Comments on: Social Media Requires Time, Not Money

By: Ray Schiel

Ray Schiel — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:41:40 +0000

More than half the secret of “Social Media” is found in its name.

By: Timothy Coote

Timothy Coote — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:06:53 +0000

“I get that. It confuses them because they aren’t used to talking to their customers, and getting/acting on their feedback. Again, I get that.
Social media gives them the ability to do that.”
No, social media provides a new platform. It hasn’t created new human capacities or abilities. It just extends the conversations people had at the coffee machine or on the phone or at the bar after work etc. Or as Elaine just wrote it multiplies connections without geographical constraints.
I understand what you are trying to say and maybe I’m being pedantic but companies who never listened to what their customers were saying before the internet never sold many products either.
I agree, to not use new tools and technology to their fullest potential is always a bad choice. I also agree companies who ignore their customers are making a bad choice too. As I said before between having global and instant conversation reduced to its most inane form (ala Twitter) with no direction or interest and forcing products onto unwitting clients the majority of companies find themselves somewhere in the middle.

By: Elaine Fogel

Elaine Fogel — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:29:03 +0000

Excellent dialog here. One can look at the benefits of social media in an analogy to “old world” sales and marketing. Decades ago, sales reps hit the road knocking on doors, trying to build relationships with existing and prospective customers. Many salespeople became friends with their customers, developing and nurturing relationships that endured through job changes and often, retirement.
Even though this same sales method is used today, social media adds to our “connection” opportunities, but multiplied exponentially. We can connect in a global fashion, make friends, share stories, and yes, even get some referrals or business in the long run. It allows each of us to build our own personal brand, something Gary Vee says should ultimately be our goal.

By: Jayadeep Rath

Jayadeep Rath — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:04:42 +0000

Hi Mack !
You have said it.
Social Media has more to do with building relationships and spending time to occupy mind space and heart space by being visible in social media channels.
It is high time that social media moves from monologue to a dialogue, driving audience engagement and influencing behaviour and thoughts.

By: mack collier

mack collier — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:19:03 +0000

“”The idea is for companies to become PARTICIPANTS in the conversation that’s happening around and about their companies.”
This is exactly the type of blurry diatribe which companies have difficulty with.”
I get that. It confuses them because they aren’t used to talking to their customers, and getting/acting on their feedback. Again, I get that.
Social media gives them the ability to do that. The more time they spend with this, the better they get at it. We praise Dell for their social media efforts, but their first steps into this space were painfully lacking, because they were still trying to CONTROL the conversation about them, instead of being a participant in it. They eventually ‘got it’, and now they use SM to listen and participate. Their IdeaStorm site is a perfect example of this.
The companies that will succeed moving forward will be the ones that leverage these new communication tools and channels to better communicate with, and understand their customers.
Customers are more empowered to share their opinions than ever before. Companies that ignore their voices do so at their own peril.

By: jennysmith

jennysmith — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:52:41 +0000

As participatory media and user-generated content continues to grow, public media broadcasters need to move rapidly to find ways to monetize content and imagine new business models, panelists said at Beyond Broadcast’s afternoon session “Mapping the Money.”
———————-
Jennysmith
Influencer

By: Timothy Coote

Timothy Coote — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:10:42 +0000

“The idea is for companies to become PARTICIPANTS in the conversation that’s happening around and about their companies.”
This is exactly the type of blurry diatribe which companies have difficulty with. Companies propose products (which we presume/hope are good as Alan says) to the consumer market. That’s it. If the products are correctly targeted and the information about them reaches the right people in the right way then consumers will buy and encourage other consumers to do the same.
The idea of the world being a great big conversation which companies need to participate in nicely in order to sell is too extreme. The opposite which would be companies who dictate or force their products on people without listening to their consumers is too extreme also. In reality everyone is somewhere in the middle and always has been.
Even the great poo bah example of Apple and Steve Jobs which is always wheeled out as the holy grail of all conversation marketing, proposed products therefore leading the pack then cultivated the ensuing conversation through advertising and marketing campaigns targeting the right consumers. Just because it was done well doesn’t mean they re-invented the wheel.
But as Bob Hoffman says “In American business, there is nothing stupider than the previous generation of management.”
Right?

By: Mary McKnight

Mary McKnight — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:51:27 +0000

Being in social media, working wit Fortune 500s, I know it is truly an uphill battle. It’s hard to show ROI on social media. But, I will say, some companies get it- Take Comcast that regularly interacts with its customers on Twitter. Take executive and pundits like Tim O’Reiley and Robert Scoble who not only have blogs but also Tweet and you see some movement in the right direction. But at the end of the day, trying to convince a whole bunch of execs that they too should be spending more time socializing online and may not see ROI right away, it is a very hard sell. Now, take companies like Coca Cole (the conversations blog) and GE (the innovators blog) – you will definitely see that some do get it and are slowly putting their toes in the social waters. Now, not to come down too hard on all of you, but also have to say… there is a way to sell it if you focus on showing them what they can expect, using qualified examples/results from other industry blogs and social accounts. Explain SEO ROI from backlinks and even the rep management aspect. Don’t focus on the how- show the results. That is the best way to sell this kind of campaign.

By: mack collier

mack collier — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:37:29 +0000

“Too many companies forget about that part of the equation– that the downside of social media is that it makes it a lot easier for people to talk about how mediocre your product is. And not necessarily on MySpace or Twitter, but on Amazon’s review boards and similar retail sites.”
Agree Alan, and this is why I think participation is so invaluable. When a company participates, the conversation changes, hopefully for the better for the company.
And the company changes as well.

By: Alan Wolk

Alan Wolk — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:28:56 +0000

@Tim @Mack – Let me throw the missing link in here: if you want people to talk about your product (Tim’s “groundswell”) you have to have a product worth talking about.
Ooops.
Too many companies forget about that part of the equation– that the downside of social media is that it makes it a lot easier for people to talk about how mediocre your product is. And not necessarily on MySpace or Twitter, but on Amazon’s review boards and similar retail sites.
Because the new reality is that all roads lead to Google.