social media

The Next Big, Shiny Game-Changer?

Jan 18th, 2012

<Read this article. For the sake of the Internet as we know and love it. SOPA/PIPA explained, and why it should matter to you.>

WARNING: This post is coming at you with a whole lot of snark, attitude, and a whee bit of Dayquil-infused fluff. Maybe, I just get an extra bit snarky when I’m under the weather? But, I can’t help but notice the sheer volume of posts about Pinterest lately.

In case you have been living under a rock, Pinterest is a site which lets you create boards where you can pin and share interesting photos. It’s clustered where you can easily discover users with similar boards/interests. Of course, you can acquire followers, get likes, and comment on others’ pins/boards. The site, which has been around for about a year, recently got a lot of attention in tech and social media blogs and sites. When that happens, every “social media blogger” hops on the Pinterest bandwagon and starts singing its praises on their respected blogs. Most of them with about as much credential to talk about it as the pins they are pinning.

To be clear, I have no problem with Pinterest. I think they have done a terrific job to get people on their platform, which is still invite-only. They have done an even better job to get tons of positive press coverage.

My problem is with how everyone is acting about it. People spend one day, one week or maybe one month on the site, and they are already calling it game-changing. Revolutionary even! Come on, people. Enough with all these buzzwords. We are better than this. Game-changing doesn’t happen when you have a site that has maybe five million users. And 60% of them are females in their 20s or 30s. No, game-changing is when you have a site with 600 million users. That’s truly global and impacts everyone.

Stop trying to make these new shiny sites game-changing. Pinterest isn’t the first time I’ve seen this happen. Let’s flashback almost a year ago to the day. Remember, Quora? Everyone thought that site was revolutionary and a Twitter and Linkedin killer. So far, it really hasn’t lived up to its grand expectations. That’s just one of many examples.

We are in such a hurry to find the “next game-changer.” That we so often forget about the present. We can’t control the future and what’s going to take off next. We can, however, control what we do in the present. Let’s plan and strategize for that. <end rant>

Has Klout Gone Krazy? Or Just Its Users?

Oct 27th, 2011

by admin.

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Yesterday, Klout made some fairly significant changes to their influence score algorithm. Like what most startups do, they wrote up a blog post explaining their reasoning for their changes. Their reason was they wanted to make Klout scores more accurate and transparent.

Now, I’m not sure I’m buying that explanation since nowhere in that blog post is there even the slightest hint on how Klout weights certain actions and certain social networks (transparent, right?). But, that’s part of a whole different beast- and one for a future blog post.

Yet, I was more fascinated by the amount of backlash these changes caused. Based on the outrage, you would think the rapture had actually happened and/or the world had ended.

Now, I took some time to read through many of the 850+ comments and came up with a few observations.

1. Too many consultants and businesses put way too much weight on Klout scores.

Yeah sadly, this was not an isolated comment. It makes my blood boil. Klout may be a decent tool for very beginning research. But if a consultant or business is telling you to base your success and progress on Klout, then you should fire your consultant today. It’s an irresponsible and quite frankly lazy move.

Even though Klout says they are becoming more transparent and accurate, they still haven’t published their algorithm publicly. So, we really have no idea how things are weighted. All we can do is speculate. Not to mention, you simply can’t put a number on someone’s influence. And, the whole online v. offline influence thingie.

2. Klout is an integral part of many businesses’ social media strategies.

If your basing your financial business’s- or any business for that matter- social media strategy largely off a free tool that makes changes on the fly often, it may be time to crack open the books and learn a few things.

3. Some jumped to conclusions through faulty, and in some cases, downright ridiculous comparisons.

I’m not a big fan of the Biebs, but there is no denying that the kid has a ton of influence over tween and teen girls. As well as tween and teen girls’ parents. I don’t care what metrics Klout uses to determine your score, but trying to compare your Klout score to Bieber’s is never going to work in your favor.

Many others tried to compare said “unfair” Klout changes to those of Netflix. This may seem reasonable to the untrained eye. Here’s the catch. Netflix is a paid product. Klout is free to the public. When Netflix made all those unpopular changes, people could voice their outrage and then take their money elsewhere. See how this could be a problematic analogy?

4. Too many people tie their self-worth or professional success to seemingly irrevelant scores.

Now, this was by far the biggest complaint. And, it’s also the saddest. If you are tying your self-worth or professional success to a fairly irrevelent score, you a.) need to get a life and/or b.) you’re doing it wrong. It’s one little score, people. Stop fretting the little things, and look at the bigger picture.

