Will A Brands Next Big Move Be A Journalism Department?

Who should own Social Media in the organization?The challenge in answering that question comes from a lack of clear definition. It depends on how you (and your organization) defines Social Media. Some see it as a communications channel, while others use it to extend their advertising. Other companies use it for customer service and some use it as a platform to experiment with content marketing. None of those are inherently right or wrong, they’re just different uses (and there are countless more). The long-held debate (and yes, we’re looking at over a decade of Social Media usage, at this point) was about whether or not Social Media should be a part of the Marketing department or the Communications department. In the end, Social Media is everywhere. The companies that tend to benefit the most from Social Media are the ones who are finding multiple blends, tactics and campaigns to find their sweet spot. Some have used short, mid and long-term tactics against an overall business strategy, while others have chosen to blend one-way with two-way communications and more conversational types of strategies. It’s the content, stupid. While advertising has its place in Social Media, it’s all about the content. The platform allows everyone to publishing anything in text, images, audio and video instantly (and for free) for the entire world to see. It’s humbling to know that the success of your content is almost entirely driven by how relevant it is (or, how it moves your audience). It’s easy to make a case for content marketing, but it’s going to wind up being the wrong case you should be making. Death to content marketing. The problem with content marketing is the marketing part of the equation. Marketing content rarely connects with an audience. Why? Because it’s really just marketing material that is thinly veiled as content, and it’s quickly becoming the kind of one-sided content that turns people off. What makes great content spread is how unique and inspiring the message is, not in how it slants into a direction that ultimately positions your company as the only one to buy from. Flipping from content marketing to journalism. I was thinking about this Blog. I was thinking about citizen journalism. I was watching Geoff Livingston present at Webcom Montreal last week, and things started to click. Maybe the reason this Blog has some level of success is because it’s more like journalism than it is about what Twist Image offers and sells (I prefer to write relevant articles about this industry). Maybe citizen journalists are the best marketers that a brand could ever ask for, and maybe, Livingston is right that the problem with content marketing is the “marketing” part. Instead of plopping Social Media into your communications or marketing department, why not start a journalism department (or start off in a more humble way by hiring a journalist part-time to write content that your organization will publish)? What could a journalist do for your brand? They could write articles about the industry you serve without slanting the piece to favor your brand (this would give you credibility and build trust). They could become valuable by commenting and adding more content in the many other primary spaces for Social Media that people in your industry follow. They could interview the industry leaders for you. They could add a layer of credibility to the content you’re publishing, because you’re very clear in your disclosures that this journalist’s role is not to write favorable content about the company, but to write great content about the industry you serve. We’re not talking about a journalist who is working for you as a writer. That would be missing the point. The idea here is to start creating content that is both valuable and needed. The idea here is to see if a tactic like this could lead to an entire department of journalists that are publishing the most relevant and interesting stories about the industry you serve. It’s about becoming the de facto recognized authority for your industry. It’s about adding so much value that your clients (and potential clients) need you in their lives because the insights and information that you’re providing are so valuable. The challenge (of course) will be in doing this in an honest and credible way. Marketers don’t have a strong history of being able to pull this sort of stuff off, because we just can’t help ourselves but to push our own wares in the moment of truth (which is sad). The only way this will work is if the brand truly does let the journalist be an actual journalist (instead of a corporate shill). I think this is a huge (and interesting) opportunity. What do you think? Is the world ready for real Brand Journalism?

