thinks

Is social marketing overblown? Some critics claim that we’re reliving the late ’90’s, with hype replacing reality in choosing marketing channels. More importantly, is social marketing the right choice for your business? Probably. But let’s give the critics their due. Let’s consider why it may not be first.

Most conferences or discussions these days concerning social media ask the same question: “Is anyone making any money with this stuff?” And the answers often sound something like this: “Well, it’s more about customer engagement than revenue…” or “No, but, you should see how many ‘friends’ we’ve got on Facebook.” Hmm… not very encouraging, is it?

Worse, it’s fair to ask whether these tools are even ready for primetime. Whether it’s Facebook’s Beacon issue some time back or Twitter’s recent outages, it’s certainly understandable that some would think these tools provide limited value as a service and would question their utility and their business value.

These questions represent legitimate critical thought, legitimate concerns. What’s important is understanding the difference between constructive criticism - critical thinking - and what Bryan Eisenberg calls “BPU’s” or “Business Prevention Units.” BPU’s are folks who want to stop you from moving your business forward. If the people you’re talking to - like your partner, attorney or accountant - want to know how social media will benefit your business, that’s a Good Thing. If they’re telling you, “it’s stupid,” or “it will never work,” they’re probably functioning more as BPU’s than critical thinkers.

Here’s one example. This past weekend I watched an outstanding documentary about Pixar Animation. And one of the key moments in the company’s history revolved around hiring John Lasseter. Disney fired Lasseter because traditional animators were concerned computer animation put their jobs at risk. The animators - and their supporters in management - thought their job was drawing pictures, not telling creative and compelling stories using any variety of tools. That’s a common problem. For instance, Seth Godin had a brilliant observation about putting tools ahead of your business about a week ago. So Lasseter left Disney, got hired by Pixar and went on to rule the animation world as writer and director of the huge hit films Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life and Cars. Oh, and when Disney acquired Pixar, they made Lasseter their new chief creative officer.

All that said, it still doesn’t answer whether social marketing makes sense for your business.

It’s true that few companies are making much money through social marketing tools. But Dell has sold $500,000 using Twitter. Search Engine Land often shares success stories of small business owners, most recently here. Hell, even my company has had modest success with Twitter, and other social tools, too.

The point is, these things are tools. You’ll get out of them what you put into them. So, understand where your customers are, set your goals, then look at the tools and techniques that work for your business. You can test the viability of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, widgets or what-have-for very low cost. It takes limited investment of time and limited investment of money. Track your results. Find your own answers. And don’t let “the critics” get in the way of doing what’s right for your business.

Still up in the air about tools like Twitter? Not sure if they’re right for your business? Sure, I’ve been a big fan for some time. But social media guru Scott Monty and I both learned a fair bit more about using Twitter as a sales and marketing tool last week. Scott Monty tells this story about using Twitter to find a hotel last week. My company helped him find the hotel. Now, I didn’t originally follow Scott on Twitter to sell him - or anyone else - hotel rooms. He didn’t follow me on Twitter to buy hotel rooms. In fact, he didn’t follow LuxRes - who got him the hotel - at the time he sent out his call for help:

Scott simply reached out to his network and found a number of folks willing to help him. Notice the number of people Scott thanks in his post.

And that’s why we use Twitter. Because it’s a great way to learn from each other and from the community at large. It’s a fantastic way to make new connections and deepen the relationship with old ones. And, every so often, someone will give you inspiration for ways to grow your business. Read Scott’s tweet one more time. “This would be a great time for the hospitality industry to establish a @hotels account and shoot me some available properties.” How many times a day do your potential customers shout out loud, “Why can’t someone in <insert industry here> help me solve my problem?!?”

Trick question. Your customers ask for help all the time. Tools like Twitter simply help you listen more effectively.

Not sure where to start? First, search on Summize for things that matter to you, for instance, marketing, small business strategy or customer service. Read the results. Then sign up for Twitter and follow a handful of people who most interest you on those topics. (Don’t be afraid to branch out, either. You can even follow people who talk about your favorite sports team or, yes, cool travel destinations). Join the conversation. Talk about what interests you. Ask questions. Listen. Learn.

The point is Twitter is a great tool. And like all tools, you get the most from it when you use it well. Sometimes you’ll get new friends. Sometimes new information. And, every so often, new customers.

