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Three Good Reasons Businesses Don’t Leverage Social Media (And Three Reasons You Should)

February 4th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in Features | prospecting - (0 Comments)

I’m sipping coffee in a little coffee shop amidst Cleveland’s Little Italy, pondering a colleague’s recent question: “Why has business taken so long to see the value of social networking?” I look around. The place is packed. Patrons are communicating feverishly – with people located somewhere else. Texting. Talking on mobile phones. Clicking on laptops. Our technology tools have become an extension of our voice and ears, and social media has become part of our language.  

Businesses want to connect with, persuade and sell to people just like you and me – right? Yet, so many companies fail to embrace the communication modes so many of us prefer. Why?

1 – Fear (of losing power and control)

Consider the history of the U.S. Postal System. In the 1700s, the British controlled the colonial postal system. By 1774, the colonists viewed the royal post office with suspicion. Shortly thereafter, an alternative mail service was established. The inter-colonial mail service was the “social media”, the colonists were the “bloggers”… and those in power (the British) didn’t like it.

2 – Social Media has a bad rep (for business)

Consider the origin of social media. It didn’t start with computers, but it was born online… the phone line that is. It was known as “phone phreaking.” Phone phreaks were techies tired of the telecom monopoly extending sizable charges for long-distance calls. These early explorers built phone-system tapping devices that allowed them to make free calls and conduct virtual group discussions. More recent social media ancestors include Limewire and Napster – through which music was shared. A number of corporations, telephone companies and record labels look back on this history often sighting a different word: Stolen.

3 – What’s in a name? Everything.

The very term “social media” conveys images of idle socializing, gossip and misinformation. If it were referred to as “Critical Business-Advancement Messaging Networks” businesses would consider it more popular than the buzzword of the day. This is where NING and others have an upper hand. Though the name may mean different things to different people; the design of the solution resonates with business-types. Like Sun Microsystems said back in the ’90s “the network is the solution.” That’s what NING conveys: a solution providing user-controlled networks for specific applications and communities of interest. It implies context and purpose.

So why should you (and your company) leverage Social Media?

1 – The people you want to hire use it – a lot.

Smart businesses realize that value-creation depends on ideas, creativity and collaboration. Social media is the mechanism of choice for many of today’s talented creative innovators. Your company culture should be friendly to social media (unless of course you don’t want smart innovators on your team). Have you hired anyone lately without looking at their LinkedIn profile? Do you know that the top talent is likely evaluating your company’s social media presence as a qualifier as to whether they want to work for you (or not)?

2 – The people you want to reach (your customers) use it. Listen to them.

Angie’s List conducted a survey and found that 58 percent of their respondents use social media. They consider it a strategic tool for business development. Social media is a powerful listening system. Sure, you can ask customers what they want, but they may or may not tell you what they need. However, overhear them talking with each other - well then, now you’re getting the straight skinny.

3 – Happy employees = happy customers = revenue + profit

A report called Executive Insights into Enterprise Social Network Strategy indicated that social media was critical to providing a work-life balance for employees. Employees don’t operate 9 to 5. Rather, they mix their personal and work lives. Sure, there’s the risk that promoting social media could cause distraction during the work day, but it also promotes work in the off hours.  One of our clients learned this lesson in at least one case. They proudly proclaimed that securing one of their new clients was thanks to an employee trading Facebook messages with a friend. Upon closure of that deal, management didn’t care if the exchange happened during the day, at night, online, in person, in a suit or in sweats.

Craig James, Feb. 2, 2010

Cat-Strat | MEDIA

Link: http://story-cast.com/

Note: Post not sponsored.

Social media… the new publishing model?

February 2nd, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in case study | Features - (0 Comments)

Bubble wrap has more than 500 different Facebook groups. If that doesn’t tell you something about the range of today’s social media, then what more do you need? The question more intriguing is: what role will Twitter, My Space, Facebook, Yelf, Youtube, Foursquare, etc. play in how we used to view paper and ink publishing?