The Distraction Of Twitter

It’s going to come to a head at some point soon. We’re all going to realize that Twitter is the ultimate distraction.The problem with saying that Twitter is a distraction comes at a cost. People don’t want to think (or admit) that they are wasting their time – mostly because even defining what a “waste of time” is can be subjective (and who is to say that a distraction in one’s life is also a waste of time?). I try not to kid myself. I realize that watching most prime time television is a waste of time and there are many other activities that us human beings engage in that don’t really add much value to our own lives and the lives of people around us. Twitter could well be the next great distraction, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, so long as you can admit it to yourself and appreciate that we all need moments of distraction. The challenge comes in identifying when these little distractions wind up taking up too much time in our lives. Twitter as a distraction engine. Brands that turn to Twitter usually do so to ensure that: If someone is talking about their brands, they can be (somewhat) responsive. They can broadcast/engage with those who are interested in their brands. Ultimately, Twitter is just a short, fast and easy way to share a message. As much as it has become a distraction for the majority of people, it is also a great place to poke your nose around to find out what is being talked about, what’s in the news or to find something interesting to read, watch or listen to. All of those activities are – fundamentally – activities that are distracting you from doing the work you were meant to do. Why is Twitter such a distraction? The short messages (tweets) happen in bursts. This is both addictive to watch and so “snackable” that it’s hard to resist. It’s easy to bang out a tweet in a couple of seconds… and it feels good to let people know what you’re thinking/what you’re up to. It happens in real-time, so whenever you’re engaged with Twitter, you are “in the moment.” People say, do and share interesting things. It’s the ultimate in reality programming. What’s more interesting: to watch the story of people we don’t know (or those that are made up) verses the story of people we do know or are interested in? It’s highly mobile. Tweeting or following Twitter is something that’s easy and mindless to do when you’re standing with one arm wrapped around the pole in a subway or have a handful of minutes while in-between meetings. It’s an easy way to follow and connect with new and interesting people. A distraction is still a distraction. Some will take this Blog post as an indictment on Twitter. That is not the case. I use, like and connect with Twitter on a more-than-daily basis, but I’m cautious of it. I can see/feel how easy it is to sucked into the vortex of interesting quips, tweets, retweets, responding to messages, links and provocations. While I love that type of back-and-forth banter, the work I do for our clients at Twist Image takes precedence. So too does my writing (this Blog, my newspaper and magazine columns, my future books), speaking and Podcasting. While I can appreciate the value of Twitter, it falls well below the value I get from creating more substantive ideas in other forums (my own art). Twitter and the tweets that go along with them are fleeting moments that disappear almost as quickly as they are published. I’m ok with Twitter as an engine of distraction, but I often wonder if the more serious power users see it in the same vein?

Comments And Conversations

How much value does the comments section of a Blog add to your Social Media experience?Before even getting into the main thrust of this Blog post, let me – personally – state that I am well aware that this debate probably lived (and died) back in 2003. The truth is that (like you) I have my own opinions about how Social Media plays out in a corporate role. At a macro level, I don’t think the model is something that anyone can template. I do believe that every corporation must have a unique Social Media strategy (one that is directly tied to business objectives and overall economic value to the company). I also believe that although the tools and platforms are agnostic regardless of whether you are a small, medium or large corporation, that the size of the organization does play a factor into what you can do (and how fast you can move). Moving fast. Moving slow. Here’s my personal and corporate journey for this Twist Image company Blog (yes, in case you weren’t aware, Six Pixels of Separation isn’t just my personal playground, but the voice of our Digital Marketing agency) in three acts: Act I – We started this Blog (originally called Multimarketing – Twist Image) in late 2003. The original impetus was to share our very personal stories. What we were reading, what were thinking, how we think differently, and why we think Digital Marketing is a critical piece of the marketing mix. The comment section was closed. We’re in bootstrap mode trying to close business, and I knew I would let down the audience/community, but balanced that reality with the fact that the Blog would (mostly) be a “what’s going on in our world” instead of a real conversation worthy of comments. Think: instant publishing versus community and conversation. Act II – A couple of years later, we changed the name to Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Blog and opened up comments. The mindset at this point was: the Blog posts will be rich and have one thought (with – hopefully – a beginning, middle and end). The comment section becomes more of an, “ok, I’ve said my peace, what do you think?” type of area. In retrospect, it worked really well, and the comments always added perspective and balance (even without the back and forth). Act III – Welcome to it… right now. In case you haven’t been following along lately, I have become extremely active/vocal in the comments section. This is not an experiment or an anomaly. In a day and age when most people are abandoning their Blogs for Twitter feeds and Facebook updates, I’ve realized that this Blog really is an expression of my personal art, my thinking, my muse (yes, I love writing and thinking about Digital Marketing) and how Twist Image works. With all of that said, I do have thin skin, so I’m not looking for a fight, but rather a healthy conversation with some back and forth. So far, I am loving it. Instead of dragging me down into the minutia of a concept, I find that the comments and conversations are fostering new ways of thinking and they are inspiring more Blog post ideas … and inspiring me to Blog even more. There are no hard and fast rules. As fast as Social Media is moving and evolving, the millions of Blog are – for the most part – a culmination of many individual opinions (and this Blog is no different). Some will argue that you should always have comments. Some will argue that you should respond to every comment. Some will be thankful just to have fresh content published on a frequent basis. Some will look at every post as if they’re about to beat it up and mug it. Personally, I’m just looking for all of your thoughts so that they lead to a substantial conversation so that it leads to all of us being more inspired and smarter. I hope you will play, learn and love along with me (and yes, it took me nearly seven years to figure this all out). How much value does the comments section of a Blog add to your Social Media experience? What do you think?

