Publish or Perish: The New Rule of Marketing

By John McGory

Publish or perish.  The historical phrase used by university PhDs is now shifting to the business world.  In 2012, businesses will begin to understand that becoming Internet publishers will be their most critical marketing effort, bypassing website creation. 

Huh?  What in the world of Webface are we talking about?  Let’s take a look.

Our last blog discussed the concept of content marketing (Aliens and Lip Gloss, In Your Webface!, December 14, 2011 http://webfacesolutions.blogspot.com/).  Content marketing provides quality information to customers in exchange for their attention.

Gaining the attention of your customers is what marketing is all about.  And let’s face it, your customers are not riveted to your website for entertainment.

The Content Marketing Institute reports that “93 percent of marketing professionals create or plan to create content marketing as part of their overall programs next year.”

The shift, according to the institute, is from print advertising to social media advertising.  So brochures and newspaper ads are out and blogs, videos and social media channels are in.  The static nature of websites will reduce their importance in gaining customers’ attention as well. 

Here are tips on what to do to move forward to create your own content marketing.

Content needs to be informative and entertaining to gain attention.  Companies need to dedicate resources to ensure that standard is met.

Develop high editorial standards for all materials produced.  This includes blogs, videos and social media channels.

Develop content that makes your company an “expert” in your field.

With that “expert” thought in mind, develop content that focuses on topics rather than your company.  Customers want to learn about people and things, not your company.  If you succeed, when the customer needs your product or service, they will know where to turn.    

Finally, be patient.  Building community takes consistent quality.

The Content Marketing Institute reports that the business-to-business marketing tools seeing the biggest jump in use over the past year are blogs and videos, with 27 percent increases.  White papers were second, increasing by 19 percent.

In the past two years, magazines were the biggest marketing-tool losers, with an 11 percent drop. Printed newsletters took a five percent fall.

The content marketing tools used the most in 2011, according to the institute, were:

Posting articles                                               79%

Social media (not counting blogs)               74 %

Blogs                                                                 65%

E-newsletters                                                  63%

Case studies                                                     58%

In-person events                                             56%

Videos                                                               52%

White papers                                                   51%

Content marketing is the hottest marketing trend, but it takes thought and resources to create.  While just a few years ago a website was a necessity, companies and organization now need to focus on becoming Internet publishers. 

It’s the world of publish or perish.  It is now upon us. 

John McGory is a partner at Webface, a content marketing firm.  Let Webface help you publish deliciously rich content.  Learn more at www.web-face-solutions.com

http://technorati.com/business/advertising/article/publish-or-perish-business-marketing-2012/

Aliens and Lip Gloss

By John McGory

Do you want a first-class tip on how a company can stand out in today’s information avalanche?  Read on.

Yankelovich, a market research firm, estimates that a city dweller sees 5,000 advertising messages a day.  

Most of these ads rely on good placement, clever wording and exceptional creativity to capture your attention.  Victoria’s Secret is betting a scantily clad model licking her lips at you on the bus may add up to a sale next week.

Chances are they are wrong and the ad is a waste of time, money and lip gloss.  The human mind disregards a vast majority of what it sees and hears.

The brain cannot process 5,000 ads a day.  It deals with the overload through confirmation bias.  This is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions without regard for truth or reason.

We all do it.  Stereotype yourself and see how snuggly you fit into your own world where only agreeable thoughts are allowed inside.

Do a personal test on political and social topics.  Do you listen to both sides on climate change, Obama’s birthplace, abortion, the Middle East, taxes, political parties and religion?  Not likely.  Your mind is made up.

Ads are no different. We search for confirmation of what we already think.  So how can you market your brand to unbelievers?  With a world awash in information and a public programmed to disregard you, if not hate you, is it possible? 

Nope.  So forget about it and go after new customers who are programmed to possibly like you.

Brands can accomplish this through content marketing.  It is new-age marketing that provides quality information to customers in exchange for their attention.  Content marketing is not going to change unbelievers’ minds, but it may attract new customers.

Blogs, short, entertaining videos, white papers and podcasts are valuable tools.  It’s like inviting someone into your home and having a few hors d’oeuvres.  Once people get to know each other, then trust can be built and just possibly, a sale made.

