Archives for October 2009

Pop quiz. How many of these phrases do you recognize?

– It’s all about the dialogue.
– You have to fish where the fish are.
– You have to engage.
– You can’t measure the ROI of social media.
– Look at Zappos / Dell / Best Buy / Jetblue / Comcast as examples of how to do it right.
– Etc, etc, etc… (okay, this last one isn’t really part of the phrases!)

Now, second part of the pop quiz. How many times a day do you see or hear these phrases being used on a social network or blog? Once? Twice? Ten times? More?

My guess is that it’s quite a bit (and, I’ll be the first to hold my hand up and say I’ve been guilty of it in the past). I’ll try my best to steer clear of these areas – if I slip (and don’t quantify why I’m using one or more of these terms) then feel free to shout me down.

My point?

There are three audiences when it comes down to it – the early adopters of social media, the ones that have been using social media for a while, and the ones just starting to dip their toes in. And it’s time to bring these three audiences together. Faster. Starting today. Because really, there’s no need for differences when you think about it.

The toe dippers are looking for help and advice. Good, actionable advice. The kind that can take them from testing the water to the comfort zone that is the mid-term users. Where the theory is understood; the why isn’t in question; and the next step is the how part of the equation.

Which leaves the early adopters, who can bring bring all the pieces of the puzzle together. So let’s see that happening. Here’s how.

• Experienced folks – instead of just saying, “You have to fish where the fish are”, enable the fishermen. Show them exactly how you fish where the fish are. And, if you’re a new fisherman, question people that say this and don’t offer a boat to take you there.

• Quit using the “you can’t measure social media ROI” soundbite. If it can be deployed, it can be measured. Compare previous non-social media strategies with those now using it – did you save promotional money? Did you see an increase in website traffic? Did you reach more of your targeted audience? Was the process more streamlined? How many downloaded your mobile app? Did brand loyalty increase? Did your customer service satisfaction level increase because you had a virtual call centre? These are just some of the basic questions that can be answered when it comes to measuring ROI – but they’re good starting points.
• Change the soundtrack. Yes, it’s wonderful that businesses like Comcast, Zappos, Dell and others like them are held up as examples of social media success stories. But their stories are old now. What about the ones we don’t hear but should? What about family farms? Or innovative approaches to consumer wholesale food? Or delivery firms? Or, if you still want to talk fish, how about an actual fishing company? There’s a whole world of success stories out there – isn’t it about time we shared the small ones that are (probably) more relevant to most social media business users (at this minute)?

Everyone pretty much agrees social media isn’t a fad – it’s showing new ways to do business and connect locally and globally. So why are we still hanging on the coat tails of where it was this time last year?

We know the why – every business entering the social space is there for a reason. There’s not an awful lot of the how, though. So – let’s change that. Let’s stop accepting soundbites and the same old examples. Let’s move to actionable processes and where that can take us instead.

In short, let’s not be afraid to open up and really get this wealth of information to all users.

What say you?

photo credit: sugu