I’ve recently done a lot of presentations on social media ROI and the question that everyone has is “How do I track ROI from Social Media?”.
This is a legitimate question, and one that you should strive to answer.  The problem is that the answer to this simple question isn’t simple at all.

Why?

For two reasons.

Not Everything that Counts can be Counted

First, not everything that counts can be counted.  What this means is that many of the things that add business value in social media can not be easily counted (unless you have a 6 figure budget to invest in measurement).
For example the value of brand awareness.  We know that there is value in brand awareness – that is what most TV and Billboard advertising aims at – yet we can’t directly tie that back to sales.  Many studies show that the more we are exposed to a brand, business, product or person the more we like them (assuming that the experience isn’t negative) and the more likely we are to choose them when making a purchase.  Even though we can’t measure the sales from brand awareness activities, we know that they lead to purchases.
The reason is that most people don’t make an immediate decision upon hearing about something or seeing it.  Purchasing is a process and the things that build awareness, trust and ultimately equity can be difficult to measure, although they are factors that lead to an eventual purchase.

Consider another example.  A customer tweets about a positive experience “I love company X – they are amazing and have top notch customer service.”  Did anyone immediately click on the link and buy the product?  Probably not.  Over time however, it may lead to purchases.

This is the problem with measuring social media, and all marketing for that matter.  Purchasing is a complex process, and many of the things that ultimately lead to a purchase are difficult to measure.  Just because you can’t tie it back to immediate sales doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.

It is important to use common sense and consider the complete buying cycle to successfully measure or attribute value to social media.

Not Everything That Can be Counted Counts

This is the other truth to measuring social media.  Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Just because you can measure fans, friends, followers, RTs, @ replies, etc, doesn’t mean that these metrics counts.

Take # of fans.  I can’t tell you how many businesses measure the success of their Facebook efforts by the # of fans that they have.  The problem is that this has nothing to do with the ultimate success of their social media marketing efforts.  Number of fans/followers doesn’t necessarily tie back to business results.

Just because you can count something and tie a number to it doesn’t necessarily mean that it counts, and it doesn’t mean that it is ALL that counts.

Even things like engagement don’t necessarily count.  For example, a business owner I spoke with said his social media was very effective in driving his business.  He pointed to @replies and RTs.  The problem was that most of the replies and RTs were related to posts that had nothing to do with his business, so it is difficult to judge whether or not they are ultimately driving his business.

Tips for Success

The key to success in measuring social media is to inject some common sense and back of the envelope math to assess whether or not your social media is really working.  Don’t forget to look at qualitative metrics as well as quantitative, and consider your efforts comprehensively.  The keys to success are:

• Use common sense
• Do basic “back of the envelope math” like – how many new customers do we need to acquire for this to be worth it?
• Include qualitative samples
• Look at the IMPACT of social media mentions/impressions vs. counting them
• Ask the people on the front line
• Don’t rely too heavily on charts and graphs

What do you think?  Do you count the things that count?

On my way to DC to speak to a group on Capitol Hill over the summer I was reading a book called The Compound Effect.  I read lots of different books and usually get a few tips, but this book really struck a chord with me.  There are lots of large, game changing success ideas in this book (which I highly recommend you read), and in this post I am going to share the 2 that personally resonated with me.

Here are the 2 principles that I am going to apply to my personal and professional life.

Principle #1: Don’t Forget What Made You Successful

The first principle is to remember what got you to success.  We often work really hard before we are successful, but once we are successful we get caught up in the day-to-day and forget what got us there to begin with.

This resonated with me with respect to  my personal investment and participation in social media.  I got into social media early, back in 2007.  We were one of the first companies to use Twitter (people actually complained that a company was even on Twitter) and at the time MySpace was still a big marketing opportunity.  I started my blog in 2007 (it started as www.ThisIsWhyImHot.wordpress.com – yes, I have come a LONG way) and I quickly embraced LinkedIn and Facebook.

It was actually my participation in Social Media that led to my initial business success.  My first client was P&G, and they approached me because the brand manager had been reading my blog and following me on Twitter.   He saw that I “got” social media and hired me on as a consultant.  Much of my early business success came because of the reputation I built for myself on social media by sharing my insights, experiences and ideas, and by connecting with smart people and reading their stuff.