The hors d’oeuvres in content marketing must be worth eating.  No one is coming back if they are stale or leave a bad taste in your mouth.   Content marketing needs to be deliciously entertaining or informative to stand out in this 5,000-ads-a-day world.

So here is that first-class tip.  Combining content marketing with confirmation bias is key. 

If you are selling UFO tours in Roswell, New Mexico, then your media content needs to be rich in never-seen-before crashed spaceship videos, alien blogs and political cover-up rumors.  The UFO believers expect it.  If the content is good, then maybe a few new fans will come to Roswell and buy a ticket. 

This powerful combination of content marketing and confirmation bias will show the one-sided thinkers that you get them.  And if they think you get them, they will let you in and love you in return. 

McGory is a partner in Webface, a content marketing company.  Webface can help you figure out who your friends are and how to attract them with deliciously entertaining or informative content.  Check us out at www.web-face-solutions.com

The Fight of the 21st Century

By John McGory

The recent death of Smokin’ Joe Frazier brought to mind three of the greatest sporting events of the 20^th century.  Frazier’s epic championship fights with Muhammad Ali in the 1970s were battles of legend.

Ali, the fast-talking, smooth fighter out of Louisville captured the hearts of the young with his brash manner and opposition to the military draft.  His flair and athleticism made him a darling of television. 

Frazier was a classic brawler with a dynamite left hook.  His never-back-down style and support of the military made him a favorite of conservatives.

Frazier won the first battle, which promoter Don King titled The Fight of the Century.  It lived up to its billing.  Ali won fights two and three including the classic Thrilla in Manila.

The fight of the 21st century is not between bruising athletes.  It is a much more subtle affair waged daily.  But this battle is capturing worldwide attention just as the Ali-Frazier fights did 40 years ago.

This scrap is between the two main ways people communicate. It is the reigning champion, the written word, versus the up-and-coming challenger, video.  Let’s look at the tale of the tape to see who has the advantage.

The written word goes back about 5,000 years to Mesopotamia.  It is the undisputed champion of culture and civilization.  Video is a newcomer.  Its history goes back a little more than 100 years, but its influence on education and entertainment has been impressive.

Much like Ali, video is the darling of the young and brash.  It is quick and involves more senses than its opponent.  Conservatives are fans of the written word. Reading the written word requires more thought and involvement by its fans.

The Internet is the arena for this slugfest.  The aging champion, the written word, is showing some wear when it comes to the on-line venue.  Its plodding style does not fit the new, fast Internet world.  Video’s ability to capture thoughts, music, images and actions makes it a big draw for younger and creative fans.

Some pundits are predicting that more than 90 percent of material downloaded onto the Internet in the coming years will be video.  Today, it is slightly more than 50 percent.  That spells doom for the champ.

But the written word has not lasted 5,000 years without being resilient.  Its skill at capturing emotion, complex thought and personal insight are formidable.

The video challenger is definitely impacting the way we do business and enjoy life.  The Internet and social media are both in its corner.  Video has knocked the champ to the Internet canvas.  To paraphrase the late sportscaster Howard Cosell, “Down goes the written word, down goes the written word, down goes the written word.”  Whether it gets back up will make for great 21st century drama.

McGory is a partner at Webface, an social media and video communications firm located in Columbus, Ohio.  Look for more information at www.web-face-solutions.com.

Go Amish and Tune Out Awhile

By TC Brown

Recently, I saw one of the dumbest things ever.  A guy jogging was yapping away on his cell phone. No emergency in sight and no dogs hot on his tail.

I also spied a couple in a restaurant who instead of having lively and interesting conversation – you know, sharing meaningful personal moments – they were separately tapping away on mobile devices.  Apparently this is the contemporary version of the song “Strangers in the Night.”

Recently, a study out of the UK noted that one in eight adults said their partner spends more time on their cell phone than talking to them.  More than 34 percent said they email or text during face-to-face conversations. 

And that’s just the phone!  Toss in laptops, desktops, notebook computers and all manner of mobile devices, and the amount of time we all spend staying connected is staggering.  Last year, Nielsen found that sites like Facebook and Twitter swallow up 22.7 percent of our time on the Web.  A study by comScore found that most of us spend at least 32 hours a month connected to the Internet.  I’m guessing it’s even higher now.

