Representing companies with style.

How fast do you make quality friendships?

On May 15, 2013, in A note from Shane, Social Media Marketing, by Shane
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This week I lost a client. It wasn’t enjoyable, it’s not something I look to do. It makes me feel disappointed in myself. But when I step back and look at the number one reason he wanted to pull out of his legally binding contract after two months, I have to step back, shrug my shoulders and say, “ok, good luck to you.”

The client felt that not enough progress had happened in his brand-building during the two months we had the opportunity to represent him. For the most part, we were working on two channels: Facebook and Twitter. Despite several attempts to get some details about details of his business, we were really having to create the content out of absolutely nowhere. Sometimes this is possible, but really, to make it a real voice, the content has to be based on real stuff.

The thing that some people don’t get about social media utilization is that it isn’t a magic bullet. If your advertising and PR efforts aren’t bringing you business, then chances are social isn’t going to be the quick solution either. You don’t have to understand technology to understand social, you have to understand people. This post by my friend Patrick over at Red e App sums it up nicely.

When you’re out in the world and you meet someone new, do you immediately give them all your credibility and declare them your best friend? No, of course not. It takes time. Sometimes the first group of people you meet ends up not being the people you stay with. Sometimes it takes a couple circles to find your niche. The same is true on Twitter.

This particular client was mostly disappointed in the numbers on Twitter. The numbers. Not the types of people we found, not the amount of engagement, simply the number of followers. Which is where I had to let go and say, “he just doesn’t get it.”

To grow real, considerate, credible friends in the real world, it takes time, devotion, loyalty and digging in. I know this because I’m still genuinely friends with people I’ve known my whole life, and throughout different periods of my lifetime. I am fiercely loyal to these people. The same is true on Twitter. The people we meet on Twitter on behalf of our clients are real people, and we treat them as such. It can truly take a year or longer before a Twitter account takes hold, before it earns the credibility you think it deserves. Finding the right people who make sense for your brand takes effort and a legitimate concern for the people with whom you are speaking.

Admittedly, numbers are a way to show progress. They are a way to say, “We started with zero people listening, now we’ve got 100.” More importantly, we report to our clients on retweets, mentions and engagement. Because you can have 100,000 followers, but if no one is speaking to you directly, that’s not social. That’s just shouting.

I wish this company well. I hope he finds that magic bullet he’s hoping to find. But social is simply that – social. If done well, a brand can behave like a person and can build lasting relationships that lead to continued brand awareness, and increased revenue. If not done well, if a company is simply collecting followers…. well… it shows.

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How to handle social during a national tragedy. I don’t know… do you?

On April 16, 2013, in A note from Shane, Social Media Marketing, by Shane
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Newtown. Now Boston. It seems all too often I’m sending out an APB to my team, “Hold all posts. Do not tweet. This is no time to market.” Each time a tragedy occurs, our team determines that we want our communities, and the communities of the brands we represent, to be able to grieve in peace, without the latest sale or coupon popping up in their face.

When the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon finish line yesterday, we immediately ceased all work, moved all scheduled posts and kept the pages dark. This morning, we were at a loss. What is appropriate to post? On a couple pages we posted the national anthem sung beautifully by this local, blind 16-year-old. 

But now what? Many of the brands we represent are local brands, right here in Louisville. They’ve got the Kentucky Derby to focus on, just 18 days away. Yet, it doesn’t feel right to talk about our sales, our promotions, our brands. Now is a time of grief, again, in the US.

I’ve written before about how there are no gurus or experts in social media, and a tragedy brings that fact to the forefront.

On Taylor Homes’ Facebook page, for example, one of our regular nightly occurrences is a funny post we share with our community between 8 and 9 pm. But last night, we simply said, “It seems all too often we’re taking a night off from being funny. Just not feeling right. Keeping the people of Boston – and all marathon runners – in our thoughts this evening.”

So the question remains… when are we allowed to step forward? When will the communities be ok with us posting funny jokes or brand-related news? For those who were in Boston yesterday, probably never. We in Kentucky know we have big events coming up and the fear has been planted, at least for me. But do we stop? Or do we go? And when?

Clients entrust their faith in us that we know what we’re doing on social media. But I guess the truth is, none of us really know what we’re doing, and as often as these tragedies occur, we still just don’t know the right thing to do, the right thing to say. I guess this is just another example of keeping social media real. So real it hurts.

