Tag Archives: the social media virus

The Value Of Your Social Media “Counts”

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Here are my thoughts on the real “value” of having huge amounts of Twitter followers, Likes on Facebook, a high Klout score etc…

(inspired by this article by Mark Schaefer)

The larger your audience is, the larger the part of it that doesn’t pay any attention to you, beyond superficial desires of their own (e.g. “I’ve liked my favorite brand” or “I’ve got them on my list” etc…).

I’m a fan of quality over quantity myself… but the post title that inspired this article asks a specific question…

“Do you need a massive audience to be huge in social media?”

My response is… do you really want to be huge in social media and have millions of followers? Is there really any value in that at all? If you’re huge in social media, aren’t you just strengthening the brands in social media (like Klout, Facebook, Twitter etc…)?

So, I would also ask… and here’s the important part:

Do you need a massive audience to be an authority to the people who choose to follow your content, your business, and your brand?

To that question… the answer is NO, and here’s why:

If the number of people displayed on some social service (like Twitter followers, likes on Facebook, Klout score etc…) is the main reason you’re an authority to someone… have you really done a good job of developing any sort of relationship through your content, personal contact, or other means… with that person?

Not yet. ;)

When you do a good job of this, that person will look beyond superficial numbers and see you as a true authority anyhow… no matter how many “Twitter followers” you have, and they won’t care what your Klout score is.

So build your business beyond “getting huge” in social media, and go sell something, would you?

My Baseline Thoughts On Social Media

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Social media isn’t the “end all” or “be all” for businesses… it’s a term… it’s a label… it represents a set of online tools used to connect people.

In this term, you’ll notice the word “media” which implies to some people that business is involved (the media, or media companies).

But it’s a media form (sub form actually, because the Internet is the media type), a grouping of certain types of sites which connect people to other people.

The key is connection… and not the social media term or form itself.

And that is where businesses who use these tools to try to market their businesses get it wrong.  In fact, I would stick my neck out and say you shouldn’t market on social media sites at all.

You should connect with the people in your market on a genuine and human level.

The main reason lies in why these tools are created in the first place…

They are NOT created to advertise or market businesses, they are designed to connect people then build a revenue model by selling advertising to advertisers (usually ineffective advertising by the way) or by selling premium services or versions of the original service.

NONE of that indicates you, as a business owner, should ever set up a free account with the intent of using it as an advertising billboard.

Instead, use social media as part of an overall marketing plan WITH other elements of marketing… or as a set of tools to leverage a particular function of business (e.g. customer service, tech support etc…).

Then, have reasonable expectations as to the results you’re going to get by using social media for your business.

Bottom line, IF it makes sense, use these tools in your business (e.g. examine the leverage you might be able to gain etc…)… but if it doesn’t make sense, or you think social media represents some magic bullet… DON’T use these tools.  No matter what the geeks say.

Why It Doesn’t Matter If You Have One Million Followers

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It doesn’t matter if you have one million followers on Twitter… 84,232 Likes on Facebook… or 50,432 “connections” on LinkedIn…

It doesn’t matter, because you don’t KNOW hardly anybody in those groups.

We tend to get trapped in this vicious “contest” of sorts…

  • Make the numbers go up.
  • More must be better.
  • Higher and higher productivity.
  • I’m popular.

Who cares?  If you’re not doing work that matters…you’re just creating a bunch of social media noise any how.

So quit focusing on “how many”…and start delivering quality and building long-lasting relationships…that’s what is going to count in the next 50 years in business.

The Social Media Numbing Effect

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There’s no doubt, we now live in an age where we can pretty much reconnect with anyone, and connect to just about anyone we want to.

Is this really a good thing?  Is this connection a genuine, human connection?

Or is there something deeper at work here?

The social media numbing effect is produced by this ease of connection.  Yes, we CAN connect, but the value of that connection is determined by both human parties… and not by Facebook “Likes”, Twitter “followers”, or LinkedIn “connections” as data.

Just because you’ve technologically “connected” with someone, doesn’t mean there is a genuine human connection with that person.

And the numbing effect I’m pointing out here lies with the fact that most people are in fact getting a little lazy, and almost relying on this technology to satisfy their desire for connection in the first place.

We aren’t built that way people.

We are built to reach out to other people, to connect face-to-face, NOT to stare at a damn computer screen and look at all of our Facebook friends or Twitter followers.

What does this have to do with business?