Now, my social media participation is sporadic at best.  It is easy to get caught up in the millions of details of my business, and staying on top of social media by reading about it and working with clients.  The reality of social media is that you get out what you put in to it.  I need to renew my effort and enthusiasm for social media and get re-engaged again.

So, my first resolution is to renew my participation in social media.  Read more blogs. Tweet more often (and have actual conversations) and write on THIS blog (and the Boot Camp Digital Blog) more regularly.

Principle #2: Make Small, Disciplined Changes to Get Big, Long-Term Results

The second principle that resonated with me in the book is the principle of discipline in small changes.
The idea here is that a small change – like cutting 125 calories a day or reading 20 pages of an improvement book each day – can have a dramatic impact over time.  The key isn’t to make huge changes, but to make a small change and to be disciplined to apply it every day.  Over time it will become a habit.

This again is where success comes at a cost.  As my business has grown I’ve become busier, and just responding to email can be a struggle.  While I often have the best intentions to make changes, the consistency and discipline in maintaining the changes can be a challenge.
The problem is that it is easy to make excuses – I travel too much, I don’t have time – but excuses don’t make you successful. Doing things does.

So, my indicated action is that each month I’m going to pick one small thing to change in my professional or personal life and work on it.  The TOP of my list is Getting Things Done.  A few months ago I began implementation of the GTD system, and I had soome really productive months where the system really worked for me and I was less stressed out.

I’m going to get back on track with GTD to organize my priorities and work.  As a side note, if you have trouble managing email or priorities, I HIGHLY recommend this book.

So, there you have it.

If you haven’t read this book (I had never heard of it before I received a copy of it from James Malinchak) I highly recommend it.  But don’t just read it.  Apply it.

See you in my next blog post (which won’t be in 90+ days).

In my last post I shared tips about what to do in preparation for a conference.  Planning who to meet, knowing what you want to achieve and doing your research.  In this post I want to focus on things to do at the conference to help you achieve your goals.

In the 5 years I’ve been speaking at conferences I’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot.  The goal of attending a conference (or speaking at a conference) is to turn one opportunity into many opportunities.  Ask yourself, how do I get more out of this conference.

A friend of mine, Saul Colt, is really, really good at this.  He often comes up with extremely creative ways to get attention for the businesses he works with.  He is usually dressed as a human billboard, and even had custom running shoes made with his company branding.  He also plans extremely clever marketing events.  Last year at SXSW he created a newsletter every night for his company and hired people to slide them under the doors of all of the downtown hotel rooms.  They got kicked out of most hotels, and I’m sure this year security at the hotel will be on the alert, but he got some pretty amazing buzz for it the first year.

While you may not have a business to promote, or want to be a human billboard, there are a number of things that you can do to get the most out of the conferences that you attend.

Here are 10 things that you can do AT the conference to make a bigger splash

1) Create Conference Specific Materials

I mentioned this in my last post, but it can really set you apart if you create specific materials for the conference.  Rather than handing out generic promotional materials, create something different for the conference.  If you can make your material – business cards, fliers, etc more relevant for the conference you will get better results.

2) Balance Breadth and Depth in Networking

There is a fine line in networking between hanging out for too long with the same people and not spending enough time with anyone.  I’ve seen both fail (and I have been guilty of both at some times).  Spending too much time with a small group often happens naturally.  We meet people.  We like them.  We hang out with them.  The problem with this is that you aren’t meeting new people.  Don’t get sucked in to one specific crowd the whole time.  Get out of your comfort zone and branch out.

The opposite is also a problem.  You know, the drive-by networker who talks to you for 2 minutes, tells you what they do and then moves on to the next person.  Take some time to develop a deeper relationship with the people you meet.  Usually after a conference I have a stack of business cards, and there are some people who I can’t remember at all.  Make sure you are building quality relationships.

3) Ask Questions at Sessions

I learned this strategy by accident really early on.  I was at a local marketing conference, and I made it a point to ask a question at every keynote and session that I attended.  (NOTE: I didn’t just ask irrelevant questions, I made it a point to come up with smart and relevant ones).  I was amazed at how many people came up and introduced themselves to me because they began to recognize me as asking questions and thought I was worth connecting with.  I actually landed one of my first clients this way.  Asking questions at sessions is a GREAT way to get on the radar screens of both the speakers and the other attendees.