This all brings me to a radical thought – we need to unplug and be Amish for a day, or at least for a couple of hours once in awhile. 

All of these interconnected networks are like electronic crack. We do a hit and then find ourselves hypnotically going back again and again to get our next interactive “fix.”  Totally addictive.

Think not? Look at these revealing statistics:

·       One-half billion people log onto Facebook each day, collectively spending 700 billion minutes per month on the site.

·       Each month, 490 million unique users visit YouTube, generating 92 billion page views.

·       Every minute, people upload 3,000 images to photo site Flickr.

·       Twitter, which adds hundreds of thousands of users per day, averages 190 million tweets daily.

·       Google+ reached 10 million users in 16 days, setting new speed records for social network growth.

It might seem odd that this rant is coming from a guy who co-owns a social media communication company.  After all, it is clearer than ever that this “new media” is good for businesses.

No argument, the positive social medium influence on business is a good thing, and I’m happy for it. But so is taking an occasional break. Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, recommends limiting email consumption and production, and even taking a one-week media fast.

Myself? I’m going to unplug just as soon as I finish and send out this blog, respond to all of the emails on my two accounts, check out the latest viral video, rearrange my photos on Flickr, do an Internet search for this odd skin rash, and . . . .

TC Brown is a partner in Webface, a communications and marketing company that can help you and your organization stay relevant in an ever-more interconnected world.

Sooners and Social Media

By John McGory

The Oklahoma Land Rush drew 50,000 people to the territory on April 22, 1889.  The boomers and sooners staked claims on two million acres of land the federal government made available to the public.

Today’s headlong dash into social media often resembles that land rush.  The mad scramble to stake a claim as cutting edge in a saturated world of media is as chaotic as that April 1889 day. 

The similarities between the land rush and social media are real.  The cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie grew from no residents on April 21 to each having more than 10,000 residents two days later.  Sounds like Facebook to me.

Planning in a chaotic environment can lead to positive results or disaster.  The sooners entered the territory early and hid until the rush began.  Startled boomers on horseback were outraged when they spotted sooners setting up new homes on prime pieces of ground they had already staked out.  While underhanded, the courts upheld many of the sooners’ claims.

Disaster can strike in chaos when poor choices are made due to a lack of knowledge.  The boomers and  sooners who knew the location of planned railroad lines and roads reaped rewards, while the uninformed staked claims in remote areas.

Thankfully, a business plan for an active social media program doesn’t have to be unethical or uninformed.  A few simple steps can lead you in the right direction.

Start with a thorough audit of your marketing and communications program –  can they be done more efficiently?  Are expensively printed brochures and magazines ineffective?  Is communication between key members of your team breaking down? Who is your target audience? The audit will provide the answers you need to improve.  A consultant can help in uncovering real savings and opportunities.

The completed audit will give you a roadmap for your social media plan.  Then you can put in place the correct social media sites and tools to answer your problems and seize missed opportunities.

Business-to-business marketing is going to be different than business-to-teenage girls.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ and all the other social media sites have their strengths and weaknesses, depending on whom you are trying to reach.   A solid audit will get you on the right sites with audience-appropriate content.

Purchasing hardware and software is where disaster can strike.  Trying to do social media on a fax machine just doesn’t cut it.  But investing significant dollars in technology can be fraught with danger, too.  New technology comes along so quickly that it is a challenge to know which way to go.   All you can do is research, talk to the experts and keep in mind your return on investment.  

The rush to social media success doesn’t need to be done at break-neck speed.  Informed decisions through planning will help you stake out that prime piece of social media property.

John McGory is a partner for Webface, a marketing and communications company that can help your company plan for its social media future.

The 99 Percent: A Social Media Revolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48K5Y0421Ig

By TC Brown

In 1964, Sam Cooke wrote and recorded “A Change Is Gonna Come,” a song quickly adopted by the Civil Rights Movement.  It was a minor hit that was optimistic about ending segregation and prejudice, and a different sort of tune from an artist who typically penned feel-good pop hits. Only after his death did the song attain real success.  (song linked above)

The tune – at least its title – seems an apt reference today in relation to events unfolding in the Occupy Wall Street movement’s development and growth through the use of social media tools.  If it hasn’t already, it’s close to becoming a cliché to say that social media is changing the game, in protests and in many areas of our daily lives.