As I’ve said before, business is about people.  This means that just because you’ve built a following of 5 million followers on Twitter doesn’t mean you’re genuinely connecting with 5 million people.

Technology is a good thing, don’t get me wrong, but if we numb ourselves by using it too much, and miss out on the real reason we live on this planet because we’re too busy staring at a computer screen…that could be a negative thing.

Why “Social Media ROI” Is Just Fear Talking

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I can’t believe it…

With all of the proven successes for social media in providing new leads, clients, sales, profits, and expense-reduction for businesses…

…there are still businesses asking the question “What is the ROI of social media?”.

And that question is fundamentally flawed in at least a couple of ways:

1)  9 times out of 10 the business owner/CEO asking this question hasn’t even tested any form of social media…nor given it a chance (e.g. lack of research into the topic).

2)  If you’re asking this question…you’re asking a question based on too broad of a topic…there are too many tools and strategies to begin implementing that may or may not apply to your business…so “social media” in and of itself encompasses WAY to big of a topic to ask that question.

So, in my opinion, if you’re a business owner and you’re not at least testing the social media landscape (which contains a HUGE selection of tools and websites to help your business)…then to me, that’s just FEAR talking.

In short, you’re just too afraid to try using it.

Marketing has always been based on testing…and if you’re asking this question before testing social media…which includes research, perhaps a consultation or two with someone who is experienced in the field, etc…

Then fear is stopping is you from profiting (in various ways, not necessarily in immediate bottom line profits) from social media.

A book I recommend you read on this subject (is actually a book that covers so much more on the topic) is appropriately titled “Social Media ROI” by Olivier Blanchard.  That will be a good start for you.

My Unfiltered Thoughts On Social Media As Of Now

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This post might get a bit long.

I’ve been using social media sites and tools for a little while now, and while I would not consider myself a focused “expert” on the subject, I know enough about connecting with people and have experience using these tools to make a few observations and even an educated prediction or two (plus, I’m human…so…).

We’re still in the shiny object phase of using social media to engage, connect, market, and even conduct various business functions (customer service, sales, technical support…yes, more than just marketing).  Being in the “shiny object” phase, there seems to still be misconceptions about social media and its impact on business and people.

Misconception #1 — “They Like me, they really really like me.”

No, they don’t really like you (unless you know them already).

People might click your “like” button, they might follow you on Twitter, they might share a LinkedIn post or something…but that’s really where the relationship ends if you haven’t connected with those people.

It’s good that they express interest, don’t get me wrong (you should develop that interest as well), but without meaningful personal connection with these folks as well…which is hard past approximately 150 people…that’s really it.

Coke has millions of likes on Facebook…but so what?  Lots of people liked Coke before Facebook…and the brand was already really strong before Facebook.

Misconception #2 — “This new social network came out, so I MUST join it or face the consequences.”

Bullshit.

Sometimes a particular network is a good idea for your business (or personal life)…and sometimes it isn’t.  There are no “rules” (even for geeks) that state you must join a social network as an “early adopter” or be beheaded.

I personally have quite a few social network profiles…but have found I can only build genuine relationships by using a select few of them.  Right now, I’m in the process of selecting what will be the “final 3″ networks you will be able to connect with me on.

Connecting for the sake of connecting is meaningless…it’s the true, personal and genuine connections with real people that count…period.

Business is about people.  If more businesses (and marketers, namely in the online space) got that concept…the recession might have been an illusion.

We started out in caves, with nothing but meaningful connection on the most basic of needs (food, sex, water, community etc…).  What have we evolved to?  Since when did the personal connection get lost in favor of a Like button or some @reply?

Alright,  enough with the misconceptions (more of those in other posts)…

Social media has also created a monster…and that monster is called The Social Media Expert.

Now, I’m not saying that all people who might specialize in  the social media space are bad people.  What I am saying, are that social media sites and the innovation of this connection medium have created “room” for a new type of what I call a “faux-industry” of sorts.

Let me explain…

Back in the early 1990′s (late 80′s and discussion boards for geeks like me), the Internet was born…and early adopters started selling “how to” stuff.  This created a monster as well…the Internet Marketer.  But the monster wasn’t the label, it was the treating the Internet Marketing opportunity as a business in and of itself.  It isn’t a business.

The Internet is a tool folks, nothing more, and nothing less.  It allows you to deliver content, stream video, and put up websites.  In short, it’s really a sort of delivery device.