4) Be the FIRST to arrive and the LAST to leave

Seriously.  This matters.  Get there early and arrive late.  Spend as much time as you can at the conference.  Who cares if you are tired.  Sleep on the plane home.  There are  attendees who are night-owls and early-birds.  By making the morning and the evening rounds you will catch both of them.  The early bird and the owl both get worms in this case

5) Attend the social events

I said this in the last post, but you would be amazed at how much business happens at the night events.  Seriously.  This is your chance to build Know, Like and Trust.  You can have informal conversations and build friendships.  I have done some of my best business late into the night at a conference.  Just be careful how much you drink.

6) Don’t be afraid to skip a session if you are having a great conversation

I know some people who attend conferences are there primarily for the sessions and they try to stick to the schedule.  The problem is that even at the best conferences the sessions tend to be hit or miss.  If you are having a conversation with a relevant person, don’t worry about missing a session.  You can usually find the powerpoint online afterwards anyways.

7) Take the time to speak to each of the speakers after a session

Again, this is something that I learned early on.  Make the effort to introduce yourself to the speakers after each session.  I once did this and it actually resulted in a BIG JOB OFFER for me (I turned it down to start my own business).  Make it a point to find a relevant reason to connect with the speakers after a session.  The speakers are usually influential and know the other speakers and the conference organizers.  Make an effort to meet them.

If you are speaking or have a booth, promote it!!!

Last year I spoke at FMB in Brazil, which is a music festival similar to SXSW.  There are lots of bands playing at multiple venues each night.  After my keynote presentation a number of the bands stopped by the stage and gave me a copy of their CD and a listing of where they would be playing when.  This was really smart.  There were so many acts to see and I had no idea where to go.  By handing out specific information about their involvement I was able to attend their show.  I’ve also seen people do this to promote their panels and booths.

9) Know when to leave a conversation

OK, for those of you who know me, I totally suck at this.  I can’t end conversations.  BUT it is really important in networking to know when to leave a conversation.  Once you have met someone and talked for long enough to see if there may be value in a shared connection, you need to walk away.  Find a gracious way to end the conversation, or invite others in to it.  Don’t let yourself get trapped in a corner with one person (who often isn’t a really valuable connection).

10) Balance hanging out with people you know and meeting new people

This is also hard for me, but if you are at a conference for education or networking, you always want to meet new people and get new opinions.  It is sometimes easy to spend your time with the people you know and miss out on meeting new people.  At the same time you don’t want to ignore the people you know.  Last year at SXSW I ran in to a few people I knew from Cincinnati.  They both did business together in Cincinnati, and for the whole 3 hour party the two of them were in a corner talking.  Have that conversation at home.  Meet new people where you can.

11) First stop: A store

This is one of my most important conference tips.  There is nothing worse than trying to speak, network, learn or sell (if you have a booth) when you aren’t taking care of yourself.  My first stop at every show that is more than a day is a drug store.  I stock up on bottled water, refreshing drinks (I like Aloe Juice and Coconut water) and some snacks.  It is easy to get dehydrated at conferences and you will have long days.  Get what you need to stay at the top of your game.

12) Never eat alone

Meals are really great because you can go with a group of 5 – 10 and really get to know each person.  At the end of the meal you have a natural opportunity to stick with the group or go your own way.  I find that shared meals are among the BEST way to deepen relationships.  Make an effort to get a good group for meals.

13) Take Lots of Pictures

Take lots of pictures (not in a creepy way) and post them to your social networks after the conference.  The photos help you attach a name to a person and also give you something to share afterwards.

14) Don’t be afraid to buy people drinks/coffee/etc

A good friend of mine is very well liked and connected in the conference circuit.  At most of the events we attend he’ll open up a tab and liberally buy drinks for people.  I can’t tell you how many people remember him next year as “the guy who bought me a drink”.  This also opens the door for him if he needs a favor from someone down the road – they remember the drink that he bought them.  He’ll say that the $$ he spends in buying a few drinks has paid of 100 times in business.

