Tag Archives: Twitter

Nov 26 2012
1 Comment
Rants

Vacationing on the other side of the internet

As I touched on in my last post, I have been slowly inching away from the world that entrapped me for so long: social media. I, like any addict, had certain feelings of withdrawal  which I healed with things I didn’t know even existed. For one, Reddit. While it can, at times, be a place of intolerance (mostly religious intolerance, bashing, call it what you want) – it’s a place of anonymity, something I never had before. I haven’t posted much there, for fear of being downvoted – or worse – fear of being ignored. I must say, though, that it is comic relief in a life that can sometimes be far too serious. There is also a lot to be said for the things you learn on Reddit. For instance /r/todayIlearned. There’s a wealth of information in that sub-reddit, of things that you would never know otherwise.

Okay.. enough drooling over Reddit. I’m getting to a point here, promise.

In my absence from the social world, I’ve learned how much more social (IRL) I’ve become in the process. I’m not answering tweets 24/7 on my phones and ignoring the people talking to me in real life. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still keep up to date with all the news, the platform changes, etc., but I’ve distanced myself from the opinions of everyone else. Become… objective, if you will. I need to stay on top of these things, because of course, it’s still a part of what I do – I’ve just taken the “social” out of it. That’s not to say I don’t value the opinions of my peers, I do. I just needed to be able to think inside my own head, instead of the heads of others. I can boil it down to just the strategy side of things, the technological perspective – the things that are really valuable to the clients we serve.

All that being said, I find myself on the other side of the interwebs. The side where your website matters more than your Facebook page. The side where someone talking smack about your brand on Twitter really doesn’t matter. Sure there’s an argument for public opinion, and the fact that you can talk to your customers (really talk to them) – but the problem with caring too much about what other people think is that it inhibits you from making properly informed decisions on behalf of your brands. Public opinion is far different from consumer behaviour. Hell, nine times out of ten, I hate the service I get at certain restaurants, but if someone is having a birthday party at said restaurant, I kind of have no choice but to pry those dollars out of my wallet and contribute to their bottom line. I get that this is completely dependant on how you purchase – a restaurant is completely different from, say, toilet bowl cleaner – but even then, if I hate them and their product is on sale… I’m probably going to buy it. Let’s just say the cheap part of my brain is stronger than some of the other parts of it.

Being on the other side of the interwebs is alright, actually. It’s a world filled with cats, memes, and intellectual discussions. Discussions beyond just the everyday chatter that I can have on Twitter. I still see so much potential in social media for brands & for people, I just see the positive side in being anti-social sometimes.

For now you can find me vacationing on the other side of the internet, the antisocial part. C’mon by, there’s fluffy kitties for all.

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Oct 04 2012
2 Comments
Growth

Moving on (sort of) from ‘social media’

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged here, and I mean, since I’ve actually written anything of value to anyone who reads it. I think I’ve been internally struggling with what to write about, since I don’t feel the same way about many of the topics that I’ve previously covered here. The truth is, I’ve grown away from a lot of the ways I view things professionally, and this place was always a way to express my professional views and opinons. The truth is, this blog grew as I did, and evolved as my opinions did – even if it was contradictory to what I felt before.

So here I am, in a state of uneasiness, wondering if those I would consider my peers will look at me funny. I want to share my views with you on a topic that is covered a million times over on this blog: social media. I also want to share my realizations of the last 4 months or so with you;