But in just under two months, the Occupy movement has spread across the U.S. and the world, with gatherings in more than 900 cities across the globe, thanks to protestors using numerous social media tools to dish out updates and invigorate support.

The Economist magazine has already dubbed the anti-Wall Street protest as the “first true social media uprising” in America.

Consider the activity:

·       Facebook pages have become online focal points for gatherings and calls for aid and advice. An Occupy Facebook fan page has more than 300,000 fans.

·       More than 330,000 Occupy-related hashtags are tweeted every day.

·       On Tumblr’s microblog site, “We are the 99 percent,” people are posting their sad tales of financial difficulties.

·       From across the country and around the world, protestors are uploading videos and live video streams on Livestream and YouTube.

·       Through the payment startup, WePay, donations of more than $400,000 have poured in, with the average payment traveling 800 miles.

The success of this social media uprising has not gone unnoticed. Organized labor has begun to use these channels and platforms more aggressively to mobilize support for their issues. In recent weeks, the Teamsters have been actively using blog posts and putting up photos on Facebook and Twitter to document their differences with various corporate entities.

Despite the target on its back, and maybe because of it, even Wall Street is taking a serious look at social media’s relevancy and role in this movement. The New York Stock Exchange just held its first-ever “Social Media Day,” bringing in digital media gurus and political experts to kick around ideas about how Wall Street can use these platforms more effectively.

No one can accurately predict whether the Occupy Wall Street movement gains traction or fades this winter, but the way in which future mass protests develop and progress has forever changed, thanks to social media.

Today, the change has already come.

TC Brown is a partner in Webface, a communications and marketing company actively participating and helping others join the changes of today.

The Social Media Sausage Race

By John McGory

Baseball’s favorite promotion started in Milwaukee’s County Stadium in the 1990s when people dressed up as a bratwurst, an Italian sausage and a Polish sausage, staged a foot race during the middle of the sixth inning.

The contests became wildly popular and have spread.  Now, all sorts of entertaining competitions between salted meats or condiments take place at American ballparks. 

Another three-contestant race Americans love to watch is in social media.  The daily jockeying for attention between Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is riveting.  The three social media giants are in a daily challenge to capture the confidence of the social media consumer.

Like the battle between the sausages and brats, a new wiener, uh, winner, emerges every day. Where do social media touts see the race for consumer confidence heading?  Here are the trends, strengths and weaknesses of our three contestants.

Facebook users are the least secure in the confidence race. A survey by Barracuda Labs shows 40 percent of Facebook users admit to malicious virus and malware concerns.  Twitter users are second, with 28 percent feeling unsecure.  LinkedIn is third at 14 percent.

LinkedIn is the most trusted, but this race could tighten as cyber criminals target its accounts.  Business disruption, employee misinformation and business assets are areas where hackers could cause serious problems.

LinkedIn is also the least-blocked social network.  Only 20 percent of companies block LinkedIn on work websites.  Twitter comes in second with 25 percent, while 31 percent block Facebook.

Twitter problems indicate that 43 percent of Twitter accounts are "true users" with real followers and regular tweets, and 57 percent are "not true users," but are either spam bots or inactive accounts. 

This causes problems for users opening shortened links TinyURL or Bit.ly posted by “not true users.”  This can lead to drive-by downloads or an exploited browser.

Facebook security issues focus on trust rather than the random drive-by.  Many of the malicious viruses are unwittingly passed on by friends.

Being the largest social media competitor has its disadvantages and advantages. There will be more efforts to compromise larger platforms, a disadvantage.  Plus malware and viruses can spread quickly among large groups of friends.

So many people are on Facebook, however, that when a problem occurs, the word gets out just as quickly as it spreads.  The recent example is the “Starbucks” anniversary scam. 

The ruse got unsuspecting Facebookers to visit a website to get a free $50 gift card.  Share the link with your friends, give them some personal information and you win. Unfortunately, all you got was malware on your computer, and an avalanche of unending spam in your email. The scam ended when Starbucks used Twitter to tell its followers of the problem.  That information spread to Facebook and the problem disappeared.

