COMMENTS
Great article this morning. This is a conversation topic I have been addressing with our clients for at least a year now. As these usage statistics continue to grow and grow the option of NOT engaging in social media becomes less and less of an option all together. For us as web marketing professionals it's information like this that will continue to help make our jobs easier as we strive to educate the companies we deal with on the benefits of becoming socially active online with business.
I do not believe that the reason businesses shun Social Media is due to their lack of believe in it. I believe it has to do with pride: Learning something new. Admitting that the new 35 year old exec knows more than the boys who have been with the company for years.
It also has to do with control. Let's admit it - who enjoys giving up control. The company will no longer control communication or glossy ads to polish their brand. Brand image is now made up through what you actually DO rather than just talk. Lot's of new territory for people.
So, discussing the uselessness of SM, getting hung up on ROI, etc. is much simpler. All the while, their competitors are snatching up their customers.
Cheers,
Gunes
Gunes Yilmaztuerk makes another good point here. While I still think there is a measurement and success rate issue that companies are still looking to hurdle, the control factor is a HUGE issue as well.
I have definitely found that with some of the "older" generation (I myself am 31) there is STRONG resistance to give up that control of the messaging, and to "Put Themselves Out There" for everyone to see and interact with.
My answer to this is to remind them that they can always control the direction that their accounts take buy making sure they are consistent with the type of information they decide to share and what personal details they decide are ok to make public.
Thank you Matt. When you speak with these businesses, do you find speaking to them about a Social Media policy or "having the conversation on their turf" helps?
Watched a roundtable discussion on Boston's Channel 2 last night about S. Media in the workplace. Host (age 50+) exhibits typical attitude. "I have no time for this",
"This is a kid's thing" etc etc. My question...where are your customers, clients and associates? Get on board, figure out how it can help your business or organization. It's not a fad and it's not going away. Ignore at your own peril.
Thanks everyone for your comments. Jennifer makes strong, valid points in this article! I certainly feel like saying no to Social Media now would be like ad executives saying no to television in 1950. It's the way that our communication is evolving and companies should embrace Social Media as an opportunity to really connect with their customers and audience.
Matt and Gunes. Thank you for the comments I must agree that "giving up control" does seem to be an issue with several companies. I try to remind them, that ignoring the elephant in the room does not mean that they have control over it.
I see it everyday with our customers. The (older male) President of a Chamber of Commerce that won't use social media or delegates it to his/her staff versus the (younger female) President of a Chamber of Commerce who is looking for ways to partner using social media.
There is definitely a chasm between generations and certainly between between extroverts and introverts.
What I would like to know, does a chasm exist based on gender? culture or ethnicity?
We've found the categorization of updates we use is helpful. Not only from a relevance of the update standpoint but also that it makes people feel "safer" -- that what they are adding to the conversation is less likely to be off-topic.
Think about it...how did it feel the first time you hit "submit" on a blog post? I don't care how outgoing, young, or otherwise socially-media enabled you were...it was an uneasy feeling, at least it was for me.
Gunes, that is one of the first things I bring up with clients, is how they can better manage what is being said and discussed about them by taking it head on, one-on-one with the people taking the time to say things about them in the first place.
There are so many misconceptions out there concerning things like Twitter and Facebook. I find that when the ideas of connecting socially are presented in a business-centric manner that centers around knowledge base and customer relationships people tend to "get it" more. Rather than simply thinking of it as a way to tell everyone what you had for breakfast that morning....
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As social media is getting wider with large population and friends network, it is a beautiful way to get the traffic through social media.
Also these types of Social Media sites are search engine friendly; they can give us instant result in search engines.
On this topic your blog is really incredible........
Many many thanks for the great work.
Sorry, this is a pretty average article. Of course there are "conversations" going on in networks all over the world. Having business "join in" does not usually make a huge difference in their sales or product development; unless the businesses are completely lost.
The title of this blog post makes zero sense in relation to the post itself. Is that a misprint or link bait?
Assuming it is a misprint, this article doesn't mention anything about social media which hasn't been written before. It's not new, creative or original. That's not the author's fault. Hubspot generally publishes much better content than this.
Twelve people posted comments, yet not one mentioned the disconnect between the title and the posting. Did people really read the article? Are people really that lazy when it comes to reading on the internet? If so, it's another reason which shows how difficult it is to market to people and why success comes only by working better, smarter and harder than others.
I disagree with Mark that this is an average article and that businesses don't need to join in the conversation.
I think it's a well-written and well-researched article on a very topical issue.
By engaging in online conversations about their industry, products and services, they build brand reputation, trust and a loyal following. The only other way this can happen is by direct human contact, which is hard to do on a global 24/7 basis. By building relationships online, companies are seeing direct positive impact on sales and a reduction in customer service costs. These facts have been well documented.