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Listen to me! I’m shouting about how I know everything!

On February 26, 2013, in A note from Shane, if you ask me., Social Media Marketing, by Shane
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Often I’m introduced by clients as their Social Media “guru” or “expert.” Generally, this leads to a subtle eyeroll by me, and a quick correction of, “I’m not an expert, I just practice a lot.”

And that’s the truth. There are no experts in social media – how could there be? The industry changes daily. There are some who know way more than me, and some who know way less (like the person who recently contacted me about learning how I do what I do because she was starting a competing company… um… no).

What I do is practice. I live in the medium. I’m on Twitter, I’m on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Spotify, Pinterest, Instagram, you name it. So I practice. But expert? No.

Some of these self-proclaimed “experts” and “gurus” are out there on Twitter touting themselves as people in the know… people who can give you great advice. And that’s what they do… they push out blogposts all day that tell you how to do what you want to do. They just tweet out links with a brief commentary. But try and tweet them back… try to actually have a conversation. Good luck.

They’re just shouting. They’re not listening. And, frankly, that’s a turnoff. Imagine if you met someone in person and responded to something they said, and they just stared through you. Yeah, same thing.

The thing is, how a channel like Twitter works best is when people treat other people like people… not Twitter handles. When you consider your Twitter friends to be just like your friends in life, then you’re doing it right. When you are an “expert” who receives mentions on Twitter but doesn’t respond, doesn’t converse, then, well… expert or not… you’re doing it wrong.

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Would you walk out of a party with 20 best friends who want to share info about your product? Probably not.

On January 16, 2013, in Uncategorized, by Shane
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I get it. Clients want to see results, quickly. I get that. But I think what a lot of people don’t get is that social media, when managed properly, is handled the same way a relationship in real life is handled (or should be handled).

If you were invited to a party, and you only knew one or two people, would you expect to walk out with a list of names, numbers and detailed information on each person that would make you feel like you had found all of your long lost friends? The following morning, would you want to call that new guy or girl you just met and ask them to marry you? Think about this logically. Social Media engagement is simply a new technique on an old practice – getting to know someone.

So take your time and get to know people out there. And know that if you have someone managing your social media engagement, unless you’re selling free diamonds, you aren’t going to see a lot of return immediately (and really if they’re free something says you aren’t seeing any “return” at all).

Jay Baer, one of the foremost speakers on social media has said often, “This is all about treating marketing and business as a marathon, not a sprint, he says. You can’t close the deal overnight.” This is true no matter what your business is. You may own a restaurant, you may sell a product for kids, you may be selling tickets to an event, or you may be rallying people around your cause. But they all take time to build, and to catch on. More on Baer’s tactics here.

So slow down. Don’t expect a miracle. Get your products, services and messaging ready and then methodically begin to use social with a plan. Running out of the gate and expecting immediate return is foolish, and really, impossible.

 

Wrestling.

On December 17, 2012, in A note from Shane, Social Media Marketing, by Shane
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This past Friday, when the news of the Sandy Hook Massacre broke, I had a tough time regarding work. On one hand, I’m a marketer. My job is to create relationships with consumers and potential consumers on behalf of the brands I represent. On the other hand, I’m a human being, an American, a mother. My children are about the same age as the children lost on Friday.

Peter Shankman, one of the social media marketers I follow, not only because his personal posts are entertaining, but also because I agree with what he says about how to relate via social had a discussion going on his page midday Friday. He encouraged all those who do what I do to remove any scheduled posts, to be sensitive by not posting the normal folly we tend to publish on the weekend to keep our audiences engaged (I’m paraphrasing here, this is what I got from it).

I thought this advice was right on. In fact, right around the time I read it, I also saw a post (must have been scheduled) by a company talking about little black dresses for New Year’s Eve. As a consumer, this just rubbed me the wrong way. Don’t interrupt my newsfeed with your sales opportunity, I don’t want to hear it right now.

I took it a bit further. We did cancel anything we had posted (not much, because we tend to not schedule posts unless necessary). I emailed my team immediately and asked them to leave their pages dark through the weekend – let people grieve without interruption. There were discussions on social not only about gun control and mental health in the US, but also what people could do.. feeling so helpless. With Hurricane Sandy still so fresh in our minds, many people are in the habit of texting a number, and donating money to the Red Cross, or collecting food and sending to the victims. But in this situation, we are helpless. No money is going to help the families, friends and colleagues deal with their pain in Connecticut.

