Social Media: BEYOND THUNDERDOME

July 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There’s a series of movies that Mel Gibson starred in that revolved around his character “Mad Max”.  All of these movies take place in a post-apocalyptic future filled with what seems like lawless heathens who take what they want when they want it, and usually through an epic battle of some sorts. My favorite, and one of the most popular, movie in the series is called Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. 

In this movie Max finds himself in a city of sorts called Bartertown. This city has a very unique culture and is ruled by a very unique set of laws and leaders. As an outsider Max eventually gets himself into a bit of trouble. The kind of trouble where he finds himself inside an iron cage fighting to the death, and the only rule that matters at that point in time is “Two men enter, one man leaves.”

What does any of this have to do with social media?

As businesses, marketers and brands, we tend to overlook the most important laws that govern the social networks we have come to rely on. Even though these laws aren’t written in stone or on parchment for the world to see, they exist. Breaking these rules is the quickest way to ruin our reputations and, essentially, get ourselves exiled (at least socially) from these networks, which is exactly what happened to Mad Max.

Another thing to consider is that within these bigger networks there are smaller tribes with their own code of ethics and laws to follow. If you want to earn the trust and respect of these networks and tribes you need to respect and abide by these rules. That means that your conduct on Facebook is going to be different than it is on Twitter. More than that, your conduct on a specific page on Facebook may be different than it is on other pages.

Your goal for social media is (or should be) to build and maintain relationships with your customers. To do this you NEED to earn their trust. You won’t be able to do that if you aren’t communicating to them through the channels they use and by following the rules they follow.

Example: If you’re using a visual and creative networking site like Pinterest or Instagram you shouldn’t be trying to pass off cheesy ads or coupons to your followers. People on these networks are looking to be inspired by ideas expressed on a visual platform, they aren’t looking for deals. You also shouldn’t take a screen shot of a text-heavy document and add it to your profile in the hopes that someone will decide to read it. Again, that’s not why they’re there. You can gain their interest and respect by interacting with the users (your customers) and staying within the norms and expectations they have.

Something to consider: Your brand’s reputation can be made or ruined based solely on your conduct within these networks and tribes.

I wouldn’t tell you all of this without giving you some kind of solution, I’m not that mean. The trick to it all is to simply…… OBSERVE. If you take the time and effort to understand how a certain group works you will be able to find/earn your place in it. This applies to an entire network, like Twitter, and to smaller groups that might be developed around something as simple as a hashtag. Here are a few things you should look for:

1. Language – It’s important to know what people are talking about as well as how they are talking about it. How much detail are they using? Are there any specific terms that have a unique meaning to that group in particular? What media do they use to communicate? (video, pictures, text, etc.)

2. Etiquette – It’s just like going to a foreign country, there are social norms that you might not be aware of. How are people interacting with each other? Does this group focus on detailed conversation or big picture ideas? When should you acknowledge or interact with just one person in this tribe and when should you share it with the entire community? Are there any taboo topics that people are avoiding?

3. Mood - You don’t want to be the person who cracks a joke in a group full of passionate and serious people, they will attack. What personality traits would you associate with this group?(serious, intelligent, funny, goofy, sarcastic, etc.) What reasons do these people have to be saying what they’re saying?

Have you been breaking all the rules? Click on the image below to find out The 5 Biggest Mistakes Businesses Make On Social Media And How to Avoid Them. 

 

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Engagement, Social Media, Social Media Rules Tagged With: , , , , ,

Igniting and Infecting Your Following…In A Good Way

July 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It may sound alarming but just stick with me for a minute. Social media has not just given us the ability to spread content to the masses instantly, it’s set an expectation that it will be done. We don’t consider anything “viral” until we’ve seen it with our own eyes. Everything from clever memes to funny videos and profound thoughts can reach millions or billions of people around the world with the push of a button.

Now we spend countless amounts of our resources trying to master and understand what it takes to make something go viral. The truth is that no one really understands what makes something viral worthy. Quite often it’s a combination of a clever idea, strong execution and well planned distribution. If you don’t get all three of those right you tend to end up with something not much more than mediocre. Even when you do have all three of those elements perfectly in place there’s nothing to guarantee the success of the project.

The biggest variable here is human nature. You can understand it to a point, but there are so many external factors playing a role in every individual’s decision making process that your chances of making an accurate prediction aren’t much better than playing roulette. After watching and studying a variety of content distributed to an even bigger variety of people I have found one thing to be true…

People identify, relate and react to passion.

