The Powerful Social Web

Will It Work?

I'm often asked if diving into the deep end of social media will work. It's akin to hoping the dusty treadmill will get you into shape by looking at it. Participation is essential or all the tools in the world are irrelevant.

Just yesterday, I had a moment between meetings and checked for messages. There was one from a colleague who inquired whether I might be available for something on short notice - like, in a few hours. I quickly scanned my to-be-done list and felt confident things could be moved around.

Can You Help?

I contacted the person who needed the hand and I quickly found out yet another colleague had been involved and suggested me as well. I have spent time with both colleagues but our original contact was online. Two hours later I was ready to go. It turned out the emergency was averted but it got me thinking about all those conversations I have about the power behind the social web and that is the people.

We have gadgets and channels, blogs and podcasts, websites and technology all to choose from when deciding how to enhance our business. Many will claim that if your website is well written, with all the right search words, you will get more juice when potential customers are looking for your solution. Others will claim that their big shiny solution will help you despite paying much attention to your potential needs. And all the while, no amount of lipstick will pretty up an ugly business.

Do You Know?

My colleagues Mark Blevis and Bob LeDrew were conspiring on my behalf. We have those people in our lives - no matter how we may have met them - who want us to win, who want us to do well and who understand the value we bring to a situation. Those people could be friends, colleagues, customers, suppliers or all of the above.

There is a lot of chatter on the social web about the slow shift toward social business and I strongly agree we need to move there. But many individuals and companies are still grappling with how to engage. If you step back and look at things from your customers' perspective, you may get a better handle on how you want to proceed. If you look at things from a stance of helping rather than selling, you may gain more insight into the process as well.

Did You Win?

No matter where you are in your evolution, the digital landscape should be looked at as a compliment to your current business strategy. It will not save bad internal and external customer service nor will grow the revenue line if there is no commitment to solid business practices. Social media are not lottery tickets.

Print, outdoor, radio, television, mobile, digital or social all can be utilized to help you grow your business. But without people, they are just channels. I met two guys over the last few years who became friends, who shared business ideas with me and while going about their busy day mentioned my name to someone who needed a hand. There is no channel that will create that for you without connecting on a human level.

Who are you conspiring to help?

Kneale Mann

image credit: iwritealot

Digital Peer Pressure

Be Yourself and Fit In

When we are born, we are at the mercy of those taking care of us. We are not laden with fears of career development or revenue growth. Our focus does not rest on gaining more prominence in our field of expertise. And any thought of what others may think of us, is years away. Then something strange happens – we begin to grow up in a world with others around us.

I have a colleague who has a delightful six year old daughter. She is one of those kids who just embraces life, laughs constantly and fills any room with a bright light and remarkable essence. This is one cool kid. But recently, her school mates have been making fun of what she wears to school. She doesn’t “fit in” with their conformed image of what a six year old should wear. Six years old! SIX? Are you kidding me!?! If you have kids, you may have similar stories.

What They Think

As children get into adolescence, peer pressure is unrelenting. They beg their parents to buy that brand of jeans and they can’t fathom using that inferior device when all their friends have an iPhone. They feel like outcasts if they don’t fall in line to a list of items authored by an omnipresent group known as 'them'.

In the online world, some have deemed themselves experts while others are self-proclaimed rule makers of all things digital. And what is scary is there are many who have very little experience helping businesses grow but have mastered how they look in the digital classroom.

“Them” Are With Us For Life

It is important that you and your company have a presence online. However some feel that means quantity over quality. While we focus on trying to keep up with the rest of the kids in the class, we forget one essential item and that is our unique selling proposition. It is not a faster, leaner, brighter, cheaper product – it is us and what we bring to the equation. Having a website, being on Facebook, mastering SEO is simply not enough. Your offer falls to pieces when a customer wants to buy something.

I read a post this week about the explosion of online couponing which isn’t surprising. Groupon is the fastest company to reach a billion dollars in annual revenue. There are hundreds who are trying to replicate that success. Many organizations are doing what they do because their competition is doing it. In the quest to differentiate, many are conforming to 'them'. And it began when they were six years old.

Learning what works for others and applying some of it to your situation may be wise. Copying them simply to fit in, may not be a compelling enough reason. What are your thoughts?

knealemann

image credit: istock

The Social Media Lottery

Return on Business Investment

We have all let ourselves dream about what we would do if we won the jackpot. We think of the freedom and how we could focus on a life without bills or financial strain. One ticket and we're set.

If you don't already, imagine you manage or own a company. You know all the digital channels are the hot topics, mobile is a platform that is growing exponentially and it`s time for you to get going in a big way. You feel your competitors are leaving you behind and revenue is affected.

Trickery won't help a bad idea

There is endless discussion about how the social web can build your business, find you revenue and accelerate your objectives. But there is just as much chatter about the time suck, cost and return on investment. Some people feel it's enough to simply have a profile or two and call that participation. While others insist there is one iron clad way to navigate all the channels.