15) Break through the noise

Seriously, there is lots going on at most of these conferences.  If you are a business you have to find something clever to break through the noise.  There is a company that has a booth at many industry shows that creates custom skateboards for each show, designed by a semi-famous artist.  EVERYONE wants one.  The catch?  They only give it to their customers.  I got one at a show a few years ago and as I walked around with it about 15 people asked me where I got it.  The skateboards drew people to their booth and showed that they really appreciate their customers.  Stand out and do something remarkable.

Anyone else have tips?

I’ve been thinking a lot about influence and influencers lately.  It is the title of my SXSW panel (along with the talented Kevin Dugan, David Binkowski and Saul Colt).  Businesses and social media experts alike talk about how important influencers are in building your business.

The problem is defining what exactly influence is.

One of my favorite books is titled Influence.  It focuses on the key psychological triggers that ultimately cause us to take action.

So, if influence is the ability to drive action in others, how then, do we find and define “influencers”.

There are a lot of measurement systems that try to help us define influence online.  Many of them focus on things like audience size, popularity, people who respond to you, etc.

The problem with these metrics is that they are missing is key factor.  There is a HUGE difference between influence in the sense of being able to incite action and having people listen to you.

Charlie Sheen has Massive Klout… or does he?

For example, Charlie Sheen recently joined Twitter, and before he even Tweeted he had a million followers and a Klout Score of 57, which is pretty high..  Klout is a social media measurement tool that scores accounts based on “influence”.  Sheens account immediate received a high Klout Score because by there metrics, he seemed influential.  He had lots of followers (even though he wasn’t following anyone back), a verified account (which means he is a business or celebrity) and probably a lot of mentions.

The problem, is that Sheen isn’t actually influential.  He is entertaining in a train-wreck kind of way.  Sure lots of people are following him (#tigerblood is even a trending topic) but not because he can inspire them to take action.

Brands who use Klout will often look at a Klout score as a way to identify influencers and then try to connect with them or offer them free stuff in an effort to have the “influencers” talk about their products.

In the case of Sheen, imagine if companies like Virgin Airline offered him freebies in order for him to mention them.  It would actually have a negative impact on their brand.

The real problem is three-fold.

1) Audience does not equal influence

Having a large audience, even an audience that interacts and responds to you, does not necessarily mean that you can influence them.  Voice or reach is only one part of the equation.  Trust and credibility are the other part.

2) Influence is topical

Even if I do have “influence” it is probably somewhat topic specific.  For example, people probably take my advice about social media, hockey or igloo building, but would ignore my advice about fitness tips.  That is because “influence” isn’t universal – it is typically related to topics of perceived expertise.  I would trust Sheen’s advice about strippers but not investments.

A few years ago I tested a service called Sponsored Tweets where I was paid $10 to Tweet something specific.  The Tweet I was given was about a K-Mart Blue Light Special on Diamonds.  I don’t shop at K-Mart and I have never purchased a diamond.  Many people responded to the tweet, with comments like “haha – was that a mistake?”.  My Tweet appeared to ignite a conversation, but it wasn’t relevant or positive.

3) Marketers should still do lots of research

There are no short-cuts here. Blindly relying on a Klout score or website traffic usually doesn’t work.  Metrics can be general indicators, but trying to quantify the qualitative never really works well.

I’ve seem spam accounts earn really high Klout Scores by gaming the system.

I’m not saying don’t use Klout, but rather do your research and know what it is and what it isn’t.  It is not a measure of influence.  It is not a substitute for manually seeking out the people with a relevant voice in your industry.  It isn’t perfect.

I’m on a plan right now headed to Austin where I will be speaking at SXSW and PubCon South.  As many of you probably know, I’ve been attending conferences around the world for many years now, and I speak at them about 20 times a year.

One of the things that I’ve noticed over the years is that success at a conference requires pre-work and preparation.  In order to get the most out of the conferences you attend it is vital to plan in advance.

I’ve seen people attend conferences and derive no business value while others closed major deals.  The key difference?  Planning and Working It.

Here are 10 ways to prepare yourself to ROCK the conferences you go to.

1) Know what you want

The first step is knowing what you want to achieve.  What are your goals of attending the conference?  What types of businesses or individuals do you want to connect with?  What are your main business objectives?  Are you going to learn, connect, find business, find opportunities, etc.  Knowing this upfront will help you get more out of the conference.

