Everyone seems to be talking about “social media” these days. With an endless stream of new tools being launched every day, it is easy to focus on the services and ignore the “social” part of “social media.” After all, who creates a project plan for conducting a casual coffee chat with a couple of close friends? Who breaks into a sweat before chit chatting with a good friend at work? We are wired for social interactions and as a result, they just come naturally to us. Nothing simpler, no?
Reality is that social interactions are anything but simple. How a group will react to something we say or do is beyond difficult to predict partially because the number of factors involved verges on the side of unknowable. This places social phenomenon as beyond complicated or complex and into the realm of chaotic. Things in the chaotic realm are extremely difficult (some might say impossible) to predict and thus require a different model for how we work to create change or impact behavior. [Anyone academically inclined may want to check out the CYNEFIN model.]
Motrin recently had to pull an ad because of the reactions of a small few. Walmart has had a series of run-ins with bloggers. The number of first forays into social media that actually upset the digital denizens they mean to engage with are growing too numerous to count.
Why is this? One thing the Cynefin model proposes about the chaotic realm is that we can no longer analyze the situation, design the campaign and measure the responses. We have to engage differently. We have to Act, then Listen (Sense) and finally Respond.
Act first? The phrase, “Shoot, Ready, Aim.” comes to mind and aptly so. It’s not to say one shouldn’t plan up front. It is more that we can no longer plan with the idea of predicting the actions that will match the desired outcomes. We have to take risks (starting small), sense how they are being received and then respond quickly and appropriately before beginning the cycle again.
We are learning to be social using digital tools. This requires us to have access to digital tools that enable us to act, listen and respond quickly. I call the act and the spaces where this occurs “being MESSY”.
What is “being MESSY?”
- A space in which we can explore, test and evaluate the social impact of our actions.
- Hands on Learning. It is time for us to get our fingers dirty.
- A visual design verging on simple or non-existent so we don’t worry about “breaking the site”.
- Access to tools that enable us to control this space in real time.
Let’s be very clear. Anything involving a phone call to your IT department or agency is anything BUT messy. The idea is that we have a space where we don’t have to call ANYONE. It becomes our place where we can explore and interact with our audiences online.
“Hi, is this John in IT? You know that javascript I just emailed you? It’s the wrong color. Yes, I realize that email text is always black. I meant the color of the widget that it will build. Oh, you have to check to see if widgets are authorized? But it’s already on our site!! Okay. Fine. I realize this is my fourth call today. Yes, I know this has to be tested and run through the change management process. I was just hoping you could throw that email away and I could send you a new one. Hello? Hello?”
I’ve had a few instances where clients have surprised me by adding widgets to their web pages or joined new services that I didn’t even know existed yet. And by the time we sit down to review what they’ve done, these clients already have feedback from their communities about whether these additions are good, bad or indifferent. The tide quickly shifts where they begin educating me on what is of interest and value to their constituents and we become partners in expanding the number and size of efforts underway.
Many marketers blanch visibly when I first speak of embed tags and widgets. All I can say is that it’s not as bad as it sounds. If a ten year old can figure this stuff out, so can the rest of us. It just may take us a bit longer and our friends may not be quite so interested in sharing our excitement when we do figure some of it out. 
So how does one start getting Messy? My first recommendation is often to start a blog.
Here are two places I recommend for starting a blog:
- blogger (free)
- typepad (I prefer this service, but there is a small fee per month)
Some of you will already have a blog which is awesome. Can you create a page that is yours to mess up, hack and change in real-time? If not, forget about that blog and start a new one. A new place where you can muddle through while exploring what works socially with your potential audiences and communities.
[Image source: Stuck in Customs]
Tags: blogs, cynefin, messy, seanhoward, socialmedia
Well, this certainly adds an additional twist to planning as marketers know it!
“It is time for us to get our fingers dirty.” Love this! Even if it’s just tapping on a keyboard. Social media is indeed forcing business to get involved and have conversations. No more outsourcing to agencies (actual conversations that is).
Great post & food for thought Sean.
Hi Beth,
Thank you so much for the comment and the kind words.
