In a previous post on this blog, I talked about the The Three Camps In the Social Media Spectrum. The points discussed in that post came up during one of our discussion topics in last Saturday's Social Media Mastermind, Orange County roundtable. Some great points came out of that discussion, which prompted me to post a summary about it in a video-blog post on MelAclaro.com titled Email Is Also Social Media. Check it out here and let me know your thoughts about using social media in business transactions and whether that's best accomplished via email-as-social-media or social-networks-as-social-media.
We explored some interesting topics around social media strategies for large and small brands.
Our panel was made especially interesting because of the questions some of you contributed ahead of time through an earlier post I made requesting your help, as well as in the SMMOC group on Facebook. Also, the other thing that made this panel so engaging was the fact that our panelists didn't do all the talking.
As barcamps are wont to do, our full house of attendees contributed quite a bit to the discussion. You'll see from the video that a lot of our attendees were really quite keen to share some of their own experiences and case studies.
I posted the panel discussion in three parts and bundled them together above in a handy little playlist.
Highlights Include:
Opening thoughts about (mine) about terms like "social media revolution" or "paradigm shift" perhaps no longer being accurate statements. (I also followed that up with another video post after the conference in the post titled, "Is Social Media STILL a Shifting Paradigm?")
Thoughts contributed by each panelist about establishing a baseline definition about any differences between "large" vs. "personal" brands.
A discussion about differences between large and personal brands and how larger brands seem to have more infrastructure and resources while smaller (personal) brands have to be a lot smarter and resourceful.
The role of consistency and conversation in brand persona.
The importance that brands assign resources to monitoring and listening to the social stream.
The importance of organizations empower employees to communicate directly with customers in the social stream.
Further discussions (debate?) about whether or not social media is indeed still a "paradigm shift" or whether it's now a "new normal" with implicit changes being more a manifestation of change as opposed to unique effects of social media.
Education and training's role in building an effective social media strategy.
Some thoughts about whether or not the popularity of social media is a Gen-Y-driven phenomenon or is social media's adoption more a result of the "older" generation's championing and adoption?
If you were on the panel, what additional thoughts would you have added about strategic considerations for social media in brand development?
This is a "day in the life" type video snippet of the Social Media Mastermind Roundtable I attend pretty much every Saturday morning. Like any mastermind type group, it's a great venue for sharing best practices among a group of like-minded professionals who, in this case, discuss best practices for social media in each of our respective businesses.
In addition to the snippet above, I also created a testimonials video for this same group. More than a bunch of people singing praises for this particular group, you'll want to watch it if you have any inkling of starting a similar group in your area. Because, one of the questions in the testimonials video is "What advise would you give for others who may be thinking of starting a similar group in their area?"
The responses were pretty insightful. Anyway, I'll post that next.
By the way, have you visited my new blog over at MelAclaro.com? It's a site dedicated to discussions about video, video-blogging and social marketing using video. See you there!
You should know, I'm launching another blog! If you haven't already done so, subscribe now to my Social Media Marketing Tips newsletter. Of course, when you do, you'll also get access to my free eBook: Social Media Marketing Essentials Guide For Small Business Professionals.
What's Going On?
Just so ya know, when you click the video above, your browser will redirect to MelAclaro.com. That's where the rest of the "Taboo" series, will be posted moving forward. Don't worry, I'm not shunting you off to someone else. I'm the same guy at both sites. I just wanted to let you know about that before you clicked. It's a precaution in case you're like me and one of my two cats: move our food bowl and we become immobile with confusion. ;)
I'll post a follow up article soon about about the new site I'm hosting at MelAclaro.com. (a.k.a. VideoMarketingRoadmap.com)
Is BusinessCasualBlog.com Shutting Down...?
I'll explain more about what's up in a follow up article. Soon. I promise.
This video is one of the dozens of free social media marketing video training and "how to" modules on Jara University. It's packed with hours of free social media marketing training for business. It includes social media marketing tips for: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging, Content / eMail Marketing, professional/expert seminars, a whole videoBook, eBooks and much more. You can register now for free by downloading the (also free) Social Media Marketing Essentials Mini Course and newsletter.
social media marketing video - "what are listening posts?"
The "Day 2" Series (cont.) - What Are "Listening Posts?"
This social media marketing video picks up where we left off yesterday on the big picture of "hub and spokes."