When Not Responding Online Is The Right Response

The common online rhetoric is to respond to everything that is being said about your brand. That could be a mistake.With new Social Media monitoring tools – or just some careful snooping around – it has never been easier to figure out who are the people with a legitimate concern and who are the quacks just trying to feed their own need for attention. And yes, there are even those whose only goal is to push their own agenda forward by drawing attention to themselves. There’s a known saying amongst the Digerati: “don’t feed the Trolls.” The Wikipedia definition of “troll” is “someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.” The point being, you’re never going to make someone like this happy or get any level of customer service rectified. Even when/if you respond to their needs with an equitable resolution, you’ll soon be trapped in a, “give them an inch and they’ll take you a mile,” scenario where nothing you do will ever be enough (because their intent was never to get any form of resolution in the first place). Simply don’t respond. That’s going to sound very radical in a day and age where most new media pundits will tell you the opposite. This past week, someone commented in their Twitter feed about a brand and situation they were not happy with (translation: their personal cause/agenda was not highlighted and they felt like the company should pay more attention to their plight). When the company didn’t respond, the known troll went after people who were mentioning the same brand in their tweets and asked for their opinion on the company’s choice to not highlight their personal issue. Many of the people that this individual reached out to didn’t engage or responded in a very succinct and finite way (the Social Media equivalent of crickets in the night). With nowhere to go, and no wind left in their sails, the troll continued to rally for their cause in their own Facebook and Twitter stream, but there was little-to-no traction. With that, the grandstanding became nothing more than the online version of someone wandering the downtown streets blurting absurdities at the top of their lungs until the cops come by and politely ask them to, “move on.” People know when you have a genuine complaint. People know when you’re simply pushing your own agenda. A smart company is one that can respond with professionalism and resolution. A smart company is one that doesn’t spend hours of time and resources trying to please the unappeasable. It’s an important distinction, and now that we can see a semblance of maturity online when it comes to individual’s and their digital legacies, it’s easier to figure out the raisins from the nuts. At first, the ability to make this distinction will not be obvious, and brands (as we have seen) have been sucked into major back-and-forths that have never ended well. Ultimately, the troll is never satisfied and all the brand did was give that individual’s actions a platform and some real credibility where none existed before. It’s a delicate balance. Zappos is brilliantly kind to everyone. Others believe that “your call is important to us” means that you will soon be treated like garbage. Not everyone online is a troll. Not everyone online is out to get a brand in a “gotcha!” kind of way. In fact, the opposite is (mostly) true: Assume two percent of the population is evil. Assume a slightly larger percentage are trolls and take some level of pride in getting a brand to react to their irrational opinions. Beyond that, know why and how you’re going to engage online, and when cornered by someone who will never be happy, change the venue: ask if you can give them a call on the phone to discuss or offer to bring them into your office for a meeting or a tour. More often than not they will scurry back to the comfort of their keyboard and the warm glow of their monitor. A great question to ask yourself… When thinking about these online shift disturbers, ask yourself: Who is this person? What do they do? Who works with them? Who are they connected to? What are the types of conversations that they have recently had? A bit of research goes a long way, and can easily highlight whether or not there is a semi-legitimate concern that needs to be addressed or if you’re dealing with someone who is just looking for a one-sided fight. Do you think it’s acceptable not to respond to certain individuals online? Or are all gripes created equal? What’s your take?