  • If social media is what you do for a living, your job won’t last forever.  This is kind of a loaded statement – no job lasts forever, especially in any tech-related business. What I mean, is that it’s a mistake to invest your life into a career that will be obsolete sooner than later. I say this because, as a marketer, I now see the bigger picture. Social media on its own, makes no sense for a business. A lot of people will say “of course not, it’s obviously just one piece of the pie” – but what I’m saying is that if you need a ‘social media strategy’ then you’re doing it wrong. You need a business strategy, you need organizational goals, you need a website, you need eCommerce, you need marketing, you need videos, and then if you have time and money left over, you need social media. The reason I say your sole job in life shouldn’t be social media is because all of the things I just listed are more lucrative careers than the ‘social media strategist/manager/officer/nun-chuck-wielding-superhero.
  • Revolutionary platforms don’t equal bullshit engagement and content strategies, be revolutionary and engagement and content will come. Facebook is revolutionary – it changed the way we look at keeping in touch, it changed the way we share photos, it changed the way we marketed. Twitter is revolutionary – it changed the way we share and consume real-time information, it opened up networking beyond just the people you knew IRL. YouTube is revolutionary – it changed everything about video, period. Instead of focusing on how to ‘make your brand look good’ or ‘gain brand awareness’ you should, as a marketer, focus on using these revolutionary platforms to do something revolutionary. It’s cause and effect. Simple. Stop worrying about who is liking your stupid Facebook post – that will come with awesome content – which will come from your users – which will be more likely to interact with your brand if they don’t have to think about it – which will come from an effortless encounter with an Open Graph app – rinse, repeat. I’m not talking about customer service, I’m talking about brand interactions through technology that eventually lead to a nicer looking bottom line.
  • Money talks. Working in an agency environment, my whole perspective on monetization has changed. Everything has a dollar value. The time I spent writing this post has a dollar value. What’s the return on this for me? Therapy (at $100+/hr, I guess it’s worth it, right?). Google Analytics and AdWords are some of the best tools ever invented – you can track every step a user or potential customer makes in your sales funnel from ad (or search) to sale. Everything is important; how long they stay, where they go, where they click, everything. In turn, everything you do as a marketer, web designer, etc. can be assigned a dollar value (whether earned or spent), so if you’re spending a lot, you better be earning twice that back.
  • There’s value beyond buzzwords.  Before, I was in an environment where I was pigeonholed. “Social media specialist”, and that’s about it. No matter how interested I was in other things, there were departmental walls that I just could not break through. I would have to learn things like Google Analytics on my own time on my own sites, and it just was never the same. I love social media, I probably always will.. but I love it from a technology perspective and a user perspective. Professionally, I see a lot more value in the digital realm as a whole – so I want to know all of it. Sure, there are some social elements in this; Open Graph apps, analytics, advertising – but on a bigger scale, all of those things are digital not social specific. I can do all those things on a website and through other means.

I kind of feel like this was a big rant, or vent, whatever you want to call it – but I think it’s important that everyone understand that I’ve moved on from my pigeon hole. I still love and will keep up with the social sphere, it’s still baked in to a lot of what I do professionally… but it is not my sole focus anymore. I’m just as interested in creating strategies for websites, diving into as many advertising programs as possible, and peppering my everyday work life with social.

-m.

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Mar 26 2012
1 Comment
Social Media

Do You Really Want to Work in Social Media?

To all of you who think that working in/with/around Social Media is the cool, trendy, easy thing to do – I want to put things into perspective for you on how difficult it can really be. There are a few things you should keep in mind before embarking into a career full of questioning, confusion, and constant change. I’m putting this forward because it would have been something I would have liked to have known before I got into it – naive as I was. I guess a lot of this can be said about starting any new career – young and “inexperienced”.

Be prepared, people won’t take you seriously

Now… I’m not saying all people won’t take you seriously, but there are few who won’t. While they will listen to what you have to say and your so-called ‘expertise’ – inside they will think you are a joke. I mean, really… how can anyone have a serious job that consists of Facebook-ing and Twitter-ing all day. Darned kids and their technology.

People will also think you’re just like the flocks of other ‘Social Media Guru’s’. You know the kind, your company paid $100/HR hiring this person, and all they got were some Facebook posts and a pat on the back. We’ve all been scammed by someone who made you believe they knew what they were talking about, when in reality they knew nothing of business strategy and probably couldn’t tell you what ROI means.

Having ‘Social Media’ in your title devalues you

Don’t expect to be making the big bucks just cause you work in this cool and up-and-coming industry. You will actually start at a lower pay-grade then some of your peers who ventured off into different markets (most of the time). While your title may sound cool, your bank account will not be. The people who work with social media who are making the big-time money are usually seasoned business consultants, with 10+ years of experience. They also know how to adapt to these ‘bubbles’ because they’ve been through the dot-com era, the email marketing phenomenon, etc.