5. There’s now an #OccupyKlout Twitter account and hashtag.

Shortly after Klout made their changes, this hilarious account went up. I’ll let the tweets speak for themselves. ‘Nuff said.

5 Reasons Why Klout Perks Is Destined To Fail

Sep 12th, 2011

by admin.

9 comments

While Klout may be a good starting point for research, it doesn’t even scratch the surface on quantifying a person’s influence. And, Klout’s latest addition, Klout Perks, is even more problematic. Perks lets online influencers receive free or discounted deals on products directly through the Klout dashboard. While this seems like a good idea on paper (Hey, who doesn’t like a good freebie?), I’m going to argue that it’s destined to fail. Here’s 5 reasons why.

1. It Puts Too Much Weight On Klout’s Mysterious Influence Score.

The majority of these perks are based off the presumption that you have a certain Klout score or higher. The problem with saying that you need a Klout score of 60 hypothetically or higher is that it becomes a free-for-all to get freebies. Those folks, with a 60+ score, could range from tech enthusiasts to mommy bloggers and eco-friendly outdoorsman. And even if you tack on extra qualifications like you must be influential about three or four topics on Klout, chances are you still have a much bigger umbrella of people than the core you should be targeting. Most people will sign up for this freebie, but an even smaller number will remember what the product is and buy from the vendor later on. See how this could be troubling?

2. You Can’t Quantify Influence

The next troubling issue has plagued Klout from the get-go. That’s you simply can’t quantify influence on a 1-100 score. It just doesn’t work that well. This will be a major sticking point down the road when Klout Perks tries to appeal to more marketers.

3. Poor Targeting

Klout has also been investing more time trying to gauge the topics that their online influencers are influential about. While it’s gotten better, they still have a long way to go. For instance according to Klout, I’m influential about social media, public relations, blogging, fast food and airports. Now, I’d like to think they are currently batting a 60%. Now, I have no idea how they found that I was influential about fast food and airports other than I occasionally use the hashtag, #airportpeoplewatching. A fun, mindless way to pass time in the airport. If you haven’t tried it, you should. I’ve seen some amusing things in airports, including a mother holding her baby while cursing out a woman in a wheelchair. Talk about staying classy, but I digress. See my point. Targeting people based on Klout’s influential topics can be a sticky situation.

4. A Free-For-All For Lazy PR Pros

Klout Perks is probably the closest thing to maximizing laziness for PRos. They can register for a perk and giveaway a free trial or some other discount of their client’s product with the hope that people will magically flock to it. They will get this free trial, be so grateful about it and then they are going to magically be brand advocates for life. WRONG.

People in general will always love freebies. People will also always take advantage of freebies. But once the freebies are gone, they are going to forgot about your product unless you work really hard to win them over. That’s just not going to happen with continual Klout Perks deals, because people will continue to want bigger and better freebies which will either lead to two things: a.) the company going out of business and the PR team losing the account or b.) the “freebie-seeking customers” going elsewhere when you stop giving out Klout Perks.

5. Lastly, it will suffer a demise similar to Groupon.

Companies initially loved Groupon. They paid Groupon to send out this massive discount. Then, Groupon would send out this daily deal and thousands would buy it. Then, Groupon would take 25% of the revenue and the company would get the 25% that was left (since 50% was already discounted in the actual deal). The company was still happy of course since they got 1,000s of new customers until they realized all the customers were just in it for the great deal and most would never return.

I’m guessing similar issues will plague Klout Perks. Right now, it’s still a relatively new marketing platform. The companies that have hopped on board the Klout Perks bandwagon, such as AXE, Secret, Spotify, Red Bull and Subway, etc., are just beginning to experiment with the platform. They are testing it out and giving small deals to online influencers. Since it’s so new, they probably don’t have many metrics set out to gauge how it’s working or many expectations. Some of these perks, i.e. like the Spotify USA invites, have even had some success.

However as the platform matures, brands, especially the early adopter brands (mentioned above), are going to have more and more expectations and demand more targeted information from Klout. Unless the influence score algorithm and influential topics mature a lot, Klout will have a very hard time managing these new expectations.

Do you think Klout Perks will take off? Please leave your comments below in the comment section.

Is Your Company Facebook Page A Waste Of Time?

Jul 21st, 2011

by admin.

