I’ve been seeing a bit of anti-social behavior in online communities.  Communities are suffering.  Please read my guest post over on Liz Strauss’s Successful-Blog.  The community you save, could be your own.  Thanks!

I recently met with a client to review a social marketing strategy I developed for her.  She read through each page then looked me straight in the eye and said, laughing, “I see exactly how this will work, but I’m lazy.  I thought social media was easy.”  I expected the statement, giggled and rolled my eyes – because we have a relationship that allows me to do so.  I know that many people and companies believe that, because joining the platforms is free, social media is easy.  It isn’t easy.  It isn’t fast.  UGLY TRUTH ALERT: Using social media channels as effective marketing tools is work; it requires time and strategy.

Strategy.  What exactly does the word mean, with regard to social marketing?  Simply put, strategy is the difference between wasting and investing your resources on social platforms.

Strategies, like thumbprints and clients, are unique.  Although strategies may share components, I do not believe that two clients can use the same strategy successfully.  Differences in target markets and goals impact the needs of my clients.   Who is your customer?  Where can I connect you with them?  What will you tell them?  How will I help you listen to them?  How will I show that your efforts are working?  Strategy takes these factors, and others, into account

Strategy invests your resources.

Are you investing or wasting yours?

Image by ~hippychick7

I’ve noticed a startling trend.  It’s not a beneficial trend, and I’d like to help curb it.  Today.

Many festivals and events flounder with carrying the social media conversation past the point of purchase – meaning that once I’ve bought a ticket, there is very little effort at engaging me further.  UGLY TRUTH ALERT: If you don’t give me a way to interact with you after the show, you may very likely find that you have lost my attention completely when next year’s show comes around.   All the hard work you’ve done to attract me will have been for naught.  I will no longer be listening when you have something to share.

See?  It’s not a pretty scenario, but you can see how it happens.

Here’s the thing – I want to be included by you.  I want to share my experiences, both with you and the other people who came to your show.  I want to talk about where I’ve been and what I’ve done.  If you’ll help me stay connected, I will help market you, within my sphere of influence, simply by interacting with you.  It’s a win, win!

What’s to be done?  Help me extend my offline experience into the online conversation.  Here are a few, quick suggestions – please feel free to use them, and to report back on the results.

• At the gate, remind me to post a photo and comment on your Facebook Fan Page so that friends back home can see just how much fun I had.
• Invite me to post a link to a 12seconds video while I enjoy a specific attraction.
• Create a scavenger hunt of on-site images for me to collect, and offer a monthly prize drawing in exchange for me posting a specific image with a hashtag to my Twitter account at the right time.

See how easy that was?

How will you help your communities bring their offline experiences from your show to the online conversation?

Image by oximOrOn

Protecting Your Community. (Image from Flikr, click to visit artist's lightbox)

Are you following me on Twitter?  Have you added me as a Friend, or become a Fan on Facebook?   Yes?  Why?

Do I bring relevant content to the conversation between you or your community?  If not, perhaps you should consider removing my posts from your streams.  Whoa – did I just ask you to unfollow me?  Maybe.

Here’s what I like to call an UGLY TRUTH ALERT:  If you are responsible for managing a community that is focused on connecting, say, cheese makers and cheese lovers, then my posts aren’t adding anything of value for either you or your followers.  My posts, about marketing and social media,  are an irritant, just noise, to people who are interested in Cambozola, Havarti and Cheddar ripened in Oak leaves.  For the health and relevancy of your community, you should unfollow me.

Social media success is not achieved by following people indiscriminately.  It is achieved through forming relationships by following the right people for the community you are building.  I am building a professional networking community for myself and I am selective about the people I follow; most of them are related, in one way or another, to my industry, and some are there because I find them entertaining.  I don’t expect that any one of them will follow me back and there is no reason they should, unless they find my posts relevant to THEIR conversation and community.

In defense of your community, please review your content stream.  Is it full of mostly on-topic posts, with the occasional off-topic entry, or is it full of so much off-topic noise that a casual visitor might not be able to identify what you’ve gathered people together for?

