Social Marketing
Intent Engines and Facebook Verbs
Facebook is releasing the hounds. Those consumers who wish to share whatever it is they are doing, when they are doing it will be able to do so – as long as the appropriate verbs can be properly conjugated and developers promise to publish actions that are ‘simple, genuine and non-abusive’. Facebook also published guidelines of what they are looking for as well as what they’re are not very fond of, which is a way of saying what will not be allowed in the approved verb list.
Complexity Models in Social Marketing (Part deux)
“Social media is maturing and being widely adopted by companies everywhere – many are still not prepared for it.”
In the last post, the aspects that create complexity in social marketing were presented and in this post we look at how to evaluate them.
Aside from the mis-steps in content itself (witness the faux pas of many major brands, ranging from JetBlue, Wal-Mart and GMC and countless smaller organizations) there is, to me, an obvious challenge in identifying the layers of complexity. This post will explore the complexity relating to organizational readiness and how to understand what you’re up against before you even begin.
Complexity in Social Marketing Content for the Enterprise
I read a recent study that was titled ‘Enterprise Content Management’ because I’ve been thinking about the complexities inherent in the world of social marketing for the corporate and large enterprise and I was hoping they had some insight to the kinds of issues I’ve been seeing – short answer is they did not, at least in this report, and not along the lines I’ve been thinking. They did look at a dozen odd vendors, put them in a 4-quadrant rating and declared who exhibited the best vision and execution around what is defined as Enterprise Content, but they left out what I’m seeing as enterprise ‘social marketing content’ management. In this post I introduce the issues at work and in the next few posts show how to anticipate complexities.
Get Local to Communicate Globally
Global digital communications is becoming an increasingly daunting task for companies who now have to content with a 7x24x365 marketing task. The challenge is not in setting up the tools, those are an ever changing variable in the equation, but rather in the tactics and strategy to maximize effectiveness.
The task becomes even more complex when you have to tailor the digital communication to a local context that complements the image and message for a global brand.
But how? Listening, understanding and then engaging in a local context – the basics of any online and digital strategy.
Scariest Blog Post You’ll Ever Read (as a Marketer)
The ghost of John Wanamaker, shimmers into view before you and says “in my day I knew half my marketing investment was wasted but did not know which half – today you have a hundred more options in which to invest… and now 90% of your marketing investment is wasted.”
The image shimmers out of focus and disappears – an image of your accountant materializes and tells you that you’re a business burning through a million a month and when you get visitor to your site, there is nothing more than a form to fill-out for a call back. The phone number on the ‘Contact Us’ page leads to a ‘Dell Hell’ kind of experience and no human being can be reached from outside. Zombies? Yeah – they get through, but only because they’re brain-eating, persistent monsters randomly pushing buttons on their Zombie-phones.
How to Save Time in Social Media
“You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick”
– Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlett
I was talking to friend about the art / science of social media applied to business and we got to a point that I was reminded of a story about the great (albeit fictional) detective Sherlock Holmes.
In one of stories I seem to remember reading an exchange that went something like this (and I paraphrase extensively here) – Holmes makes a comment on some aspect of his companion, Dr. Watson. In response to the comment, Watson asks “how ever did you come to that conclusion my dear Holmes?” Holmes says he will explain how he arrived at his conclusion and after which he says that Watson will then conclude that the initial observation was obvious. Watson promises to not jump to any such comment. Holmes goes on to explains his process of deduction, arriving quickly at the conclusion he had just given Watson to which, Watson states, “well, now that you put it that way, Holmes it’s obvious…” only to stop short and realize that he had just broken the promise he had made to the master sleuth just a minute ago.
So it goes when working with an experienced professional. They know what to do because they have seen or done the work before. Once the layperson sees it before them, they jump to the conclusion that the result of the work was obvious – which in hindsight it may be but at the time of asking, the result and sometimes even the question was a mystery.
Working with an experienced social media consultant does not suggest the answer will not be learned by the business and become obvious – eventually; but the engagement with the consultant will mean that days, weeks and even months will be pared off the time needed to enact a successful strategy and the ROI of the engagement is sure to follow.
Take Away – Look for an experienced social media consultant and don’t offer to take them to coffee or lunch to ‘pick their brain’; offer to engage them fairly and you’ll save the irreplaceable commodity of time.
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