Social Media – A Game of Strategy

Monopoly is a game of strategy.  When you play the game, you need to evaluate different options and understand that the choices that you make are critical to your success.  Social media is also a game of strategy.  The social networks that you use can help your company grow through brand awareness, promotions, and customer feedback.

When determining which social media networks work best for your company, there are a number of things to consider.  Before we go there, let’s make social media a bit easier to understand by categorizing the various types of networks. By doing so, we can more easily determine what social media networks work for your company and which ones you don’t really need to invest time in.  It’s time to play the game of social media to keep up with your competitors.

Social Networks

Social networking sites fueled the rise of social media. These networks were designed as a platform for online social interaction and means of sharing similar interests, connecting with artistic groups, and personalizing Internet space. Facebook, Google +, MySpace, and MeetUp are a few examples of these networks. Social networks are an effective channel for business to build credibility, and company and product awareness. Here are some examples of successful business Facebook pages. Zappos uses discussion posts, wall updates and Fan of the Week contests to engage with their customers. Burt’s Bees uses spotlight videos to build product awareness and allows customers to buy products from their Facebook page. Skullcandy leverages music, videos, and blogs to encourage customers to purchase their products.

Professional Social Networks

Unlike the original social networks, professional social networks are focused more on business-related networking and information sharing.  LinkedIn, SlideShare, Xing and Viadeo fit into this category.  You typically wouldn’t share family photos at the zoo on these sites, but would instead reach out to expand business relationships. Businesses create LinkedIn pages to build brand awareness, share corporate information and announcements such as Coca-Cola, Mashable and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.  Like many social networks, the lifespan of professional social networks is sometimes short, so be sure to pick a reputable and established networking site.

Private Social Networks

Although the name sounds like an oxymoron, private social networks – or private enterprise networks – are a useful tool that an increasing number of companies are utilizing.   Private social networks operate like normal social networks but can only be accessed behind the firewall within companies – hence the term “private”.  Yammer, Salesforce Chatter and Ning are examples of these networks. These networks enable companies located in numerous domestic and international locations to share sensitive information and collaborate on projects more effectively.

International Social Networks

Similar to other social networks, international social networks have originated outside of the US.  These sites offer networking platforms in multiple languages and are customizable to the user.  These networks include QZone (China), Netlog (Belgium), Vkontakte (Russia) and Sonico (Japan).

Social Media Monitoring, Management and Tracking

Social media monitoring is a method of tracking what is being said on social media about an individual, product or company.  These networks or software have become very popular to help companies dispel rumors, bad press and incorrect information.  Some of these networks are Tracx, BuzzBundle, HootSuite, Postling and Lithium.

Content Discovery and Curation

Content delivery and curation networks offer interesting and entertaining content for the purpose of sharing information and providing news content outside of traditional news networks. Sites include BuzzFeed, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg and HubPages.  Often users will forward these stories to their networks via other social networking sites, facilitating the quick dissemination of information through multiple Internet platforms. Use these networks to reach younger demographics (millennials) by creating funny and entertaining content that can go viral, which can become an effective branding tool for your company.

Blogging

Blogging sites allow their users to write and post articles and share information relevant to specific topics.  Some networks like LinkedIn have incorporated blogging within their site to allow users to share opinions, new trends, and current affairs in the business and professional world.  There are several blogging sites on the internet, but the most well-known are WordPress, Posthaven, and Blogger.  Even though I post articles on LinkedIn, I also use my blog on WordPress to share my information on different platforms including Facebook, Google + and Twitter.  These articles can contain links to your products driving traffic and sales to your website.

Microblogging

The only difference between blogging and microblogging is the limitation of content.  Microblogging involves sending short messages, announcements and links instead of paragraph-long posts. Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous and Disqus are best known for these applications.  Three companies that use Twitter very effectively are McDonalds, Delta Airlines and Nike.  McDonalds promotes new items on the menu and have giveaways when followers tweet about what they love about McDonalds.  Delta Airlines introduces their latest offers and special packages.  Nike doesn’t use Twitter for sales.  They send out tweets that motivate and inspire their followers, which strengthen the Nike brand.