No matter what business you’re in or content you’re distributing you will have greater success if you present it with passion. When you look at the brands who have really succeeded in spreading content “virally” you’ll see that they are all passionate about what they do and what they say. These brands don’t rely on one piece of content to carry all of their campaigns or to build the following for all of their channels. They create, share and distribute “viral” content to their following every day.

To make it simple would you rather be the Eifel 65 of your industry or The Beatles? A one-hit-wonder with a short lifespan or a legend?

Passion is infectious. It’s something that everyone actually wants to spread and it’s what focuses people’s effort and energy. If you can ignite passion in your following than you’ll be “viral” by any standard.  Your reach will grow and spread like the plague, but a good plague. Here’s what you can do to spread your own infection around social media.

Step One – Choose Your Passions – You can’t (shouldn’t) be passionate about everything so choose your battles. If you are using social media to connect with your customers then you should start by identifying some of their interests.

Step Two – Find and Create Your Content – Don’t just regurgitate what other content curators and publications are sharing. Study and understand the news and put the effort into adding your own thoughts and creating your own content.

Step Three – Share With Passion – Even when you’re limited by 140 characters people should be able to tell that you really care about what you’re sharing. Describe how you’re feeling and make your opinions clear. Don’t just make a plain statement about what you’re sharing.

Step Four – Engage - A lot of brands are guilty of stopping at step three. You need to go one step further and seek out other people who share your brand’s passions. You also need to take the time to start and maintain conversations with them and any other followers you have. It’s okay to be a thought leader and to provide ideas and content to spark a conversation but it’s great to be involved in those conversations. This step is what will really ignite your following and spread your content.

Step Five – Don’t Stop – Many ad campaigns have a lifespan. THIS IS NOT AN AD CAMPAIGN. You are developing relationships with people and more specifically customers. You can’t decide to just stop doing it without suffering some serious repercussions. People will take it personally and it will affect your brand and your bottom line.

If you’re looking for more ways to improve your social efforts check out our FREE resources page. It’s loaded with ebooks and articles that will help you succeed online. Click on the image below to go there now.

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Engagement, Social Media, Social Media Tips, Social Media Tips, Social Media Trends Tagged With: , , , , ,

Expertise Is Overrated

June 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Everyone wants to be The expert in their industry, especially on social media. I’m talking about the person who shares any industry news the second it’s released.  They study the information and regurgitate it to the world with their opinions plastered all over it. This is a great strategy to use if you want EVERYONE TO IGNORE YOU.

The hard truth is that you are no more an expert than most of your competitors, and even if you are, your customers don’t care. They don’t care about your industry. They don’t require an abundance of technical jargon and explanations and they don’t care about the newest tools, features or software upgrades happening in your industry. All they need to know is that you’re good at what you do and you don’t usually prove that through social media.

In short: You’re wasting your time. 

Disclaimer: I’m not saying you shouldn’t keep up on your industry. I’m saying you should share it internally with the people who actually care. 

 So now that you have all of this time free time what are you going to do with it? Pay Attention, this is the important part: Spend Less Time Being The Expert And More Time Being Interesting. Grab your customers’, and your followers’, attention and hold on to it for dear life! It doesn’t matter if you’re a B2B business or a B2C business, you’re dealing with people. Your goal is to give them food for thought, fuel for conversation and mental breaks from their daily grind. Here are a few ideas to help you become a little more interesting.

  • Make People Laugh

  • Make People Cry

  • Talk about life, not just business.

  • Find out what’s important to your following.

  • Be Human

  • Make friends, not just followers.

  • Show interest in other people.

  • Ask questions.

  • Listen more than you talk

  • Use your imagination

  • BE MORE VISUAL

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Being Interesting, Social Media, Social Media Tips Tagged With: , , ,

You’re So Vain, I Bet You Think This Post Is About You…

June 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Well… It is.

We’re all a little vain. Some, more than others but we all fall into the common trap of thinking everything revolves around what happens to us, what we do and what we like.

Think about any relationship you’ve ever had. Have you ever had a good relationship with another person that solely revolved around you? The correct answer is no. Any relationship goes both ways.  You talk about common interests and also individual interests. You don’t shoot the other person down every time they talk about something you’re not passionate about, you listen and try to understand. You appreciate other people’s passions and you admire their individuality.

