Question of the day: How much value are you getting from the collective social media services that you use? Do you have a focused social marketing strategy, or are you drowning in the time-sucking abyss?
Take a moment to analyze the value you are getting from your social networking campaign, and the specific results of your social marketing strategy. There are actually 3 points to consider for true analysis...
1. Tangible trackable data: ROI
2. Branding/image awareness
3. Link building & search positioning
I read a blog post by Paul Short this morning that really struck a chord with me. It's titled My Problem With Social Marketing. Ironically, I found the link to this post on Twitter. Paul calls "Social Marketing" an oxymoron, and says:
"What if being part of all these social networks does nothing for you and your business because of the way it’s structured. What if maintaining appearances at all those social networks is actually hurting your business and negatively impacting your bottom line?"
I can see where that would be the case, but I dont believe it has to do with the way certain social tools or sites are structured. But more how you use them. It's important to take stock and step in with a strategic plan, else you risk getting pulled in to a neverending inefficient unproductive time-suck.
Let's take Twitter as one example. In a previous post I suggested that 'tweets' should contain a good mix of current news, opinions, conversations and announcements.
On the one hand I can appreciate the opportunity to interact on a more personal level. But when it comes to marketing or networking, the word 'social' pertains to being personable (vs personal), which - in my opinion - should be accomplished while still retaining an appearance of professionalism.
Before you sling the flames let me just say that I enjoy hearing about lifestyles, birthdays, programming frustrations and home office discussions. But again, I would like to see a good mix.
I wish that Twitter was less like a 'chat room' and more of a way to quickly consume valuable information from select sources.
If I had my way I would be getting solid tweet-size tips from each person that I follow. Organizing tips from an organization expert, SEO tips/news from a search pro, the latest blog post or topic of discussion from bloggers I follow, news on local events from meetup planners, etc, etc. Instead I am seeing a lot of random conversation and none (or very little) of the above.
Again I do like the who is where, what's going on, things & people & places to know - but its the endless chatter that creates so much noise in between all the valuable information that is becoming an issue for me.
Bottom line: I would much rather receive actionable information and relevant links. Of course I have no need to try to change Twitter, I simply plan to change how I am using it.
I am learning as I go, and in the process of trimming down my 'intake' while still maintaining a social profile and solid connections. Basically cutting out 'noise' on various social networking sites so that I can consume very specific information: info that I can use myself, or can review and pass on.
Its all in who you follow - or what you're set up to receive - on any given site. Since we have a choice in that, you can easily manipulate your settings & connections so that you can be super-efficient with your information consumption.
Obviously these are good points to keep in mind when you consider what you're putting out there as well 😉 See: 5 Ways To Build Your Twitter Following
The absolute best use of Twitter that I can come up with is Darren Rowse of Problogger. His tweets set a good example of both what I would like to see more of, and what I would like to accomplish myself.
In another blog post I read today, Tim Bossie said:
"I think it's more important to follow people than for others to follow you. For one simple reason. You are exposed to different ideas, different people, different cultures, different ways of thinking. It's more beneficial in the long run to you personally."
Who you follow, and why, depends on your objective. That objective is going to be different for everyone and may be networking, socializing, marketing etc. The point is that there is no blueprint or "right way" to make use of Twitter or any of the social sites. But whatever it is, you must have a specific purpose - period.
I encourage you to put some serious consideration in the question I posed at the very beginning of this post: How much value are you getting from the collective social media services that you use?
Your thoughts and experiences are welcomed, of course 🙂
Best,
p.s. Two more points I'd like to share, which are purely my opinion...
While I love the conversational style of Twitter, I dont hang out in bars offline and truly wish that there was less "bar talk" and more productive conversation between tweets. I honestly dont see the point in knowing how much alcohol you consume.
And point #2 - If what you are trying to communicate takes more than 140 characters, consider whether Twitter is the best platform to use. Some things should be sent via email vs "DM" and some topics could easily be published as a short blog post and then linked to.