Photo Sharing

It is said that “A picture is worth a thousand words.”   Photo sharing networks allow individuals or companies post photos including images of products, family, personal interests, hobbies, and so forth.  Instragram, Pinterest and Flickr connect communities of various interests and allow them to post images.  SnapChat is a similar platform for photo sharing and also allows you to post short videos. Photo sharing networks are an important tool for improving branding and marketing images of your company. By connecting with influencers and innovators, sharing their posts, using hashtags, tag names, comments and links in your posts, you can expand your brand visibility quickly.

Video Sharing

YouTube has put video sharing networks on the social media map.  Since its inception, YouTube has transformed into a global repository of videos that are searched like Google.  Other video sharing sites that have grown in popularity include Vimeo, DailyMotion and Vine.  Businesses use this network to show corporate, product and how-to videos.  According to Wired.com, YouTube is one of Google’s biggest successes outside of search and YouTube now reaches more 18 to 49-year-olds than any single US cable network.

Which Social Media Network Should You Use For Your Company?

Determining which social media network to use for your company is important for your marketing and branding strategy. Choosing only one network is not sufficient for your company to get noticed.  I believe that every company should be, at the very least, on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest or Instagram and HootSuite.  These networks or their competitors will provide you with networking and blogging opportunities (LinkedIn); microblogging (Twitter) to announce new products and company updates; social networking (Facebook), which expands your audience to a wider variety of  potential new customers; video sharing (YouTube) to post product and corporate videos, including community service; photo sharing (Pinterest) to expand your brand by providing images targeted to the appropriate communities that buy your products and services; and social management and tracking (HootSuite) to monitor what your customers, prospects and competitors are saying about you on social media.  Even if your business is more service-oriented, you can still take advantage of these networks.

Conclusion

Like Monopoly, social media is a strategy game. You need to decide what social media networks are right for your business.  Research options, see what your competitors are using and make sure that you have dedicated resources (internal or external) to respond to the market conversations that are happening on social media about your company and industry.  This is a strategy game that your company cannot afford to lose.

If you want to learn more about me, visit my LinkedIn profile, my website and my blog.

Photo credit:  Emilie Ogez via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

 

Social Media Tips for 2016

Companies vary in their usage and understanding of social media.  Some are just starting out, while others have been leveraging several social media platforms to listen to what the market is saying about them, engaging with their customers and finding new ones through social media.  For B2B and B2C companies, think of social media as the new “barbershop” or “beauty parlor” of the next generation.  In other words, it is a place where you can update friends and family on what is going on in your life, as well as to hear what is going on in their lives.  Unlike your local gathering place, social media is a network of millions of people who talk to each other about everything and you have the opportunity to hear what they are saying.

Here are some social media tips you may want to try in 2016.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the best business networking platforms on social media.  This is the place where recruiters find new job applications, businesses grow their customer base by reaching out to prospects and customers, professionals meet other professionals in their field to share ideas and insight, and you can learn from people all over the world.  If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, create one.  If your company doesn’t have a presence on LinkedIn, create a profile for them.

Some professionals don’t understand why you should create a profile on LinkedIn when you already have a website.  LinkedIn enhances your company’s visibility in several ways. Often customers use LinkedIn to get an overview of the company and to find key contacts at that company to build relationships with.  LinkedIn also provides a personable side of your business. If you want to show the world that you value what customers have to say about you, you need to be on social media.  LinkedIn is the central location where new talent is looking for work and where leaders of companies and corporations go to network.

Facebook

Facebook was originally created for college students, but has expanded to every age and background all over the globe.  As Facebook continued to expand, parents and family members of all ages began using Facebook as a place to post family updates.  Why is this significant for business?  Facebook has 1.19 billion active users every month.  Putting it another way, that’s 1.19 BILLION potential new customers.

Facebook ads continue to grow in popularity as a way to drive traffic to your website.  Facebook Groups are clusters of like-minded individuals so you can target whatever groups of people that you want to.

Twitter

Twitter is an outstanding medium for broadcasting short, marketing messages about your products and services.  You can announce promotions, discounts, and new products while drawing attention to the interests and knowledge of your company.  The power of Twitter is listening to the conversations on social media and adding to the conversation.

