Posted by: Mike Clough | February 3rd, 2010

Rules for Attending the Social Media Marketing Party

social media marketing partyThere is no question that Social Media is in the forefront. Each of the several articles I have written on the subject has generated numerous comments. A “virtual” friend and follower of my blog, Tim Negris, often comments with thoughts that are even better than my initial posts. Following my post of “Using Social Networks for Marketing“, Tim sent me his thoughts. It was far too long to fit into a single post and far too good to shorten. So, I have divided it into two segments. This is the first segment and you can expect the second within a week or so. Here are Tim’s thoughts:

If you are contemplating or attempting the use of social media for marketing a product, a service, or yourself, you may have a giant knot in your stomach.  It may be that you don’t know how to go about it, or you have tried unsuccessfully to do it, or you are just sick to death of “Web 2.0” hipsters with funny glasses and soul patches or nose jewels daring you to master a dazzling lexicon of odd terms, like wiki, mashup, crowdsourcing, and folksonomy, or telling you that you should be blogging, tweeting, and friending.  Take a deep breath – in through the nose, out through the mouth, tell the cool kids to go get a Starbucks to stay, and let’s sort this out.

Before all this new stuff started, in the context of marketing, the word “media” most commonly  referred to newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, brochures and other documents, web sites, physical and electronic mail, live demonstrations, and seminars or “webinars”.  What all these things have in common is that they are all different forms of one-to-many information broadcasting. The information flow is one-way, sent by a single person or organization and received by some number of individuals and acted up by some subset of those individuals.  These media and their marketing applications are not social.

There are a number of other traditional marketing methods that are social but have little to do with any kind of media, per se.  These include one-to-one methods, like telemarketing and in-store sample presentation, and they include one-to-many methods, like multi-level marketing and trade shows.  What makes these “social” is that they all involve real-time interaction between people in the form of two-way information flows, mostly questions and answers.

Social media are interactive web applications that are different forms of many-to-many information sharing.  The flow of information is n-way (multi-way), presented by one or multiple people and responded to by multiple people. There are many different kinds of social media but those most relevant to marketing are:

  • Social networks, like LinkedIn and Facebook
  • Review sites, like Angie’s List and Yelp
  • Presentation sites, like YouTube and Flikr
  • Micro-blogging applications, like Twitter and Yammer
  • Blogging applications like, Blogger and WordPress

Which of these different social media you should use for marketing depends greatly on what you are marketing and to whom you are marketing it, but in all cases there are some common mistakes you should work to avoid.  As a general rule of thumb, if you wouldn’t do it at a cocktail party, you shouldn’t do it in social marketing.  Here are the seven deadly sins of social marketing.

  1. Don’t shout, sell, or argue
  2. Don’t monopolize the discussion
  3. Don’t run out of refreshments
  4. Don’t be presumptuous or rude
  5. Don’t be vulgar or indiscreet
  6. Don’t be shy or unresponsive
  7. Don’t be dull or boring

The follow-up article, “Using the Right Social Media Tools for the Right Job,” is now available by clicking here.  If you enjoy these articles, considering subscribing to the blog by clicking here and you will receive an email each time we post a new article.

Click here to read Tim’s thoughts on the difference between “brand” and “branding”. If you would like to contact Tim Negris, you can do so through LinkedIn or tnegris@gmail.com.

If you are serious about social media, you may enjoy an inexpensive paperback by Jim Tobin and Lisa Braziel titled, “Social Media Is A Cocktail Party: Why You Already Know The Rules Of Social Media Marketing.”

Those who enjoyed this article also enjoyed:
How Important is Social Media in a Marketing Plan?
Using Social Networks for Marketing
Why Many Small Businesses are Still Struggling

If you would like to contact me, you can do so by emailing me at mike.clough@bestbizpractices.org or visiting my LinkedIn page.

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Posted by: Mike Clough

Posted in Marketing & Sales, Online Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0 Online Marketing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Responses

Finally – someone who gets that social networking (and all things claimed landmark by the majority of the Web 2.0 crowd) has been around for a long time! I beg to differ on the telemarketing reference in the way it is traditionally understood – done right, this can be an extremely effective tool – sadly, it’s mostly done wrong.

Personally, I’ve always found one-on-one communications (preferably with centers-of-influence that have a vast, influencial audience) to be the best way to cost-effectively market a business. So funny how some see time saved with tactics that negate building relationships as prudent expenses initially – then complain about the results (or, more often, lay blame on the vendors hired).

This is a great guest post, Mike, and I thank you for sharing it. I look forward to next week’s continuation.

By: Nanette Levin on February 4th, 2010
at 8:40 pm

Thanks for your comment Nanette. Salespeople tell me that telemarketing is not that effective any more. They say it is extremely difficult to get to decision-makers and whey do they are met with hostility. When speaking with small business owners, I ask them how they would like to be contacted. What I am told is they don’t want to be contacted. Apparently they are receiving dozens of sales calls a day and are no longer answering their phone – they let it go to voice mail and the return only the calls they desire.

From conversations with both salespeople and small business owners, here is what I think is happening. I believe that revenue is down for most companies. Those companies (large and small) that only use traditional marketing methods, do the only thing they know to do. They hold a sales meeting and tell their sales people that they are going “back to the basics.” However, because of the poor economy, “we need to double our efforts to get the same results.” Therefore, they expect their salespeople to make more cold calls, specifically by telephone but also in person.

The poor small business owner is so inundated with so many sales people that they can’t even get their work done. So they use voice mail and receptionists to build a protective bubble around them. And the only salespeople they will talk to are those with whom they have an existing relationship and whom they trust.

A relationship built on face to face meetings is always the best but a virtual relationship through social media is far better than no relationship at all. It is a step closer to a face to face meeting.

I am working with a friend to write an article based upon building trust with social media prior to trying to sell something. Look for it in a couple of weeks.

As usually Nanette, you have good insight and add a lot to our discussions. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

By: Mike Clough on February 4th, 2010
at 11:13 pm

Hi Mike,

Thanks. I look forward to the upcoming article.

By the way, I didn’t say face-to-face, I said one-on-one. This can be done quite easily via Social Media with the added benefit of getting to know a good deal about your contact (and who the leaders are) prior to initiating a conversation (which could be virtual too – including e-mail).

On the telemarketers, I’ll take a call from a good one, but, sadly, most of the people calling me these days don’t speak English as a first language and know nothing beyond a script about the product or service they are selling. How companies think that tactic is going to improve their crediblity and long-term sales growth is beyond me. I’m sure you’re right on your conclusions where local selling is occuring, but does it surprise you that cold-calling isn’t well received? It’s not a cost-effective method for most of my clients, and frankly, am surprised that companies continue with this method.

By: Nanette Levin on February 5th, 2010
at 10:35 pm

Sorry I misunderstood your comment. But now that I understand, I am in total agreement with you! :-)

Thanks again for your comments.

By: Mike Clough on February 5th, 2010
at 10:46 pm

BRILLIANT & WRY! (see below) -

“It may be that you don’t know how to go about it, or you have tried unsuccessfully to do it, or you are just sick to death of “Web 2.0” hipsters with funny glasses and soul patches or nose jewels daring you to master a dazzling lexicon of odd terms, like wiki, mashup, crowdsourcing, and folksonomy, or telling you that you should be blogging, tweeting, and friending.”

By: Mike Imirie on February 16th, 2010
at 9:01 am

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