Yes, some businesses limit themselves to using the Internet for marketing their businesses…but the Internet is the delivery device for their marketing messages and content, it isn’t the business itself…want proof?  If the Internet shut down, would these online marketers still have businesses?  Nope.  Putting all your eggs in one basket anyone?

Ok…now to social media…

Social Media started to become a focus for businesses around 2002 – 2007…and is now a growing phenomenon for small businesses.  The allure of being able to connect directly with customers is appealing to business owners everywhere (obviously).

The problem is, it’s still a shiny object.

So…this created space for “The Social Media Expert.”  People who are very skilled in using social media themselves and want to help businesses adapt to this new medium.  Nothing wrong with that…except this:

Social Media isn’t an entire business strategy…it’s a set of tools…nothing more, nothing less.

Now the problem doesn’t lie with honest people, who’ve developed an honest means of helping people adapt to the medium…it’s with the dishonest (or perhaps overly enthusiastic?) people who advocate “you NEED social media to survive” or immediately claim “you NEED to be on Facebook” in order to survive in business marketing.

You don’t need either to survive in business so long as your business is serving it’s market effectively.  That is a BIG concept that involves a LOT of moving parts, more than simply using social media as your end-all marketing toolbox.

Lead generation, customer service, technical support, marketing, back-end sales, joint ventures, follow-up, sales, management, accounting, legal, and on…and on…many moving parts to running a business.

If your business is doing fine without social media, then don’t use it unless you’re scaled up to handle it as a “department”…because just having a Facebook Fan Page isn’t enough.  You have to be able to support it and get return on investment of time and resources from your business in order to justify having one.

I think this big, shiny object of social media has distracted us as business owners from the fact that ROI (Return On Investment) is important, next to serving the people who support your business of course.

Moving on to a different thought about social media…

I think we’re heading for a social media crash of sorts, because businesses cannot be built on top of other businesses (another reason why you can’t use only Social Media to build a business…unless you own the network itself).  If Zuck invades privacy, or pisses the masses off for some reason…yes Facebook could in fact be shut down, although the process would take a number of years IMO.

From a consumer point of view, I think we are starting to get to the “noise” part of social media development.  There are now 4 really big players (Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and LinkedIn) vying for our attention to join them…and within each (in case you haven’t noticed) there is a bunch of noise, effort, and connection with people and media.

Noise x 4 = Holy Crap!  How many networks do I need to be a part of?

We’re all humans, with the same 24 hours in a day…so let’s start to at least think about how best to use this new medium to engage people…with real engagement, not just “button-press” friends, ok?

History repeats itself people, we were all enamored with radio, TV, the Internet, cell phones, now social media (with a new addition, mobile web apps).  Every one of those innovations has since lost its luster.  Social Media will too.

(UPDATE:  Some think social media fatigue is a “myth”…but I hold to my so-called crystal ball that we will eventually get tired of having so-many choices and so-much connection as humans)

So, if you’re a consumer, consider the personal connection with real people unless you have a LOT of time on your hands or just LOVE spending time on the Internet.  You cannot have a real, personal connection with 5000 people (about 150 is said to be the rule by a number of sources).

If you’re a business owner, think in terms of “dilution.”  Every time you involve another tool in your marketing mix, even if you’re scaled up and staffed to use that tool…you still dilute your company a bit (unless your products or services are built for many people, like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, General Electric, etc…).

I realize this was a longer post, thank you for reading.  If you feel it helped you, please share it with others using the networks below:

Social Media Isn’t Your Entire Marketing Strategy

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Social Media.

The minute you read those two words, which are buzz words, doesn’t it conjure up some mysterious land where everyone is making hundreds of millions using this big shiny object?

It shouldn’t.

Using social media tools should only comprise a portion of your overall marketing (hell, even business) strategy.  It doesn’t typically support entire business marketing plans.

It can be used for different things too…not just marketing.  Social media tools can be used for customer service, sales, connecting, communication, and on…and on…

Do you get the picture here?

In other words…social media as a whole really isn’t that big of a deal.

What social media boils down to (for businesses) is it represents another set of tools to go into a larger tool box.  That’s it.

If you’re thinking about using social media to replace the whole tool box, your swimming in some dangerous water…because growing a business is a whole lot bigger than that.

There’s no doubt that it’s more and more important for you to communicate with your customers, to engage them etc… but the tools under which you accomplish that are just tools…nothing more, and nothing less IMO.