Finding the balance: When we forgot to be social on social media

I recently came across the 2009 Business Social Media Benchmarking study report by Business.com. The report is based on insights provided by nearly 3000 North Americans on their social media usage for promoting their Business.

The report brings forth some interesting revelations……..

To begin with, it shows a visible gap between social media channels used by companies to promote and popularize their business offerings and the channels used by people for searching or seeking business related information.

It also explains why certain social media channels work better than the others when it comes to using social media as business promotion tool.

Nearly 70% of the respondents found that the most popular social media resource for seeking a business related information is to attend a Webinar or hear a podcast. Followed by reader user ratings & reviews and then company profile pages on social media sites and company blogs.

Now compare this with the most popular Business social media initiatives by companies – or to simplify, channels companies use in the social media space to popularize their offerings.

70% of the respondents said the must activity they undertook was maintain company- related account(s) or profiles on social media sites followed by maintaining one or more company blogs and micro-blogging on Twitter. Only 30% of respondents actually voted for producing Webinars and podcasts as one of their priority social media initiative.

Do you see what I meant by interesting revelation? Yes, as marketers we all thought the more we showcase our companies, more the chance of us getting visibility and leads but in the process we forgot that social media is about being social and not merely about self promotion. If you really want to use the social media as a business tool and for self promotion it has to bring value to the reader or seeker of that information.

Think of this scenario wherein there are two companies A & B in the online marketing space competing for the attention of similar kind of social media users.

Company A – creates profiles across various social media networks, channels, gets reviews of its services and tweets about its offerings and related things on twitter.

Company B – decides to do things a little differently – they organizes a free webinar on ‘Most effective tools for B2B Marketing online’ offer a huge list of tips (free know-how) while showcasing their offerings. Record the important parts of the webinar as podcasts and upload onto various channels, so that those who could not attend the webinar also benefit from the interaction. They also started a blog on B2B marketing which discussed various aspects and related subjects showcasing their know-how without really screaming ‘promotional’. All this in addition to creating social media profiles etc. Who do you think will have won more leads and a stronger following using social media? Company A or Company B?

Social media is the biggest reality of our times. You love it or hate it but as we all are realizing or have realized we cannot ignore it. Social media in its entirety is a very democratic forum, of the people, by the people and for the people. It thrives on the fact that anyone and everyone here is for a reason. Everyone has a point to make or an opinion to express. Everyone out there wants to be heard no matter how influential or insignificant they are. So how does one ensure – others hear you in this chaos, take note of what you have to say? It’s simple say something they would like to hear or something they would gain from, something that will get you their attention, their fellowship. Say something that is useful to them.

If achieving social media success is part of your Company’s marketing agenda in the coming year maybe you should change your approach towards social media. Zero in on who you see as your audience in the social mediasphere,  give them what they want or need (fill in a gap), win their trust and then make your pitch.

Wishing you all a socially successful 2010!

'Disclosure' The New Way Of Sharing In Social Media?

The new rule by Federal Trade Commission (FTC), requiring bloggers to disclose to their readers if they received any freebie or money for writing about a product came into effect this Tuesday. The first amendment since 1980, the new FTC Guide Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, states, “The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.”

The initial reports had stated that, bloggers who failed to disclose that they had received freebies when they write about a product could be fined up to $11,000 per post.

However, later in an interview to PR Newser, Richard Cleland, FTC assistant director and division head for advertising practices, cleared the air and said “The FTC does not have the authority to impose a fine for a violation to the FTC act. There is a provision that allows for a proceeding in federal court that allows for imposing of a monetary penalty for violation of trade regulation laws. The guidelines are not trade regulation laws.”

We are just three days into this new law and I am yet to see any disclaimers on posts for product reviews. But, what I would like to discuss in this post is how is this law which does not penalize the offenders going to make a difference to how we blog? Or how we follow bloggers? 

Blogging is an integral part of social media and the foundation of social media is based on mutual trust. It thrives on the trust we share with those we follow and those who follow us – friends, colleagues, acquaintances or even complete strangers with whom we manage to build online relationships. Using your personal credibility to influence people who rely or believe on your word, in exchange of cash or kind is definitely a breach of this trust. 

As a marketer, who believes in exploiting every possible medium online and offline to spread the word about my clients and their offerings – It is good have people around on the Internet who are ‘influencers’ in their own right and who do not mind getting an incentive for using their word to influence others. Getting them to talk positively about my client makes good business sense because not only does this bring my client, some good publicity helping create a social reputation but also in many cases brings in convinced customers and assured sales. 

However, as a regular internet user who uses this medium to research and seek the correct information before making purchasing decisions – it feels bad to look back and wonder if the last cool gadget review I read was paid for? I trust some of these reviewers and treat their knowledge and opinions as gospel when it comes to technology. I feel they have the know-how and they can help me make better choices…now I am not so sure. 

When I look at the larger picture I feel this new FTC law (not sure how effective it is going to be and how many people will actually add such disclaimers to their paid for posts/reviews) might just be able to restore some amount of honesty in the way we function both as marketers and bloggers. 

I see that as a consumer I will be more skeptical of taking a review on face value if it comes attached with a disclaimer of being paid for in cash or kind or having any association with the seller. The review might be very critical in its approach but still, I will probably take it with a pinch of salt.

I think I will search further for unbiased opinions and take them more seriously even if the blogger is less influential and less known than the more popular ones I used to follow. 