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You are probably thinking this is a pretty strange question for me to ask, given that I’m a big social media advocate. I firmly believe that just about any business can benefit from a solid social media strategy and outreach plan. In particular, a Facebook page is a chance for you to interact with your fans on a deeper and more meaningful level. It’s a place for you to ask questions, answer your fans’ concerns and comments and give company news. If you do this right, it’s also a way to form an emotional connection with your consumers/clients.

That’s the holy grail of marketing. It’s about relationship-building. When used effectively, social media allows you to create meaningful relationships with your customers around the world.

But, building relationships with your fans takes times. A lot of time and a lot of effort. It’s like what Gary Vaynerchuk says in his latest book, The Thank You Economy, “social media marketing is a marathon not a sprint.” Marketers up until now are used to running sprints with short-term campaigns. Social media doesn’t work that way. Every day should be in campaign-mode, because social media doesn’t have an on and off switch. People “talk” online 24-7, 365 days a year. It’s something that you can’t bs or half-ass. You have to commit 100% in order to reap the rewards.

Social media marketing isn’t a quick fix and likely won’t yield impressive instant results. You may actually lose money, in the form of employee compensation as well as rewards and incentives for customers, in the short term. But over time, if you are doing it right, the increased fan loyalty will increase your numbers, drive sales and drive traffic to your website.

In addition, social media marketing is NOT broadcast media. Nor, should it be treated as such. It’s crucial to think about and write updates about what your consumers “like” and want to talk about. It doesn’t have to just be about your product. Keep the conversation going. The more “likeable” the post, the more likely it will end up in your fans’ top news feed.

Here’s the kicker. If you are not prepared to make short-term sacrifices to build your fan base’s loyalty to reap the long term ROI, then you should do some serious evaluation. People can detect a half-assed Facebook fan page from a mile away. Facebook isn’t traditional “push” media. If you just throw out a status update with corporate press release speak every so often, you aren’t going to get much out of Facebook. In fact, you are hurting your brand more than just not being on it in the first place.

“Circle” Now! Top Five Must-Follow Google Plus Users

Jul 14th, 2011

by admin.

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While Google Plus is a very, very new site, it’s already blossomed to a whopping 10 million users. A vast majority still don’t know how to take advantage of the social media site. Yet, there also a handful of users, who are embracing the site and taking it by storm.

1. Craig Kanalley

Now, I’m not sure when or even if Craig sleeps, but I do know he is constantly sharing excellent and useful tips about Google+. As an editor for The Huffington Post, he is always researching, crowdsourcing and experimenting with G+ capabilities. He’s also well-known for hosting large Google+ Hangouts for The Huffington Post. If you haven’t joined one yet, you should. It’s a virtual coffeeshop, which covers a whirlwind of topics.

2. Jen Reeves

Another no brainer. Jen is constantly sharing and providing tips about best practices for G+, while also starting dialogue about a host of other issues. For instance, she, along with Sarah Hill, led the first ever live Google+ Hangout on KOMU-TV. They now host live hangouts routinely during their 5 p.m. newscast. This allows a small mid-Missouri TV station to have a global audience.

3. Schneider Mike (a.k.a Mike Schneider)

A soon-to-be co-author, Mike is known for his expertise about location-based marketing. But on G+, he’s providing solid insights on a whole host of technology, social media and marketing-related topics (including G+ of course.) Bonus points, that he takes the initiative to respond back to the vast majority comments and +1s. (which is a lot!)

4. Amber Naslund

Amber has a knack for incorporating brilliant insights while still maintaining her authentic, downright personable writing style. It’s a style that she hones weekly on her blog, Brass Tack Thinking. It’s apparent that she has kept it consistent here on G+. A must-follow.

5. Jason Keath

The reason why I included Jason on this list is that he understands how to build a community. Instead of posting tips about G+, he uses his updates to post questions about a variety of topics (primarily social media related) and he gets dozens upon dozens of answers and +1s. This isn’t shocking given that Jason also does this day in and day out for Social Fresh LLC.

The Single Feature That Will Make Or Break Google Plus

Jul 1st, 2011

by admin.

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Google Plus Notifications in my Google Reader

Google is no stranger to the social media scene. After two failed attempts with Google Wave and Buzz, it’s hoping that their third service, Google Plus, will finally be a smashing success. After playing around with it for awhile, I’d have to say this is their best, socially-integrated service yet.

The one thing that will likely determine their success isn’t even on Google Plus. Instead, it’s their notifications feature and how it’s cleverly linked to all the Google Products (a.k.a. gmail, Google Reader, Google Voice, Google Docs, etc.). It doesn’t seem like much, but that red box with the number of new notifications instantly draws your attention. It’s a simple feature, but it will likely make or break if people continue to post and hang out there.