Understand the path you want to take

There is no social media position to rule them all. Actually, social media is (or should be) a function of all departments. You could be a Community Manager, a Marketer, PR, Business Strategist, eCommerce Specialist, VP, SVP, CEO… whatever tickles your fancy.

I’m sorry, but there is no degree (that I know of.. although I’m sure some ‘last-chance-internet-college’ has one) in social media. It’s not a job, it’s a tool. Be an expert in something of value and just add social media as a layer. Understand what you studied, what area you are most interested in – and see if social media fits in that area of expertise.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do – but it took me a long time to understand why I was doing it and where I wanted to be. The reality of the matter is that social media is always changing – you almost can’t keep up. You end up developing severe ADD because there’s a new Facebook or Twitter feature or your phone is going off because 1200 people re-pinned your cheeky pin on Pinterest.

I work towards creating better business, not better social media tactics/strategies/’insert-buzzword-here’. Having a good social media strategy adds nothing of value to a bad product.

I implore you ask yourself what your motives are while you’re searching for this dream job – and understand the realities of what it’s like. Ask yourself the important questions, and that will set you on the right path.

 

-m.

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Feb 22 2012
2 Comments
Social Media

5 Tools To Make Your Social Media Life Easier

Asana - Asana is not so much a social media tool as it is a personal organization/team collaboration tool. I use it for keeping my projects in tact and staying up-to-date with my daily to-do’s and task list. They describe themselves as “the shared task list for your team. The place to plan, organize and stay in sync on your efforts”.

The great thing is that you can sync your tasks from the web (which is almost always up on my second screen), your phone, and your tablet. A definite lifesaver in my opinion. BTW, it’s a free (for now) tool, but they plan on launching pricing models for larger teams soon.

Qwaya - If you run any kinds of Facebook ads then you know how tedious creating a campaign on the Facebook platform can be. Qwaya works on a freemium model and ranges in price from Free – $99/month. If you don’t need to create more than 15 ads per week, then the free plan will work just great for you. It helps by creating templates for ad creative and targeting, so you don’t have to create it every single time.  You can also publish your ads through the platform, track success, and optimize for better results. Definitely a time saver!

Shortstack - Ah ShortStack, my guiding light. This tool allows you to create Facebook tabs, forms, and contests in the blink of an eye – and to be honest, it’s idiot proof. ShortStack is totally FREE for Business Pages up to 2,000 fans, or “Likes”, and then ranges in price upwards (I’m currently at the $150/month plan – and it’s worth every cent). It’s basically a drag and drop tool to create for Facebook tabs, allowing you to drop-in things like Photos, Videos, Image Galleries, Forms, Voting, Links, Comments with Facebook, Like buttons… I could probably go on forever here – but it is FANTASTIC. Try it out and you’ll understand.

Topsy - Starving for content to post to your SM properties? No worries, Topsy has got you covered. Find the hottest content on a particular subject (including content shared by ‘experts’). This doesn’t need much description – however, Topsy also allows you to search for hashtags and see how many mentions they have had all time, last 30 days, etc. Always helpful.

Radian6 - I don’t use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck simply because of the awesome monitoring power of Radian6. I’m definitely an advocate of them, however I do get that their pricing model is not suited for everyone. If you do have the budget available, it comes highly recommended as you’re able to tag, assign, apply sentiment, and organize any social media mention of anything… ever. They are also invaluable as a resource even if you can’t afford their tool – their blog and free ebooks provide value to any organization or person interested/working in social media, so check them out.

All of these tools make my life easier on a day to day basis, do you have any tools that make your social media life easier?

-m.