In Part 2 of this series (this one), I basically jabber along about an overview of the role of the "little blue bubbles" in the hub-and-spokes diagram. These "listening posts" essentially represent the mortar that binds your hub-and-spokes strategy together. And, perhaps more pointedly, if there is any part of your whole social media engagement strategy that is appropriate to be "outsourced" to some kind of automation, this would be it.
To clarify: I'm not saying you should automate the responses you give to people whom you hear is saying stuff about you. Rather, it will help you be more efficient to automate the part of that whole process that informs you when someone is saying stuff about you. (Good or bad.) Then, when you find out, your responses should be personally written or created by you.
Does that make sense? In addition to the automation alert engines I point out in this video, what other automation tools do you use to keep you informed of keywords and key phrases being "spoken" in the social sphere?
This video is one of the dozens of free social media marketing video training and "how to" modules on Jara University. It's packed with hours of free social media marketing training for business. It includes social media marketing tips for: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging, Content / eMail Marketing, professional/expert seminars, a whole videoBook, eBooks and much more. You can register now for free by downloading the (also free) Social Media Marketing Essentials Mini Course and newsletter.
In this week's series ("Day 2"), I'll be covering two main topics:
The Big Picture - Hub and Spokes
The Big Picture - Lead Generation (tomorrow)
The gist with Hub and Spokes is basically presenting a framework for beginners and organizational departments to think about how to approach a plan for social media marketing.
At the core -- the hub -- is a place to which you'll want to invite visitors where they can have a better sense of what you and/or your business is about. What's your value proposition? What's your expertise? Do the quality of your services and product offerings match the things you speak about?
And, it's for all those reasons is why you want a blog (typically) at the center of your social networking / social media framework. Now, that may not necessarily always be the case. I've actually seen some interesting marketing efforts using Facebook as the hub. It can work. But, for most of us, a blog will offer the most flexibility and Google-juice. (Why give any more of it to Facebook?) With a blog at the center of your hub and spoke framework, it'll make sense to keep the juice for yourself so you can increase revisits to your lead capture form and marketing funnel entry points.
Your Turn
Thoughts? What tactic do you use today? Do you drive traffic towards a central blog? Or, is Facebook or some other platform what you prefer to drive traffic to? And then, when traffic does come, what type of media do you tend to use there? Text? Pictures? Video? Audio?
I'd love to hear your thoughts about what makes your brand. Is it your trademark or logo? Or, would it be more appropriate to view it as the pool of knowledge and expertise that rises out of your values, interests and your passions?
If you believe it's more like the former, then you'd probably agree that a well-designed logo and tagline are probably worth spending some time with right at the start of your business. If, on the other hand, you believe it's closer to the latter, then by the same token, you'll probably find value in taking some time to really understand what your values, interests and passions are first all about.
If we've spoken before then you know I clearly come down on the side of your brand being closely related to the latter. At about the 0:40 point in the timecode for the social media marketing video above I mention another video where I talk about defining your purpose statement. I actually dedicate a whole section to it in the Social Media Marketing Essentials Mini Course; it includes a link to the video about Purpose Statement.
Also, don't let it throw you when, at about timecode 2:00, it almost sounds like I'm saying (I'm paraphrasing here) hey, don't worry about the sales and revenue... it'll take care of itself if you just focus on the stuff your passionate about. Eh...kind of yes. But...no. Listen further.
Passion and an understanding of your niche and your purpose statement (a.k.a., mission statement) go hand-in-hand with the marketing processes and systems you use in your business. The point is, one gets folks to the door; but your processes and systems should also help usher them forward towards a call to action or point of sale in a respectful, value-added and trustworthy manner. That's your marketing funnel. And, it's through that funnel is where I think your values will carry the day.
This video is one of the dozens of free social media marketing video training and "how to" modules on Jara University. It's packed with hours of free social media marketing training for business. It includes social media marketing tips for: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging, Content / eMail Marketing, professional/expert seminars, a whole videoBook, eBooks and much more. You can register now for free by downloading the (also free) Social Media Marketing Essentials Mini Course and newsletter.
I actually have a lot more to say about relationship-building than the 'lil bit of 2:12 I gave it in this social media marketing video. Feel free to join me and friends on Jara University to discuss it more. But, clearly relationships are the crux of social media activities -- whether those activities be related to business development or not.
"It's not so much WHAT you give..."??
One thing you'll hear me say in the video is something along the lines of "...it's not so much what you give, it's the thought behind it." (Really? I said that? It's at about time code 1:20.)