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Not long ago, Michael Arrington wrote about his experience getting support from Comcast after mentioning their service - negatively - on Twitter. Well, it seems I’ve joined rare company. Er, on the Comcast front. Chickens, not so much.

I, too, recently maligned Comcast on Twitter, due to a series of partial and complete service interruptions (mostly of my television service. Internet was sluggish, but more or less functional). And within a couple of minutes, I got a response from a Comcast representative, giving me an email address (we_can_help@cable.comcast.com) for me to get help with my issue. Since then, I’ve had continuing contact with Comcast field supervisors, office personnel and service technicians hell-bent on resolving the problem. And they did. Not only is my cable service now whole again, but my Internet service is faster, too.

Maybe the Comcast folks hoped I would say something positive. Maybe not. They never asked me. But, two things impressed me throughout the whole situation:

1. The dedication of the people I talked to at Comcast. I don’t know if these are the regular customer service reps. I don’t know if they’re specially trained. I do know that each one focused on addressing my concerns and did so with grace and consideration.
2. Comcast clearly has their finger on the pulse of where customer complaints take root. That’s not surprising given their history. But, they’re clearly trying to improve that perception. The reality behind that perception, too, I gather. I only hope they provide equivalent service to customers who call their support lines, not just those of us with bully pulpits.

The lessons here:

1. Tools like blogs, and Twitter - when it’s working - provide your business with an “early warning system”, a place to hear what’s on your customers’ minds. And a way to engage with those customers to resolve their issues. Both big points in Arrington’s original post. Using tools like Tweetscan, Comcast has put their emphasis on dousing these issues before they turn into raging fires. Maybe Comcast hopes those customers will say something nice. Maybe not. But the negative comment a customer doesn’t make carries its own rewards. Not least of which is the likelihood you’ll retain that customer.
2. Want your employees to do their jobs well? Give them a clear mission and get out of their way. The Comcast employees I dealt with seemed to place my satisfaction above all else. And satisfied, I now am. Whether that would have happened if Comcast put its focus on traditional “customer service” center metrics like talk time is doubtful. These people knew they were supposed to make me happy. And they did.

My “Twitter friend” Brian Solis has an ebook about using social media to improve customer service and, ultimately, marketing. It’s worth the read.

What’s your customer service story? And does your team know how much value you place on customer service? Let us know in the comments.

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Michael Arrington at TechCrunch has great piece today about Comcast using Twitter to as an early warning system. Add this to your list of ways to get business value from Twitter.

Increasingly, businesses are using Twitter and learning about their customers from it. For instance, someone from Zappo’s - they of the best customer service story ever - started following me on Twitter this past weekend (before I dropped a couple hundred bucks on shoes for me and my family). And I suspect I’ll hear from them again.

It’s become increasingly fashionable for people to claim Twitter is a waste of time or useless. But in practice it’s increasingly useful as a tool for smart business folks to learn what their customers care about. If smart companies use Twitter, why don’t you?

Social Media and SEO

• Noted SEO Aaron Wall tells “The Inconvienent Truth About Social Media Marketing”
• Equally noted Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang responds with “Remembering the Many Opportunities of Social Media –not just Impacts of Advertising”

Social Media/SEO Analysis

I don’t usually comment on the links I select, but this is an interesting topic for small businesses - and large ones, too - to think about carefully. I definitely agree more with Jeremiah, despite the great points Aaron makes.

First, why I agree with Jeremiah. Engaging in social networks for your business depends on engaging with your customers where they are and when they want you to. Social networks provide excellent opportunity to do that and to see your customers “in the wild.” No skill matters more in marketing than listening to your customers’ needs. Social networks and social media can help you listen more effectively.

Now, why I agree with Aaron? Because his fundamental premise is right. If your participation doesn’t ultimately lead to sales, it may not be worth your time. You’ve got to measure your activities and determine what the right places to engage your customers are. I suspect social networks will be one of them. But don’t assume Digg or MySpace are those places. Look for niche networks, focused on areas where your business excels. Serve the luxury market? Look at ASmallWorld. Offer food products? Look to key culinary bloggers. And so on.

Social is neither bad, nor good. It’s a tool. How you use it is up to you.