Narcissism Reigns in 2009

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Marta Turek

Our lives are now deeply entrenched in the online world, with the proliferation of smart phones, laptops and Wi-Fi access at our fingertips it is nowadays rare not to be connected. These days, the irony is that if you want to escape from all this connectivity you actually have to make a concerted effort to ‘disconnect’. With cellphone roaming, skipping the country to go on holiday is no longer a guaranteed reprieve from the online obsession – unless of course, you are ‘lucky’ enough to be headed to a 3^rd world refuge, where Wi-Fi is not ubiquitous, you still have to pay for an Internet connection and your phone cannot pick up a signal. What is interesting to know, amidst this online activity, is what we’re actually doing in that vast space of the World Wide Web.

The answer, provided by Experian Hitwise, is not a surprise, why, we are engaging, connecting, sharing, uploading photos, expressing excitement, frustration, disdain and in the latest craze even updating our friends, and friends of friends of the colour or our underwear. That’s right, we’re ‘Facebooking’, jumping on ‘FB’ because the most searched term in 2009 was Facebook.

Surprising, I think not. It is our portal to our friends, our uninterrupted monologue as we share what is happening in our own lives while absorbing the events of those around us. From engagements, births to wedding photos, it all happens on Facebook. We are more connected and more involved with people that we might never have spoken to again, but on Facebook we can now track whom old highschool friends are dating and quite actively track the dating successes & failures of those who are still playing the field.

Facebook will no doubt continue to be important in 2010. I only hope that as we dive further into the digital world, we do not completely forget that there is interaction beyond the digital screen.

How Important is this ‘Twitter’?

Posted on September 6, 2009 by Marta Turek

Remember when all your friends were jumping on the Facebook bandwagon but you resolutely held your ground until the nagging became unbearable? With a sense of resignation and personal betrayal for losing the battle, you joined the hordes of millions and decided to “re-befriend” the long lost friends of school with whom you have had absolutely zero contact for years, in order not to look like the only loser on Facebook with 5 friends.

Time has passed and you’ve made your peace with Facebook only for yet another social media networking tool to hit the market. This one’s called Twitter and it has been around for a while. It has reached the point of popular adoption, with a growth rate of over 1,382% between February 2008 – February 2009.

This time, it’s not really about your friends but rather the act of ‘following’ people, some of whom you have met but the majority of which who are industry thought leaders, celebrities or quite simply complete strangers. So, you ‘follow’ these people and in the interim read their 140 character messages that appear in real-time, whilst sharing your own 140 character tips, thoughts, news, gems of wisdom, arbitrary daily occurrences, personal schedule, interesting links, emotions, traffic reports, industry events etc. all in the hope that someone will ‘follow’ you. Again, ‘less is more’ is not a common mantra seen on Twitter. One of the goals appears to be to collect ‘followers’ and if you’re Ashton Kutcher, once you reach a million followers, Oprah will cover the story. So, as you can see, this ‘followers’ thing is a pretty big deal.

So, do you really need to be on Twitter?

It’s All Relative

If you work for Zappos, Twitter is fairly paramount, given CEO Tony Hsieh has revolutionised the manner in which a CEO of a prominent online company interacts with his audience.

On the other hand, if you work in a specialised field, for example as a geophysicist, the networking circle is so narrow that online interaction itself is scarce and beyond this, the highly technical nature of the field, including the jargon-loaded terminology does not lend itself to a social networking environment. Allow me to demonstrate a potential Tweet:

“Made progress on p-wave anisotropic measurements of the Cascadian subduction zone at the transition from the lithosphere to the astenosphere”

Moving right along.

The line becomes a little bit blurry when in a position of dependence, for example the job hunt. It is difficult to ascertain how the hiring company shall perceive the use of Twitter by the potential candidate. This, at the commencement of the recruiting process will depend entirely on the HR Director. If interested in social media networking, a candidate’s presence on Twitter may be an unwritten prerequisite in successfully proceeding to the next stage of the hiring process. However, if the HR Director falls into a more traditional realm in which social media remains a subject that is being tentatively explored, then an active Twitter profile may go unrecognised.