2) Practice your elevator pitch

Be able to articulate who you are and what you do in 30 seconds in a memorable way.  You want people to remember you after the show.  If you have a business that you are promoting practice that elevator pitch as well.  Be able to communicate clearly and avoid buzzwords so people remember you.

3) Find out who will be there

Do some research in advance.  Know who else will be at the conference.  Look online at speaker lists and exhibitor lists.  Look for tweets with the conference mentioned.  Find Facebook or LinkedIn events for the conference and connect with them.

4) Know who matters

Based on your goals, there should be a handful of people that you really want to meet.  Know who they are.  Know the people who will help you achieve your goals.  You may not want to go for the rockstar, but look for others.  For example, a few years ago at SXSW I saw Guy Kawasaki enter the blogger lounge.  He was followed by about 20 people trying to pitch him.  Rather than trying to pitch the keynote speakers who might be overwhelmed, look for more accessible people who can help you.

5) Connect with people in advance

When you know who matters try to connect with these people in advance.  Drop them a not and let them know that you are looking forward to meeting them.  Do your research and connect with them on LinkedIn or Twitter – and let them know that you will be looking for them at the conference.

6) Find the Connectors

One thing I know about the conference circuit is that there are a TON of connectors at them – people who will introduce you to people who can help you.  These people know lots of people, and when they find out your goals they will happily connect you with people they know who might be able to help.  Many years ago when I attended the first Blog World Expo I had the pleasure of meeting Des Walsh.  When I told him what my business was he recommended that I connect with Jeremy Wright, then the CEO of B5 Media.  Des and Jeremy are both friends of mine to this day.

7) Schedule meetings

Scheduling meetings will help keep you on track and ensure that you meet with the people who are most important to you. Remember that when connecting with people in advance, clearly articulate what is in it for THEM.  If you email me and tell me that you would like to buy me a drink to get my advice on your social media plan I’ll tell you that my hourly rate is more than a beer.  What is in it for me?  Can you connect me to someone who I want?  Can you offer me a business opportunity?  Just asking for help rarely works.  If planning a connecting in advance be sure to clearly state why.

Find the social events

Know where and when the social events are happening, and don’t be afraid to go alone (in fact, this is often better).  At many of these events the best networking happens after hours.  People do business with people they know, like and trust.  You don’t want to be the crazy drunk person at the social events, but getting to know people on a personal level can help your cause.

9) Advertise your attendance in advance

Let people know that you will be at the event.  Post it on your website, twitter, newsletter, Facebook, etc.  Posting your attendance shows your commitment to the industry and let’s other people in your network know you’ll be there.

10) Find out who you know that is going

Find out who you know that might be at the conference.  Ask your social networks.  Find the events pages for the conferences.  People you know can introduce you to people you want to know, and a warm intro goes a long way.

11) Bring lots of business cards

This is obvious, but people often forget.  And remember to keep your cards with you AT ALL TIMES.  It looks REALLY LAME when you don’t have business cards.  I also keep the JPeg files of my business cards on my laptop in case I run out or forget.  Kinkos can usually get you cards in a few hours.

12) Make conference specific materials

Making materials specifically for the conference can also help.  One of the people who does this best is Rob Snell.  Rob makes specific cards for each conference that highlight when he’ll be speaking and where.  He also includes a different funny picture on the card.  People talk about his cards and really look forward to seeing the newest ones.

13) Get plenty of rest before you go

In the effort to cram work in before your trip you might stay up late or plan a ridiculously early or late flight.  Don’t.  Make it a point to be well rested.  If you work the event correctly you will be up early and out late.  Get lots of rest.

14) Pack essentials to take care of yourself

Whenever I go to a conference my suitcase is packed with the regular items, but I also pack EmergenC, Asprin and energy bars.  Being on your feet networking and in sessions listening all day is exhausting.  I bring supplies with me to make sure that I am physically prepared to perform at my best.

15) Plan your sessions in advance.  Look at speakers not just topics.

Do your homework and plan the sessions that you want to attend in advance.  Most conferences offer multiple tracks, and you don’t want to waste your valuable networking time making these decisions.  When picking sessions, don’t just go by topics (these descriptions are usually written by the conference and don’t always accurately represent the topic), but look at the speakers.  Are there people you want to meet?  Go to their session.