I then emailed my clients and let them know that this was our plan, and that we believed it in their best interest to allow people time to grieve and communicate free of marketing messages through the weekend. Several clients wrote back and thanked me for having my team looking out for them.

The last thing I wanted any of my brands to do was to interrupt someone’s grief with their holiday sale or news about their product. This could backfire and have consumers posting negative comments on the page, and probably unliking the company’s page, and the company in general.

Today, we must somehow get back on track. We recognize it is the week before Christmas, and we owe it to our clients to spread the word about their company. But we tread lightly. We must post content that is not in isolation, that relates to those directly affected, and those feeling the pain around the country.

We continue to constantly keep the consumer (the reader) in mind.

With thoughts and prayers to the families in Newtown, CT on this rainy Monday morning.

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Ideal social situations

On December 14, 2012, in A note from Shane, Social Media Marketing, by Shane
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It’s unlike me to be quiet for so long.

Come on.. you know me by now. I’ve not been quiet, I just haven’t been blogging. The SEO of my clients’ websites and the social representation for them is clearly where my focus is these days.

2012 Holiday Luncheon with the 520 East Brands Team

We’ve been growing. In fact, I just had lunch with my team on Tuesday and since then have added another person to help out in her area of expertise. A lot of times people ask what type of client we like best. You know, it really varies. We love working with a brand who’s been trying to use social unsuccessfully for a while, because we can go in and make changes, and see sudden improvement in their engagement. This is how we began our relationship with Taylor Homes more than a year ago. We also love to work with a brand-new product just getting off the ground in a niche market. Enter Kitty Night Night, an exciting new concept to help toddlers go to bed, and stay there. Then there’s the client who was doing social but just got too busy building what they build and making what they make. That, of course, was my experience with Rooibee Red Tea. Each client has had its own set of circumstances and reason for needing my company’s help.

So, it really doesn’t matter what type of business they are in, or what type of conversation they want to have. Here’s what IS important: communication. I get that my job is to communicate on behalf of these brands out in the public – that is something our team can handle like no other. But if a client can’t communicate internally, either within their own team, or with me, that’s when the system fails.

Outsourcing social media can work in many different scenarios. But what makes it successful is when the internal team communicates with the outsourced team: what’s happening in the business, what news is coming, when it’s appropriate to talk about said news. We can come up with all the strategies and ideas in the world, but if we aren’t on track with what your team is thinking, then there’s no way for us to be successful.

So I would say the best clients are those that sit down and meet, face to face (or on the phone or Google Hangout at the very least) on a monthly or 6-week basis. Sometimes we even communicate daily via Twitter, which is the case with Red e App, THE mobile enterprise communication system.

By communicating and brainstorming with our clients, we are able to run successful campaigns and create those personalities behind the keyboard. I find that the clients with whom I have an old-fashioned, face-to-face meeting regularly, and I really get a feel for what the voice of their brand needs to say, are best represented by us in social.

I have regular meetings with so many of the clients, and it shows in the work. I take the clients personally, and value those relationships – and that shows in the work. I have a genuine understanding for these people, and their voice, and am proud to be able to make that voice just a little louder via social media.

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Tweetchats. This is how it’s done.

On August 2, 2012, in Social Media Marketing, Tweetchats, Uncategorized, by Shane
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I still hear it often: “I don’t get Twitter, what’s the point?” “Twitter just seems to be a bunch of people talking to no one.” “How do you even create relationships out there?”

Well friends, that’s what I do. I don’t spend my day creating and nurturing relationships as myself, but as my clients. How? Well, I could start each day by combing through streams and jumping in on conversations that interest me. Sure, that’s one way. But a better way? Tweetchats. Wuh-huh?

Let me explain.

You’ve seen the hashtag before, right? Example: #olympics. Searching this hashtag this week will give you a ton of tweets to read about all things relating to the Olympics. It’s a great way to find likeminded people out there.

What a tweet chat does is set aside a block of time (typically an hour) where everyone joins in the conversation by using that hashtag. Favorite hashtags my team uses for clients include #socialchat on Monday nights (9pm ET), #brandchat on Wednesdays (11am ET) #pinchat on Wednesdays (9pm ET) and the behemoth #mediachat on Thursdays (10pm ET – way past my bedtime but totally worth it). I participate in many of these chats as the brand. Sometimes it’s great to find a chat specifically related to what the company does – allowing the company to be elevated to the level of expert. But sometimes that doesn’t exist.