That being said, the seamless integration of Google Plus into the rest of the Google suite of products isn’t going to be enough to get the critical mass of people on board and using the service frequently. It’s going to take a lot of work to get people, who are already so entrenched on Facebook, Twitter, and whatever sites they are on daily, to come over to Google Plus and start posting and engaging with content.

Here’s some things that Google will likely need to do to make Google Plus a success and not their third failure.

1. Continue to capitalize and build out their seemless integration with Google Products

One of the reasons why Facebook is so successful is that it’s so integrated with the rest of the Web. Through Facebook Connect and a host of apps, features and millions of facebook users, they have the able to keep people’s attention and stay relevant.

Google being first and foremost a “search company” has the ability to take seamless integration on the web to the next level with Google Plus. For example, wouldn’t it be great if you could search a topic on Google and instantly be able to talk with everyone else in your Google Plus network, who has ever mentioned this topic too?

2. Maintain a mobile first mindset

Facebook’s Achilles heel is mobile. For all the amazing things that Facebook rolls out, the one glaring weakness is mobile. If Google Plus can be mobile first and continually create new innovations and add to the mobile UI experience, then they may have a chance to establish themselves.

3. Build out Google Hangout

As it is right now, Google Hangout, which is the video chat platform in Google Plus, is cool. But, it has the potential to be spectacular if Google builds out its features. While it’s still in testing, there are a lot of kinks, such as the inability to consistently share Youtube videos. Make the platform easy to use and smoother, it has the potential to be a Skype killer.

Conclusion:

That being said, Google Plus is still way too new to make any solid predictions. It can have the best features in the world, but it’s just a tool. Tools don’t make social media, people do.

Hey Early Adopters, Stop Trying To “M-A-S-H” The Future!

May 12th, 2011

by admin.

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Do you remember the game, MASH? If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, you probably know the mansion-apartment-shack-house (MASH) game. Well, I used to play this game all the time with my friends back in the good ole days of elementary school. Essentially, the whole point of the game was to come up with a set of lists, each with four-five choices, and then you and your friend would randomly go through the lists until you had one left for each category. It was a way to “pretend-pick” your future.

Usually since this was a game of chance, you would wind up with some hilarious combos, such as, “you would end marrying your “pretend elementary school husband,” drive a beat-up 1977 sedan and live in a mansion in rural Kentucky.” That sort of thing.

As absurd as this game is to us now, we play “these types of mind games” all the time as grown-ups trying to figure out the future. While we aren’t creating lists with categories like car, apartment, mate, location, (hopefully!) as adults, we are certainly doing it in other aspects of our professional lives.

For example as a society, we are obsessed with the “what’s next?” or the “this will be the next big gamechanger moment.” We create lists, blog posts, news articles and even books, which are essentially nothing more than educated guesses and blind predictions about future developments.

Early adopters do this all the time. How many times have we heard about the “next big social media site?” (Called it the “social media shiny object syndrome”) In December and January, Quora was that shiny object. You couldn’t find an A or B-list PR/Marketing blogger that didn’t write a post or several about Quora and how it was going to revolutionize the industry. It’s now May, and Quora hasn’t exactly lived up to its early adopter predictions.

Fast forward until today, you see these whole predictions starting out all over again for the two latest shiny social media objects- Empire Avenue and Pinterest. More bold predictions.

This fascination with trying to predict what sites take off and what doesn’t is a bit of a time-suck, if you ask me. All the early adopters spend their time on these sites trying to figure them out and essentially make projections about sites that in most cases will top out a few thousand or (if you are lucky) a few hundred thousands users. That’s a pin in the bucket compared to sites like Facebook.

Instead of always focusing on what will be the next big thing and trying to come up with all these predictions based essentially on chance and semi-eduational guesses, why don’t we spend more time living and understanding the NOW. The stuff that is happening in the present is what really matters. Instead of trying to understand what the future holds all the time (and playing mind games), focus on really grasping and understanding the present. Because, that’s the only way to understand what the future holds.

Finally, if you want to have a little fun or just kill a little time, you can now play the M-A-S-H game online here.

21 Social Media Truths

May 6th, 2011

by admin.

