The Real World View of Social Media Marketing

Are your views of social media out of touch with reality?

In two weeks as Ritz Marketing’s social media guy, I’ve learned a lot about social media, people’s awareness of it, how it’s perceived, and how you sell it. Here, take a look:

  • Facebook. Everyone wants to know about Facebook.
     
  • Twitter. Tweeter. Twitting. People have heard of it, but they don’t get it, and they still scoff…
  • …except when they don’t. More and more companies acknowledge that they need to “Get on Twitter.”
  • Talking about “community” and “engagement” doesn’t win you the account. It’s still important, but you better be fluent in phrases like “results,” “increase sales,” and “ROI”.
     
  • Despite the wishes of Radian6, SM2, Scout Labs and others, social media monitoring is a foreign concept to most companies. Even after you explain it, many don’t want to invest in it.
  • Take baby steps. If you try to explain how 37 social media bells and whistles work in harmony, you’ll get glazed eyeballs. Slow down. Give ‘em small bites.
  • “Sure, we want social media…can you do it all for us?”
  • On Strategy vs. Tactics: Purists look down on you if you focus on tactics instead of strategy. Newsflash: The guys with the checkbooks just wanna know what you’re gonna do for them with their money. Sorry, that’s tactics.
  • SEO = Left Hand. Social Media = Right Hand. It’s amazing how often the two aren’t working together.
  • If your company has “Marketing” in its name, you better be prepared to explain what social media has to do with marketing.

So, what “real world” lessons have you learned about social media?

  • http://thelostjacket.com Stuartfoster

    Slow down and always put it in terms that everyone can understand. Outline what it can do augment their own existing projects and how it can directly lead to revenue. Phrases like “warm leads”, “better user experiences” and “funneling” have worked for me.

  • http://ryanstephensmarketing.com/blog/ ryanstephens

    Couldn't agree more with respect to Facebook and Twitter.

    I've also had a similar experience with “ROI,” and it's important for us to remember that ROI to most companies doesn't mean stuff like hits, page views, comments, etc. Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder) had a great post about this very topic today.

    With our companies monitoring service, I think most companies really like the idea of it, and actually feel like it's necessary, but don't necessarily get all the work that goes into it. They are surprised when we tell them we provide insights and strategy from the 'buzz,' instead of a just a numbers dump.

    I love the “can you do it all for us,” because in my experience that's something social media types encounter often. They don't realize that it's so much more authentic coming from them. My ideal client is one that wants the strategy, but then understands the tools enough to understand how to execute that strategy, take and implement suggestions based on monitoring, etc.

    Good post Scott!

  • http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

    Good tips, Stuart. Way to translate “social media geek-speak” into “sales guy speak”! Glib as that may sound, it's what we need to do to bridge the gap.

  • http://blog.ecairn.com/ laurent

    According to Sun Tzy: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” So both are needed and the checkbook must recognize that or they'll be throwing money out the window. I think when it comes to SM, the proper thinking needs to take place ahead of time such as assessing where a company's customer socializes on line, then start doing things and iterate, be agile, learn, put back the knowledge into the strategy to refine until the winning formula has been designed.

  • http://drewshope.blogspot.com drewshope

    ROI is the clincher, even though I'm finding difficulty PROVING ROI to clients. Anyone have some good ideas on how to prove do that?

  • http://thelostjacket.com Stuartfoster

    It's funny. But because sales talk is so prevalent, everyone knows what I'm talking about when I start using those terms in context with social media initiatives.

  • http://thelostjacket.com Stuart Foster

    Slow down and always put it in terms that everyone can understand. Outline what it can do augment their own existing projects and how it can directly lead to revenue. Phrases like “warm leads”, “better user experiences” and “funneling” have worked for me.

  • http://ryanstephensmarketing.com/blog/ ryanstephens

    Couldn't agree more with respect to Facebook and Twitter.

    I've also had a similar experience with “ROI,” and it's important for us to remember that ROI to most companies doesn't mean stuff like hits, page views, comments, etc. Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder) had a great post about this very topic today.

    With our companies monitoring service, I think most companies really like the idea of it, and actually feel like it's necessary, but don't necessarily get all the work that goes into it. They are surprised when we tell them we provide insights and strategy from the 'buzz,' instead of a just a numbers dump.

    I love the “can you do it all for us,” because in my experience that's something social media types encounter often. They don't realize that it's so much more authentic coming from them. My ideal client is one that wants the strategy, but then understands the tools enough to understand how to execute that strategy, take and implement suggestions based on monitoring, etc.

    Good post Scott!

  • http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

    Good tips, Stuart. Way to translate “social media geek-speak” into “sales guy speak”! Glib as that may sound, it's what we need to do to bridge the gap.

  • http://blog.ecairn.com/ laurent

    According to Sun Tzy: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” So both are needed and the checkbook must recognize that or they'll be throwing money out the window. I think when it comes to SM, the proper thinking needs to take place ahead of time such as assessing where a company's customer socializes on line, then start doing things and iterate, be agile, learn, put back the knowledge into the strategy to refine until the winning formula has been designed.

  • http://drewshope.blogspot.com drewshope

    ROI is the clincher, even though I'm finding difficulty PROVING ROI to clients. Anyone have some good ideas on how to prove do that?

  • http://thelostjacket.com Stuart Foster

    It's funny. But because sales talk is so prevalent, everyone knows what I'm talking about when I start using those terms in context with social media initiatives.

  • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

    In the real world, it doesn't matter if you have 10 followers on Twitter or 10,000.

    In the real world, who cares if your blog has so many hundreds or thousands of readers.