So the daily race for social media consumer confidence will continue.  Who do we like?  Too early to tell, but the Polish sausage is sounding like a winner.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, a communications and marketing company helping others win the social media race.

Dorian Gray in a Missoni Cardigan

By John McGory

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a classic Victorian novel by Oscar Wilde.  The book tells a tale of a young beautiful man, Dorian Gray, who has a portrait of himself painted. 

Realizing his beauty will fade, Dorian (whimsically) expresses a desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait would age rather than him. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts that visually age and disfigure his portrait, while he remains beautiful.

The novel’s prevalent themes are the vanity of aestheticism and the temptation of a double life.  Those same alluring qualities are manifesting themselves in today’s world of social media.  Businesses are selling their souls on Facebook and Twitter to remain beautiful while secretly leading a double life that can be corrupting, if not disfiguring. 

The young developed and made Facebook and Twitter.  The teens and twenty something’s got social media rolling and businesses quickly realized that Facebook was not only wildly popular, but commercially enticing.

Companies are now using Facebook and Twitter to paint a portrait of a young and hip persona. Hot music, cool products and trendy catch phrases are the rage.

But this is where the double life becomes an issue.  Companies generally aren’t run by hip, trendy people.  Bosses are often bean counting, curmudgeons, with budget and computer limitations.

Trouble for a company and its social media comes when policy collides with trendy posts.  The young are quickly disillusioned with companies that talk a good game but fail to live up to today’s new social media-driven business standards.

A recent example is Target.  The Minneapolis-based retailer built a strong following on Facebook but had a disaster when an on-line sale of Missoni products produced a run that overwhelmed its web site and caused a PR disaster involving customer service. 

Now, nasty comments seem to be the rage, literally, on Target’s Facebook page.  The company posted a comment two days ago , weeks after the Missoni debacle, asking customers how fast they could get to Target.  Here is one response:

“That depends. How fast can you fix your suck-tastic baby registry so the thousands of women who are relying on it can get the customer service that they apparently wrongly expected from your company? How about you focus on that instead of pithy Facebook and Twitter posts?”

The young beautiful company on Facebook becomes the disfigured picture of Dorian Gray.    

Facebook is not going away.  Customers are going to look for companies on social media sites and they need to be there.  Just don’t get lost in the youthful vanity of your Facebook posts.  To quote the past generation, keep it real baby.

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 John McGory is a partner at Web Face, a social media and communications firm.  Web Face (http://www.web-face-solutions.com/)  consults with companies and organizations on Facebook postings, video and other social media and Internet needs.

Social media tips to avoid being crushed like Hank Jr.

By John McGory

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” 

Walt Kelly’s famous quote from Pogo sums up today’s world of social media.  Almost every day someone is made into an enemy with their complete lack of understanding of the power of today’s media.  The only thing more amazing is how quickly the world crushes the new-found enemy.

This week’s poor sucker is Hank Williams, Jr.  Good old boy Hank conjured up in his head the idea to create a metaphor sticking Adolph Hitler and President Barack Obama in the same sentence.  He should have stuck to singing. 

This was an act of career suicide.  Hank compared the most hated person of the 20^th century with a sitting president.  The comment defies logic no matter your political views.

There was a time in the not so distant past where a slip of the tongue could slide by without a person committing professional hara-kiri.  Those days are now simply quaint memories.  It took ESPN less than 24 hours to pull Hank’s theme song from Monday Night Football.

So another person is turned into an enemy of the state by ill-conceived comments, videos or tweets.  How can people learn from this never-ending cycle of personal destruction?  A couple of columns ago we discussed the importance of combining ideas and how that leads to genius. 

Here are some ideas that will prevent you from social media suicide.  We will combine some educational disciplines to teach basic social media lessons.

1.      Not-so-free speech: Speech is no longer free.  If you combine lessons in math, English and government, it becomes clear that you can calculate what it costs in income to carelessly exercise your right to freedom of speech.

2.      No pictures please: Do what you can to stay off camera.  Studying visual arts, career counseling and math can teach anyone how a mobile device has the ability to make your $100,000 college education worthless.