These are the very basics of interpersonal communication. It’s something that hasn’t changed since people started communicating with each other. It’s human nature. All of history’s greatest leaders and innovators understood this and you’ll notice that all of the most successful brands and businesses do too.

We talk a lot about providing value, but we never really explain what “value” really is. When you’re looking at something that is as vast and complex as social media, it’s almost impossible to define value. Especially when you consider that social media is the first form of mass media that actually revolves around relationships. One thing we know for sure is that giving value to others can not revolve around you.

There’s a big difference between talking and having a conversation. Conversations motivate people to act and inspire them to think. Simply Talking only motivates people to move on to something else.

Too many companies are spending too much time talking on social media. It’s time to converse. 

Be More Like The Giving Tree

If you have never read The Giving Tree by Shell Silverstein, stop reading and go buy yourself a copy NOW. This tree understands what its child (customer) needs and provides in any way it can, for its entire life. Think about how valuable a lifetime customer is to your business. If you can give like The Giving Tree your customers will never leave you. Now, this idea doesn’t only apply to social media, but it’s a great place to start. Here’s the number one thing you can do to make this happen:

Understand Your Customer!

Give to them through conversations. Just because they are your customer doesn’t mean they are only interested in your industry, your product or your business. Talk about something else! Your customers have lives outside of their relationship with you and anything you can do to make their life easier will not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

The second your brand steps into the world of social media it becomes human. People connect with people, so you need to be someone your customers can understand and someone who understands your customers.

Here are a few quick action items to get you on the right track.

  • Start by thinking about what your service or product tells you about what’s going on in your customers’ lives.
  • Share content (links, pictures, videos, etc.) that might be relevant based on your previous observation.
  • Ask your customers what they need help with or what’s going on in their lives.
  • Remember that all work and no play makes your brand unlikeable.
If you’re looking for more ways to succeed in social media, you should start by figuring out what you might be doing wrong. Click on the image below to download our complimentary ebook to learn the 5 BIGGEST mistakes that companies are making on social media. 

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Being Interesting, Social Media Tips, Understanding Your Audience Tagged With: , , , ,

What The Ninja Turtles Taught Me About Social Media

June 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The world of social media is more diverse than most people realize.  It’s not just about posting on all of your channels, which takes a certain skills-set of its own. You need ideas to create and share interesting and valuable content. You need analytics to see what’s working and what’s not. You need leadership to create conversations and establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry and with your customers. And you need to take a few risks to make sure that you’re not missing any opportunities.  This is what brings us to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…

This is a team of diverse and dedicated talent that can really handle any situation. At least in theory. Sure they’re fictional, but that’s not the point. The creators knew that different personalities would relate with different characters. The same is true about social media. The same strategy won’t work across every channel. You need to mix and match the different elements and skills to come up with the perfect mix for each situation.

To support this idea with a little nonfiction, Facebook just opened up new admin roles for pages. This gives different admins different levels of access and allows them to focus on different aspects of the overall project. (See Image Below)

What that tells us is that social media, not even one channel, is not meant to be managed by one individual. No matter how diverse and talented that person is, they won’t be able to execute nearly as well as a team of specialized individuals. If you want to see real results from your social media efforts you have to make sure you’re doing EVERYTHING. The best way to ensure your success is to find a team comprised of the four personalities/talents listed below.

The Creative aka Michelangelo – This person never stops coming up with ideas. They are also the person who will ask the questions that no one else is asking. They may not always come up with the million-dollar idea but they will play a role in the thought process. Use their perspective to help put a creative spin on the strategies you’re already doing and to identify opportunities that you might be missing.

The Technical Analyst aka Donatello – This person pays attention to all of the details. They can tell you what’s working and what’s not because they have a knack for understanding analytics. This person is the rhyme and reason behind what you’re doing. They can tell you if that “great idea” was as great as everyone thought it would be and they can tell you where you need to adjust your strategy. They can also help translate industry-related research and understand how it affects your goals and strategies as an organization. Without this person on your team you are essentially just guessing.

The Risk Taker aka Raphael – This person isn’t afraid to fail. That may seem frustrating at times, but it’s essential to your future success on social media. If you never take any risks you’ll miss your window of opportunity because in social media those windows don’t stay open for long. This is the person who will make you the first to do something different and that’s what you really need to do in order to gain attention and respect.

The Leader aka Leonardo – This is the person you can count on to look at the big picture. They will make sure to keep the team working towards the main goal. This is also the person who is best at representing the brand through conversation. They’re confident and well-versed in everything related to your brand. They understand your audience and are best at starting and maintaining conversations.