    In the real world, #hashtags mean squat (except when you're on a phone call and have to confirm something).

    All I want to know is what is social media, why is it called social media, why do I need to use social media, when will social media get me results.

    If you can't answer me these questions in a way that makes sense and makes even better sense for my company and end results, then why should I bother?

    Of course, then the trick is switching that view around. Which is where good old-fashioned real world workings and results still have a major part to play.

  • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

    In the real world, it doesn't matter if you have 10 followers on Twitter or 10,000.

    In the real world, who cares if your blog has so many hundreds or thousands of readers.

    In the real world, #hashtags mean squat (except when you're on a phone call and have to confirm something).

    All I want to know is what is social media, why is it called social media, why do I need to use social media, when will social media get me results.

    If you can't answer me these questions in a way that makes sense and makes even better sense for my company and end results, then why should I bother?

    Of course, then the trick is switching that view around. Which is where good old-fashioned real world workings and results still have a major part to play.

  • http://thewordtrade.com/ Rhiannon Bowman

    “Small bites.” That's great advice, Scott, and so true. People really want to know what Twitter is about and why they should have a this profile or a that account, but (I've found) what they're really asking for is that brand of social media's elevator speech and maybe an example or two of success stories. Going for buy-in in the first conversation has quickly become a no-no in my world. My (current) solution: Lead by example.

    Though, there is one case where I told the business owner, “Just give me your Twitter account for one week, you'll see.” By the end of the week they reported a 90 percent increase in unique page views.

    I'm with the other comments: Use your client's/ friend's lingo. It's easier to digest than beginning every word with “Tw.”

    Great post, Scott.

    Best,
    Rhi B.

  • http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

    That's an apt quote from Sun Tzu. Thanks for sharing, Laurent.

    Agility and adaptability are indeed key. One thing I need to remind myself of often is that a plan is a starting point. Rarely, in social media or in life, does the game go according to plan. Revise, revisit and relax…it's the only way to keep it between the lines.

  • http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

    You're not alone in your quest to demonstrate ROI. There are countless ways I could answer you, but here's my favorite: ROI is a number. We can show you the results of your actions, but those results can't always be displayed as a number.

    That, though, is only a partial answer.

    Keep searching, though. There was a time (circa 1876) when nobody could “prove” the ROI of a telephone. ;)

  • http://drewshope.blogspot.com drewshope

    I like that! I talk to SO many people who get hung up on pageviews, and it's hard to get them to realize that conversions are all that count. Thanks for the input!

  • http://thewordtrade.com/ Rhiannon Bowman

    “Small bites.” That's great advice, Scott, and so true. People really want to know what Twitter is about and why they should have a this profile or a that account, but (I've found) what they're really asking for is that brand of social media's elevator speech and maybe an example or two of success stories. Going for buy-in in the first conversation has quickly become a no-no in my world. My (current) solution: Lead by example.

    Though, there is one case where I told the business owner, “Just give me your Twitter account for one week, you'll see.” By the end of the week they reported a 90 percent increase in unique page views.

    I'm with the other comments: Use your client's/ friend's lingo. It's easier to digest than beginning every word with “Tw.”

    Great post, Scott.

    Best,
    Rhi B.

  • http://thewordtrade.com/ Rhiannon Bowman

    “Small bites.” That's great advice, Scott, and so true. People really want to know what Twitter is about and why they should have a this profile or a that account, but (I've found) what they're really asking for is that brand of social media's elevator speech and maybe an example or two of success stories. Going for buy-in in the first conversation has quickly become a no-no in my world. My (current) solution: Lead by example.

    Though, there is one case where I told the business owner, “Just give me your Twitter account for one week, you'll see.” By the end of the week they reported a 90 percent increase in unique page views.

    I'm with the other comments: Use your client's/ friend's lingo. It's easier to digest than beginning every word with “Tw.”

    Great post, Scott.

    Best,
    Rhi B.

  • http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

    That's an apt quote from Sun Tzu. Thanks for sharing, Laurent.

    Agility and adaptability are indeed key. One thing I need to remind myself of often is that a plan is a starting point. Rarely, in social media or in life, does the game go according to plan. Revise, revisit and relax…it's the only way to keep it between the lines.

  • http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

    That's an apt quote from Sun Tzu. Thanks for sharing, Laurent.

    Agility and adaptability are indeed key. One thing I need to remind myself of often is that a plan is a starting point. Rarely, in social media or in life, does the game go according to plan. Revise, revisit and relax…it's the only way to keep it between the lines.

  • http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

    You're not alone in your quest to demonstrate ROI. There are countless ways I could answer you, but here's my favorite: ROI is a number. We can show you the results of your actions, but those results can't always be displayed as a number.

    That, though, is only a partial answer.

    Keep searching, though. There was a time (circa 1876) when nobody could “prove” the ROI of a telephone. ;)

  • http://mediaemerging.com Scott Hepburn

    You're not alone in your quest to demonstrate ROI. There are countless ways I could answer you, but here's my favorite: ROI is a number. We can show you the results of your actions, but those results can't always be displayed as a number.

    That, though, is only a partial answer.

    Keep searching, though. There was a time (circa 1876) when nobody could “prove” the ROI of a telephone. ;)

  • http://drewshope.blogspot.com drewshope

    I like that! I talk to SO many people who get hung up on pageviews, and it's hard to get them to realize that conversions are all that count. Thanks for the input!

  • http://drewshope.blogspot.com drewshope

    I like that! I talk to SO many people who get hung up on pageviews, and it's hard to get them to realize that conversions are all that count. Thanks for the input!

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