Just a couple of points to consider 😉
About Lynn Terry
Very informative post. I'm about to kick into the whole social marketing thing.
Nice to learn what I have from your post before diving in
I just added another 60 to the people I follow - people I recognise as readers.
I log into twitter a just a couple of hours per day, deal with replies, direct messages, maybe join in a conversation, and then leave.
If someone is an active member of my blog, I am going to follow them.
If I can gain in some other way from following someone, I will follow them.
That can be multiple things
1. Information and conversation
2. Just to see if they follow me back
3. Branding and adding a new direct communication channel
Some aspects are very powerful, such as when someone with a large following accpets you as a friend just after joining a new service - the knock on effect is that when they promote their presence on a service, you are already there and visible.
Also don't forget to claim Twitter in Technorati
At first I use to be concerned that following too many people would make it difficult for me to track/stay involved in conversations between people I know.
Twitter had become a pretty cozy place for me and the friends I have on there.
Once I decided to venture out and follow more people I found I ended up meeting new people with similar business interests. That's been a big bonus for me.
I've used Twitter (with DM) to arrange interviews, to get leads for my business and even to connect with others involved in a regional economic effort that is of importance to me.
Twitter has been all good for me - it's fast, convenient and I can go and come as my schedule allows.
I just started using Twitter a few days ago and am still getting used to it. I can see how it can be a total time-waster.
On the other hand, I can also see how you can use it to build rapport with marketers that you may not be able to connect with via the traditional avenues we're used to.
I don't use MySpace, not for any particular reason, just haven't gotten over there and I'm still figuring out Facebook, but I like the quickness of Twitter.
As Andy said above, you can log on, check a few things, make some connections and then leave.
I think if used in a smart way, it can be very beneficial.
Great post.
I think twitter is really interesting and useful.
I have found many ways to benefit from it and find it to be a really productive resource in the social media world.
It is important to take a step back and evaluate your use of it, but overall it is a really great tool.
Thanks again for the interesting post.
Josh
@JoshAnstey
I agree of course. My primary point being that I would love to see more valuable information being shared, and more opportunity for making professional connections.
As I said, I am learning as I go, and of course sharing my observations along the way. I'm interested to hear more users' experiences and opinions too, to get a feel for how people are using Twitter and why - and possible ways we can work together towards improvement.
Agreed.
I think the usefulness also depends on who you follow.
The great thing are that you can follow people that are simply interesting and fun, and others that are providing great useful information and content.
It's in its early stages. I think we are about to see it take off.
As one guilty of multi-tweet posts to get out a whole thought, I have wondered about this very issue.
That said, I must also confess to having succumbed to the compelling (some say "addictive") nature of Twitter. With the particular group I "hang out" with, primarily Internet Marketers related in one way or another to Lynn, I have felt such a growing sense of community. THAT is addictive.
We work in virtual isolation most of the time. Being able to send out a tweet for help that will be almost instantly answered is invaluable. Joking around with one another, teasing, confessing, asking and answering questions -- all these things have built stronger connections between a lot of us and helped us get to know useful information about one another. I have developed online relationships with members of Lynn's forum and weekly Webinar regulars that I didn't even know before. This wouldn't have been possible in the same way without the Twitter experience.
(The same can be said for Skype rooms, but there we're not restricted to 140 characters. The ability to communicate through voice adds another layer of relationship building, but it requires more time than Twitter, at least more CONCENTRATED time.)
There is, as Lynn suggests, a kind of "chat room" mentality about Twitter. Except, we sometimes only get one side of a conversation when someone we're following is conversing with someone we're NOT following. Talk about your non sequitur. But unlike chat rooms, our tweets become public record. Every confession, every curse, every blooper, gets dumped into that big, cyber database in the sky and is SEARCHABLE on specialized Twitter search engines.
My personal opinion is that some of the issues Lynn raises will be addressed by Twitter developers. I would love to be able to have Twhirl (or another add-on application) help me manage some of the tweets I get. I understand what Lynn is talking about with wanting the information we get more organized.