So sit back and let your mind drift. Imagine hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter, a Facebook group that makes others weep and a YouTube channel that is breaking all records. Your weekly podcast is the highest rated on the Internet and sales have never been bigger. Your website is an SEO expert’s dream and Google AdWords is bringing in more customers than you can handle.

Did you buy a ticket yet?

knealemann

image credit: thingamy

The Anatomy of a Digital Audit

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesnt work if it's not open."
Frank Zappa

Part of how I help clients is to take a clear snapshot of their organization online. The Internet is a busy place full of opinion, noise, content, accurate and inaccurate information. But the same can be said about your organization.

Small, medium or large, your company has stuff it needs to work on. It also has things that it does well and issues that need to be addressed to improve. And for that, welcome to the human race.

Good Communication meets Miscommunication

A digital audit is a mix of heuristic analysis along with formal monitoring by companies such as Radian6 (not an affiliate link). It's like an x-ray with intuition. It can measure numbers of blogs,forum entries, comments, tweets,website mentions and more but it takes some additional analysis to measure tone and opinion.

The key to a unbiased digital audit is to analyze your entire web presence which includes your website, social networking profiles and any other content you generate online. It also includes conversations generated by others about you, your company and any topics that are essential to your business.

Digital is Not a Department

What often happens is money, resources and time are spent on building products and hiring qualified people then a small handful (if that) are given the task of managing all that the organization does online. This is exactly how customers feel disconnected. Internal and external communication must be a full organization initiative.

Add to that, you need to add experience and knowledge and context when looking closer at your digital footprint. I do have a couple of decades of marketing and media experience that certainly comes in handy. But every situation is different and often perception is far from reality. I have seen far too many business owners either hide behind the research or discard it. Both tactics are dangerous.

Software and Google Ain't Enough

Through an ongoing realistic online snapshot, you can gain new ways to find honest feedback from your customers through software and online searches, then collect data in pie charts and spread sheets but it won’t do you a stitch of good on its own. You need to do something with the findings or go with gut calls and opinion.

A digital audit is a process by which you look at your organization from the customer's perspective. It's also about looking at the information and being honest enough to discover what you will do about it. And if you think "everyone" has this online thing mastered, think again. The non-stop journey continues for all of us.

Are you ready to have a look?

knealemann | How can I help?

Image credit: smcdsb

Are You A Cobbler?

Taking Your Own Advice

As someone who consults clients on marketing, social media and overall business strategy, I have run in to more and more people suffering the fate of the cobbler.

It's the story of the shoemaker who works so hard he has no time to make shoes for his own children.

Can I Help Me?

I was at a lunch last week and there was a similar tone, most knew they had to get to certain tasks to advance their business but simply ran out of time to do so. There was always something 'more important'.

The cobbler's children had the most tattered shoes in the village and most small to medium sized business owners realize the importance of integrating a digital strategy but where is the time?

Reading the Room.

The circles in which we travel can garner interesting perspectives. If I’m with those who are completely immersed in social media and wired up with gadgets and doohickeys, discussing aggregated web presence bores them. While others struggle to improve their website and begin the eye glaze at the mention of seo and social networking.

The cobbler hunched over his bench shaping leather with callused hands from dawn to dusk to keep up with the demand for his services and the small business owner returns that final email seconds before falling in to bed.

You Told Two Hundred Friends.

The cobbler tries to incorporate technology and new tools but it's difficult to do and slows him down. If he spends too much time trying to learn and not work, customers will be waiting.

All too often we get caught up in busy work and discussion only to find that we have let ourselves down in areas that will help us in the long run.

Is there a cobbler in all of us?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: flickr

Pack Your Social Media Toolkit

Hittin' The Road

You’re about to head out on a trip. An oil change and a quick check of the tires is a good idea.

You should give the car a once over and top up the fluids. You need clothes, toiletries and provisions.

Then you need to put coordinates in the GPS or check a map. Then hop in the car, gas up and go.


What do you need on your digital trip?

Are you traveling online on behalf of your company or simply searching for a new car? Do you want to contribute to a conversation through a social networking site or read up on the latest recipes? Perhaps you like to just hop on board and let the ideas flow freely.

Always on the record.

It's wise to have a social media employee toolkit for the trip to navigate the online journey and keep everyone prepared for what's down the road.

The level of social media knowledge is not the same across your organization. Many may not think they need to follow any rules of engagement or guidelines. Those assumptions can hurt your company.

Social media policies and guidelines should be linked directly to the company’s code of ethics. This will cause less confusion when Jim in HR decides to post those Vegas pictures on his Flickr account while company details are prominently displayed.

Doohickeys and thingamajigs.

The online world is no longer an add-on or tactic to use for advertising. It is an integral part of your company’s objectives. Your presence online is as important as your physical location. And without a map, accidents will happen.

Does your organization have a social media employee toolkit?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

image credit: handycons