Magazines, newspapers, books… I remember them. Actually, they still exist, but for many of the nation’s most desired demographics, “Huh?” So how do these one-time mainstream media darlings evolve, and where do they meet today’s generation at the social media intersection? Here are the facts as we know them: Young adults (ages 8-18) now average seven and one-half hours a day “data-involved” (Internet, texting, listening to MP3 players, gaming, watching TV). That’s really 11 hours if you count multi-tasking. Most do not read for pleasure, will never subscribe to a newspaper, and have shortened attention spans. (Hey, that’s what the research says.) Yet they drive an enormous percentage of the digital economy (2010 will be the year when digital musical sales will surpass physical sales in revenue.) Subsequent generations will follow in this track, albeit altered in some yet-to-be determined way by its natural evolution. And it will happen fast, as everything digital does, and as its drivers demand–instant gratification.

So: We still have a shrinking audience of “old media” affectionados, and there is a belief by some (older) sages that we always will have, perhaps engaging, at some point, today’s generations as they age. But this can only happen if that “old-fashioned” media heartily adapts. It is trying; it just can’t sustain the pace. But the efforts are being made. Esquire, a “young-cultured” man’s magazine, published the first of its kind Augmented Reality Issue in December. With a simple application download, a reader can scan a digitally recognized symbol on his computer and be lead to a fully interactive expansion of the story, item or feature (including advertising). This bold (for a paper publisher) experiment was a step. Almost all magazines, newspapers and TV stations have web presence and blog to expand into the newer world. Survivors will have to become bolder and make Director of Social Media a serious masthead title.

The bottom line: Money. If you can’t attract the new readers, the advertisers won’t pay for the stodgy… and you, Mr. Publisher, will become either a newsletter for your core or extinct. End of story.

Jerry Constantino, Feb. 2, 2010

Jerry Constantino was President and Publisher of PJS Publications, a group of 20 special interest magazines owned by VS&A Venture Capital and later, Primedia. He now writes fiction and blogs irrelevantly at itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com.

Note: Post not sponsored.

Ning: Revisiting Growth Estimates

January 26th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Features - (1 Comments)

At lunch one of my colleagues made a comment about TMSN. I asked him, “What do you mean??

His reply, “Too many social networks.” I agreed. Lists of social networking services go out of date quickly. We assembled a list of social networking search systems in December 2009 and updated it last week. A half dozen search systems had disappeared.

We have been investigating the high profile social networking services like Ning.com and LinkedIn.com. Ning.com was founded by Marc Andreessen (Netscape fame) and Gina Bianchini. The word “ning” means peace to some folks and a province or city in China to others.

The company says:

Ning is the social platform for the world’s interests and passions online. Millions of people every day are coming together across Ning to explore and express their interests, discover new passions, and meet new people around shared pursuits.

Not long ago, an acquaintance at a major newspaper told me that his colleagues were using Ning with great success. Ning’s customers include:

  • ASPCA Online Community
  • CBS
  • CW
  • Fine Living
  • Fire Fighter Nation
  • Fuji Film
  • Pickens Plan
  • Saturn Car Company
  • WD 40

Fast Company in April 2008 wrote “Ning’s Infinite Ambition”. The write up was a good one and provided a range of useful data about the service. One fact jumped out at me:

By New Year’s Even 2010, Ning estimates it will host some four million social networks serving up billions of page views daily.

I recalled that number when I read on January 19, 2010, Digital Beat’s “Ning Now Supports 2 Million Social Networks, Touches Up Branding.” Compete.com reports more than 6.0 million visitors but the chart I saw on January 26, 2010 revealed a possible issue:

image

Source: Compete.com, January 26, 2010

The trend seems to be drifting downward. Seasonal drop off? Probably. But when I put together the aggressive estimates in the Fast Company story and the information in VentureBeat, I wondered if the type of social networking services that won over my newspaper acquaintance may be slipping behind the newer, more lightweight services.

When we discussed this issue at lunch today (January 26, 2010), several points emerged from our discussion.