For example, there are not a ton of tweet chats directly targeted for builders. But Taylor Homes does a great job of branding and marketing all around, so for Taylor, we participate in #brandchat when we can and we’ve gotten very active on #socialchat. This helps broaden the audience of the client even more – and let’s others out there know we aren’t “pigeonholed” in our own little construction world. We’ve made some great friends out there as Taylor. And the plan is, when one of those friends need to build a house, then they’ll think Taylor – we’re top of mind.

Another client, Red e App, has done something remarkable. We created our own tweet chat – we actually own it (#mobilechat, Wednesdays at 9pm ET). Last night was our inaugural chat and we had a great turn out. I assisted in moderating this chat with the client (he was logged in as himself, and he served as moderator – asking questions of our guest). Mid-chat, we actually got a lead from someone who came to talk mobile, but asked a question if a product exists that helps with internal communication for enterprise organizations and… SCORE! Yes! Red e App does that. I smell a future customer!

Even more remarkable – while I was helping to host #mobilechat as @RedeApp I was also participating in #pinchat as Pop Cosmo – making sure clients had exposure where it needed to be. It was a bit split-personality-ish, but it worked. And that, my friends, is why I’m not afraid to say it’s a skill, not just playing on Twitter.

If done well consistently, relationships on Twitter can lead to relationships in the real world. And in the real world, that’s where business is done.

More on tweet chats here.

Looking for a tweet chat that fits your business or interests? This list isn’t always updated, but it’s a pretty good resource: click here.

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Etiquette #2, in case you didn’t hear me on #1.

On January 9, 2012, in A note from Shane, if you ask me., Social Media Marketing, Uncategorized, Who am I and why am I doing this?, by Shane
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I haven’t blogged in a while. Not that I don’t believe in the power of blogging, but because I pretty much spend my days focused on what my clients need and my brand, well, it gets a little neglected.

The last post I wrote was pertaining to online etiquette. Well I’m back with more and this time it gets a little personal.

Think about your life and your social plans. When you go out on a Saturday night with a small group of friends do you call all your other friends and say, “Hey! We are going out with these other people and we didn’t invite you.” No, no you don’t. When you tag friends on Facebook at an event like that, that’s basically what you’re doing.

You know… this whole social technology way of the world is fun. It really is. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. If you wouldn’t do it in “real life”, you shouldn’t do it online, in my opinion.

It’s one thing to tag people at business events or community-wide events. Just think before you tag, that’s all I’m saying.

This goes for blogging too. If you have a blog and spill your guts about your life on there, more power to you. But think before your post. If your post could offend someone you are close to – a friend, neighbor, someone you often call for help, then you probably shouldn’t post about something that could potentially hurt them. Again, if you wouldn’t do it in real life, then just don’t do it at all.

I spend a lot of time online – more than most of my friends, I’m sure, and I see it all. There are very few things people can keep private nowadays – so it’s important we hang on to the privacy we CAN protect, ourselves.

I’ll get off my soap box now and go back to being my regular height (in heels).

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Etiquette rules.

On October 5, 2011, in A note from Shane, Great Products, Social Media Marketing, Uncategorized, by Shane
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It’s been a while since I’ve posted. To be honest, I’m BUSY! I spend way more time on my clients than on myself.

But here’s something that happened to a client recently, and I think we can all learn from it. I think all too often, people think they can say things and do things online they wouldn’t necessarily do in person. As if just typing something means it has nothing to do with them as a person. But there are some things people do – even on behalf of companies – that Miss Manners probably just wouldn’t approve of.

One of my clients is a local family of coffee shops. Vint is a great place for working, visiting, bringing the kids, grabbing a snack, you name it. I basically live here. I keep a seat cushion (aka a booster seat) behind the bar and I’ve even received mail here. This morning, the owner gave up his seat so I could have my regular perch. Now that’s service.

Recently, a post showed up on their Facebook page made by a local bakery. The bakery was announcing the grand opening of their brand-new store front and was so excited – they wanted to spread the word by asking other local venues to help them out. It was a cute post with a picture of their store, and a comment about their opening date.