The proper use of hashtags (i.e. #StarWarsTheForceAwakens) can get your announcements and messages in front of the right people at the right time.  You need to monitor what is trending and determine if it makes sense to join into those conversations.  You can also just put a # in front of a topic that makes sense for your product or service, like #businesstrends, #digitalmarketing or #marketingtools.

YouTube

If you have corporate or product videos, post them on YouTube.  YouTube has over one billion users, almost 1/3 of the number of people using the internet.  Videos are a great way of demonstrating your products, telling your story or showing your company’s DNA.  Like the other social media platforms, you can advertise on YouTube or through Google Adwords remarketing, allowing your ads to show up when people visit your site, then go to other Google network sites like YouTube.

Pinterest

Pintererst is a social media platform where you can “pin” photos and videos on other people’s or company’s boards.  Think of it as an electronic bulletin board.  Like LinkedIn and Facebook, there are groups of like-minded people that share their interests, recipes, photos in interesting places, etc.  If you find like-minded customers, Pinterest is an excellent place to start conversations and relationships and to increase search engine optimization for your website.

Instagram

Instagram is a photo-sharing social media platform that focuses on your personal experience to a particular brand.  It is a great place to build brand awareness.  Your Instagram page can connect to your Facebook business page to help solidify your brand.

Instagram allows you to show your customers the personal side of your business by sharing photos of your products, team and services.  Customers are more comfortable dealing with people they can relate to versus cold, aloof companies.  Small businesses can effectively use Instagram to show their personal side and hopefully relate more effectively to customers compared to big businesses.  Instagram can really help your customers visualize your company.

Making An Impact Using Social Media

 I like to think of Social Media as the next evolution of communication where you can connect with anyone all over the world.  How do you leverage social media to help grow your business?

1. Make sure that you have dedicated people in your organization who are knowledgeable about and skilled at social media. Business people that suggest that companies only need a part-time social media person don’t understand the power of social media. If you could listen to what your customers say about your company, products and services 24/7, wouldn’t you take advantage of that? Social media allows you to set your company apart from your competitors.
2. Determine which social media platform works best for your industry. There are many social media networks beyond the ones that I mentioned.  Do some research and find out where your customers and competitors are congregating.  Figure out which media platform will best reach your customers and bring in new customers.
3. Once you get your social media team in place and identify your networks, now it’s time to build a social media strategy and implement it. I’m a firm believer in synchronized marketing – getting all of your marketing efforts including social media working together in harmony.  For example, if you put a product on sale in a flier, make sure it is also on your website and be sure to communicate the sale through email, Google Adwords and social media advertising.  You can do “Facebook Only” contests that aren’t offered anywhere else but your Facebook landing page so you can then drive traffic to your website.
4. Once you get your social media marketing machine in motion, you can then train your entire staff to broadcast messages about your company, new products, and services on several social media platforms simultaneously. Be very careful that your staff is fully trained.  Social media is a very powerful tool – when you broadcast a message, it can easily be seen by millions of people.  Make sure the message that goes out is monitored and presents your company in a professional and positive light. Imagine that instead of a handful of people sending out targeted messages through social media, your entire company can expand your message exponentially through careful implementation.

Conclusion

In 2016, identify the social media platforms that make sense for your company.  Go where your customers and competitors are online.  Identify who in your company is responsible for social media, particularly in the marketing or corporate communications departments.  Make sure that you build a social media strategy leveraging other marketing platforms like print, web advertising, email marketing, Google Adwords, social media advertising and messaging.  Once you have tested your messaging and start building momentum, you can expand your social media messaging throughout the company under the careful direction of your marketing and corporate communications management team.

If you want to learn more about me, please visit my LinkedIn profile, my website and my blog.

Photo credit: Peter Ras via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Leadership – Learn from the Past, Thrive in the Present and Plan for the Future

True leaders learn from the past, thrive in the present and plan for the future.  Too many leaders focus on one or two of these elements, but not all three.  Without the proper balance, it is more difficult to get where you want to go.

Learn from the Past

Winston Churchill once said “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.”  I believe this is true.  When you ask leaders why you do something a certain way, it’s alarming to hear “Well, we’ve always done it that way.”  That answer begs the questions the following questions.  “Is it still the right way to do it?” or “Is there a better, more efficient and cost effective way to do it?”  It is very easy to fall into the trap of continuing to do things a certain way because of process deficiencies or technological limitations.  If your ERP system can’t do what it needs to in order to move your company forward, then maybe it’s time to look at a new ERP system.  I know it’s expensive and painful.  I’ve lived through a few ERP system migrations.  If you live in the past, you will stay in the past.  The past is a great teacher for the present and the future.

