, but most should be informational — adding value to the legions you hope full follow you.

Also, track key terms around your product, industry, audience, etc., so you can respond to those who have a similar interest. This will help grow your followers and help you find new people to follow. Also, be sure to fully fill out your Twitter profile. See Ford for a solid corporate example. The Toledo Museum of Art has a solid one, too.

Corp/Organizational blog: A lot of planning needs to go into a corporate or organizational blog: Decide why you should, and who you want to reach; who will blog; design (so that it mirrors your corporate look); your blogroll; and objectives to measure to gauge effectiveness.

Also, prior to launch have a couple posts done and published — one an introduction to state why you started the blog, and then a first real one. You must also have an editorial calendar or schedule of posts for the next upcoming time period. If you plan to blog daily, have the first two weeks planned and posts pretty much done; if you plan twice-a-week posts, have the first 3-4 weeks of posts in mind and started; if weekly, have the first month’s worth or more planned. And, then keep up the schedule so content stays regular.

Facebook Page*: Before publishing a Facebook Page for your organization, be sure you complete the pertinent tabs: Information on your company others will want to know; Photos of interest — and more than just your logo; Links to not only your organization but also that your fans would find helpful and of interest; and details on any Events you may have coming in the near term. For Discussions, you don’t have to start any off the bat — though it’d be nice — you should prepare a list of topics to initiate in the coming weeks and months. This is similar to the planning you should do for a blog. Having regular discussion topics will help keep the Page fresh and engage your Fans. If there are no or very few replies, switch to another form of engagement on the Page.

AND, please refrain or control your organization, communications agency and others with a vested interest from fanning your page right off the bat. Those are tainted and don’t come off as being real fans. Most other fans may not know it, but those who do will look sadly upon you. I’m not saying employees and your agency’s personnel should never do it, but when they do at first and months later, they still make up a sizeable portion of your Page, it doesn’t look favorable upon the company.

YouTube: Yes, most companies will simply upload commercials. Guess that’s okay. IF you can do other videos — like from a news conference, how-to, a commnunity volunteer effort you’re involved in, etc., — please do. YouTube offers a lot of customization for your channel to ensure it matches your corporate colors and look. Take advantage of it — before launch. When you do launch, have at least a couple videos ready. Also, keep on the look out for other channels to subscrbe to — could be customers, vendors, prospects, other organizations of interest and that could provide value to your own subscribers. A couple good examples of YT profiles include Pickens Plan (good tie to branding, but would like to see some comments — or haven’t there been any?) and Domino’s (not as strong in corp branding but plenty of positive and negative comments allowed and many non-corp favorites).

If you have other social media tools that should not be naked upon corporate launch, please share your ideas in the comments.

Take care, and thank you for reading.
-Mike

*In most business cases, you’ll want a Facebook Page, not a Group. To decide the best for you, see a post a Mashable and at Inside Facebook. AND, if you’re an organization, business, etc., DO NOT create a Facebook Profile — it’s not allowed. See the 4th question in the FB Help Section.

Since leaving the field of full-time journalism many years ago, I’ve worked at a couple agencies, have applied for jobs it many others and have talked with folks at, again many others. So, I’ve gained some knowledge about how agencies can organize their client teams. I’m no expert, but know what I like and what seems to work.

At one agency I worked at, the client team was structured pretty much like a circle: The client was in the middle and the entire account team around the client with each person having first-hand knowledge of client needs and access to the main client contact.

At another agency, there definitely was a hierarchy — kind of like a stick in the mud: Most of the information came flowing down from the top level account person to the rest of the team. Sure, there was some client contact via meetings, but not much — unless you were in account management. Any questions I had, had to go up the line.

One time, I emailed the client contact — who I had actually met once — about some information I found that I thought would be of interest. I immediately received a call from from a higher up in my department telling me that was not allowed; and later was called in talk with the person who headed up client services. (it was kind of like being called into the principal’s office for speaking out of turn in class).

Now, I’m not naming names of the agencies because the names don’t matter. I’m looking at the client structure and how effective each is.

In recent job interviews I’ve had and in talking with those involved in other agencies, it seems that the circle structure (you also could call it a horizontal structure whereas the stick is vertical) is predominant. And, I am soooo glad for it.

Here’s why I believe a circular client structure is more effective:

• You simply learn better when receiving input first hand — not second or third hand. A client is more optimally served by the agency when all team members really know what’s going on — not just learning client needs second hand.
• What if you have questions? It is more time- and money-efficient to  be able to ask the client directly, right then and there than to ask someone who then has to ask someone who might have to ask someone else. And, then relay the answer back down the line. If you have more questions? Repeat the process or give up and do your best guessing.
• Direct access to clients, being involved in client meetings, etc., allows everyone on the team to have a full understanding of client branding / positioning and what it wants to achieve. Then, client team members can take that first-hand knowledge and contribute their respective skills to the team to try to achieve the best results. It’s so much easier to do so with a full understanding, than only having sketchy information.
• Everyone feels like a true part of the team. Okay, this is subjective and more morale-type stuff, but can’t be discounted.

With all that said, I realize that it is not cost-effective to always have all client team members at all meetings and such. However, there is a happy medium so that client team members have enough direct client access to be sure they are following the needs of the client, then to be working in uncertainty.

I definitely welcome your thoughts on agencies’ client team structures, types, what works, what doesn’t, etc.

-Mike