Truth Be Told

As more and more businesses pursue social media, the discussion always involves what content to share.  Content is King no matter what industry you are in.  The better the content, the more engaged your audience and more willing they are to share. 

As the year comes to close and marketing strategies are finalized the main discussion is Social Media (why, how, what, where and when).  One of the main social media factors is authentic and transparent communication.  Discussion after discussion with clients is what to post.  My experience in social media has lead to nervous clients wanting to pull down post that provoked a strong response with some negativity. 

My first question is why?  The typical response, "it's bad press and making people mad, people are emailing and calling to complain".  After a few minutes of nervous ranting and concern we start to discuss why exactly people are having this reaction and the positive and negative factors from the interactions. 

The main social media concepts I share with clients are: 1) you are not going to please everybody 2) within your audience are multiple subsets of customers (one shoe does not fit all in size and style) 3) perception is the editor of reality and 4) if they do not talk on your site (page, website, blog etc) they will find a place to do this, thus making it appear as if you were trying to hide the conversation, not trust worthy and un-authentic. 

To exemplify my point, recently a well know band called Paramore had a falling out within the band with two of the original founders leaving at the height of their popularity.  Before the news was officially released, one of the remaining members posted on the band's website their take on the breakup of the band (this was obviously orchestrated by the record label and management). This tactic backfired because details of the break up were not finalized thus creating a "Truth be Told" moment online.  The two members that were leaving the group decided to post their side of the story in a blog post which then was countered with a post from the remaining member as questioning the authenticity of the post.  This prompted the two leaving members to post a Video stating that their blog post was authentic revealing the truth within the band and its demise. 

Bottom online, you can hide and ignore but the discussion will continue with or without you.  As played out in the press for years, ignoring and hiding create speculation of guilt.  Being able to respond to negativity within your context (website, blog, social media site..) allows for editing control, this we did not have when the media controlled all. 

Spammers, Scammers, Internet Marketing Experts, Network Marketers...

With the rising popularity of #social #media which opened the door for poaching thousands of unsuspecting individuals, the tactics and strategies used are bolder than ever. Give me your $ money and you will get nothing in return should be their tag line because it is so blatant scamming. In some of my previous post I talked about "Social Media Gurus", "Social Media Experts" etc which promise some of the same returns as the spammers, scammers, internet marketing experts and network marketers.

In a well explored article by Bob Sullivan called, "The Women of Twitter: Behind those sexy tweets" he tried to reach out to these Twitter accounts to interview them but none responded.  Bob explains in the article the scam, "their methods are always the same -- steal clicks, sell ads against them, then try to upsell some other crazy service".  The majority of these scams come from International locations and I have witnessed a quote a few from New Zealand.  

I should also throw in some of the SEO black hatters, Link builders and Directory sites that  continue to fill our in boxes with emails claiming to act now or loose your domain, build thousands of links and enter your business here in our Directory etc. 

Bottom line, be careful, do your Google search, if they do not have a legit presence online stop there and run.  Use your trusted connections off and on line to further your investigation.  If you still have questions, you can send an email and I will investigate. 

Have fun and play safe.

Authenticity is a Must

Social Media is not going away and will be a permanent part of our societal communication infrastructure.  Companies, organizations and individuals must be aware of this trend that has been approaching on two years.  There are many, many examples of this #marketing #social # media #failure currently still taking place daily.  Here is one from today that was shared via @MichaelNewhouse #Twitter:
@LoriMorenoRT @KevinMinott RT @HuffingtonPost: Leaked memos show Fox News boss telling staffers how to spin health care debate http://huff.to/fJEpfo