Before large screen, high definition video, new car announcement shows often used large screen, multi-projector synchronized slide shows.  The images were crisp and clean, and with the images synchronized to powerful music, it was a sight to behold.  I know because I used to program them earlier in my career when I was in Cleveland and Detroit.  When large screen, high definition video became a reality, the market for multi-media slide shows quickly died.  Companies that had built their businesses on 35mm photography for these shows, slideshow creation, and multi-media programming either had to morph into something else or go out of business.  At the time, many of those businesses said that this high definition video thing was just a fad.  Tell that to Sony, Samsung, Vizio, Panasonic and LG.

Great leaders understand their company’s history and learn from past failures so they don’t repeat them.

Thrive in the Present

Thomas Edison probably didn’t wake up one day and say to himself “Hey Tom, we need to invent a light bulb today.”  He looked around in the present, saw the need for something that didn’t exist and found a way to make it.  It wasn’t easy and he failed more than he succeeded, but it was through the failures that success was born.  There were other sources of light before the light bulb was invented, but he saw the need to innovate and create something better.

Let’s talk about breakfast for a minute.  When I was growing up, it was common for families to go to a restaurant like Big Boy, Denny’s or Bob Evans to have a nice breakfast.  In 1972, McDonalds introduced the Egg McMuffin and five years later, a full breakfast menu.  The breakfast landscape changed.  Today, coffee, donut and other fast food chains like Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Taco Bell, and Burger King are all getting deeply into the breakfast food market.  Not to be out marketed, McDonalds decided to offer an All Day Breakfast Menu in October 2015. Keeping your eyes on your existing competitors and watching for new ones is always on the mind of effective leaders.

Great leaders are aware of the business landscape of the present, know who the competition is and what needs to be done to compete and grow. Sales and revenue growth are important, but so is creating a working environment that draws the best talent that is out there.  Creating a workplace that is safe, fun and emphasizes a great work-life balance is critical. Customers like to do business with happy people.  Making employees happy today will make your company thrive tomorrow.

Plan for the Future   

Great leaders are future thinkers.  They don’t just look at where they have been or where they are, but they know where they want to go and have a plan to get there.  Although you can’t always predict where technology might take you, or what is going to happen in a global marketplace, you can decide how to get there today and make adjustments to your plan as the technology and business markets become more defined.  Did Blockbuster see the evolution of VCRs and Betamax to DVDs?  Did they see that the corner brick and mortal stores were going to be replaced by Redbox vending machines and streaming movies from Netflix, Amazon Prime and various flavors from different on demand channels?  No.  When that title wave came, they had too much invested in brink and mortar stores, they couldn’t recover quick enough.  Dish Network purchased Blockbuster in 2011 and by 2013 the brick and mortar stores were closed.  In 2015, “Blockbuster@Home” was renamed “Dish Movie Pack”.  As innovative as Blockbuster was in the early 2000’s, they didn’t see that technology would quickly overtake them.

Be honest, did anyone think 20 years ago that computers could be smaller than an 8 ½ x 11” pad of paper or that you could watch your favorite TV show, movie or sports team on your phone or you can listen to music on a device that is smaller than a pack of gum? Did anyone think that Dick Tracy’s wrist phone or Marty McFly’s hoverboard from Back To The Future II would be real? You might not be able to predict exactly what future technologies will be, but you can predict change and innovation.  It’s coming.  Be ready for it.

Learning from your past and not repeating the same mistakes is one leg of the stool.  Thriving in the present including understanding your marketplace, competitors and making your company a great place to work so your employees pass that enthusiasm onto your customers is the second leg of the stool.  Planning for the future by be being aware of technologies, domestic and global markets that will impact your business is the third leg of the stool.  You need to use all three to be an effective leader.

If you want to learn more about me, please visit my LinkedIn profile, my website and my blog.

Photo credit:  http://vividscreen.info/pic/future-present-past/19169/for-800×600