SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING MISTAKES TO AVOID

As social media marketing and social media networking become more and more prevalent, the many errors people make with these new mediums often create new and unexpected problems. Why so many mistakes? Because these are new business tools that people often confuse for other things. In fact, many people think social media marketing and social media networking are the same thing. They’re not. And when you know the difference, you can use each more effectively to grow your business.

Marketing and networking are two completely different things. Marketing is about branding and positioning yourself while networking is about making connections. When you’re marketing, you’re putting out messages that define your company; when you’re networking, you’re engaging in a two-way dialogue where both parties gain benefit.

In the business world, networking takes on a different look and feel than when you’re networking for personal reasons. In business networking you’re not talking about your son’s baseball game or your weekend getaway. You’re focusing on answering client questions, passing on information to prospects, and gaining knowledge about your pressing business questions.

Before you embark upon using social media marketing and social media networking for the first time, or continue utilizing your existing accounts, be aware of the following common mistakes and how to avoid them.

SEPARATE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING ACCOUNTS.
Most people don’t see the difference between the various social marketing and networking sites, much less the need to have separate business and personal accounts. In fact, some people even think they are only allowed one account per site. In reality, you can create a personal and corporate account for each site. You would then use your personal account for updating your friends and family on how the kids are doing and what you’re planning for the weekend, while you’d use your business account to connect with clients and brand yourself. The last thing you want to do is use one account for both, essentially mixing messages about the kids with your marketing efforts.

INTEGRATE ALL OF YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKING EFFORTS.
Many people view Facebook, Twitter, their blog, and all the other social media as separate entities. However, it’s the integration of all the social media into your web strategy that matters. If every account is its own separate thing – if your Facebook is not connected to your web site, to your Twitter account, to your blog, etc. – then all of the traffic and everything that’s happening on one site isn’t counting toward your main web site’s ranking. In other words, when they’re all disconnected, your ranking does not reflect your total online activity. But if they’re all connected and tagged together, your ranking will go up and reflect all of your activity.

HAVE A CONSISTENT IMAGE.
Just like your traditional marketing has a branded image, you want your business social media marketing efforts to have a consistent look and feel too. That means you should design your Facebook theme to match your brand, and at the same time ensure it looks like it belongs on Facebook. The same would be true for your Twitter theme and your blog theme, etc. For example, the actual look of a McDonald’s restaurant can vary quite a bit, yet the brand image and theme remain the same. When all of your social media sites, as well as your primary web site, have a similar look and feel, you put out a consistent brand that prospects and clients remember.

As technology continually evolves, the world of marketing will rapidly change. In order to get the best results with the least amount of effort, you need to be aware of the various pitfalls and take proactive action to avoid them. Next month, I will share three more common mistakes to be aware of so you can take proactive action and avoid the common mistakes.

Social Networks That Boost Your Business (Part II)

The business use of Web 2.0 represents a new trend called “Business 2.0.” Aside from being the name of a defunct magazine, Business 2.0 is about using the new web-based social networking applications (many of which were originally created for personal use) in a way that fosters teamwork, customer touches, and internal and external collaboration in a low-cost seamless way.

Last month I shared a few personal Business 2.0 tools with business applicability. This month I will share two more personal tools along with some purely Business 2.0 tools that will help create collaboration in a low-cost seamless way.

TWITTER
Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of short, quick answers using no more that 140 characters per message. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or co-workers. Users can receive updates via the Twitter website or other social networking sites such as Facebook. Young people use Twitter for answering the question: What are you doing? Business 2.0 use: Business users could change that question to: What problem are you trying to solve? Several companies have used this as a fast way to solve problems. Hotels, airlines, and airports are using Twitter to pitch services, travel updates, and respond to travelers needs.

Ask yourself: Could we use Twitter to solve problems faster with our organization or our customers?