I'd also like to see a separate area where more extensive conversations could be conducted, instead of having to transfer to AIM, MSM or Skype. That would relieve some of the multi-part tweets. Threads could be kept and people could "subscribe" to an extended thread.
A lot of how you perceive Twitter depends if you're using the web-based interface or an add-on like Twhirl or Twitterfox.
I wish there were a way that I could filter some of the tweets from people I follow whom I prefer NOT to unfollow. No doubt others would like to do that with me, too. Sometimes I'm all over the place and that must make some of you crazy. It wouldn't surprise me to learn people had unfollowed me because I tweet too much at times. (Like when I'm avoiding doing something I ought to do...)
For you programmers out there (@dewald, are you listening?) consider the shortcomings of present Twitter add-ons and brainstorm ways to solve some of these problems. This is a prime opportunity.
While I appreciate the shortcomings, I'd hate to see people just give up on Twitter. That would be a shame, akin to throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Deb Gallardo
posted by lynn: "My primary point being that I would love to see more valuable information being shared, and more opportunity for making professional connections"
I absolutely agree with this, otherwise then it will become nothing much more than a big social chat room and time waster.
Thanks for the link, Lynn. It's good to know some people still read my blog 😉
Quote from your coment above:
"My primary point being that I would love to see more valuable information being shared, and more opportunity for making professional connections."
The one thing that most social networks have in common, is that they were never set up with marketing or business in mind (unless they were specifically set up as professional networks, like Linkedin.com) so it's going to be hard to get a lot of value out of them if you approach them with "marketing glasses" on.
I've had people unfollow me on twitter, block me and publically complain about me on there because of the mix of subject matter in my tweets, and I've went on rants telling them that different people will use twitter in different ways and instead of making 'elitest idiots' of themselves, they should know that already since they claim to be at the top of the web2.0 and social media ladders with 10's of 1000's of followers...
Right now, I have people who are following but I'm not following them and they have gone off on a hissy-fit calling me all kinds of names because I'm not following them back. Didn't seem to occur to them that just because they may be interested in what I have to say, doesn't mean I'm interested in them... Drama.
At any rate, what it all boils down to is, no matter how you use it or how someone else uses it, follow or friend people whose content you're interesting in and don't follow if you don't think their stuff is what you'd like to read every day.
This "follow me I follow you" thing is kind of silly. Why follow someone, just because they followed you?
Seems harsh and a bit anti-social, but in what I've written in this comment is the reason I've dumped all but twitter out of my social networks portfolio.
I've had enough drama for 10 lifetimes and it's time to finally get some work done 😉
I agree on the following and feel that the people you follow and those that follow you are going to be (and should be?) two different groups - for the most part. There are some obvious exceptions: friends, etc.
There are certain people that I follow that I have had great respect for and would LOVE to see more out of. Unfortunately I'm only hearing now drunk they are or pieces and parts of personal conversations - and zero reference to the side of them I know professionally and want to hear more about.
If everyone (specifically in our industry) followed the example of Darren Rowse, Twitter would be an incredible resource.
A perfect example of some of the value I get out of Twitter... Its the one place I can scan for recent posts from almost all of the people I 'follow' online 😉
You asked for comments on: "Twitter: a neverending inefficient unproductive time-suck?"
I agree that it is. Just see how I took time to post this comment after reading your tweet! 😉
Nice post, Lynn. I blogged last week about NOT wasting time on social networking.
http://MoneyPowerWisdom.com/dont-waste-time-on-social-networks/
Measuring and thinking about your ROI certainly makes sense before wasting too much time dabbling on social networks, under the guise of marketing yourself and your business.
All success
Dr.Mani
Paul and Lynn, you both make great points.
Paul, some of the very reasons you list.. drama, etc. are the same reasons why I left a lot of forums a long time ago.
I also don't agree with the "just because you follow me means I have to follow you", but as Lynn said, friends are a good exception.
There are some people following me who I have no idea who they are, although I will introduce myself and then will decide if I want to follow them.