How do you protect the integrity of your community?

My Twitter Profile Image

Services are available that make it possible for you to post the same content across multiple profiles at one time, whether or not you are logged in to those profiles.  I don’t support the use of them, and here’s why.

First, is my desire to protect the relationships you are building.  Your community is made up of people on several platforms and profiles; think of them as neighborhoods.  Your Facebook Friends are different from your Facebook Fans are different from your Twitter Followers are different from your LinkedIn Contacts, etc.  Each neighbor allows you to enter their news stream for slightly different reasons; not all of your neighbors connect with you on every profile you maintain.  While you are the same person in each neighborhood, the content you share should be filtered to reflect the specific interests of your neighbors.  As an example, for the most part, I seek and provide information on Twitter, I write about marketing for my clients on my blog, and I am more personable (not personal) on my Facebook profile.   If I ignore the guiding interests of my neighbors, by cross-posting content that is relevant to one neighborhood, but irrelevant to my others, they may feel overlooked, disregarded or, worse, lost in the shuffle.  They may move to another neighborhood, without providing a forwarding address.  I will have damaged and lost relationships.

Second, is my desire to protect the engagement of social media.  We all deal with time constraints.  Posting content across each of your profiles at one time may seem like a good way to save time and deliver your message.  Here’s the thing:  the problem arises when you post content that poses a question, requests an opinion or evokes a response from your community (because that’s what happens when social media is used correctly).  If your followers try to open a conversation with you about your post, and you aren’t there, they feel irritated or ignored.  They feel as though you are talking AT them and not WITH them.  You are broadcasting, not engaging.

If you see a post on any one of my profiles, it’s because I’m there – live and in color – sharing content and hoping to engage you.  It’s how I roll.

How about you?

It is everything you wanted?

With over 250 million Facebook users,  2.9 billion tweets on Twitter, 258 million YouTube users, and 850 thousand Ning communities, the use of social media is well established.  These, and other social media platforms, are designed so that even the newest member of Web 2.0 can complete the sign up process and begin to customize their profile a bit.  The number of casual users far outweighs those of us who are professionals using these platforms as tools.

Are casual users proficient in the use of their profiles?  Often, yes.  Can they translate their casual proficiency to educating festivals, special events and businesses on how to build and manage a vibrant social community?  I don’t believe so.  I don’t believe that everyone who uses social media can do what I do.

Casual users log on to their profile once or twice a day to share something funny, to announce what they had for lunch or to post a snapshot of their nephew being adorable.  I, on the other hand, am constantly connected to my own profiles and those of my clients; I recently took my son to Disneyland and worked, from the lines of several of our favorite attractions, through my Blackberry.  I use alerts, trackbacks, aggregators, and several listening, monitoring and search tools to take care of the communities I build and the brands that are entrusted to me.  Social Media Management takes hours of time, concentrated effort and a thorough understanding of each platform on which brand to follower engagement occurs.

Casual users rarely have an understanding of platform demographics, the type and number of posts that are permitted within a profile, or how a profile may be suspended (taking with it hours of posting, information, images and contacts).   I know which platforms will hold the target audience my client wants, and what marketing mix will best communicate a message to that audience.  I know how to build a community of self-sorted followers, and how to engage those followers so that they remain connected to and interested in my clients.  I can quantify the ROI for my clients.  I follow industry influencers and news sources to stay current on best practices, trends, widgets, the Terms of Service for existing platforms, and updates on emerging platforms.  I live and breathe social media.

I have a cookbook with a recipe for cake.  Will you leave your wedding cake in my hands?

Joe, down the hall, uses Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch with family and friends.  Will you leave your brand in his hands?

Burma Shave Sign

Social profiles should not be used as digital billboards to shout a message at people over and over and over and over.

There, I’ve said it.

It’s not that shouting at people is ineffectual.  In fact, it very effectively encourages people to un-follow, un-fan and de-friend.

May I be so bold as to suggest there may be a better way?

Engage your community.  Invite them to participate.  Give them a reason to listen to your message.  Think Burma Shave.