First, the number of social networking services is increasing. As a result, the “winner take all” characteristic of some online services may be kicking into gear. The sharp rise in Facebook traffic over the last two years has been well documented in the Web log space and in the popular press. Twitter.com has become the poster child of the micro-blogging sector. With these two services surging, Ning.com may be on the sharp end of two competitors’ sticks.

Ning.com’s service line up is robust. The service’s usability is excellent. Ning.com supports rich media. There’s an option to use one’s own domain name for a modest fee. There are nice automation hooks such as automated tweets when new content is posted.

That brings us to the second point.

To make use of a single, feature rich networking service takes time and effort. Our discussion group converged on the point that only a small percentage of those interested in social networks will make a serious commitment. As a result, services that are lighter weight gain the upper hand in terms of growth. Ease of use may be a perception issue, but in the viral world of social networking services, the implicit perception may dominate even if it is objectively inaccurate. Ning.com, therefore, may have a PR fight on its hands.

Third, social networking services for business are difficult to separate from the social networking services for fun. Most organizations have some nay-sayers when it comes to strategic social networking. The serious services like Ning.com and others aiming at business professionals have to face a reality that we encountered in a recent client engagement.

The company president was interested in social networking in general and wanted a Web log that would allow the organization to build a community. The technical advisors to the company pointed out that Facebook.com could deliver what the company president wanted at a low cost. The senior management went with the Facebook.com approach, ignoring the potential of a Ning.com or other more professional service.

We learned that the value of the more sophisticated social networking services like Ning.com did not compute for this particular retail operation. Furthermore, the idea of making a commitment to social networking as part of the company’s marketing program did not compute.

SSN wants Ning.com and other professional social networking services to recognize that more effort is needed to reach decision makers in organizations. We at SSN know that the Web 2.0 type of marketing works well in some situations. We are not certain if those marketing methods will reach the C level executives in most businesses. More and better marketing are needed in our opinion.

Stephen E Arnold, February 1, 2010

Note:   Post was not sponsored.

Social Sources with a Business Spin

January 25th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Features - (0 Comments)

Social media resources are proliferating. The problem facing some business professionals is “Where do we begin?” There is no single answer because SSN’s work has revealed that combinations of social media actions are needed in order to get results that pay off. Posting information for your friends and family on Facebook.com is a wonderful way to keep in touch and share pictures. However, a person looking for a consulting project or a company seeking to build a supplier network for a new business initiative needs results.

We have compiled a list of 15 resources that you can use with what SSN calls a “business spin.” The idea is simple. Look through the list and select two that fit your business needs; for example, creating a Web log (Xanga.com) and posting a PowerPoint (Scribd). The idea is that your Web log contains an article about the PowerPoint, and you link to the Scribd version of your talk. Another combination is monitoring tweets on particular topic (Digsby) and looking for individuals in a particular geographic area (TwitterLocal). You can experiment with different combinations of social media methods. The number of new services continues to increase, so even the social media pros need to experiment and explore.

Here’s SSN’s list of 15 social media “chemicals” with which you can experiment:

Site Application for business
Bebo If you want to reach the UK, Bebo is one method
Digsby Another dashboard type application
Facebook Create a Facebook presence for your business
LinkedIn With regular attention a potentially useful source of leads and contacts
Newsvine Registered users can publish articles
Scribd Post your PowerPoints and white papers for contacts and prospects to access
Tweepz Search for people on Twitter by their name
Tweetdeck An application (dashboard) to help you manage your social media activities and information
Twitter Your broadcast mechanism; a complement, not the main dish on your social media menu
Twitter Local Track tweets in a geographic area
TwtQpon Create a coupon for your business and distribute them as tweets
Xanga A free blogging service with profiles, video and picture hosting and more
Yelp List your business. Service is changing from “soft” to more substantive content
YouTube Host your professional videos on YouTube
Yuku A free service to allow you to build your own social community

We will add to this list over time. If you hit upon combinations that deliver a payoff for you, please, share them via the comments section to this Web log.

Stephen E Arnold, February 1, 2010

Note:   Post was not sponsored.