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Jan 27 2012
8 Comments
Events

My Experience at Dx3 Canada

 

As some of you may know, I attended a digital marketing conference, Dx3 Canada,  this past two days at the Metro Convention Center in Toronto. I haven’t really been to many conferences before, always opting to stay at work and watch the Twitter stream of information rather than being there in person – but Dx3 was an exception. Here are some highlights from this exceptional event:

Day One:

I spent the majority of my time perusing the trade show floor, checking out what all the exhibitors had to offer – and I was pleased for the most part. There were some standout exhibitors that had eye catching booths, and others that had a plethora of information and talented sales and marketing people available to speak. I started by checking out the Sysomos booth, where their knowledgeable  account managers provided me a demo of the platform. Having never seen it live before, it was refreshing to see the power of the tool. I didn’t feel like I was being sold, rather being educated by Jordan about the platforms capabilities. As many of you know, I am a strong evangelist for their competitor, Radian6, but depending on your needs (and your budget) Sysomos is a highly capable social media monitoring and analytics tool.

The cotton candy was marvelous at the Payfirma booth, and information plentiful. An interesting company that provides mobile payment solutions – if that is something you need. I was also very excited to get a free copy of Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki at ‘The Art of Marketing’s booth (TAOM is a conference also being held at the Convention Center in Toronto March 5th).

After filling a bag with free branded swag and collecting and giving out too many business cards to count – I headed to my first session. I was particularly excited for this because I have always thought of Mitch Joel as a thought leader, and had yet to see him speak in person. The session was appropriately titled Your Relationships are Unmanageable, Welcome to Social CRM.

Mitch (and his co-pilot at the session, Frank Falcone) had some tweetable moments, especially when comparing social CRM to highschool sex – it feels good but you don’t really know what you’re doing. He also had some very relevant points to keep in mind and things that resonate with all of us. Customers never want to be another line in your Excel spreadsheet, nor just another record in your CRM database – what we’re missing is the human element. Social media platforms are, at their foundation, human. They facilitate conversation between human beings, be they behind personal accounts or behind a brand – and CRM is anti-human, it’s automation. Your relationships are unmanageable because you’re not managing your relationships. B2B and B2C are dead, we’re in an age of Person to Person (P2P) business and we truly need to adapt to that. I believe I took a lot away from this session, and it’s hard not to with Mitch at the wheel.

I then headed to Dave Fleet‘s session on communicating with bloggers & influencers. My favorite point from Dave’s presentation was something I preach quite often: You cannot discredit someone based on the volume of followers, readers, fans, viewers they have. Those 228 Twitter followers could all be huge tech journalists and major bloggers. Influence is not a score based on the size of your audience, it is a measure of your authority in the decision making process of others. He also stressed that the way we used to use media relations has changed drastically – and the communications industry as a whole is not adapting appropriately. Dave focused on understanding who you’re talking to more than anything, understanding these people rather than just sending out blind pitches with no relationship to warrant any kind of response. A great presentation overall.

Day Two:

I didn’t attend many sessions on the second day of the conference – just one, and I didn’t care for it enough to speak about it now (it didn’t make the highlights reel). I turned on my networking switch and hit the trade show floor again, speaking to companies like Kijiji, divine.ca, Radian6, Creative Niche, Techlightenment,  Atum, etc. and to be honest I had a blast doing it. BNotions, a development shop in Toronto probably had the coolest space on the floor (a wrestling ring full of developers building a product). I met a lot of great people and made some potential business connections and I must say the trade show was an excellent addition to learning.

Special Shoutout:

I want to formally extend my thanks to Soshal Group, a true social strategy agency here in Ottawa that focuses on driving actual results – whether it’s revenue, decreasing operational costs, providing direction, and insights. They were my hosts for the two days, graciously putting up with my feet hurting for wearing pretty yet totally insensible shoes, and educating me on what it’s like for an agency in this industry. As a disclaimer – I went to school with Dave Hale, their CEO and consider him to be a friend, however, he has a head on his shoulders and delivers results beyond the fluff that most agencies will provide you with, along with his partners Phil Sonea and Japman Bajaj (and their awesome interns Justin and Asako).

 

All in all, I had a great experience at Dx3, representing Corel, and will definitely be attending next year!

 

-m.

 

 

 

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Dec 21 2011
3 Comments
Rants

The Truth About Social Media

There are things about working in and/or with social media that are incredibly frustrating at times. There are certain expectations and pipe dreams that make it difficult for real marketers to accomplish anything and get recognition for small wins because all anyone is concerned with is ‘the next big thing’. Shiny object syndrome, damnit.