16) Promote your stuff

If you are involved in the conference in an official way (or even unofficially) promote it online.  Create a Facebook event for your panel or session.  Promote where your booth will be in the exhibit hall.  Use your internet marketing channels to promote your involvement with the conference.  The conference organizers will also like this because you are promoting the conference for them

#pubconsouth #pubcon #sxsw #sxswi

Any other tips?  How do you prepare to be awesome at conferences?

Felt like a historian while talking social media marketing with my daughter as we walked past the Apple Store in a local mall last night.

I had just finished reading Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, the classic 2006 book that had somehow escaped my reading list. Krista Neher, author of the Social Media Field Guide, had suggested the book in her Bootcamp Digital last fall. Got it for 1 cent, plus $3.99 shipping and handling, on Amazon.

“Imagine a time with no Facebook, or YouTube, or Twiter,” I said to my daughter, as teenagers swarmed to the tables with iPads, iPods and iWhatevers. “How did we do social media? With blogs, podcasts, message boards, wikis… some of the online resources we now take for granted as we connect with family, friends and associates.”

That’s why I recommend that people still read Naked Conversations, even though at times it seems like something from the Three Stooges era of social media. (I say that because my daughter and I have been getting a kick out of the dated phrases and behaviors in the classic film clips lately. Who calls guys mugs, girls dames or toots, or tries to get laughs by smacking someone or biting their leg? Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck. Woo-woo-woo…Sorry, I digress. )

Anyway… there is a lot of very helpful information in Naked Conversations. It served as a good refresher to me — and helped me better understand some nuances that hadn’t been clear to me before.

I particularly like the fact that two of the top bloggers in the world share their experiences with the medium. They give many examples of successful blogs. They do a fantastic job of selling businesses on the power of honest and open blogging.

They end with this recollection of their conversation with Yossi Vardi, the adult supervisor of ICQ’s four student founders:

“He pointed to us research showing that story-telling and conversations are at the essence of human culture. In that light, blogging is a point on a cultural continuum that goes back all the way to when our ancestors sat in caves shivering around fires and doodling on the walls. To paraphrase Vardi, blogging is storytelling and conversations on steroids.

“Ultimately, blogging has ended one era and ignited another. In this new era, companies don’t win just by talking to people. They win by listening to people as well. We call it the Conversation Era. It doesn’t change everything because as John Naisbitt told us, everything never changes. But something has changed, and blogging is impacting business of all sizes in most parts of the developed world. It has made the world a smaller, faster place.

“And business is the better for it.”

In marketing mistakes often happen.  In social media marketing there was the famous #MotrinMoms fiasco.  In traditional marketing Groupon has recently come under attack for their *insensitive* commercial during the superbowl.  In the case of both Motrin and Groupon ads were placed that received backlash from consumers, ultimately leading to the removal of the ads.

These mistakes happened with ads that were well thought out, reviewed by countless people and possibly even focus-group tested.

In the world of social media things move much more quickly.   With content posted as-it-happens (often at the discretion of one or two individuals) it is no wonder that mistakes are made.

Two recent mistakes come to mind.

The Red Cross Twitter account accidentally tweeted the tweet below about “getting slizzerd”.  The social media manager accidentally posted to the Red Cross account instead of her personal account.

The Red Cross took the error in stride. It responded in jest, tweeting: “We’ve deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys.”  The tweet ended up creating a campaign for Dogfish Head beer who ran offers for free beer with blood donations.  Clearly this mistake was handled well and actually turned into a positive for both organizations.

Another recent Twitter slip came from Kenneth Cole regarding the Egypt situation.  His tweet was considered insensitive, and resulted in significant backlash for the organization.  The tweet originated from Kenneth Cole himself in this case, and was quickly followed by a retraction.

People often ask me how they can stay out of trouble in social media, and the truth is that some times it will just happen, and you can’t control it.

Here are some tips that will help keep you out of trouble in social media:

1) Respond Fast

A quick response can often prevent a major blowup (although not in the case of Kenneth Cole). In general, if you have an issue deal with it fast before the conversation gets out of control.  The longer you wait the more the conversation progresses without your point of view.

2) If you Mess Up Admit It

If you make a mistake admit it.  We all make mistakes, and most people understand that.  If you argue or debate (when you are in fact wrong) you will create an even bigger issue.  When you are wrong, admit it quickly.