DELICIOUS
Delicious is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing and discovering web bookmarks. It uses a non-hierarchical classification system in which users can tag each of their bookmarks with freely chosen index terms. Business 2.0 use: Business users can share their most useful websites with co-workers or business partners. If a customer purchases a product, sellers could share relevant bookmarks that keep the customer coming back for more information and hopefully more products.

Ask yourself: Could we use Delicious to share important new websites faster within our organization or with our customers?

PURELY BUSINESS 2.0 TOOLS

WIKI
A Wiki is a collaborative web page or collection of web pages designed to enable anyone to create a quick web page that allows visitors to search the Wiki’s content and edit the content in real time, as well as view updates since their last visit. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. On a moderated Wiki, Wiki owners can review comments before additions to the main body of the topic. Additional features include calendar sharing, live AV conferencing, RSS feeds, and more.

Ask yourself: Could we use Wikis to enhance internal and external collaboration?

LINKEDIN
LinkedIn is a business-oriented professional networking website for exchanging information, ideas, and opportunities. There are over 35 million registered users spanning 170 industries actively networking with each other. For example, large insurance companies use LinkedIn to foster networking with their independent sales representatives. HR professionals from all over the world could use LinkedIn to share best practices.

Ask yourself: Could we use LinkedIn to expand our organizational network for enhanced knowledge sharing?

CLOUD COMPUTING & SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE
In Cloud Computing, some or all of the storage, software, IT Processes, and data center facilities you use can exist on your provider’s server, which is maintained and cared for by your provider, giving you 24/7 access from any device anywhere. The cost of upgrading hardware and software, maintenance, and associated IT labor costs can be dramatically reduced or eliminated. Currently, the ideal organization would be any size company that’s facing big investments in computing and communications infrastructure. For example, Amazon.com can give you an entire e-commerce back end. Software as a Service (SaaS) such as SalesForce.com has a CRM package, SciQuest has a spend management package, and Google, Microsoft and others have a suite of offerings.

Ask yourself: Could we use Cloud Computing & Software as a Service to streamline our IT needs?

GAIN A NEW COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
By reframing the use of social networking technology, companies can increase communication, collaboration, problem solving, and competitive advantage with little cost. Remember, many of these tools are free or nearly free, making them accessible to even the smallest of business. Therefore, the sooner you embrace Business 2.0 and put it to work for you, the faster you can penetrate new markets and win the lion’s share of business.

Social Networks That Boost Your Business (Part I)

Most people are familiar with the term “Web 2.0,” which refers to a second generation of web development and design that focuses on fostering social networking via the web. Innovative companies are beginning to embrace Web 2.0 as a way to enhance communication, information sharing, and collaboration, thereby allowing them to work smarter rather than harder.

Unfortunately, many businesses feel that Web 2.0 and social networking are for the younger generation and a waste of time when used by employees. However, once you understand the power of these applications and how to use them in your company, you’ll quickly find that they can be invaluable tools to boost your bottom line. Following is an overview of some of the best Business 2.0 tools that are personal tools with business applicability.

FACEBOOK
Facebook enables you to connect and share with the people in your life. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with others. People can add friends, send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Business 2.0 use: Large organizations can connect all of their employees, or members, with Facebook. Some are finding an added advantage of using an internal, secure version of Facebook. This has helped organizations to dramatically increase their internal networking and collaboration. Ask yourself: Could we use Facebook, or our own internal version, to get people to collaborate at a higher level?

WIKIPEDIA
Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can use to find information on virtually any topic. Anyone can edit the content as well. Business 2.0 use: A large manufacturing company with engineers in locations around the world increased problem solving and collaboration by creating an internal, secure version of Wikipedia for sharing information on parts and service offerings as well as repair and maintenance instructions. Retailers and suppliers could create a version of Wikipedia to foster education and training as well as enhanced information sharing. Ask yourself: Could we create an internal version of Wikipedia to foster better information and knowledge sharing?