Then, there are people following me in which I said, "wow, they're following me? why would THEY want to follow me?" LOL
As I said earlier, it's only been a few days, and I do really like, and appreciate, how Darren is using Twitter.... a great model to follow. (no pun intended) lol
Dr. Mani once said that he looks at Twitter as sort of the conversation around the water cooler. Something to check into when you take a break.
I think we have to remember that Twitter wasn't really built around marketers, but socializers. As Twitter puts it "... a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"
I like your conception better. I don't really need to know what everybody is doing. I'd rather know what they find interesting that I might also.
Carl Pruitt
I guess some people use twitter as an outlet where they don't have to feel pressured into always having a professional image.
As for you finding my blog post on twitter... one of the reasons I kept it active over the other networks... cuz there's value 😉
Ok, ok, I'll stop now.
@PaulShort:
"I guess some people use twitter as an outlet where they don’t have to feel pressured into always having a professional image."
Well, those folks need to remember that Twitter, like Google, has a long memory - and it's easy to find Twitter pages on search results!
🙂
Dr.Mani
Agreed. And sadly Twitter has changed my perception of certain people in a few short weeks... after 'following' them elsewhere for years.
Twitter is both good and a time waster... I spend too much time there... and make useless posts that people probably don't want to hear.
Sometimes I chat too much on it (created twitresponse.com to try and space this out a little).
But at the same time, I don't regret using it and highly recommend it.
It's the ONLY medium that allowed me to get to know Ed, Dan, Allisonr, HarmonicBarbie, Nez, NextInstinct (and others) the way that I have. Without twitter they would still be strangers to me, but now I consider them to be my friends.
As a tool to get to know people, it's wonderful. Imagine the benefits to a business. Even the huge cable company, Comcast, has people in their executive's office using twitter to help their customers.
http://www.twitter.com/comcastcares
~Shannon
Twitter can be a time waster if all you do is hang around and follow what everybody else is up to. Some people tend to post a lot of personal stuff which I just skip.
My main use of Twitter is for networking, checking out new ideas and for brand exposure.
The tweets that I find most useful are those that point me to an interesting resource or news item which I would not otherwise have known about.
It can be a good way to let others know about your latest blog post but some folks do it too much and it loses its effectiveness if all you're doing is self-promotion.
The "golden rule" certainly applies to Twitter as well. Treat others the way you would have them treat you. Or should I say, "tweet others the way you would have them tweet you."
Ha ha.
I have still extremely mixed reactions to Twitter. On one hand it has brought new people into my life and has helped to establish deeper links with people. On the other is the time factor - though I love Twhirl as a client it is very distracting whwen I am trying to get a blog post finished. I have stopped publicizing my Twitter url because I just can't follow any more people without going completely bonkers. I will continue on with Twitter but I am going to get more and more strict with myself as to when it is appropriate to spend time on it. My clients, my blog, my Skype room and the products I am working on have to come first.
@Lynn
Point taken, Lynn.
That point certainly wasnt directed at you, Paul 😉 Just to clarify 😀
For someone just learning the ins and outs of a true online business presence, Twitter is a tremendous learning experience.
I sometimes feel that I'm in Wayne's World, listening to and being near Heather Locklear! (hope the humor doesn't get lost here - I'm not worthy??)
I admit I've been spending too much time catching up on past tweets. The amazing benefit of connecting with quality people and information is for me a great ROI on time spent.
I am in the process of disciplining myself to get more productive and confident with my content. This is helping me do so.
A simple example is a conversation going on about Flip video cameras. In just a couple postings, there were links and pros and cons of a couple of models. Invaluable info that I couldn't find in a traditional search.
So, I would like to use Twitter, not as an IM, but as a focus point, as a connector, and as a way to learn and contribute to others by offering what I can, too.
Best,
Mary
The biggest benefit for me doesn't actually fall into the 3 criteria you set out.
I'm not on Twitter or the handful of forums I visit for any ROI or even to build incoming links.
The biggest benefit I've come across is the value of problem solving. Whether I need an answer to a question, need to hire someone to do something quickly for me or even need help in a promotion of some kind...these very few groups I belong to have been absolutely priceless for that.