3.      Personal decorum:  Combine concepts from law, history, sign language and sociology and you will soon learn that any derogatory language, reference or gesture on film or in the written word can and will be used against you.

4.      Caught in the act:  Blend concepts from visual arts, health, sex education, computer technology and law and you will soon see how videos of drinking alcohol, taking drugs, sexual activity or criminal acts shown on the Internet are never easily explained and often lead to criminal prosecution.

5.      New ideas:  Understand basic education to see how topics like outrageous metaphors, revisionist history, new math and creationism should be vetted by at least three people who aren’t close friends before you verbalize it on camera or in public.

New media is a challenge. It may be too late for Hank Williams, Jr. and many others, but you still have a chance.  Just remember we are our own worst enemies and we have to learn to protect ourselves from ourselves.

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In Your Webface is brought to you by Web Face, a Columbus marketing, social media and communications company.  Learn more at www.web-face-solutions.com.

Social Media Response Times

By Martha Wilson

You wouldn’t dream of allowing your phone to ring off the hook, or let a customer go straight to voicemail. In today’s business climate, responsiveness is the key to your company’s success.

If your organization has embraced social media (and if it hasn’t, it’s missing out on major customer connections) what’s the next step? You must consistently respond – to  Facebook comments, e-mail questions, tweets, and Blog posts.

First, post your hours of operation on your profile page to let customers know what to expect. If you aren’t monitoring your pages at 3 a.m., say so. That way, you won’t turn off the insomniacs.

Customers who email expect you will acknowledgement their request within one to two hours. This is especially true when you’re dealing with a complaint. Other email messages should be answered in 24 hours.

Twitter is a more immediate challenge. You should try to respond within a half hour. If your customers are tweeting, they expect more immediate feedback.

Facebook communication is a 24-7 thing. But if someone files  a complaint, you’ll want to respond in under an hour.  Questions and other customer service issues can be handled in under two hours. You should weigh in on general conversation or comments within a day.

Blogs and Forums require the same attention as Facebook – that is, daily.  Remember that best practices mean you respond at least within a day.

Social media is a more effective, more direct, more instantaneous way to say, “This company cares and this company responds.”  Businesses need to learn to adapt, and adapt quickly.

Fast food restaurants get it.

McDonalds, Wendy’s, and Chick-Fil-A have all captured more than a million fans on their Facebook pages. They are versed in “fast” as a key driver for customers. Wendy’s had an astonishing 20-minute response time to more than 6,000 posts in January 2001, according to Jason Falls, founder/editor of Social Media Explorer.

What’s the secret? These companies, understanding the strong correlation between responsiveness and engagement – hire people to do it.

If you communicate with your customers through social media, or are considering it, make the time to respond. It’s the smartest way to attract and keep your client base.

Martha Wilson is an associate at Web Face, (http:web-face-solutions.com), a marketing and communications company that will help you listen to and respond to your clients on social media channels.

Are Universities Today's Living Dinosaurs?

By John McGory

Social media is the greatest “do-it-yourself” communications tool of all time. Unlike the printing press, telegraph, telephone, radio and television, social media unleashes the power of the individual to communicate to the world.

Social media puts the printing press into each of our hands.  It makes us television producers, columnists and telegraph operators.  We can form and enrich relationships with people around the world and down the street.  “Social” in this context means much more than a “howdy-doo neighbor.”

This medium is still in its infancy. We will determine what it grows up to be.  Our hands are on the controls. How will it change us?  Here are a few potential areas. 

Social media will further democratize knowledge.  The printing press took the power of knowledge away from the Church and made it secular.  Social media will do the same to large institutions.  Universities, governments and corporations will face challenges.

Advertising will not be the obtrusive ogre that has stalked us for decades.  People will exchange information among peers regarding products and services.  Companies that abuse our trust will suffer.  Television, radio and newspapers will not hold the captive audiences they once did, so molding public opinion will be challenging.

Politics will see rapid change.  Like-minded people will find it easier to collaborate on issues.  Politicians will bypass traditional media sources and speak directly to the people, but this freedom comes with a price.  Politicians who lie to the public will be sent packing.  Campaign contributors may wield less influence as social media reintroduces democracy to our political system.