YOUTUBE
YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view, and share video clips. YouTube displays a wide variety of user-generated video content as well as movie clips, product demonstrations, and commercials. Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users can upload an unlimited number of videos. Business 2.0 use: Businesses are posting humorous commercial videos to generate interest in their products with great success. The more entertaining it is, the more people watch it. Business partners could create a YouTube like channel for the purpose of educating and training. Ask Yourself: Could we enhance our marketing efforts as well as general communication by using YouTube?

DIGG
Digg is a social news web site made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting and accessing links and stories. Voting stories thumbs up or a thumb down is the site's cornerstone function, respectively called digging and burying. Business 2.0 use: Many organizations have found this to be a good way to track the most interesting advances in technology or the most useful business news. Large organizations can create their own internal version for sharing what employees consider to be the most useful information. Ask yourself: Could we use Digg, or our own internal version, to get people to share their most interesting and valuable web-based information with each other?

Next month, I will share two more personal tools along with some purely business 2.0 tools that will help create collaboration in a low-cost seamless way.

INCREASE YOU COMPANY’S TRUST FACTOR (PART 2)

Trust mishaps don’t just happen with external customers and the public; they also happen internally with employees. A few years ago one major company laid-off a few thousand employees. Rather than meeting with people individually, laying them off with dignity and providing support services, the company had their security guards tell those being laid-off the bad news, gave them their paperwork, watched them clean out their desk, and then escorted the former employees out the door. The employees still working there learned one important lesson that day: Never trust upper management.

Last month, I shared two strategies to increase your company’s trust factor to enhance the bottom line. This month, I would like to share two additional strategies to help foster trust in your organization.

THINK IN TERMS OF THE OTHER PERSON’S PERSPECTIVE.
No matter how hard you try, sometimes mistakes will happen and trust will decrease. But rather than accept the lower level of trust, see this time as an opportunity to raise the bar on trust with those who are feeling less of it. For example, suppose you have a major disagreement with one of your key distributors.

You both think the other is wrong. This is when you need to step up and say to the distributor, “We’ve had a long and trusting relationship with you and we don’t want to lose that. What can we do to make you happy?” The answer you’ll hear will likely be more than fair because the conversation has now shifted from a confrontational to a relational one. Everyone will come out a winner.

SURVEY CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES ABOUT TRUST.
Have employees, business partners, and customers rate you on trust. You could even have them fill out the trust meter for you. With this feedback, you will know where you stand and can make adjustments. All too often, trust is undermined and the company and its leaders are the last to know, and this can be disastrous. If you are the first to know, you can make corrections before it is too late. This also shows everyone that relationships and mutual trust are not just words, they are imperatives.

TRUST PROVIDES A BIG ADVANTAGE IN ANY ECONOMY
Too often, customer service and support are cut back when the economy heads south. People are laid-off with no warning or support. Face-to-face customer meetings are cut back or canceled. But this is a time to do the opposite. When things are bad, relationships become more important! Doing things better stands out more. Becoming a trusted advisor versus a sales person stands out. Going the extra mile is more unique.

When you increase trust, your relationships will deepen and your business will improve.

Increase Your Company's Trust Factor

With billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout money, how much do you trust the leadership of the banks that, after record losses, gave themselves unprecedented raises? How much do you trust the leaders of Wall Street? How much do you trust our government’s ability to manage the money they have given to the banks or the auto industry? How much do you trust the leaders of the auto industry to do the “right thing” with the bailout money? This growing lack of trust can have serious consequences as we try to reverse the economic meltdown and bring about positive change and growth.

The one thing every business professional should be certain about, regardless of industry, is that the future is all about relationships. And the one thing all relationships need to survive is trust. In fact, trust is the glue that holds the net-enabled knowledge economy together. The more trust you have with someone, the more powerful the relationship. The less trust you have, the weaker the relationship.

In business, trust is something you must earn. You do so by displaying three universal values: honesty, integrity, and delivering on promises. In fact, no matter where you travel around the world and regardless of religion or culture, those three values are the same. Because people worldwide place such a high emphasis on trust, many companies cite “trust” in their list of organizational values. And by nature, most people are indeed trusting of others. But because trust is assumed, many companies have a tendency to implement strategies that undermine trust. They fail to make trust a conscious part of their strategy. Instead, trust stays in the back of their mind, and that’s when problems begin.

