Comments on: “Social Media Is Not Just About Marketing” Or 3 Things I’ve Learned From IBM’s Sandy Carter

By: Sebas Rosenfeld

Sebas Rosenfeld — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:02:21 +0000

Great Insights!
As more people use and talk about Social Media, companies try to climb into Facebook with poor arguments such as “everybody is using it” and forget to focus on real marketing and bussines objectives.
Then some of them they try to “engage” people by using the same tools as they use in other media, and they publish a brochure or place a banner and start waiting for results. Of course, they arrive to the conclusion that SocialMedia doesn’t work….
This article show a little bit of that happening on the “moms” segment: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007502.

Keep going on evangelizing… Regards,
Sebas

By: Matthew T. Grant

Matthew T. Grant — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:16:55 +0000

Thanks, Viswanath. The question of executive engagement/participation seems to be one that interests a lot of people.

By: Viswanath Vundi

Viswanath Vundi — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:04:55 +0000

“It’s a question of credibility,” she explained, adding that it was “almost unethical” for executives to advocate use of social media and not be engaged themselves.

fabulous article

By: Matthew T. Grant

Matthew T. Grant — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:25:04 +0000

Mike – Glad I was able to help you with skeptical clients!

Mack – I would even go so far as to say that, at the beginning, one should shoot for 100% listening.

John – Indeed, social media can play a role in customer service and support, product development, community relations, internal collaboration, etc. – it’s not just for marketing anymore!

By: John S

John S — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:17:48 +0000

Very thought-provoking, sincere remarks by Sandy Carter there – I can see why her blog is so successful. I’ve noticed many execs have delegated social media completely to employees while personally shunning it. I don’t think many realize that social media has the huge potential to be a platform for customer service as well. Thanks for the interview.

By: Mark McCormack

Mark McCormack — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:58:48 +0000

Interesting article on several levels. One point that I took from it was how to get started. Of course you need to think about what you want to do and how to reach your customers. But you also have to realise that if you start to engage with people you can then listen to their feedback and let your ideas evolve. The “50% of social media is about listening” point is critical.

By: Mike O'Toole

Mike O'Toole — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:13:41 +0000

Great post. I’m constantly being asked by skeptical clients for good examples of social engagement by B2B brands, and I’ll be using Sandy Carter and IBM as an example from now on (a million readers for a SOA blog!?).

I think she nailed executive involvement as a key factor. I might extend that to include “executive support,” as I have seen companies where the CEO creates the context for social engagement but doesn’t participate him/herself.

And interesting she mentioned LinkedIn…I’m seeing a lot of evidence that LinkedIn is making the jump from job networking site to a true B2B social network.

By: Matthew Grant

Matthew Grant — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:55:05 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Shallie.

There is so much distracting buzz around tools and technology that it’s easy to forget that these need to serve the business first and foremost.

Of course, serving the business means connecting you in meaningful ways to your customers so you can serve them!

By: Shallie Bey

Shallie Bey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:16:15 +0000

You provide an amazing service by pointing out the two questions:
1. Where do I start?
2. Where are my customers?

These alone make this an article of fabulous value.

Shallie Bey
Smarter Small Business Blog