If as a customer, my reactions are such, as a marketer I will have to make a Choice.

Choice between a blog post which shows it is paid for and one which is genuine and purely merit based.

More than money I would like to depend on the qualities of my client’s offerings when pitching to a blogger, to ensure he posts a review which is genuine and not influenced by the lure of an incentive. Because only these unbiased posts might now bring my client real value and real customers. 

There is another change I am hoping to see as a fall out of this law – Blogging will hopefully go back to being what it was – sharing a truthful relationship with your readers. The top bloggers will have to give up on the lure of incentives if they want to maintain their supremacy and personal credibility among their followers and the social mediaspere. Marketers will have to follow suite, for now – they will have customers who will know if a post is a genuine review or a paid endorsement. 

Moreover, it’s not just blogging, other social media channels will soon and should see such regulations in the near future. Today we know that influential tweeters on twitter are getting paid huge sums of money for tweets that endorse a product, service or person. And if they do not disclose, their one of the many ‘must try’ tweet was paid for heftily…..they have actually cheated those who made them this influential. 

Personally, I see this law as the system’s way of pushing back a trend which was trying to ruin the very foundation of Social Media – TRUST.

Update: December 3 – 6:10 pm

Adding the Google point on this new law -

Google’s Matt Cutts in a conversation with Jeff Jarvis said, “As a Google engineer who has seen the damage done by fake blogs, sock puppets, and endless scams on the internet, I’m happy to take the opposite position: I think the FTC guidelines will make the web more useful and more trustworthy for consumers. Consumers don’t want to be shilled and they don’t want payola; they want a web that they can trust. The FTC guidelines just say that material connections should be disclosed. From having dealt with these issues over several years, I believe that will be a good thing for the web.”

Publicizing Truth – Stranger Than Fiction!!!

What I discuss in today’s post may seem insignificant and even repetitive– but it is important. Important because unless we look within and find faults with what we do and how we do, we will never improve. I hope my personal insight helps you find some relevant answers as well……

In the business of perception building – faking is often a given. From revolutionary products that promise to change the world to those who claim to reverse your aging process – we have seen and heard it all.

As consumers, we are wary of such claims but as professionals, we still find it difficult to stay away from making such world changing declarations. 

I guess exaggeration is a given when it comes to marketing, advertising or public relations, but today we all find the distinction between reality and perception getting lost in a web of words and images. 

Have you ever stopped to think, why is it that most PR professionals no matter which stream, nation or community they belong to suffer from this obsessive compulsive disorder? Use of baseless adjectives like – state-of –art, one-of- its- kind, revolutionary, life-changing etc. have become part and parcel of our common vocabulary to describe something as normal and common as a pen drive to a driving car. 

The reason could be many from the clients we work for, to the consumers we cater to or the media web we have created where only the tallest claim manages to draw attention and stand out…..

Whatever the reasons, the need of the hour is to reinvent ourselves into professionals who promote truth, build perceptions that are real and market stuff for what it is really worth. 

It could seem like a tough call, but in truth, it is the best policy to follow in the long run.

To start you can try some of these time tested methods, which might help in changing the way you do Public Relations..

• Be truthful and objective when analyzing your client and his competitors.

 

• Find what’s the unique selling point or the differentiating factor between your client and his competitors and see how best you can use it to market him. It could be anything from his offering, to the quality of his offering, to the market segment he wants to target or his approach. It is for you to find out, and to package it effectively without manipulating.

 

•  Be truthful to your client. He is passionate about his business and can often lose sight of reality, he has hired you to give him your expert advice – so don’t shy away from giving him a reality check and showing him the real value for his product/offering. This also helps in setting the expectations right at the beginning – for both parties.      The client understands his product is not going to replace Google overnight and you will know – it could take a lot more effort to create the buzz  than you were initially made to believe. Trust me, clients value such consultants, because only when you are passionate about something will you fight for its good in the long run.

 

• Be creative. There are many creative ways of saying the same thing without actually faking or promising things that don’t exist or your client’s product cannot deliver.

 

• Be truthful with your analysis and plan. If you know from experience that the client’s offering is not going to get him any regular PR initially – then tell him so – to start with he will have to do some paid PR and focus on other aspects of marketing to get some attention and brand recall, before he can expect some genuine media attention to come his way. It is fine! It does not show less on your capabilities as long as you provide him with good alternatives; in fact, it shows you believe in being honest. Every CEO dreams of giving an interview on BBC or CNN – well the fact is very few make the cut, even if they are backed by the best agency!   We all know marketing is a mix of using paid and non-paid channels – for each the ratio and budget of spends varies depending on what they are trying to market.

 

• Before you go out and talk about your client and his products in the media or to his customers – Study it well. ‘Believe in what you are trying to sell.’ If you don’t believe in the virtues of your client’s offering, there is no way you can convince another person on how great a product it is. In other words, when you are truthful about a product, your passion to drive the product is visible to the world. It is quite similar to what you do when you find this great place downtown – you make sure all your friends check it out too.

The benefits of being truthful in your PR campaigns are many, to start with you will spend less time convincing a journalist or a consumer that your product is really, really revolutionary!!

Journalists, bloggers and consumers all at some point or the other have stated, they are tired of this fad, which fails to die down.

For the change to set in, we as professionals need to realize that we are not miracle makers but mediators of information between a brand and its users. To be true to ourselves, our profession and our clients, all we require is to put forward the truthful information in the best possible manner.