For example, call your Telephone Company or Internet Service Provider today and tell them you’re going to cancel your service and go with a different provider. Chances are that in order to keep you as a customer, they’ll respond by offering you a lower rate. Does that make you trust them more? No. In fact, you’ll probably feel that you’ve been getting ripped off all these years and should have gotten that lower price all along. Policies such as these train customers to distrust the company.

Despite their actions, companies that violate trust are not evil. Rather, they’re simply not thinking about trust when they lay out a course of action or outline policies. Therefore, in order to foster trust in your organization, consider the following strategies.

NEVER ASSUME TRUST
Whenever you’re bringing about any change, either internally or externally, create a “trust meter.” Think of this trust meter as an old fashioned gas gauge: On the far left is no trust, and on the far right is full trust. Before you implement any change, ask yourself, “Between us (the company) and the people who will be impacted by this decision or policy, where is trust currently?” Mark it somewhere on your trust meter. Then ask, “If we implement this change in this way, what will happen to that trust?” Mark whether you think trust will go down, stay the same, or increase.

If trust will go down, don’t implement the change in that way. This doesn’t mean don’t enact the change, decision, or policy. It simply means not to do it in the way you’ve outlined. Change how you implement the decision or policy so trust stays where it is. And if anyone on your team can come up with a way to get the trust meter to increase when implementing the change, reward that person openly, because you want that behavior repeated. Remember, when you raise the bar on trust, your organization will thrive.

OFFER MORE VALUE TO REWARD LOYALTY
As you decide what policies and changes your company will implement, think in terms of adding value rather than giving something for nothing. For example, one newspaper publisher sent out a $190 yearly renewal notice to customers. Those customers who didn’t renew by the deadline received a phone call about the renewal. The newspaper employee offered the customer a deeply discounted renewal rate of $90. This is “something for nothing” mentality, because now the customer sees less value in the product (and feels ripped off for paying the higher renewal price in the past).

A better strategy would be to offer the customer a few additional months of newspaper delivery for no extra charge. So now instead of getting twelve months of newspaper delivery for a certain price, the customer gets fifteen months of service for that same price. When you think in terms of rewarding loyalty with more value rather than a lower price, people feel that the company is giving them a genuine “thank you.” They feel appreciated (something everyone wants to feel) and will actually want to keep doing business with you. Therefore, pinpoint what your customers will perceive as added value and make that a part of your policy change.

Next month, I will share two additional strategies that will allow you to bring about change faster and more effectively, and improve your business.

THE TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITY

This month, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our Technotrends Newsletter, which provides technology news and insights that have shaped this technology-enabled world we now live in. As I look at our subscriber list, which is made up of major news agencies, universities, research labs, executives from almost every industry, entrepreneurs, and interested individuals from all over the world, I’m amazed at how many have been with us from the very beginning – thank you!

Having just re-read our first issue where we reported the rise of e-mail, electronic news, downloadable software, laser eye surgery, medical and industrial robots, optical storage disks, wireless communications, and genetic engineering, to name a few, it’s hard now to imagine that there was a time when we didn’t have all of those things. As predicted, technology has changed how we live, work and play.

FROM CHANGE TO TRANSFORMATION
We are now at the dawn of a profound technology-driven transformation that will make the changes we have experienced over the past 25 years seem small and slow.

Notice I used the word transformation and not change. When I was in high school, I listened to my music on LP albums, one album per spinning disk. Years later a welcome change happened, I could listen to my albums on a CD, basically a smaller spinning disk without the hiss and scratches. I liked this change and repurchased all of my favorite albums.

Thanks to the iPod revolution, I now have all my albums in one small device that is with me all the time. iPods and all other MP3 players haven’t changed how we listen to music, they’ve transformed it. And once transformed, you aren’t going back.
We are about to transform how we sell, market, communicate, collaborate, innovate, watch TV, learn and, as you might guess, much more.