Social Networking Is the New SEO

January 22nd, 2010 | Posted by admin in Features - (0 Comments)

Traditional search engine optimization methods – the SEO tricks of tag spam and semi-relevant backlinks among other tricks – no longer lift a Web site’s page rank. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo engineers have worked to find ways to identify bogus methods and have, in part, succeeded.

For most Web sites, the long road to appearing in the first page of a search results list begins with content. But excellent content is not enough. The content must be refreshed and new, substantive content added. Experts disagree about how often a Web site’s content must be updated, but most agree on one key point: New content is needed. Unfortunately high quality content takes time and effort.

If you have good content and want to leverage, there are some new ways to repurpose content and get some additional mileage out of your information. What’s important is that the method can be implemented when you do add a new article or update an existing Web article.

The combination of your original content and social media produces three benefits.

First, you are shifting from SEO tricks to content leveraging. The change in focus gives you new opportunities to reach potential customers or partners without running into problems with the digital watchdogs looking for relevance ranking spoofs and tricks.

Second, you can tap into the power of social media to get your information to a larger audience. For many of these individuals, a link back to your core Web site will mean an opportunity to provide more in-depth information to this site visitor. More traffic usually translates into signals to the Web indexing companies that your site is important.

Third, the use of your content in social media generates new information. If you have a Web log, you can summarize or supplement information on your Web site. By activating the comments feature of the Web log, you invite those who read the Web log to submit their remarks. You can contact this individual and request additional information and then post that information on your Web site. Alternatively, you can summarize the comments a Web log article generates in a new article for your Web site. You are not duplicating content; you are creating new information for your Web site.

The diagram below provides an illustration of a single Web site that is little more than an island sitting in a vast ocean of Internet-accessible information. The flows of data rush past the island, and it is difficult for most Web sites to generate meaningful traffic. In our experience at SSN and Beyond Search, a single Web site is almost invisible even if indexed by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.

island

The diagram below shows how a basic strategic social networking “mesh” operates. An island is essentially a single shot for a person or an organization. It is isolated and may be anchored to other content via links. The “mesh” works almost like a digital fishing net and “catches” more opportunities to communicate.

amplification

Instead of a single way of reaching people, the two social functions amplify the impact of your content. The math looks like 3 * 2 * 1 = 6. This is a dramatic improvement from the 1 = 1 math of a basic Web site.

Keep in mind that the addition of social media “amplifiers” does not eliminate the need for you to create new content. You will be generating more content because you have to produce a blog post and instruct your blog software to generate a “tweet” that a new story has been posted. You can make this simple sequence of content activities add impact to your content and produce traffic to your Web site.

With some effort, you can convert comments to blog stories into new content for your Web site. The Twitter outputs are your personal broadcasting station about the information on your Web site.

Let’s recap. The use of social media—in this case a Web log or blog and automated “tweets”—put your content into the real-time information channel. The blog post and the “tweets” point back to your core Web site. The idea is to create new information for the Web site, post a synopsis of the new content on the blog, and then “tweet” about the new story.

If you do not create new content for your Web site, the effectiveness of these interlinked communication media is diminished. Properly staged, you can use social media to generate more traffic to your Web site and increase the likelihood that your Web site will appear higher in a search results list.

We call this method of amplification the SSN triple tap method. To learn more, write us at ssnblog at gmail dot com. We are delighted to talk without fee or obligation. We hope you will find our approach useful and that you will want our team of social media experts to assist you.

Stephen E Arnold, January 31, 2010

Social Search Systems You Can Use Now

January 22nd, 2010 | Posted by admin in Features - (2 Comments)

Feature 1 Title: Social Search Systems You Can Use for Business Research

Description: A hot linked and annotated list of social search systems.

Feature text below:

One of the first steps in Strategic Social Networking is to know where to look for information from social systems. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo include content from high-profile social content sources like Facebook. Here at SSN, we need to look for fresh social information from different angles, from different services.

We are providing you with a selected list of social search systems. We have provided a brief comment about how we use these services, and we invite you to use the comments section of the SSN Web log to offer your ideas about the utility of these services.

If you have your favorite, send you suggestions to ssnblog at gmail dot com.

(more…)