Actually, I noticed it Luke and I read the entire article. The reality is this is a perfect example of how social media can work to build relationships and trust.
Because HubSpot has earned some level of trust with me through the value they often provide in their posts, I'm willing to overlook a typo here or there or what some may perceive to be an off-topic heading.
On the other hand, your post sends and entirely different message.
Love this information. The reality is, social media is not just another marketing channel that is optional. Social media is a force of nature online, its not optional anymore - regardless of what business you're in.
Absolutely agreed! The importance of a social media presence, and involvement in social networking is rapidly increasing. Everything is becoming connected - search engines are connecting deeper and deeper with social sites and giving huge opportunities for presence.
Just blogged on another huge step for social networking and business. http://imconnections.com/google-social-search-social-media-stocks-rise-435
The title of this post is accurate for many (most?) businesses. You failed to address any of the regulatory and liability concerns that come a company being involved in social media.
As an example, you fail to realize the liability associated with public statements by private companies. A strict workflow is required for compliance with SEC requirements.
A "poll of social media users" on whether a company should have a presence in social media? That's like a bartender asking the drunks if there should be free beer. I'm surprised that only 85% agreed.
Sorry, two of my links above were broken.
social media marketing and
backlink creating. Those should work now. Notice a few above put in their href's but didn't bother to check them! At least I fix mine. Got to be thorough...
Great article! One question. How exactly do you register your Twitter domain? Are you saying you can register something like
www.twitter.com/billymacdonald. Just a little confused on that point. Thanks!
Dang it! One more time: <a href=http://eprofitpros.com/social_media_marketing.html">social media marketing. Dang typing on laptops, where is the preview option?
DANG!!! One more
social media marketing. Dang typing on laptops, I REPEAT: where is the preview option?
By the way, we don't charge if we have to fix something, that's our expense!
We also considered "Are You Still Letting The Conversation Go on Without You?" . I liked that one, but I have so many people say that exact line to me each month that it's surprising.I thought it would be a good way to start the conversation.Thank you for the feedback.
James, as a person who noticed the dichotomy between the title and the post, you obviously read it thoroughly. It can't be assumed the people who didn't mention it read it article.
I'll agree with you about the building of trust in social media. I, too, have trust and faith in the quality of Hubspot's content, products and people. This, however, falls below Hubspot's usual high quality offerings. Hubspot is great, but that doesn't mean - like every one of us - that there won't be an occasional miss or low-quality offering.
And what is the message my post sends? Please explain. I'd rather know exactly than to make assumptions.
I think social media is more hype than help, and will see a leveling off in 2010. As more and more people and companies jump on the bandwagon, it becomes wishy-washy and the focus is lost.
Too many businesses especially are using social media incorrectly, and could use their resources better elsewhere (such as traditional marketing or PPC).
Luke, since you asked, my first impression was your post had almost a condescending tone to it.
In reading your second post and re-reading your first (more data from which to form an opinion/impression), it's clear you have high standards for your 'relationship' with HubSpot and you 'trust' they'll deliver high value each and every time. In that trust is also the right to tell them the truth when they don't hit the mark; I just didn't see the need to drag everyone else into it.
In the end, I'm not sure what we're learning here except that, whether a relationship is on- or off-line, it requires an investment of time and impressions, good or bad, can be formed in a blink of an eye.
I completely agree with this article and believe that social media is here to stay and will become more and more important in the future. Renttoday.us is an on-line property management and rental portal and we are embarking on a very agressive social media campaign via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogging. We hope to utilize all of these tools in tandem to help promote our property management business and communicate better to our existing and potential clients, investors, and tenants. I also feel that a social media presense helps branding, gives a company a human face, a personality, and creates transparency as well. We are extremely excited about all of the new propspects social media can provide and know that companies taking advantage of these tools will stay at the forefront of their industries.
I am sitting here in a USA departure lounge waiting to fly back to the UK and on reading this post and many of the comments I feel that Luke Brown Marketing might be a little harsh in their comments. Titles and Headlines for topics especially in SMM circles are all about 'hooking in the reader'. For those people unconvinced about making use of SMM tactics this article could swing them and see the importance of introducing it into their business model. For small medium sized businesses in the UK this is the very article that will help swing those currently not in favour of or don't understand why it is so important to make use of Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube and others. I am about to work with Rand Fishkin from SEOMOZ on a UK Project to launch what we are referring too as Ecommerce Excellence. Just nip over to
www.ictadvisor.com and see what its all about or visit our other site
www.internetbusinessmarketing.co.uk which will let you see what we are doing to try and educate businesses towards being successful online.