Social media will drive down profit margins.  The flow of information among people will expose cost differentials among similar products.  Businesses will need to keep up with lower-priced competitors or face the consequences.

So how does a business prepare for such tumultuous change?  Here are a few simple “do-it-yourself” activities:

1.  Get training on how to effectively use social media. Owners need to quit pretending social media is a fad and understand its implications to business.

2.  Review your advertising mix and track its effectiveness.  If certain forms of your advertising have slumped it may not be due to the recession.  Fundamental changes are taking place and it may be time to try new strategies.

3.  Tell the truth.  The fastest way to oblivion is deceiving your customers.

4.  Don’t oversell when using social media.  How bored are you when someone tries to sell you insurance at a cocktail party?  Social media is the same.  Bores will not be tolerated.

Social media will change the world forever.  Its power is not yet fully understood.  What is established, however, is that we are not going back to traditional advertising, politics and business as usual. 

Aldous Huxley’s wrote in Brave New World that “When the individual feels, the community reels.”  Social media allows the individual to feel and tell his friends all about it.  The community is beginning to reel.

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 John McGory is a partner at Web Face (www.web-face-solutions.com) , a marketing and communications company that helps businesses and organizations prepare for the future. 

When Peanut Butter Met Jelly

By John McGory

Dean Keith Simonton, in his 1989 book “Scientific Genius,” suggests that geniuses are superior because they form more novel combinations than the merely talented.

Exciting new opportunities or experiences are possible through novel combos.  When peanut butter met jelly, magic happened.  The same can be said for Monday nights and football, sizzle and steak, Oreos and milk, spandex and clothing and recliners, remote controls and flat screen TVs.  Once the atom of creativity is split between entities, the fusion of genius is created.

The rush to social media for business applications is impressive.  Companies of all shapes and sizes are creating Facebook fan pages, Twitter accounts and blogs.  But in many cases, rather than creating magic, these efforts are provoking ire from the boss who wonders why they are paying someone to tweet, “Have a nice day.”

Like Einstein and energy, mass and the speed of light, astonishing business results come from the combining of ideas.  It takes a truly creative mind to fuse unlikely combinations that turn a zipper into Velcro.  But it doesn’t take Lennon and McCartney to put together simple social media and business ideas to make sweet music.

Think strategically about how your company uses its newsletters, blogs, social media and web sites in tandem.  These vehicles need to act in unison to create community and eventually drive traffic to your web site.

After scratching our collective heads over our own web site, social media channels, blogs and newsletter, we at Web Face decided to coordinate two or three messages at a time.  Here are some non-techie ideas on how to put it together.

1.  Create a blog.  Keep it short, in the 150-to-500-word range.  Make it topical, interesting and fun. Entice the reader to want to know more about your company without pushing a hard sell.  If you have different topics, create several blogs and include a link to your web site.  Write catchy headlines.  Hire talent if you don’t have the staff to create attention.

2.  Create an email newsletter.  In the newsletter put two or three teasers about your last few blogs.  Link the blog so people can find it.

3.  Tweet your blogs and post them on your web site or Facebook page.  Track your blogs to see where your traffic is coming from – your tweets, your Facebook page or your newsletter?    

4.  Track which topics drive traffic.  Improve the system as you progress.

The key is to take a couple catchy blog ideas at a time and promote them using the social media tools available.  This combo of your ideas and social media tools will bring more customers to you.  It isn’t peanut butter and jelly, but this simple lesson on combining ideas can bring a new appreciation of the power of the Internet.

John McGory is a partner at Web Face.  Web Face (www.web-face-solutions.com) can help you combine the ideas that will make your company’s social media efforts soar.

Vaudeville Tips for Going Viral in Peoria

By John McGory

Does your social media business plan “play in Peoria?”  If not, then consider a few 100-year-old tips from the vaudeville stage to attract an audience to your tired Facebook act. 

Vaudeville was the main form of entertainment in our country from the 1880s through the early 1930s.  The term vaudeville came from the French phrase “voix de ville” or voice of the city.

Social media is today’s vaudeville.  Our “voix de ville” comes from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The original vaudeville show was a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill.  Comedians, singers, dancers, Shakespearian actors, jugglers, freaks and anyone else who could entertain an audience shared stages across America.