Under many circumstances, this would be fine. Vint features products handcrafted by several local companies (Rooibee Red Tea, Annie May’s Sweet Cafe, Najla’s, Creation Gardens, Ghyslain… to name but a few). But this particular vendor does not have their pastries in the case. When I first saw the post, I thought, “Ok, this is their way of reaching out on Facebook, hoping to sell their product to Vint.” But then I happened to drive by the new store. And what I saw was, frankly, disappointing. On the front door was a huge banner that said, “We serve [competitor's name] coffee.”

So let me get this straight – you posted on our Facebook wall and asked us to tell our community about you. But you advertise a different brand of coffee.

In no time at all, I removed the post on the Vint page and marked it as spam. SPAM. In my opinion, this was just plain bad etiquette.

If the bakery took themselves offline for a moment, would they have marched into Vint and, face-to-face, said to the owners, “Hey! We are opening, we want you to tell your friends about us, and.. oh, by the way, we aren’t selling your coffee,”? I don’t think so.

It just goes to back to manners. And the moral of the story (I have two kids… we focus on morals of stories a lot)… is to think before you post. If this online world is going to be where so many of us exist in the business world, we must make it a valuable experience. A respectful, kind experience.

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Facebook connections never cease to amaze.

On June 10, 2011, in A note from Shane, Great Products, if you ask me., Uncategorized, by Shane
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Facebook connections NEVER cease to amaze me. I remember when I first joined, several years ago, and started finding out that people I knew in high school knew people I knew in college – but back then, we had no idea. It’s only now, when we look at mutual friends that we realize our sorority sister married a guy who went to high school with someone we knew from a youth organization… or something like that. And time after time it happens. And time after time I’m surprised and amazed.

So it shouldn’t have actually shocked me when it happened again last week. But it did. And it wasn’t just because of a relationship I have on Facebook, it was because of Facebook, itself. Allow me to explain.

Have you ever visited TED.com? In a nutshell, TED offers all of us a way to get inspired by some of the world’s greatest public speakers by posting their presentations on their site. One of those presentations I’ve watched over and over again. It’s by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and it relates to women in business – why there not enough of them at the top and how to get there – should you choose to do so. If you haven’t seen it, take a few minutes and watch it. No matter your career goals (corner office, entrepreneurship or none at all), this will inspire you to get to where you want to go in your life. I promise.

See? Told you.

So about a week ago, one of my clients, a national board member from the National Association of Women MBAs called and said she’d seen that video and could we possibly get the COO of Facebook to be the keynote speaker for their September conference in Dallas? And… she said… if I could get to her via social media tools, she’d buy me a ticket to go to the conference and meet her.

Say no more. I immediately went to wikipedia and searched for Sheryl Sandberg. I started reading how she is from North Miami Beach, FL (NMB as its commonly known by those of us who went to the University of Florida) and that she went to Harvard University. I kept reading. She has a different last name than her husband. So… Sandberg is her maiden name. And then it clicked. I’m two degrees away from knowing the COO of Facebook.

Stay with me. I’ll explain.

When I was a kid, I went to summer camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Because the winter offices of the camp are located in South Florida, lots of kids from Florida attend the camp as well. I’m still in touch with many of my summer camp friends – even moreso now that Facebook has facilitated our reconnecting. One girl with whom I lost touch was a Michelle Sandberg. Years later, hanging out in the dorms, I started playing the “do you know” game with my new friend, Pami. Pami knew Michelle from high school (they were both from NMB) and she told me that Michelle followed her siblings to Harvard. And that was it, we probably never brought her up again. That was 1991.

Flash forward to 2011. I’m realizing that I may actually have a connection to Sheryl Sandberg. I immediately texted Pami to find out… “Is Michelle Sandberg’s sister the COO of Facebook?” I simply asked. She wrote back, “Yes.” So I searched for Michelle on Facebook, friend requested her and sent a very long, convoluted email to her asking if there was any way in the world she could connect me to her sister. After first checking with her sister, she was kind enough to do so.

I contacted Sheryl directly and – she wrote me back!

Not that many years ago, doing this kind of research and getting a response from people would have taken weeks… maybe even months. This entire process happened within 24 hours.

Unfortunately for NAWMBA (and me), Sheryl is already booked the week of their conference, but the organization is working with Facebook to find a different speaker.

It just goes to show, you never really know how many degrees of separation you are from someone. And now, I consider myself only 1 degree away from this amazing woman.

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