THE OPPORTUNITY IS BIGGER THAN THE CRISIS
As we’ve all read about and experienced the financial crisis, the housing crisis, and the unemployment crisis, it’s important to understand that under the fog of crisis, sits a mountain of unprecedented opportunity for all who take the time to discover and act on it.

Technology is driving transformative change, our new president is driving change, the new global reality is demanding change, and as the ancient Chinese philosophers wrote, change is opportunity. Look at the hard trend drivers I have discussed in past articles, demographics, government regulations, and technology innovation. Look for opportunities and embrace change.

GM, Chrysler, and Ford saw change as a threat and spent valuable time and money protecting and defending the status quo. The unions spent time and money protecting and defending the status quo. Protecting and defending the status quo is human nature, but in a world of transformational change you need to get over it fast.

The auto industry is going through a needed rebirth based on the new realities of the 21st century. Those that see the direction of change and change with it will prosper. We have a new president whose platform is change. Billions of dollars will be put into play, and new laws will be passed that will provide a window to profitability and growth. Pay attention! If money is going into infrastructure, opportunity will follow. If money is going into alternative energy and green, opportunity will follow. If money is going into research and science, opportunity will follow. Follow the money and you will see the opportunity.

My grandfather lived on a farm in north Texas and one day while helping him on the farm he shared some wisdom with me. He said, “It’s easier to ride a horse in the direction it’s going”. The horses we have been riding have been on a familiar path making it easy. They are about to change direction and if you try to ride them in the same old direction, it will be a battle all the way.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you personally, and for your organization. Don’t miss it!

Solving The Real Problem

Last month, I discussed the importance of making sure that the problem you are trying to solve is the correct problem. As we all painfully know, the media has been filled with stories about whether the government should spend billions of dollars to bail the big three automakers out of their financial problems. The problem for GM, Chrysler, and soon Ford, is that they are running out of money and may be forced into bankruptcy.

The problem for the U.S. economy and our government is that if we don’t spend billions to bailout the automakers, millions of autoworkers, not to mention car dealers and auto parts suppliers, will lose their jobs. That will cause more unemployment, less tax revenue to our troubled states, more foreclosures, and the list goes on and on.

THE REAL PROBLEM
This billion-dollar bailout solution our government has been considering does not solve the real problem! The real problem is that people are not buying cars. If people were buying cars, the automakers would have the money they need to continue to operate. Giving billions of dollars to the automakers will not dramatically increase car sales. They will still have to close plants and layoff millions of workers because their cars are not selling.

Why have car sales for the big three declined so dramatically? After all, other manufacturers (such as Toyota) have not asked for a bailout, they have been hiring and planning to open new plants.

For 2007 and the majority of 2008, the answer to poor sales was high fuel costs and a lack of fuel-efficient vehicles to choose from. As the credit crisis hit and the word recession entered the news, declining fuel costs were not enough to bring buyers back to the big three. And for people wanting a new car, getting a loan has now become a major new barrier for all automakers. Giving the big three money will not solve the credit crisis, it won’t make loans easier to get, it won’t give them economical, fuel-efficient cars to sell for quite some time, and it will not make people feel the economy has improved.

If the government did feel it was important to save the millions of jobs the auto industry represents, we should ask ourselves: What would it take to increase car sales?

One answer would be for the government to provide a $5,000 to $10,000 subsidy, depending on the price of the car, to anyone wanting to buy a new car. This would stimulate car sales, keep autoworkers at their jobs, stop plants from being closed, provide needed revenue to the manufacturers, increase confidence in lending money to the manufacturers, and keep the car dealers and parts suppliers employed. In addition, this would make car loans smaller and easier to obtain.

Another answer would be to require banks that are receiving Federal bail out money to use a portion of that money to make loans for qualified buyers. We have already found out that giving banks billions of dollars with no requirements will not ease the credit crisis.

These are just a few ideas. The key is to make sure we are solving the correct problem.