3) Don’t Overreact

Make sure that your reaction is appropriate for the situation.  In the Red Cross example they responded quickly with a humorous tweet.  When relaying the story to a friend she asked if the social media manager was fired over it.  That may have been an overreaction for the error.  Don’t over-react to the situation.  Respond in-stride.  Make sure that your response is appropriate.

4) Have Someone Else Review Your Stuff First

Before you post something (especially something that could be taken the wrong way) have a friend review it first.  You don’t need a complex official process, just ask 2 people who walk by your desk to share their thoughts.  Some times we aren’t the best judge (especially with humor).  Ask for a second or third opinion.

5) Be Direct in Your Response

Respond directly to the issue.  If you mess up, offer a clear and direct response.  Get to the issue quickly.

6) Offer an Explanation

Explain in a non-defensive way.  Most people are reasonable and want to know why you did what you did.  Offer an explanation that helps people understand.  If you tested the offensive commercial, let people know.  People appreciate honesty and can relate to real people.

7) Avoid Politics, Religion or Anything Controversial

Seriously, try not to post about any topics that could get you in to trouble.  Also, be careful with topical humor.  If people could be offended it is often best to just avoid the subject all together.

Anyone else have tips on how to stay out of trouble or minimize it when it happens?

Many social media success stories are built on the same marketing fundamentals that have been around for many years.  This is a great book for any marketer to read about how to “get people talking about your stuff“.

This book is definitely worth a read.  While this review covers a lot of the key points it is at a high level.  Many of the best social media marketers use these principles to draw attention to their brands in relevant and meaningful ways via social media.

Buzzmarketing is a powerful concept that is highly relevant in social media and internet marketing.  Many social media success stories are built off of the same principles of word-of-mouth marketing and buzz marketing.  What makes this book so powerful is that it spells out in a clear and simple fashion how to create campaigns that are Buzzworthy.

Whether you work for a large branding company or a small startup with limited budgets, mastering buzzmarketing is essential to creating truly breakthrough growth.  Basically the premise is that typical marketing will give you typical results; buzz marketing will give you breakthrough results.

Summary of book and key learnings

The 6 Secrets of Buzz:
The First Secret: Push the 6 buttons of buzz

The 6 things push people’s buttons and get conversations started:

1. The taboo
2. The unusual
3. The outrageous
4. The hilarious
5. The remarkable
6. The secrets (both kept and revealed)

The Second Secret:  Capture Media

To get media attention position your news as one of the 5 Most Frequently Written Stories:

1. The David and Goliath Story – media loves the underdog and the “big guy” taking advantage of him.
2. The unusual or outrageous story – Renaming a town to half.com
3. The controversy story – John McEnroe the “bad boy” of tennis
4. The celebrity story – Find creative ways to get their endorsements
5. What’s already hot in the media – Find a genuine way for your product to participate in a pre-existing trend.

The Third Secret: Advertise for Attention

There are now more products than ever vying for attention and more marketing in more channels trying to tell us about them.  Traditional channels are cluttered, consumers are exposed to over 1,000 marketing messages a day making it difficult for your message to get through.

Use Clutter-Free Media to Capture Attention – Look for opportunities of unique places that you can advertise where you will be the only brand.  Examples: peanut bags at ball games, urinal filters, in fortune cookies.  Look for the new medium that isn’t currently tapped.  The key to success? Select a medium where you have their attention – where you know they will take note.  Don’t be one of the billion sponsors on a nascar.

The Fourth Secret: Climb Buzz Everest

Essentially, “Buzz Everest” means the pinnacle of buzz marketing – transform your brand by doing what others thought was impossible in a creative and buzzworthy way.  Find the consumer insights that will generate buzz.  Be creative.  Spend time in one-on-one situations with your target audience.  Doing something new is inherently risky.  You can’t eliminate risk and have breakthrough growth.  You can’t get high returns without high risk.

The Fifth Secret: Discover Creativity

To create effective buzz you need creativity.  This book includes 7 strategies to create creativity (haha).  Seriously – this is a great chapter for those who are not naturally creative.

