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 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.

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.

The Illusion of Facebook Friends

By John McGory

Today’s world of social media is an illusion.  Facebook and Twitter deceive us with the promise of unlimited friendship and business connections.  Unfortunately, our brains are not wired for infinite associations.

It is true we can have 5,000 “friends” on Facebook and unlimited numbers of followers on Twitter.  But Robin Dunbar, English anthropologist, says the size of the “tribe” we can handle is around 150. 

Our brains are hardwired to handle only so much input.  Think about it.  You may have 500 friends on Facebook, but how many would you actually sit down with for a cup of coffee?  Certainly not 500.

A recent Indiana University study bolstered Dunbar’s Rule of 150.  They studied 1.7 million Twitter accounts over six month and analyzed 380 million tweets.  The average Twitter account had real ongoing conversations with just 150 people. 

The study also concluded that our brains are not changing.  Technology is not going to give us the power to turn into social super freaks.  We are simply reorganizing and selecting who we want to be in our tribe.  So, out with the weird cousin and in with the business associate from Bismarck. 

Social network companies are beginning to see the need to help users organize friends.  The new Google+ project attempts to deal with this by encouraging users to categorize friends. This soon-to-be-released social network will allow users to create “circles” of friends. 

Wrap your brain around the idea of your digital tribe and consider the impact of this as it relates to how you handle your business and social life.  Here are a few suggestions on implementing the Dunbar Rule of 150 into your life:

*Know who those 150 friends are.  You don’t have to start “de-friending” people on Facebook, but think about who is important in your business or social life.

*Win them over.  Go out of your way to pay attention to their needs, understand their problems and be there when they need it.  Talk to them as individuals, not as a single drop in a sea of “friends.”

*Don’t get caught up in following the next shining star that pops up on the Internet.  Match.com veterans know what I am talking about.  Focus on the people who have been there for you.  Maybe better things will happen if you focus on them instead of chasing happiness.

*Listen and then try to respond thoughtfully.

These simple rules apply to business or personal relationships.  The Indiana University study said it best when it compared social media and calculators.  Calculators did not make us math geniuses.  Our brains can only do so much.  Facebook and Twitter are not going to make us social rock stars.  Focus on who is important and chances are you will find Internet peace and success.

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Web Face is a communications and marketing company helping businesses focus on the people who really matter.