I think there is still a role for consultants and agencies, but I do hope more marketers get their hands dirty and start to participate at least a little. It will at least change the dynamic of the conversations people like you and I are having with our clients, which would be a beautiful thing, no??
Sean
As a marketer, I agree with your premise of jumping in with social media. When we started a blog, our boss gave us the caveat that if the blog created some sort of ‘problem’ that we would be out our bonuses. Well, it’s now over three years later and we’ve gotten our bonuses every year since the blog has been up…
Thanks for the reinforcement Sean!
As I was reading this, I drew parallels with my world.
As a cross-cultural marketer I often ask my blog readers to “Shoot, ready, aim” when connecting with international markets.
In addition to needing feedback, this starts the learning process for acquiring international skills.
Just like with social media, it’s all about making the right connection in an environment that is different or changing.
@Eric: Wow! Congrats on taking a risk where it had the opportunity to impact you directly and financially! I’d love to know what you’ve learned or explored as a result of having the experience of running the blog.
@Cindy: Well said! One of the challenges I think we are all facing is how to scale “making the right connection” in our various areas. We’re used to working in a realm of scalable mass communications. But when we need to connect with someone personally, this is a completely different game. We require new approaches. I’d love to know what you’ve learned by watching your clients participate in this type of activity.
Good post Sean, a couple of thoughts:
1 – I think there’s a bit of a misconception among companies that (for ex, lets use blogs) when they make their blog ‘live’, that it’s instantly available to the world. Well technically it IS, but just because it’s available to the world, doesn’t mean that the world has the faintest clue that it exists. Companies have plenty of time to play with their blog and get it right. No company (or individual, for that matter), starts out with a perfect blogging effort, and I dare say that the ones that TRULY have exceptional blogs, are constantly changing, and constantly getting messy.
2 – I think customers are beginning to appreciate companies that DO get messy. I think we are all tired of seeing knee-jerk attacks from customers aimed at companies that make social media mistakes. As long as there is an honest effort to better use these sites/tools to connect with customers, the customers will usually cut the company some slack.
Now’s the time to get messy, the pigpen is only going to get more crowded the longer you wait!
Thanks for wading in, Mack! For anyone that isn’t aware, Mack Collier runs a wonderful Corporate Blog Review that I highly recommend. You can see it here: http://tinyurl.com/6r8cwq
Good point re: the shift in perception and willingness by more and more of us to allow for companies to make mistakes. One thing intrigues me. The lack of preparing customers for engaging even in a worse case scenario. I had a chance to speak to an individual inside Taxi and my first question (about Motrin) was, “Why didn’t you guys just join the conversation early on?” It turns out they tried to but the client wanted to rally the troops and figure out how to respond. By which time it was too late.
I actually think this is Taxi’s fault, still. We have to start educating our clients AHEAD of time on what needs to be in place just in case conversations erupt (good or bad). And any agency that likes doing edgy stuff is playing with fire otherwise.
Sean since Motrin is in the pharma industry, I can cut them a bit more slack about being hesitant to interact directly with customers via SM, as there might have been legal issues to consider?
But I agree with you, if Taxi worked with Motrin to get that ad/campaign off the ground, then they should have been monitoring online feedback about it. And they should have had Motrin as engaged as possible with the target market.
hey Sean
i am currently experiencing an amazing social media success for a client, 2.5 months ago they engaged me to help with publicity for the 1st Singapore tattoo Show 2009 and with the time i have started and now the results are spectacular – the primary driver is Facebook & my own blog which clients are included… facebook now has nearly 2400 members (tattoo artistry on facebook) which is an active community. From facebook traditional media has taken notice and the list of media interviews and coverage grows daily – when first appointed I had no idea how passionate people are about tattoos – it is a very strong niche and crosses cultures and borders – yes it has been MESSY – but for this niche that’s ok – it’s they way it needs to be !
Hi Andrew,
Congratulations on your success and thanks for sharing! It’s neat that you were able to find a niche and approach that has a lot of user passion associated with it.
I think it has to be just as messy as you experienced, even when working with packaged goods or luxury products. A challenge that many marketers have struggled to overcome as they tend to be very removed from such in their other channels.
Sean