Burma Shave signs are still fun to read.  Back in the day, they went beyond static billboard delivery with a concept that encouraged people to not only read their message, but to seek it out.  The attention of an entire nation was captured by a personality.  Personally, I want the people I follow, friend and fan to capture me . . .  with personality, not a pitch.

Introduce yourself, share a joke, pass along a link to something unrelated to business, ask your community questions.  Get to know them.  There may come a time, through the course of conversation, when they express a need for what you have to offer – for themselves or for a friend.  Then, by all means, shoot them an “I see you are looking for letter press business cards & think I can help.  Please check out my website” message.

People like to do business with people they know and, if you’ve taken the time to let them get to know you, the chance of them doing business with you is very much in your favor.

What do you think?  Better?

I am excited and nervous about what tonight has in store for me.

I am friends with a hospital administrator whose facility is beginning to recognize the importance of Social Media in relation to its public and customer relations.  He’s been asking me a lot of questions about social media, and I am in a position to put myself forward as a candidate for this contract.  I could, except for the truth that I am not the right person to provide precisely what he needs.

Every client deserves to have their needs filled exactly, by a professional who truly understands those needs and can provide specialized solutions for them to use.  I understand festivals, special events and other similar small organizations. Health Care is different.  Health Care is not my thing.  Which brings me to Liz Strauss.  Health Care is her thing.  She is very good at what she does.

Liz Strauss, the founder of SOBCon, has been named to the Top 100 Social Media & Internet Marketing Bloggers Top 100 Most Influential Marketers of 2008, the 50 of the Most Powerful and Influential Women of Social Media, NxE’s Fifty Most Influential ‘Female’ Bloggers and her blog is listed on Alltop Social Media and Alltop Twitterati.  I subscribe to her blog so that I can learn from her and I follow her on Twitter so that I can keep track of what she is doing.  Until yesterday, I had never interacted directly with her but I want the best for my friend’s hospital, so I DM’d Liz and asked if I could recommend her services to him.  Liz gave me permission to pass along her contact information, and I copied her on the email to my friend.

A conversation between Liz and I, via Twitter and email, ensued.  Several amazing things happened.  I received a phone call from Liz, she shared unbelievably valuable insight on relationships that has already impacted the way I approach prospective clients, we talked about my new business, we talked about her projects, and I was asked to be a guest host on her Open Comment Night.

All this, because I chose to recommend the best person for a job instead of giving that job my best shot.  A win for my friend, a win for Liz, a win for me.

I will always recommend the best person to fill your needs – even if, especially if, that person isn’t me.

Does that inspire you to do the same?

Social Media Platform Logos

An invitation from a friend is found in your email, you hear of a new community from a colleague, or you read an industry white paper that mentions an up and coming site.

You join each new community and, before you know it, you have a Social Identity comprised of profiles on several platforms across the web.

For security reasons, you use unique identifiers when completing your profile information and, perhaps, you associate different emails with your profiles – maybe a work email and a personal email, each with its own set of identifiers.

For the first few days or weeks, you visit each community regularly and the unique log-in information you provided during the setup of your profiles stays fresh in your mind.

Then it happens.  After a time, your visits to the communities begin to slow and, one day, you find that you’ve forgotten the user name or password that you chose during setup of each of your profiles.  You may find that, through a change of employment or other circumstances,  you have closed the email account that was first associated with your profile, making retrieval of your password or user name by email impossible.  For any one of ten different reasons like the one above, you will spend valuable time creating another profile within the same community, which may cause identity confusion for your followers, or you choose to abandon the community all together.

I’ve done it.  If you look on Facebook, you’ll find two of me there, but only one active profile.  Years ago, when I was new to social media, I set up my first Facebook profile.  I spent two weeks learning how to use the community before my attention was pulled elsewhere.  When I returned, I had forgotten not only my Facebook log in information, but the log in information for the email account I set up specifically for use of my Facebook profile.  So I began again, created another profile, and learned from the process.  You can find me on Facebook here.

How do you mind all of your Social Media profiles?

Click here to download the tool I created to mind my own Social Identity, no strings attached!