I'm very new to social media and 'm on twitter for info.
I was particularly impressed by 3 tweeters who have devised strategies to achieve their objectives and wrote a small blog post about their strategies.
http://snurl.com/264gv
I'm glad I'm tweeting. Apart from gathering gr8 info, I made few good friends, found a gr8 mentor (Yes, lynn?? 🙂 ), and don't feel isolated in this distant land.
Great post Shri - thx for sharing the link!
I agree with you all that its a valuable tool, and dont intend to stop using it by any means. I love the social aspect, and I love the incredible networking opportunity it presents.
Hi Lynn!
Thank you for using the a quote from my blog post on Twitter. I am very humbled. 🙂
I agree with you that more useful information would be great. It would leverage my time spent on Twitter and help me learn, and grow, as a marketer and, in some cases, as a consumer.
But I do like the "social" aspect of Twitter (or any other social medium. It's pretty cool (or quite depressing, especially in the winter) to know that people in California are going surfing, people in Tenn. are sitting on their back deck, people in Hawaii are posting amazing pictures and people in Australia are doing whatever Australians do.
To me, I feel that's the most valuable asset of Twitter. I wouldn't have gotten to know someone like Jeff Jones (@gronesy) without the conversation we had that didn't include marketing at all.
I think that if people focus solely on the marketing aspect of Twitter, constantly posting links, it will turn into another spam tool and lose it's current, and potential, value.
Just my thoughts. 🙂
We are definitely in agreement on that point. I have engaged in hundreds of conversations myself, and made some great new friends thru Twitter. Even Darren Rowse gets involved in brief conversations. I'm not against it being a social platform by any means.
The primary point of this topic being that it could easily be used as a 24-hour "chat room" and turn into a major time-suck VS being a valuable communication/networking tool.
Keep in mind that a lot of people will follow a particular person for a few days and make a decision about that person based on their twitter activity alone. That decision might be whether to buy their product, approach them about a JV, recommend them, etc. I know I do that myself...
Lynn,
I'm going to print all this out and make copies and bring to the Nashville meeting 🙂
Seriously this is the topic for the meeting and the type of discussion I hope we have, lol.
I try to do what you suggest here, a little personal, a little what is going on, and a little of the things I have found that I thought were cool. I may post that I'm on a field trip with one of my kids, that actually has two purposes for me. One is a little personal, I have kids and they are important. The other purpose is to let anyone know that may try to reach me that day, I'm not in the 'office'.
But I have also found it to be a bit of a time suck. I spend way to much time there, seeing what everyone else is up to, lol. Checking out the cool resources others have found.
I love Twitter though, because I have come in contact with people that I would not have normally. And I like taking a peek at how others spend their time other than running their business. How alike are they to me, do they do something that would be cool to try.
So, yes for me it is a bit of a mixed bag, lol.
I'll bring a print copy of Social Media Daily too, along with some other material I'm reading. Looking forward to the meetup! For anyone interested in joining us, see: http://www.clicknewz.com/1467/nashville-meetup-may10/
A 'mix' is exactly what I'm after on Twitter. I like knowing who's where and what's going on. Its easy to guage best time to contact someone (or not!) etc.
Lynn,
If you're tweeting that you woke up at 6:00am and enjoying a cup of hazelnut coffee, don't you invite tweet responses to that?
So you shouldn't kvetch about people sending you un-actionable tweets!
I follow all your tweets, and am fascinated with your use of twitter because you send the most personal tweets of the handful of people I follow. And then I read this post from you!
You portend my future in a few months when I feel like I'm drowning in tweets and wonder how best to manage it. In the meantime, let me know when you switch to Irish Cream!
-Bob
I'm starting to question if I did a terrible job conveying my thoughts in the original post, or if perhaps I was just misunderstood...
Hi Bob,
I dont think I kvetched (?) "unactionable tweets" in general. I stated what I prefer and also said I really like a good mix of conversation, announcements, tips, etc. The mix being the key.