On a side note, if you are in job hunt mode, and are looking to secure a position that in some form or manner involves an understanding of the online marketing industry, you should utilise the social media platforms that are causing a stir in the online market – Twitter being one of them.

If the words ‘social media’ fall anywhere in your job title, it would be advisable to Tweet and perhaps write something insightful for your clients, rather than just sharing news on the shoes you purchased or the restaurant you are currently frequenting – unless your clients are supposed to meet you there!

So, if you think that Twitter is just pointless babble and have no desire to join the noise, do not feel pressured to do so. Having said that, it is difficult to derive value from something that you have not yet tried yourself, so before making any hasty conclusions, the only way to answer ‘To Tweet or not to Tweet?’ is to jump on and give it a shot. Unless you’re a geophysicist, of course.

With Social Media The Truth Comes Out

Posted on August 24, 2009 by Marta Turek

It must be said that the travel and accommodation industry are probably looking at social media and thinking of their business counterparts: ‘You poor bastards, you never stood a chance!’ The truth of the matter is that TripAdvisor has been providing user generated travel reviews since 2000, making the travel industry veterans in the business of mitigating poor customer experiences voiced in the form of online reviews. That is not to say that every hotel knows how to manage its brand & reputation online, but with over +1 million business reviews and nearly +2 million candid traveller hotel photos uploaded on the site, it would be difficult for the travel industry to stick its head in the sand and pretend it’s not happening.

Wakey Wakey

For a microblogging take on company reviews, jump on Twitter Search and type in keywords such as ‘shit company’, ‘worst company’, ‘crap company’ and you will find some eloquently vented frustrations of the dissatisfied customer. Consumers have never been more dangerous. Negative word-of-mouth (WOM) has gone viral. The traditional definition possibly no longer even completely communicates the awesome duplication effect of WOM online. It is certainly no longer a case of one dissatisfied customer telling 8 to 10 people of their experience.

Perhaps ‘viral word-of-mouth’ should have its own definition rather than being a sub-category of word-of-mouth. It would describe:

‘The mass online duplication of a positive or negative consumer experience by viral communication through social media platforms and relevant websites’

The consumer is empowered, they like the fact that their dissatisfaction may cost a company a few thousand or millions of dollars a year. Though it must be said that consumers are also more than willing to share the love when they have a stupendous tale to tell of customer service excellence. If it were not for this keen desire to share their experiences, Yelp.com would have a large hole in their business model. To the contrary, the site is expanding as their reader base continues to grow and share ‘what’s great and not so great’ in their area.

The beauty of this online chitter chatter is that the truth about companies starts to come out and those with dirty closets filled with skeletons will not be able to hide their secrets for very long. Consumers have always felt like the little guys in relation to the large, evil, polluting corporations, so now that David can take on Goliath, David comes out in full force. The sling of choice – social media.

10 Comprehensive Tips to Evaluate Social Media Agencies – Part 3

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Marta Turek

In a roundup of the 3-part blog series, below are the final points to consider when seeking to outsource your social media project.

8. Others cite this person’s / agency’s work
In the same way that citations in peer reviewed academic journals are used as a measure of credibility and expertise in the academic world, individuals or agencies in social media that are regularly cited in articles, features and blogs are also considered professionals in the social media field.

On the flip side, an expert in their own right who cites others’ work in their blog can be viewed as a specialist who does not consider themselves an expert in all things digital but gives credit to others where it is due.

9. Is the agency outsourcing their social media efforts?
Buzzwords in social media are ‘two-way conversation’, ‘listening’, ‘building an online reputation’, ‘managing’ that reputation and giving your company a ‘voice’. This requires strong communication skills, a solid understanding of the company brand and cultural sensitivity to your market.