The Sixth Secret: Police Your Product

You need to monitor your product to know when and why it isn’t living up to expectations.  Nothing kills buzz like a bad product.  Consumers evangelize only for great products.

Interesting Stats:

• Word of moth marketing is 10 times more effective than TV or print advertising (according to a study by Euro RSCG)
• Ad clutter is rising to intolerable levels in America (a 283 index on the “clutter curve”)
• David Ogilvy discovered that about 6 times as many people read the average news article than the average advertisement – people buy content, not ads.
• Viewers don’t watch more than 63% of TV ads (in 2005).
• According to a study by the American Academy of Advertising, when a TV commercial comes on 92% of us change the channel, mute the TV or ignore the commercial.
• 25% of all TV time is ad related – there is too much clutter!
• People are inundated with over 1000 ads per day
• Magazine study in Sunday papers: The more advertising in a given medium the less effective it is.
• America spends more on advertising than the entire GDP of Mexico ($230 billion each year).
• In an average night of prime-time TV the American viewer sees approx. 128 commercials.

I’ve read a lot of articles recently about why advertising agencies (and people in general) don’t “get” social media marketing.  I do a lot of training and consulting with ad agencies and big consumer brand companies.  I work with many advertising agencies, and they all have lots of smart people working there.  Many of them engage in social media themselves.

So why do ad agencies struggle with social media?

A big part of it is what is commonly referred to as content marketing.  We talk about online content marketing as if focusing on marketing content is a new thing.  It isn’t.

The focus of TV advertising is the content (the commercial).

The focus of a billboard is the content (the ad).

Sure there is also media buying and targeting, but the main focus is the content.

The idea that content is at the core of your marketing isn’t new.  That is why companies spend so much money coming up with clever catch lines and entertaining ads (like during the superbowl).

The thing is that most ad agencies and marketers are great at content marketing. It is just the wrong kind of content.

Content Needs to Shift from Product Centric to Value Centric

The focus of the content is what has to shift.  In traditional marketing the content is based on what will best sell the product.  Having been involved in consumer goods advertising I know that for a TV commercial to sell a product it has to provide some product benefits, feature the product for a certain amount of time, etc.

There is a formula for the content, based on 60+ years of experience and millions if not billions of dollars spent on testing ads.

Here is a crazy idea – maybe online marketing and social media marketing should be tested before posting it?  Imagine if online content went through the copy scoring process before it was posted?

The point is, we’ve had many years of experience in copy writing and testing for traditional marketing.  But the problem isn’t a focus on the content.  It is on the type of content.

Social Media Marketing Should Focus on Giving the Consumer Value

This is the real difference.  The focus is now on an entirely different type of content.  In traditional marketing the goal is to showcase the product.  In social media marketing the goal is to offer something of value to the customer.  Value can be entertaining, informational, resourceful, etc.

The key difference is that the focus of new media is on creating content that people actually want (and that also sells products).

This is the challenge.  Agencies and marketers need to adapt their thinking to consider how their marketing efforts are inherently valuable.  What content do people actually want?

If you think about traditional media, the TV show was the entertainment that people wanted.  The newspaper articles are what people want.  The ads are the cost of getting the material.

In new media marketing your marketing has to be the part that people want.  And it also has to sell your product.

Agencies have to Change the Focus of the Content

This is the result of what Seth Godin calls permission vs. interruption marketing.  In interruption marketing you pay for the right to interrupt me.  This is traditional marketing.  Your goal is to use the interruption time effectively.

In permission marketing the consumer gives you permission to connect with them because you provide interesting/entertaining/valuable content.  This is the same concept that Bob Gilbreath talks about in his book “The Next Evolution of Marketing” or Marketing with Meaning.

The real challenge of this is that agencies and brands have never been the entertainers.  The TV producers and newspaper writers have been.

Months ago when I interviewed HubSpot about their marketing strategy, Mike Volpe, VP of Inbound Marketing at HubSpot told me that they initial hired great writers for their content strategy.  They hired people with editorial backgrounds vs. marketing backgrounds.

Really, it should be Product Centric vs. Useful Centric Marketing (But

that doesn’t sound as good)

The fact that content matters isn’t new.  The kind of content that matters is new.

And it will take time to nail the content.  This is what TV commercials looked like in the 60′s.  It was a minute long (this one is also hysterical).