Recently I had a chance to catch up with my friend and fellow Daily Fix blogger, Jacob Morgan, about his newly released book, with co-author Josh Peters, TwittFaced: Your Toolkit for Understanding and Maximizing Social Media. With such an intriguing title, I definitely had some questions for Mr. Morgan!
What does it mean to be ‘TwittFaced?’
Being TwittFaced is that moment of realization you get when you understand that social media is more than just tweeting about how bad your day is or poking people on Facebook. It’s the moment when you realize that social media is about an evolution and transformation of how companies do business with each other and with their customers.
Of all the Facebook tips you offer in TwittFaced, what would you say are the top three and why?
- The most important tip on that list to make sure that you have all of your information filled out as completely as possible so that people can find you and understand what you do and how you might be able to help them.
- Don’t be scared to reach out to people and send folks a message. If you’re interested in what someone has said or you want to connect with them to help develop a relationship then drop them a note. Relationships aren’t going to happen unless you make them happen.
- Update the content on your page and interact with other people on their pages. If you have something to share, have a question to ask, or have some exciting piece of news to announce; then share it as a status update. If one of your friends has a birthday or shares an interesting piece of content then go interact with them.
Is MySpace even relevant to marketers these days? If so, who should be paying attention to that space?
MySpace traffic is plummeting these days and I don’t know of any companies that are really successfully using MySpace to promote or market a product or service. MySpace has been more effective for musicians or media content creators. Personally, I see little value in MySpace as business or marketing tool.
Marketers often look at Twitter as just people sharing what they had for breakfast or dinner. What tips would you offer to marketers to help them get past Twitter’s shiny surface?
Twitter is and will always be one tool, if you’re a marketer for Kraft then you might find it extremely relevant to find out what people are eating for breakfast but if you’re an auto maker then that information might be useless for you. Marketers need to understand what they hope to achieve with Twitter and how they are going to achieve it. Again, it’s just a tool and if they feel that there is no business value for what it is they are doing, then by all means, don’t use it. Nobody should have to convince someone else of the value of Twitter, if they don’t understand the value of being able to connect with people and listening to conversations in real time then that’s their problem and a bigger issue they need to deal with.
What other social applications do you think marketers need to be paying attention to and why?
I think marketers need to start paying attention to applications such as Foursquare and Yelp (mobile and desktop version) which are really becoming more interactive for individuals. Take Foursquare, for example. Businesses can work with Foursquare to start rewarding users that frequent a particular location (i.e. you “check in” at restaurant or department store) and start receiving discount coupons of special offers based on the amount of times you frequent a location. Analysis and research tools such as Biz 360, Scout Labs, and Radian6 are going to become a must for marketers getting involved in social business. Internal collaboration tools such as Jive and SocialText are also things that marketers are going to have to start paying attention to as they are going to increase the efficiency of their marketing efforts.
If you could offer one solid piece of social media advice that’s new and different, what would it be?
As an organization that is looking to get involved in the social media space the very first they should be doing is establishing their measurement and ROI framework and foundation. This steps needs to come first in order for companies to be able to understand the value and the impact from their social media efforts. Companies are so focused on these three-month campaign spurts that their measurement approaches are subpar and have a very hard time justifying investment costs. Every social media effort needs to start with a measurement framework and foundation; everything else should be built on this measurement framework.
Jacob, congratulations to you and Josh on your first book together! Thanks very much for making the time for the interview and for sharing a sneak peek of TwittFaced with me*!
So…who out there is TwittFaced? I guess I am. You?
About Jacob Morgan: Jacob is the principal and co-founder of Chess Media Group, a social business consultancy focused on strategy, creativity, and results. Jacob is also the author of Twittfaced, a social media 101 book for business. Jacob has a social media consulting blog and you can connect with him directly on Twitter @JacobM.
*Jacob Morgan sent me a free digital version of TwittFaced to review for this interview.
Related posts:
- Get Over It; We’re All Content Channels Now
- Before You Leave for Your Next Conference, Take Twitter with You
- Social Media Translated into the Real World
- Social Media Won’t Work if You Aren’t Social
- Marketers Want To Play With Your (Social Media) Toys
Tags: Facebook, foursquare, Social Media, social media tools, Twitter
Very good article.
It seems like a lot of marketers get wrapped up in the Twitter whirlwind without knowing exactly why they are doing it.
I’ll have to check out TwittFaced.
Never before in the history of mankind has it been easier to reach out to people all over the world. Online communitieslike MySpace, make meeting new friends with similar interests incredibly easy. MySpace is a great place to share tips, ideas and stories about the things you find most interesting. If you have a question about your hobby, you can easily find the answer through your network of members with similar interests.
James
Bulk Email Marketing
All good info, Beth. Thanks.
Measuring is incredibly important. It not only helps you know where you’ve been and which needles you’re moving, but it also helps you see where you need to go next. One thing that definitely can’t be repeated enough is that ROI while very valid in a financial sense, it doesn’t always apply.
Look at customer service initiatives like Comcast has. There are zero sales involved and so ROI is not, and would not ever be used. Customer service and Tech support are always financial “black holes” for companies. Knowing when to use ROI is just as important as knowing what it is.
MySpace has it’s own niche that it caters to and locally (in SLC) there are many companies that use MySpace to speak to and communicate with that niche. 99% of those companies are small locally owned coffee shops, boutiques, record stores etc. They use bulletins to give out discounts and event tickets to their friends and they use it to build the connections with their local community. It’s very valid, but has become much more of a collection of niche’s rather than one whole network and if you don’t fit into one of those niche’s then MySpace won’t work for you.