So, what happens to the above factors if your social media agency is outsourcing aspects of the campaign, say to India? Will this dilute the quality of your social media efforts and can you be confident that culturally, your social media message will not negatively skewed or misrepresented?

Make sure that you know exactly who will be handling your social media campaign. Maintain a tight grip on all aspects of the campaign. If there is not a strong commitment to building customer relations, it does not matter where the social media provider is located or what the costs are, it will not work.

10. Social media technology platforms
Has the social media agency developed its own custom social media platform that will be used to manage your online social media presence?

If not, are they using another online platform or even not using one at all? The answers to the above questions will provide valuable insight into how your social media campaign will be managed.

Examples of social media technology platforms that allow businesses to manage their interactive, dynamic and social relationships online, include:

Read part 1 and part 2 of these 10 comprehensive tips to evaluate social media agencies.

10 Comprehensive Tips to Evaluate Social Media Agencies – Part 2

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Marta Turek

This is the second part a 3-piece blog series that tackles the topic of outsourcing your social media efforts to an agency or social media consultant. To start at the beginning, jump to Part 1.

4. Are you paying the agency to learn on your buck?
The temptation to throw in another service offering when social media is the talk of the town, and that’s every town, would no doubt be tempting for a number of agencies seeking to cash up on a few extra dollars. For this reason it is important to see some tangible evidence of a return on investment having been delivered to former clients. Do not pay an agency to learn by trial and error on your project.

The thing about social media is that the basic concepts are fairly easy to grasp, the tools and platforms do not require a high level of technical expertise to master and it is for this reason, that so many social media evangelists are springing up like mushrooms. Social media strategists that have been at it for a while will be able to drive real value through a combination of experience, expertise in their field – they do it day in and day out, knowing what works and what does not, understanding which tools and platforms are best suited to meet certain objectives & business goals and capable of assisting you develop a comprehensive strategy prior to campaign development.

Social media may be fun and accessible to every man and his dog but it is a real business function that requires a real understanding of business strategy in order to drive real results.

5. First the WHY before the HOW
Why do you want to do social media? It is a valid question and each business should ask this question before moving an iota forward in this regard.

Figure out what you are trying to achieve and then determine whether a social media strategy offers the right tactics to meet your objectives.

If you do not know how to start developing a social media strategy, do the required research so that even if you do choose to completely outsource the project, you will a have a little bit of insight into determining if the agency knows what they are talking about.

Take a little bit of help from the experts – they offer fantastic advice and are not even that difficult to find as they are cited ubiquitously. Chris Brogan writes a great piece about starting a social media strategy while another worthwhile piece discusses a few common outcomes of social media marketing efforts.

6. Read about what social media is and what it is not
As with any profession in which there is a proliferation of service providers claiming to expertise in the field, the real experts tire of seeing their subject matter dragged through the mud. Perhaps, because they could either cry about it or laugh about it, they have taken to writing lists that cite the DO and DO NOT’S of social media.

These lists are worthy reading because they are a great reference point against which to mark potential social media agencies. Below are some links that should be useful in developing your understanding of what social media is really about:

Top 25 Ways to Tell if your Social Media Expert is a Carpetbagger

25 Signs you’ve Got a Strong SM Consultant or Agency

What I Want a Social Media Expert to Know

What Social Media is Not

7. So you’re a social media expert – Prove it
Ask for a few case studies for review from the social media agency you are considering to outsource your work to. And no, providing a single case study on a single project does not make an agency an expert.

Better yet, request client examples or case studies for the specific social media that is being recommended by the agency or those tools that interest you. If you are given 3 case studies that ALL use a blog and Facebook, this may be a self professed confession of the agency’s limitations in social media.

Even if companies do not have a vast array of case studies to showcase, they should be able to link to examples online, i.e: We are doing an outreach program with Client X and here Client Y has a review forum where clients can provide feedback on their product.

Social media is not a one trick pony – do not be fooled into thinking it is.