Why Social Media? A Good vs. Evil Debate

Reasons you should (and should not) jump into the SoMedia pool party

If you’re struggling to get to the real motivation for your time in Social Media you may be like the character Pinto in the classic comedy Animal House.

Pinto, a virgin, has a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other giving him conflicting advice about whether he should “un-virgin” himself with an inebriated girl he just met. (For the record, the angel wins out).

Here, then, are some of the reasons you might consider entering Social Media and what your own internal Angel and Devil might say to you.


YOU: It’s where my customers are

Angel: You need to know your customers better and Social Media is a great place to listen and learn. Even potential customers have something to offer you. The more you listen and observe the better you will meet their needs. It will take a time commitment.

Devil: Oh c’mon! The real reason you need to be in Social Media is to sell more stuff, more cheaply. There’s a huge audience out there just waiting for you to sell to them. The best part? It’s free!


YOU: It’s where my employees are

Angel: You’re a good boss and you realize your best assets are your employees. By empowering them to use Social Media and showing the way you will have strong advocates out there. Your only policy on employee Social Media usage is borrowed from Google: “Don’t be evil.”

Devil: What fun is that? Now you can to check up on your employees. You can follow, friend or fan them and then see what they’re really up to. And just when your employees think you “get” the whole Social Media thing you can pull the rug out from underneath them by producing a 145-page Social Media Policy manual.


YOU: It’s where my competitors are

Angel: You can see what your competitors are doing and how they are helping people in Social Media. When a competitor is unable to help you can step in and offer help. Gosh, you might even form a Social Media alliance with a former competitor to better meet your joint customers’ needs.

Devil: No way! You’re gonna use Social Media to spy on your competitors and spread misinformation about them. You’ll use it steal customers and ideas away from the competition.


YOU: It’s where my neighbors are

Angel: In this busy world you can become better connected to the nearby community. You can connect with people, businesses and community groups that all have similar goals – making this place a better place to live. You can use Social Media to offer help where it is most needed.

Devil: But what’s in all this for you? Let me tell you: More networking, more connections and, duh, more money from sales. C’mon Angel all this kumbaya stuff is making me nauseous!

YOU: It’s where everyone else is

Angel: You know, you shouldn’t just go into Social Media to follow the herd. If it doesn’t make sense right now give it some time. A fake or half-hearted effort in Social Media will do you more harm than good.

Devil: Oh really? Don’t be a woos! Everyone else is in the pool, jump in. You don’t want to be last do you? It’s GMOOT (Get Me One of Those) time. Last one in is a …

Well that’s enough from the Devil.

Social Media and whether to jump in can be a tricky decision. Here’s hoping the Angel wins out in your internal debate.

Related posts:
10 Commandments for Social Media
5 Social Media Mistakes
7 Ways to Tell How You’re Doing in Social Media

5 Steps Before Jumping Into Social Media

Thinking before you jump will save you from ending up ‘all wet’

It seems everyone can’t wait to jump into Social Media. And for business this may present a real problem.

Think of Social Media as a giant swimming pool. Now if you have a simple goal of just getting wet, then by all means jump in.

But if you have some real goals and want a return on your time in Social Media you might want to have a plan.

Here’s a checklist of 10 Things To Consider Before You Jump into Social Media:

1. Do you have the support of all the stakeholders? Seems simple, but without buy-in from employees all the way up to the CEO and shareholders you may find yourself spending more time explaining and defending rather than engaging in Social Media. If you get commitments of time and money upfront you can focus on getting off to a good start.

2. Do you have clearly defined goals? Social Media can be a lot of different things to a lot of different users, but one thing it can’t be: A miracle worker. Muddled and confused presences in Social Media will look like everyone behind them does not know who they are and why they are there. Do you, for example, know where your target audience hangs out in Social Media? Take the time to do the research and create a plan (with benchmarks to measure results).

3. Do you know what tools will best suit your purpose? Blogs may make sense if you have someone who is a good writer and has the interest in maintaining the effort. Facebook and Twitter presences could help grow the audience or how about LinkedIn profile where you share something about your business and show off your employees and their skills? The point is: Not all tools make sense for all situations.