I think its 'cool' knowing where people are and what they're doing at any given time. That is actually the true purpose of Twitter.
This morning I logged in with my "hello world" tweet, answered questions, announced a local meetup, offered some tips & let people know what I was doing. That's a decent mix, and is the kind of thing I like to 'follow' as well.
My point with this blog post was not to 'kvetch' on anyone at all. But rather to suggest you approach Social Networking with a purpose and not just get sucked into a 24-hour chat room.
Considering I recommended Twitter as a valuable networking tool to other online business owners, I thought it good measure to discuss potential negatives - particularly when time management is one of our biggest issues 😉
I loved your reply on Twitter by the way, lol - but you're not contributing to my 'time suck'. I truly love meeting new people and engaging in productive relevant conversations. I do apologize if I gave any other impression.
Let me share an example of what frustrates me...
I follow A-List Marketer "X" and read through 100+ tweets from them in the first week. I followed them because I love their product/blog or whatever. In 100+ tweets they never mention that, but instead tweet about how drunk they are, how stupid someone else is, what they are watching on TV, etc. And they never respond to replies. Obviously I unfollow when I realize there is no value in those tweets for me personally.
No big deal since I have that option. Again, sharing this to help others consider best use of Twitter and also analyze the ROI ...
I couldn't agree more Lynn! You put all my thoughts into words with that post, so thank you. I noticed you weren't Tweeting as much and wondered why, now I know:)
You said in one of your comments "Agreed. And sadly Twitter has changed my perception of certain people in a few short weeks… after ‘following’ them elsewhere for years."
I know what you mean, just today I "unfollowed a few people.
So thank you Lynn for setting the standard of where it should be.
Hi, its interesting to go through your website which has good information on social marketing.Internet marketing is not that easy .It has many things to do.The things to be focused mainly are the link building and search positioning.Because link building is one of the internet marketing service which can get you more traffic.
Actually its because I've been sick 🙂 I love Twitter and dont plan to stop using it at all. I've just been busy with other things during the hours I have been able to work the last couple of days. That's all!
These are simply my personal evaluations after using Twitter for one full month - and my concerns. I think its smart to jump in and really get a feel for how it works, and then make decisions on best use for what you want back out of it.
Thought provoking post Lynn. On the one hand, I agree with what you wrote. Some folks do not come across very professionally. Using language that would make a sailor blush. And, although I do enjoy probloggers tweets I find them a bit impersonal. Like they're press releases.
After all the creation of these sites like Twitter is for social networking not all out marketing. They're are quickly turned into publicity mechanism by marketers, businesses, politicians, etc.
The free spirit side of me says keep it personal and fun while my marketing side say I should be social marketing not chatting. I try to strike a balance and not think oh-how can I get my link in this tweet. That's not my cup of tea.
That written, Twitter has had a positive business impact for me already. Someone tweeted that they needed a guest blogger to write about web redirection. I replied. I wrote a piece for his popular blog. Giving me exposure and picking up opt-ins for my new link redirection site. All because we tweeted. So Tweeter has worked for me as a business tool.
Good to hear Alan, and I can say the same. Its a very powerful networking tool, no doubt about it. And I do like the social side of Twitter as well. All said and done, I think the winning combination is a good mix.
The only real downside I see is the potential to get sucked into a neverending "live chat" and allowing that to kill your productivity.
Hi Lynn -
I just wanted to let you know I just wrote a new article called, How to Make Your Blog Better - Part II: 6 Benefits of Stumbling.
I linked to your blog again!
It will post at midnight 5/2/2008, AZ time
Thanks Dominique, I look forward to reading it!
Another great blog post to check out: http://www.conversationsmatter.org/2008/05/01/desperately-seeking-metrics-whats-the-business-case-for-social-media/ (see comments also)...
Hi Phillip - welcome to ClickNewz 🙂
It would definitely be impossible to keep up with hundreds of social sites - its hard enough to keep up with just a handful lol. The key is to pick the networks that work best for you and get as involved as you can.