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1. Social media gives you the opportunity to be the best YOU possible. This applies to you and your brand.
2. There is no “one-size fits all” social media strategy.
3. Diving into social media without a strategy is like being on whitewater raft without a paddle. It’s probably not going to end well.
4. Crises happen everyday. Expect it will happen to you and your brand. Plan accordingly.
5. Social media doesn’t clock in at 9 a.m. and clock out at 5 p.m. It’s a 24/7 affair.
6. Social media success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of hard work, time and effort before you see any real noticeable gains.
7. Anyone who tells you that managing a social media account is going to be easy is lying. Run as far away from them as possible.
8. Yes, you can calculate the ROI of your social media efforts. Yes, you need to.
9. Numbers matter. Anyone, who tells you otherwise, just hasn’t found the right ones to measure yet.
10. There’s only so much you can learn from case studies. At some point, you just have to take the plunge and start applying what you learn.
11. Creativity is what separates the good social media pros from the bad ones.
12. Avoid the social media shiny object syndrome. New sites are created everyday. You don’t need to be on every site. Focus on the ones that add value for either you or your brand.
13. Social media burnout is real. Make sure to unplug every now and then. (such as when you are on vacation).
14. The best social media work is usually done in a team setting. Don’t try and be a one-man or one-woman show.
15. Social media is NOT a popularity contest. Being popular just means that you have lots of friends.
16. Instead, strive to be influential. Influence means you can persuade people to do something. That’s hundred times more meaningful than being popular.
17. There’s a big difference between being authentic and personable and being personal on social media sites. Know the difference.
18. Be true to yourself and/or your brand. You can’t fake an authentic dialogue.
19. Every post, tweet, status update, video, etc, should add some sort of value or contribute to your overall goals. If they don’t, it is time to rethink you strategy.
20. Just because it’s on Twitter trending topics, doesn’t mean it’s true. I’ve lost count of the number of celebrities that have allegedly died on Twitter that are still alive and thriving.
21. It’s crucial to think two steps ahead. Are you building a strong enough presence from the get-go? Would you lose everything if Facebook were to disappear tomorrow?

13 Signs You’re Not Cut Out To Be A Community Manager

Apr 27th, 2011

by admin.

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Here’s 13 warning signs that you may NOT be cut out to be a community manager.

1. You think ROI stands for, “Really Overrated Idea.”

2. You are #winning at social media, but you only have 5 “likes” on your Facebook page. Four of which are your mom, Aunt Sally, Cousin Billy and your BFF. The last one is that creepy guy from junior high that stalks you obsessively online and just can’t shake that crush he’s had on you for the past 15 years.

3. You missed the memo that all tweets need to be 140 characters or less.

4. Your entire Twitter strategy consists of writing three shameless self-promotional tweets, such as “Check out my awesome new product. It’s $199.99. Buy it now.” And, then alternating them every hour on the hour for an entire month. Then, repeat this every month.

5. You go on a defensive tirade blocking and deleting any Facebook comment or tweet that calls into question your “spectacular social media skills.”

6. You think your day starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. All comments that occur during your “off-hours” can wait until after you get to work and have your cup of joe.

7. You think social media crises only happen to airlines that deny a seat to a semi-famous, obese actor/director. And, it’s just too much work to come up with a crisis plan just in case.

8. You have no idea what the difference between @ and DM are. You constantly confuse the two, which often leads to some comical and slightly horrifying TMI tweets.

9. You laugh at your supervisor when he asks for a quarterly evaluation of your social media work. You proceed to print out the last three tweets and Facebook posts that you sent, and say, “How’s this for ROI?”

10. You bring new meaning to the “shiny object syndrome.” Empire Avenue, Quora, GetGlue, Foursquare, you joined ‘em all, “Texas Hold’em Style.” It’s all in with no strategy or research whatsoever.

11. You see a website advertising “25,000 Twitter Followers for $25,” and simply can’t resist this great deal. You wonder why this site hasn’t done a Groupon yet. Then, you are absolutely elated when you see 25,000 Hungarian porn stars (all with 0-2 tweets) are now following you.

12. You think blogs are a dying medium, and insist that it’s a waste of time for you to write and moderate one. In the off chance, you read and heaven forbid, comment on someone else’s post, the comment resembles this trainwreck.

13. Lastly, your title on your business card reads, “The World’s Greatest Social Media Guru.”

Am I missing anything? Feel free to add your own community manager no-nos in the comment section below.

(*Sidenote: This post is a very loosely inspired response to Blogger Lauren Fernandez’s spectacular and witty post, “11 Signs You’re A PR Professional” If you haven’t read her post yet, read it now! You won’t be sorry. )

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