Thinking logically has always been the only way to get things done, for anything. You see, getting by simply isn’t enough. We as marketers are supposed to engineer not only successful, but viral campaigns. What the hell? Who said you can invent viral? Looking at some of the most viral videos of the year will only show you that the majority of them were unintentional, sincere attempts at publishing a mediocre video. Corporations and Brands can rarely do this. They’re not built on the foundation of unintentional and sincere at all – they’re built on planning, execution, money, and measurable results. I have rarely been asked to do anything viral at my job – and I’m perfectly happy with that. But the age of instant gratification and “We didn’t get our moneys worth because what you did garnered little results for the company” is unfair to my colleagues and peers who are contracted to do these kinds of things.

You see, Brands have never been exceptionally good at organic and conversational channels. In fact, before the rise of social media – this didn’t exist at all. The marketing world was focused on the Push and Pray mentality, and assumption was king. You assumed your message was the right message for your audience, in fact, you even assumed who your audience was. What frustrates me now, is that Brands assume that they are good at social media because they have volumes of followers and fans that mean nothing. They assume they are the king of conversation with their canned messages. They assume that the world revolves around them simply because they assume it.

I’m tired of fluff. The truth about social media is (contrary to Dan Zarella‘s opinion) not a perfect science. Case studies are practically impossible to replicate because the audiences will always be different. How is something a best practice just because it worked once? Case by case, no two playing fields are the same.

It’s not about ‘monitoring and engagement’ – it’s not about communications, and it’s not all about marketing. You need to understand that consumers hold the reputation of your brand with the same hands that type their tweets and like your posts. It’s time to look at a bigger, more strategic approach to social media – and it’s time to stop arguing about which department should own what. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again; when you silo – You FAIL. Understand your audience, cater to them – which you most likely do on every other channel that you have (Amazon, anyone?). Stop assuming. It’s about more than being there, it’s about more than simply getting by. This is the age of the consumer – You can be a brand who cares about them, or you can be a completely self-serving brand that only cares about themselves. Stop trying to do it big and do it right for goodness sakes.

-m.

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Dec 19 2011
3 Comments
Growth

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

 

People ask for my advice a lot. Sometimes I have an answer, most of the time I only have an opinion. The past year has been a hectic, crazy, and adventure filled journey that has, I believe, shaped my future. Looking forward to 2012, I don’t really know what’s going to happen in a lot of aspects of my life – but I truly look forward to the path set in front of me. I have learned a lot of great things, but I have also learned a few hard lessons that may have hurt my ego. Regardless, I believe after this year I truly have the key to success and I’m hoping that 2012 will bring me the door.

I am smarter. Thanks to a few kind people who have given me the right tools and information, I truly believe that this year made me a more intelligent, level-headed person. I have a new outlook on business, on profession, and I am keen to use this knowledge to my full advantage. My thoughts are no longer fluffy, they are precise and always have a goal in mind. I have learned how to take the tools (social platforms and avenues) and apply them to traditional business. This is probably what I am most proud of because I don’t feel that I ever had this as one of my strengths before. I would look at something and think it was cool – don’t get me wrong, I saw potential – but now I can look at something objectively and decide if it really is a wise business decision instead of a cool new idea.

I am  open to others teachings. Needless to say, I have always had a problem with authority to some extent. My opinion was usually the only one that mattered in my head, and I no longer have this weakness. I have truly developed an open-mind and empathy to others. I have learned that I can learn from people. You see, my whole life I thought it better to go and learn on my own than to listen to people’s advice, I guess you can call this a trust issue. That wall has been broken. I now see how much I stand to learn from someone’s experience and guidance – and my arms and mind are wide open for the teaching.

I have learned to say ‘No’. Sometimes, I can’t be everything to everybody – but I sure as hell tried to be. I have learned to be the master of one thing at a time rather than the doer of all half-assedly. It provides better outcomes and outputs for me. Sometimes prioritizing makes your work better, and when you have a full workload it’s definitely better to have ‘No’ in your vocabulary when someone comes along and tries to add to it.