Virtually every company can benefit from joining the online conversation going on across the web on social networking sites and through social media. I find the objection "social media isn't right for my business" to be an objection that typically isn't well thought out. For one, many of our social media efforts are indexed by search engines... even Twitter tweets are now going to be indexed by Google. Secondly, even if your specific customer isn't using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc., they are using search engines to find content about your industry, product or service. And third, although social media isn't about controlling the conversation, through your own honest and transparent participation in the conversation, you can certainly impact what is being said.
Social media is not a fading trend. Expect this media platform to only grow as we mature in our technology and advance toward the next phase of Internet interactivity.
Companies need to embrace this in some way. I think too many companies fail to find relevance in the tools, or they feel they're lacking the manpower to monitor social media.
Truth is, not every platform works for every company, so marketers need to assess the most relevant properties and focus on those. But by not engaging, they're missing out of the potential to grow sales.
No luck finding questions about our product!!!
Entered my keyword phrase 'Information Transport Systems' (without single quotes) and nothing came up.
Back to the drawing board.
Rob I gave it a shot with the above keyword phrase and came up with several results. Not sure if all of these are going to be relevant to your industry. You may try a couple other phrases. I have been pretty surprised with some pretty niche phrases.
Search Results
You nailed it right there and i do agree.
The only (and probably biggest issue) is that small companies may not have the budget to adopt such a strategy. I mean at the end of the way, with scarce resources, smaller companies have to squeeze every possible unit of value per marketing dollar.
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Great Article. I am trying some of these things on
my website.
If companies are to keep up with where consumers are primarily going to make their purchasing decisions, then utilizing social media MUST be on their list.
I have run into similar scenarios with potential clients not understanding how to measure ROI as well as how to measure how many hours a day a SMM consultant is working on their project.
Recently I was able to post the results of a trial SMM experiment on my blog, which has led to companies and individuals being able to visually see the ROI from social media.
If you're a company, a consultant, or a community manager, the ability to show past experience, ROI for past projects, etc are going to be crucial (or should be) before a company makes a hiring decision.
I have to disagree with the naysayer commenters here. Social media IS the new internet and for businesses I feel it is going to be a case of get on board or get left behind. The boom is custom social networking software is proof of that. Great article!
I find that some industries are not as conversational as others. While our company adopted social media right away, I found very little conversation going on and it's been a challenge to continually produce new content on a fairly stale industry.
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A lot of comments in the thread seem to take a one size fits all approach to social media interaction and business. I 100% agree that small business, especially those with owner operators, should designate time to social media interaction from daily to weekly depending on the business. However, I don't see much benefit to the CEO of a blue chip company designating time to social media. I don't think the CEO of Exxon-Mobil will affect profitability with a Facebook account. Allowing workers to participate in social media at their own discretion may be advantageous depending on the department, but I don't believe even Wal*Mart could afford to pay Sam Walton to interact with Wal*Mart customers. I tend to believe large companies should direct customers to interact through their own websites. Comments?
Mark,
I was thinking about your post over the last couple of days and pondering a CEO of Exxon-Mobil and the benefits and pit falls of engaging in social media. I believe it comes down to time management. For a CEO I believe having a linked in profile is crucial, but I can see how it could be time consuming to monitor/ update a twitter account for many busy executives. I think monitoring social media should fall within the responsibilities of a marketing team, or another person within the organization if the CEO is unable to dedicate time to social media.
Having a game plan on monitoring social media should be a priority for most business or they are likely to leave opportunities on the table. I just read an article by
Nielsen that reports 17% of time spent on the internet in August was devoted to social networking & blog sites, up From 6 % a year ago.
Mark, I agree that it's important for large organizations (as well as small ones) to utilize their marketing and communication channels effectively.
What I would add is, while an Exxon or a Wal-Mart can't afford to have their CEO engage customers directly, all the time, customers increasingly want to know they are being heard.
The best way for a company or leader to prove they are listening is to deliver great products and services their customers love and are willing to pay for.
I think social media (and I'll add "business networking tools") enables that listening to happen cost-effectively.
If you are a CEO of a large corporation, wouldn't you want to hear directly from your customers on before a big product decision or during a customer service issue?
Key is filtering and searching tools to cut through the noise or clutter.
Excellent article! As I work in the custom social media software market, I can say without a doubt that the rush for companies to join the social media revolution is moving at an incredible pace. Companies that dismiss these social networking avenues are going to find themselves left out in the cold very shortly. For a few commenters that have called the social media applications "fading" or "wishy-washy" I sincerely hope you are not responsible for your companies marketing strategy. Thanks again for the great post.
If you are a CEO of a large corporation, wouldn't you want to hear directly from your customers on before a big product decision or during a customer service issue?