Product Is The New Marketing

Brands can’t hide any more. If you’re reading this Blog, you already knew that.Last night Jeff Bezos (founder and CEO of Amazon) was on Charlie Rose to discuss the latest iteration of the e-book reader, Kindle (if you’re interested in watching the online video of the conversation, you have to click around on the Charlie Rose website to find it). While reading Bob Lefsetz tonight, I came across this quote that Bezos said to Rose during the conversation: “Before if you were making a product, the right business strategy was to put 70% of your attention, energy, and dollars into shouting about a product, and 30% into making a great product. So you could win with a mediocre product, if you were a good enough marketer. That is getting harder to do. The balance of power is shifting toward consumers and away from companies…the individual is empowered… The right way to respond to this if you are a company is to put the vast majority of your energy, attention and dollars into building a great product or service and put a smaller amount into shouting about it, marketing it. If I build a great product or service, my customers will tell each other.” “The individual is empowered” is code for Social Media. This isn’t really about word of mouth marketing in as much as it is about the fact that customers don’t just tell one another about brands they love (and hate)… they tell everybody. This was the big deal about Blogs (in the early days), but that conversation is now everywhere. It’s on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and in places like Yelp! and beyond. Some brands even allow consumers to rate and review their products on their own websites (the good stuff and the bad stuff). All of this is becoming table stakes in the world of Marketing and Communications (meaning, the customer’s expect to be able to say and do whatever they want, wherever they want to). What’s left – as Bezos clearly states – is great products and services. A mediocre product with great Marketing is only going to create a lot of attention and conversation around the fact that the product is mediocre. Now, Marketing comes full circle to support the story of the brand and the products, and not just to oversell something mediocre. Bezos makes it sound like this is the end of Marketing? … or is it just the beginning? Tags: amazon blog bob lefsetz business strategy charlie rose communications e-book ebook ebook reader facebook jeff bezos kindle marketer marketing new marketing social media twitter word of mouth marketing yelp youtube

On Being A CurmudgeonPosted: 29 Jul 2010 01:56 PM PDT When has a curmudgeon ever really done well in Marketing? Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and especially Blogs have a very magical way of bringing those who are a curmudgeon right out into the open. The definition of a curmudgeon is someone who is “bad-tempered, difficult and a cantankerous person.” It’s not someone who has the occasional “this sucks!” post, and it’s not someone who creates content in a passive-aggressive fashion. The amazing thing about those who are curmudgeons is that they rarely know that they behave in this manner, and they often spend the bulk-load of their offline time sulking about the online conversations that are bringing them down. Be serious. But don’t be too serious. I love everything I do – both personally and professionally. I do my best to put forward both a positive and happy attitude. Is life perfect? No. Am I fully content with my lot in life? Hardly. But, I don’t kid myself either. I fall into a very small minority of the population that actually loves what they do each and every day (and, like you, I have my off days as well). I also don’t kid myself into thinking that what I do for a living is as important as a school teacher, doctor or someone trying to make a difference in the developing world. I help brands make better connections with their consumers through the many online channels. Nothing more. Nothing less. It pains me to see the online conversation when people are truly aggressive and angry about issues that are really inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Love what you do. Be passionate about what you do. How often do you read, see and hear from a Marketing professional who is – without question – a total curmudgeon? Everything sucks. Nobody is saying anything new. Clients are stupid. Agencies don’t get it. There isn’t an original thought in the world. All new creative is simply a copy of something that has already been done before? So-and-so is a moron. If people don’t see my point of view, they are clearly the ones without a clue. And on and on and on. Do you ever wonder why Marketing attracts so many characters like this? We’re not moving the conversation forward. If all we ever do is critique, bash and act in a curmudgeonly fashion, we’re not only going to have a hard time pushing the conversation forward, we’re going to be even more challenged to get the brands into these channels, platforms and new media. Nobody wants to join anything that has people mumbling and grumbling the whole way through. Rise above. If someone wants to be a curmudgeon… let them. This is one of those moments in time when we – as a community – give them consent to bother us by feeding their temper and attitudes. Things are good in Marketing and they are getting better. New media, new platforms, new channels, real human connections and individuals connecting up to brands because they care (even if they’re saying something negative). Traditional mass media is finding its pace in the digital world and there seems to be room for everybody (while still having room for more disruption). The real question is this: how do we remove the curmudgeons and get on with the business of doing great work?