4. Do you have the knowledge and skill to do this effectively? The good news: Your organization may collectively “know more than it knows.” In other words there may be people on board who know different aspects of Social Media. Great! But if not then you’ll need to hire some help. You also need to consider who will maintain the effort and who will oversee it.

5. Do you understand the risks? These run the gamut from “What happens if we don’t engage in Social Media?” to “What happens if something goes wrong in Social Media - how will we react?” Will your existing policies on electronic communications be adequate to cover employees and others using Social Media tools? Ask lots of questions.

If any of these questions about Social Media efforts give you cause to pause then you may need to turn to a professional – someone who can guide the process for you: from research and planning to training, implementation and measuring success.

Resources:

Peter Kim writing for Mashable.com on The 22 Step Social Media Marketing Plan

Cory Treffiletti writing the blog Online Spin for MediaPost on The Problem with Planning Social Media (No Problem)

Social Media Academy is an education and research institute whose graduates work in many aspects of Social Media

For some national “heavy hitters” in Social Media see ReadWriteWeb’s postSeven Social Media Consultants That Deliver Tangible Value


Previous Posts
10 Commandments for Social Media
5 strategies to get the Boss into Social Media
Social Media Expertise Is Hard To Find
Social Media disasters

Social Media REALLY scares some businesses

It’s the technological boogeyman of the moment. What businesses can do to overcome the fear.

Social Media you’ve really come a long way. You’ve grown from geeky young kid to awkward teenager. And now you’ve really made it: You’re a young adult and you really, really scare a lot of business owners and managers.

Social Media is the technological boogeyman of the moment.

What if my employees give away company secrets? What if they harass someone? What if they waste time?

In an earlier age it these questions were all asked of other “new” technologies: first the telephone and then the personal computer. It seems each age has a piece of technology that frightens business.

A recent survey found businesses fear Social Media. Sophos, a British IT security firm, found that”Two thirds of businesses fear that social networking endangers corporate security”. The basis of this fear is that business owners believe employees will reveal too much personal information and too much company information – thereby endangering the company.

But its more than that. Businesses – at least some of them – actively dislike the idea of Social Media because customers have all the power.

Mary Ellen Slayter writing on SmartBlogs.com explains Why business is hostile to social networking and says Social media makes the top people at any business nervous because it makes them feel vulnerable.

But, really there is nothing to fear. Here’s what businesses need to do:

Review existing company policies: Is there anything in the existing company handbook or the employee policies that needs new language to cover any situation in Social Media? It’s unlikely. Harassment, revealing company secrets and being unprofessional look and sound the same regardless of where they happen.

Reinforce the policies: Make sure everyone who works for you understands that the employee policies apply for all interactions and in all places where they can be perceived to be representing the company.

Train and empower your employees: Encourage your workers to engage in the community – in person and online. Make sure everyone knows that they have the power to help the business by the way they behave in public … and yes, Social media counts as in public. Give them great information about your business and encourage them to help tell your story.

Walk the walk: Many top executives talk about open communications and welcoming feedback … it’s time to live up to that. Encourage employees to communicate with you and be sure to respond. Also: engage with your customers yourself. Start a blog. Sign up for Twitter and or Facebook. You will be surprised how much your customers appreciate the access.

Monitor your brand name and competitors in Social media: This seems obvious, but most companies do not yet understand that conversations about them are happening all the time in the Social Networks, they just aren’t aware of them. Either make kit someone’s job or hire someone to do it for you.

Relax: Really! Now! Would you think twice about your employees using a PC or a telephone. One day you WILL laugh about how you were once so worried about your employees being on Social Media.

5 strategies to get the Boss into Social Media

Getting the CEO to “drink the Kool Aid” and invest in a SoMedia strategy


Using Social Media to sell the idea of Social Media is not a new idea. But here are five ways you can use it to sell the boss on the idea of investing some time and money in a SoMedia strategy:

1. Show him or her how much you can learn about competitors: A few quick searches across LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook on a competitor’s company name, its key executives and its biggest brands will turn up a wealth of information.

Do some of these searches ahead of time and have them saved. Be sure to go first to one or two that reveal something new about the competitor. Explain that your company’s SoMedia efforts would be better because they would happen within company guidelines.

2. Show who in your industry is already there. If there are a lot of other companies in your industry already in SoMedia – “Why aren’t we there too?” If there are few or no other companies already there – “What are we waiting for? We can get way out in front.”

