It’s really not about Twitter, Facebook, and Social Media

Posted on November 16th, 2011 at 11:15 am in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, ideas, social media by greg

We have a lot of clients that are hot to trot about social media. And to be honest we are too.

At this moment in history Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms can be great ways to communicate.

We use them.

We have prospective clients who find us on social media. Many of them eventually buy from us.

And we LOVE that.

But I have to remind myself all the time:

Great communication is not about the tools.

It’s about the message. It’s about consistency. It’s about providing meaningful content. It’s about going where your audience is.

Right now that’s happening on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Websites, YouTube, and many other places, of course. But it will change over time.

The fundamental challenge is timeless:

Tell your story well.

Keep moving forward,

Greg

p.s. I took some time off of social media myself. Here’s why.

Social Media Workshop Summary

Posted on August 9th, 2010 at 3:54 pm in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, social media, technology by brody

Thanks to everyone who made it out to our “Social Media 101 & 102: In-Bound Marketing Workshop” this past Friday. You all were a great group, and we loved working with M Design to show you the ins and outs of social media.

If you missed the seminar, you can still check out the responses:

Want to learn more? Come to our “Social Media 301: Advanced Social Media for Business,” coming Friday, September 10.

Join us for a brain-enhancing good time

Posted on June 11th, 2010 at 4:37 pm in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, social media by greg

Are you confused by all the talk about Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, WordPress, and the other 1,000,000 ways to connect online? Don’t understand blogs, bloggers, or blogging? Trying to translate a rapidly changing technological landscape into “what does this mean for me and my organization”?

If your answer is YES to any of these questions we have a solution for you:

Next Friday, June 18th, the gang from Blue Ocean Ideas will host our now locally famous Social Media & Inbound Marketing Workshop. This is the big one that will cover all of the information that you need to begin to effectively start utilizing the latest online connecting tools that are available to you for free.

You can go here to register or find out more information. Check our what past attendees had to say about this training here.

As usual, if you are a Blue Ocean client, alumni client, or past training participant your registration fee is 50% off. Non-Profits are welcome to attent for a discount as well.

And the good news: you’ll get a free lunch out of it also.

Keep moving forward,

Greg

p.s. Happy Hour at The Stil following our event. All are welcome!

A Creative Approach to Email

Posted on June 7th, 2010 at 7:30 am in Suggested, social media, story by Denny

If you’re at all interested in outdoor sports you gotta check out Steep and Cheap. They’re one of the many “one-deal-at-a-time” sites that have popped up in the last couple years, selling overstocked items, one-at-a-time, at crazy discounts. The site is great, but that’s not why I’m writing.

A few months ago they began an e-mail campaign called “The Daily Dose.” It’s a short, witty, and always entertaining commentary. Sometimes it is about a relevant topic, and sometimes it’s completely random, but I look forward to finding it in my inbox each day.

It’s an unconventional way to build a relationship with your customers but in this case it really works. As a retailer with no physical stores, this campaign gives a personality to what would be a faceless website otherwise.

Here are some examples from last week’s “Daily Dose”…

June 4th
“I went to the beach last weekend and used some of that spray-on sunscreen. I popped it out right when I sat down in the sun and read the back, “Apply 15 minutes before going into the sun.” Alright, that’s not going to happen. If it’s that important, they should really put that in huge bold letters on the front. Next, it says, “Don’t apply in a windy environment.” There was nowhere to hide from the wind on the beach, so I stood downwind and sprayed myself. The method failed to achieve full coverage; when I take my shirt off now, it looks like I have sunburn camouflage.”

June 2th
“It’s more than a coincidence that expensive sunglasses break and cheap ones last for years. It’s a cosmic law. Practitioners of karma should look into putting together their first quantitative study based on sunglasses. You buy cheap ones and don’t waste money, and you’re rewarded with undamaged eyes. You buy expensive shades and they fall apart after two months — you’re punished for your vanity and poor money management.”

How else can you you engage your customers in creative ways? Email marketing doesn’t have to be “all business.” Look at is as an opportunity to have conversations and build relationships through great content.

Need help? Learn how to send better email.

Social Media Revolution: Update

Posted on June 3rd, 2010 at 12:39 pm in Blog, culture, social media, technology by brody

In 2008, a compelling film about emerging culture and technology was released. It’s music and graphics (and 10 million + views) put many of us in a trance about the world that’s around the corner.

Then, in 2009 and inspired by the video mentioned above, the Socialnomics group released a video on the staggering rise and success of social media.

Just last month, Socialnomics released an update to the “Social Media Revolution” film. All of these are well-done and must-see videos. The most recent is below.

A Compelling Case for Twitter & Your Business

Posted on May 22nd, 2010 at 2:24 pm in Blog, Suggested, social media, summary & comment, technology by brody

Edison Research just released a study on the usage of Twitter in America. Inc Magazine also had a nice summary of the Twitter report. Here are key things you need to know:

More than half of active Twitter users follow brands and companies on Twitter

Even if you don’t have some fancy Twitter strategy, you are missing an easy opportunity to engage with your clients if you don’t have a presence on Twitter. Remember, brands are personal… the same words that people use to describe people (nice, trusted, friendly, strong, everywhere) are the words people use to describe brands. Since brands are already personal, Twitter is probably the best technological platform for that personality to come alive. By merely being accessible on Twitter, you’ll be able to answer questions, converse, and otherwise engage personally with your clients.

The beauty there is that there is an expectation of brevity. You (nor your clients) need to worry about long-winded emails, or all the superfluous conversation involved in a phone call. Yet, the personal touch is still there.

People who follow brands on social media platforms are most likely to do so on Twitter

Yes, your company should ususally have and use a Facebook page to engage with your clients. But it may surprise you to know that more brand engagement is happening on Twitter.

Why? My guess is that when you “Like” (formerly, “Become a Fan”) of a brand’s page on Facebook, you are giving them permission to market to you. You are using your affiliation with that brand to tell the world something about yourself on your own profile.

But the way Twitter is used and the interfaces by which it is used creates different systems of communication. Namely, every tweet has to be meaningful. There is no meaningful content except for your most recent tweets. There are no photos, discussion boards, interactive applications.

So, if you want real-time information, real-time conversation, and real-time engagement, Twitter is where your customers will go to find it. As stated above, the expectations are different. The commitment is less. Paradoxically, the level of personal communication is higher.

Two-thirds of Twitter users access the service through a mobile device

This has HUGE implications for how you are providing data in your tweets. For instance, if you are linking to something – an article, a photo, a video – are those things optimized for mobile devices? For a while, I would never link to a video on Vimeo because I knew it wouldn’t play on an iPhone. Now, because Vimeo has changed their technology, their videos can play on an iPhone. Thus, their content is now acceptable for Twitter.

Is your business’ Twitter account linking to content that’s read easily read on a mobile device?  Are you thinking about how your Twitter engagement affects the user experience of your followers that are using a mobile device to find you on Twitter?

Twitter users are more well-educated than the general population

While we’re not ones that think formal education (and its resulting demographic metrics) are super-valuable, it is worth noting that Twitter users are smart. So, you have your audiences and your market segments and your group of clients. What would you try to do if you could communicate with some of your brighter following? You have that opportunity on Twitter… start doing something about it.