This year has not been an easy one for me, I have struggled with a lot of things – mostly personal issues. I now know how far I can stretch a dollar when I have to (and I really don’t want to have to anymore). I have dealt with loss – the passing of one of my coworkers,  a mentor and a friend. I have been to two funerals and not a single wedding. I have lost friends, but I have also gained some. I started a blog where I can air my grievances and share my successes. I jumped on Twitter and made some really great and powerful connections. When life beats me down, I never hesitate to stumble to my feet, and I am proud of myself for that. Here’s looking forward to a new year and new possibilities.

-m.

Please know, I do realize there is still a couple weeks left in 2011 – I was just inspired to write this post for some reason. 

 

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Dec 08 2011
2 Comments
Social Media

#NewNewTwitter

First off, let me say OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.

This post probably sounds a bit like a 16 year old girl describing Justin Beiber, so I apologize in advance.

New New Twitter is absolutely stunning from an interface perspective – and to think, we never saw it coming. Looking at the new lay-out, you can definitely see the pieces that they have slowly been rolling out over the last few weeks. They started with ‘Activity’ and the ‘@You’ tabs, then changed some of their nouns. Now you see new interactions whereas before you would see ‘new tweets, etc.’

If you have been under a rock for the past few hours (or just not on Twitter, I get some of you have lives) Twitter rolled out a new user interface. They have a brilliant (in some cases) roll-out plan by offering their iOS and Android users a sneak peak by updating their mobile app.

The new Twitter for iOS is stunning also (see screengrab below). The new mobile interface mimics the design of the @You tab that Twitter rolled out over the past weeks.

It’s also a lot more easy to navigate than the old iOS app – and it allows you to keep track of new followers, retweets, and mentions in one nifty place. #LOVE.

Another new addition, the Discover tab is sort of like the Flipbooks and Zites of the world. It categorizes things it would think are interesting to you (trending topics, multimedia, links, popular news articles) and puts them into a centralized place (helloooo content!).

The changes to the web platform are HUGE. The most startling shift is the movement from right-hand navigation to left-hand navigation (something Facebook has loved and used forever). It doesn’t seem natural just yet, but I’m sure I will adjust in the coming days (or hours knowing me).

I highlighted some key things in the image above, if  you are completely lost. I added ‘Search’ as a term for the Discover button, not as actual search – but in context of searching for content.

Brand Pages

Now here’s something Twitter can provide to Brands, where there was nothing before: customized pages.

As you can see above, there is the opportunity for page customization through a banner on your brand page (as well as the benefit of having NO foreign ads showing up around your brand). There’s only one flaw here – You must be an advertiser on Twitter to access this. Which means you have to drop some dough to be able to access this.

For more info on New New Twitter click here

For more info on New New Twitter Advertising click here

#LetsFly

-m.

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Nov 29 2011
7 Comments
Social Media

How to be better at social media

Many marketers have NO idea how to tie social media into relevant business goals – and this is hurting everyone involved. What I do know is that social media is a channel, a channel for marketing, a channel for communications. The same way the telephone, the fax machine, and the internet were introduced – so is social media. What can be really intimidating for marketers, supporters, and advocates of social media – is the different directions that all of our “leaders” are pointing us in. This is a huge problem because while most of them have very relevant points; they criticize the views of others whom also have relevant advice to give.

People tend to name-call (social media purists, tree-huggers, money-hungry-marketers, etc.). You see the problem with name-calling is that none of these people are justified to say that the other is wrong. Here is a brain dump on strategy and thinking in regards to social:

  • Engagement is important. Yes people want coupons and deals – in fact, this is a driver as to why people ‘Like’ or follow brands in the first place. In the same breath, people also want to be acknowledged, and whether or not they know they are looking for it – they want conversation. Engagement as a word can mean a lot of things, but it is important to understand that in order to achieve your business goals, you have to engage people so that they’ll stay loyal to your brand, redeem those coupons, and be interested in your products at all. It, however, is not all about engagement – there are other things that come into play when trying to determine your strategy.
  • You NEED objectives. Simply “dabbling” in social media is not enough, nor is it a standalone objective. If you don’t know what you want to accomplish, you will forever wander aimlessly through the social media amazon. What’s even more important is tying these objectives to business/company objectives. Do you want to increase loyalty? Okay, now how are you going to do that? How are you going to measure that at the end of the year? How can you prove/disprove that social media can even do this? Figure it out. Make sure your goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely), and set out exactly how you are going to achieve those objectives. It is no longer enough to focus your efforts on hollow metrics and fan counts, you need to include business objectives.
  • Figure out who your audience is. This is extremely important – in any marketing or communications plan, you always have a target audience. The brilliant thing about social is that you have an unbiased, not made up, not assumed target audience. These are your customers, your leads. Social is one of the best market research tools out there nowadays – you really just have to figure out how to dissect that data and determine, exactly, who your audience is. Everything afterwards will be easier; optimizing your content, campaigns, communications, customer support.
  • Social is not free. No matter what hub-bub agencies or gurus try to sell you, social media is not, and never will be “free” or exceptionally cheap. Any “best practice” or case study that you look at definitely came with a dollar sign attached to it. Advertising, research, campaigns, content creation, third-party apps, they all cost money. Social is an investment. Write that down.
  • Have social be a part of your integrated marketing mix. I really think this is enough said, however, for those of you who don’t know: social media should be intertwined into your company’s integrated marketing mix. It is the best place to gauge conversation & feedback on your campaigns.
  • Educate and inform. Platforms are always changing. Do not let this hinder your efforts, or leave you dumbfounded. Have someone keep tabs on platform changes (ex: introduction of Facebook Timeline for brands, should that happen) and educate your team and company on these changes. You should also make sure that everyone understands the implications of social media and the objectives you have set forth.

This post is a little scattered, sorry if I gave you a headache – but I truly think these little tidbits are going to make you more successful in whatever position you hold that involves social media. You need to understand the who, what, why, how & when. The mediums will always change, but we must keep our strengths the same.

If you think I have missed or overlooked something I would be happy to discuss in the comments!

-m.

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Nov 28 2011
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Growth

Personal Development

In reflection of the events that have occurred over the past month in my life, I have come to realize how much I really have grown over the last two years. There are certain people who have coached me – showed determination and invested in me as a person. These people are who I am thankful to the most – the people who have shaped me into the individual writing this today.

I’ve become organized. I have never been an exceptionally organized person, and this was apparent to me in the work I put forward. It was not until I met Janet Banks that I really had the motivation to organize my life, my work, and my outputs. She helped me to realize my flaws, and come to see how those flaws were hurting me in my professional life. My career will always be a tribute to her as the quality of my outputs has increased drastically. If you are struggling with organization then I empower you to do this: Look at the quality of your work. Is it where you want it to be? If it’s not – start by cleaning up the clutter that drowns your desk, and make a daily to do list of the things you want to accomplish that day. Balancing your time comes afterwards, as this is a journey that is not easily taken.

I have become my own best practice. One thing I’ve learned working with social media is that you really have to practice what you preach. If you cannot demonstrate that you know what you’re doing (and this is quality as well as quantity) then no one will take you seriously. My method of proving my abilities is never to act on a whim. I don’t ever start something when I do not understand the implications on my life. I know that blogging is going to take up some evenings, I know that Twitter is not just a 9-5 thing, I know & dedicate myself to accomplishing (successfully) things after I have researched them. For example, I spent 6 months surveying Twitter before I jumped on the bandwagon. I spent months planning this blog before I ever wrote a word. I have been successful (in my opinion) because I have invested the time in my own strategy and platforms.

I have learned so much. I feel like a more intelligent individual. I have come out of my shell and taken the time to network and learn from other people. This is especially true for work – I have tried to be a sponge and learn from different individuals in different departments that know so much about a particular area that I have no experience with. I have taken the time to learn from other people’s experiences, choices, and perspectives – and I have become a better employee for it. There is always something that someone else can teach you, there is always something that you can learn. Most of all, I have learned that my opinion is not the only one – and I have learned to learn.

Personal development is something we all take for granted, overlook, and ignore. You can always grow, you can always expand, you can always be the best example. Maybe one day, if I concentrate enough on my growth & development, I can become the success story that I have always dreamed of.

Thanks for reading,

 

-m.

 

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