Well, I'd be curious to know what you think about that statement?
For my part, I actually wish I could re-record that segment. I mean, yeah, I meant it. But, the context didn't quite convey the intent of my meaning. The fact is, despite my having said it, what content you share with those in your community does also make a difference. (If there's any doubt about that in your mind, try sharing one of those cheesy viagra emails or some other similar spammy tweet with me and see how quickly our relationship-building comes to an end.) ;)
At the time of the video recording, I was still really focused on the whole "giving" theme. (Remember, this section was shot in the same set as the previous two vids on New Media Philosophy and Content Philosophy.) The thing is, my intent is really to say that you want to put some deliberate thought behind the act of sharing with those in your community. That's how you gain relationship capital in the economics of the social web.
But, like it is in the capital markets, the value of the financial instruments you keep in your portfolio is in part due to the type of instrument you hold. Some are worthless and convey little or no value.
In the same manner, I think part of the deliberate thinking that goes behind sharing content with others should also be a consideration about the "what" aspect of the thing you're intending to share. That, after all, will have an effect on the way you are perceived by others in your community.
What do you think?
This video is one of the dozens of free social media marketing video training and "how to" modules on Jara University. It's packed with hours of free social media marketing training for business. It includes social media marketing tips for: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging, Content / eMail Marketing, professional/expert seminars, a whole videoBook, eBooks and much more. You can register now for free by downloading the (also free) Social Media Marketing Essentials Mini Course and newsletter.
In this morning's Social Media Marketing Tips post about Content Philosophy, I made it a point to say that content attribution is important when you redistribute content. Don't misread me, re-distributing content is okay; after all, we content creators love having our online content passed around the social web. But, don't forget to give attribution to its source!
Don't be like this guy: where's the attribution to the source?! That's just bad form in the social sphere. (I've lined out the offender's site name because I don't want to give him anymore link-juice than he's already trying to take credit for.)
But here's what just frosts my butt...
...at the bottom of his page is the audacious claim of this...
What do you think of that?
Get my free mini-course: The Social Media Marketing Essentials Guide For Small Business Professionals. Packed with hours of free social media marketing training for business. Includes social media marketing tips for: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging, Content / eMail Marketing, professional/expert seminars, a whole videoBook, eBooks and much more. Downloading this free guide is also the path to gain free access to all the free training on the invitation-only membership site at Jara University.
Heads-up: At about the 1:42 point in the timecode for the social media marketing video above, I mention a few folks whom I recommend you follow. These folks are great sources of content and knowledge sources. It's obviously not an exhaustive list. Here are a few more folks to follow from my Jara University Mentor's Twitter list: http://twitter.com/melaclaro/jarauniversity-mentors.
Original Content Creation vs. Content Redistribution
"Content is king," as they say. But just as kings come in different sizes and quality, so does content tend to differ from one type to the next.
I'll have more to say about the added value of being an original creator of what I call Consultative-type Content in a later video. But, for now, suffice to say that Consultative-type content creation is the kind that seeks to give guidance from your own business expertise--and which you create from scratch. It's a key component of any serious list-building/marketing strategy. But, when you're first starting off, it's also the type of content that can be most intimidating to create. That's why in this video, as we're just starting off, I like to make a distinction that you don't have to focus on being an original creator of "full-length" consultative content for now. Rather, you can be just as relevant and helpful to those in your community by becoming a distributor of content.
Being a distributor of content is important because, just like the capital markets, it aids in liquidity. Only in this case, it's informational liquidity that we're talking about. For the most part, online content creators want their creations to be re-distributed. And, provided you give proper attribution to its source (and barring specific copyright restrictions against redistribution), you're actually encouraged to spread the wealth so it gets in the hands of many people.
And, even though you may not be the originator of that content, your online reputation can still benefit by virtue of the type of content you choose to share.
So, before retweeting a post on Twitter or sharing a link on Facebook, make sure to vet the piece of information first. Take a look at it and make sure it fits with the type of information your community network will appreciate.
This video is one of the dozens of free social media marketing video training modules I created for Jara University. Packed with hours of free social media marketing training for business. Includes social media marketing tips for: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging, Content / eMail Marketing, professional/expert seminars, a whole videoBook, eBooks and much more. You can register now for free by downloading the --also free-- Social Media Marketing Essentials Mini Course and newsletter.