Entertainers strived to refine their acts to work their way from the small towns to the big-time venues of New York and Chicago.  “Will it play in Peoria?” was vaudeville’s mantra, as promoters knew talent would shine through no matter where it played.

The similarities of vaudeville and social media are hard to miss. Many gather on common digital platforms these days to provide entertainment, social commentary and business, all on the same bill.  Statistics show that more than 90 percent of Americans work to be noticed in the social media theater.

Yet many businesses still struggle on the social media stage.   They strive for the big time but too often end up getting the hook.  Here are five vaudeville principles that apply to your social media efforts. 

1.      Keep it clean. Vaudeville promoters passed out blue envelopes each Monday to acts that used lewd language or themes, warning them to change the material or be blackballed.  Off color content will repel more people than attract. Keep your web sites, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts PG clean.

2.      Know your audience.  Vaudeville comedians drew on numerous accents for their acts.  They would not, however, make fun of Germans in a town full of Germans.  They made fun of Italians.  (ba-dah-bing) Be relevant, not repulsive.   

3.      Content rules.  Milton Berle, the late vaudeville and television comedian, said it took 18 months to two years to develop seven minutes of good stand-up comedy.  Having quality social media content takes time, effort, talent and continuous editing.      

4.      Pay for talent.  Telling a joke does not make you a comedian.  Hire the talent to make your web site and social media channels crackle with excitement.  The business owner is the promoter, not the act.

5.      Keep it current.  Audiences in 1920 wanted to hear Swanee, not By the Old Mill Stream, which was so 1910.  Vaudeville audiences wanted fresh, exciting and fun stuff.  Your audience wants the same.  Update your social media material on a regular basis.  If it never changes, you’ll be playing to an empty house.

Keep these ideas in mind as you try to attract an audience for your business.  And who knows?  If it plays in Peoria, it just might go viral!

Why do you think most business social media campaigns don't attract an audience?  Too boring?  Visually unappealing?  What one tip would you give to make a social media campaign zing?

John McGory is a partner in Web Face, a Columbus communications and marketing company that will help your company “Play in Peoria.”

Social Media Crisis Management

by Martha Wilson

Most of us find it hard to imagine what Rep. Anthony Weiner was thinking when he committed a serious social media faux pas by tweeting out near-naked photos and inappropriate comments to young women. While social media can be a minefield, when used correctly it is not a dangerous entity. In fact, it’s standard practice for smart companies to use Facebook and Twitter to manage negative publicity.

As Weiner discovered, juggling multiple Twitter accounts can be a challenge. And while nothing could have saved the New York congressman’s job, the best tack to take in a crisis is to acknowledge, apologize and use humor to move on. When a Red Cross employee recently tweeted about buying a six-pack of beer for the chapter’s entire blood donor base, Red Cross embraced their “human voice.”  They tweeted an apology and admitted the mistake.

The guilty employee also jumped in with apologetic tweets.  Right away, consumers loyal to the brand weighed in with supportive comments, reminding people that mistakes are human. In short, most said, “Hey, we’ve all been there.” 

The brewery even encouraged customers to join the Red Cross blood drive. “Brand evangelists (people who believe in your product or company) want to see you succeed,” says mackcollier.com.

Before you jump into a fray, consider pondering these crisis-situation questions offered by Walter Shrabe at fusedlogic.com:

·       Is the information factually accurate or inaccurate?

·       Is the responsible person, account or organization credible?

·       Which platforms are being used for the negative activity?

·       Does the responsible party understand the technology they used and the community they reached?

·       Is there current conversation you can research related to the incident?

·       What was the sentiment of the initial responses to the negative statement?

·       Is the discussion growing in size or is it isolated?

Once you’ve answered these questions, it’s time to respond using the social media platforms that reach your audience and customer base.

A final thought from Bloomabq.com: “It’s important to remember that corporate reaction through social media can’t change facts, but it can build (or rebuild) confidence among customers that they will get what they pay for.”

It’s likely Weiner has a long way to go to rebuild, but Bloomabq’s advice is worth remembering.

Martha Wilson is an associate at Web Face, a communication and marketing company helping clients stride through the minefields of social media