Be ready with questions such as “What’s in it for us?” (More customers and more-engaged customers) and “Will this cost us a lot of money?” (No, but we should re-allocate some of our existing marketing money.”)

3. Point out any existing Social Media expertise in the organization. Someone in accounting is a LinkedIn expert, someone in sales is a Twitter addict and someone in the front office is already blogging. Great. The in-house talent base is already established.

This means the organization is not starting from scratch – always an appealing thought to an unsure executive.

4. Use “What if” questions to pose some possibilities. “What if we start a Facebook fan page?” Or: “What if we start a blog to talk about some of the interesting things we’re doing here?” Perhaps: “What if we try a Twitter account as a way to talk directly to our customers?”

Having plenty of these questions ready will show the boss that you’ve given this some thought and you’re only suggesting baby steps. Yes, eventually you would hope to persuade them that a much bigger effort is needed … up to and including a Social Media plan and a budget to fund it. But starting small can help a nervous boss dip his or her toe in the Social Media water confident that they won’t quickly get dragged under by some underwater leviathan.

5. Try fear-mongering. Ask some of the 15 Questions to Ask a CEO Skeptical About Social Media from Axel Schultze’s excellent post on the CustomerThink Blog.

Questions such as “Do you know … how vulnerable you are?” and “Are you ready if your competitors go after your customers in the social web?” ought to get him or her to sit up straight and think about Social Media.

This last suggestion is said only half in jest. For some bosses the only real motivator will be “What will happen if I don’t do this?”

As Social Media takes more and more of your customers’ time the answer to that question might just be … no customers?

5 Reasons Social Media Matters to Business

1. Customers are increasingly there … in huge numbers
The phenomenal growth in the numbers of people on Social Networks and consuming Social Media can no longer be ignored. The recent Nielsen report on the five fastest Social Media (Global Faces and Networked Places) portals found that:

Twitter is now the fastest growing Social Media app. It grew 1,382 percent in the past year and has more than 7 million people tweeting away.

Facebook has more than 65 million people friending away and grew 228 percent in the past year.

MySpace and its teen-friendly vibe get roughly 75 million unique visitors a month (putting it ahead of Facebook’s 57 million).

LinkedIn and its business-networking members now number more than 33 million.

Wikipedia and other wiki-like information portals now have nearly 4 million contributors signed up to add to the information pool.

If these Social Media destinations have populations rivaling good-sized countries ... countries whose populations grow several hundred percent each year ... don’t you want to do business with these new “countries”?

2. Employees are there … more than you think
These vast populations include many of the people who work for you (and those who wish they worked for you).

According to survey data from 2007 (the most recent available), more than 75 percent of employees at U.S. companies are online, but not doing company business, for part of their business day. Of these, more than a third check in on social networks.

According to a Kiplinger Report story from July 2008 a growing number of U.S. employers have realized the value of social networks and have begun setting up internal networks where employees share ideas, best practices and future plans.

If your employees (present and future) are there shouldn’t you be there?

3. Competitors are there … and talking to your customers
A quick search on Facebook for the term “IBM” finds more than 500 groups dedicated to talking about and talking for IBM. A search for “New York Times” also finds more than 500 groups.

Check Twitter and you find a similar trend: More than 90 Twitter accounts have IBM as part of their name. The New York Times’ main Twitter account touches nearly 400,000 followers and that number is growing quickly.

Try it now: Search for your competitor on Social Media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook. See what they say about themselves and see what they say about you.

4. Intelligence is there … you will gain important insights
You can simply follow the streams of conversation in Social Media or deploy Social Media monitoring tools such as the one offered by Techrigy to know what people are talking about and whether they have a positive or negative view of your company and its products.

This type of intelligence cannot be had anywhere else. It also allows insight, response and reaction in real time.

5. Money is there … for the making and for the taking
People use Social Media for all kinds of purposes, but in one way, shape or form it’s about sharing information.

This information is a currency that can, and often does, influence spending decisions.

If Social Media is become THE place to share information it is also becoming THE place to learn before buying.

In an age where traditional push media (newspapers, magazines, radio and television) are losing audience at an alarming rate, Social Media and its pull - or sharing - approach is booming as a place for people to connect and get things done. Shouldn’t you and your business be there?