Now, when I think back to watching countless episodes of this childhood classic I remember one very important thing. That every challenge the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles faced required a different balance of each member. Sometimes they would rely heavily on Leonardo to get them through a problem and sometimes Donatello would crunch the data to come up with the solution or ideal strategy. Michelangelo could pull an idea out of thin air that was just crazy enough to work and Raphael would sometimes take the problem head on and find the opportunity needed to succeed. The one thing that remained clear is that they would never be able to succeed on their own.

If you’re looking for more ways to succeed online download our complimentary and Essential Step-By-Step Guide To Internet Marketing by clicking below.

guide to internet marketing essentials

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Social Media Branding, Social Media News, Social Media Strategies, Social Media Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Essence of Branding With Marty Neumeier

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I was recently fortunate enough to pick the brains of one of the most respected names in branding, Marty Neumeier. Marty has authored a series of three “whiteboard overview” books, titled THE BRAND GAP, ZAG, and THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY, which have been hailed as breakthroughs by Fast Company, BusinessWeek, and Harvard Business Review. ZAG was recently named one of “The Top 100 Business Books of All Time.”

You might be thinking that branding doesn’t have a lot to do with social media. If that’s the case, you’re wrong. Your brand is incredibly important to every aspect of your organization and especially to any touchpoint you have with your customers. How you look, what you do, what you say and how you say it should all line up with your brand’s core beliefs, especially on social media. The relationships you build with your customers could last a lifetime… or they could be forgotten about tomorrow. It really depends on how much thought and energy you decide to put into your brand.

All of Marty’s books are highly recommended by our team as their ideas and principles can be applied to every aspect of your business. Marty and I had a great conversation, but instead of me just giving you the hour long chat from start to finish, I decided to break them up into shorter videos that focus on one question at a time. Check out the playlist below to get ideas about what your brand might be missing and how you can make it stronger.

 

If you have any more questions you can always shoot them our way by tweeting us @onesocialmedia or me directly @creativeithink. If you’re looking for more tips on branding and specifically on social media check out our free webinar by clicking below.

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Branding, Branding Tips, Social Media Branding, Social Media Strategies, Social Media Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Who’s What’s and Where’s of Social Media [Infographic]

April 24, 2012 By 1 Comment

One of the biggest challenges anyone or any brand has when it comes to social media is figuring where they should be spending their time. A new channel pops up every day and there isn’t enough time to put the needed amount of effort in to every channel. The key is finding a social media mix that allows you to reach the most people who may be interested in what you have to say, as often as possible.

Lucky for us Online MBA put together this infographic of some of the current demographics of some of the most popular social media channels right now. This infographic offers insight into the age, income, education and gender of each social media channel’s user base.

If you’re looking for a better way to reach the best possible audience you can find download our Essential Guide To Internet Marketing. 

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Infographics, Social Media, Social Media Demographics, Social Media Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Selective Hearing And Social Media

April 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We’re all familiar with the term ‘selective hearing’. It essentially means you only hear what you want to hear. This means that anyone choosing to apply this concept to their lives has a sort of filter  blocking out the things that might annoy them, offend them or, even worse, bore them. This idea has been applied to every form of communication that has ever existed, and guess what???

Selective Hearing Applies To Social Media!

For the most part this isn’t literal in social media which is why I want to make a slight amendment to the term and call it “Selective Processing”. Your fans and customers are selectively choosing which messages they will process and they’re basing their decisions off more than just the content you’re providing.

There is very little original content online. What I mean by that is there will always be a similar blog post or tweet or Facebook update to yours, so your mission is to break through all of the selective processing filters people have up. Here are a few ways to do that.

1. Rely on visual obscurity  - Don’t default to generic stock photos. Make connections between your content and the visual you use but don’t be obvious about it. If you show someone what they expect to see they will skip right over you.

2. Brush up on your non-regional diction – There are a million ways to say almost anything so don’t just regurgitate a popular title to share an article. Come up with a unique combination of words to present your content in a more appealing way. Go for puns, alliteration and any other grammatical tools you can think of to really CRAFT your messages.

3. Be brutally honest -  This is a little tricky because people who don’t agree with your opinion might look right over you, or they might take the time to respond. Some people are scared about being confronted on social media but I recommend embracing a little confrontation from time to time. Maintain your civility, of course, and make solid points. Don’t ever tell someone that their opinion is wrong but don’t be afraid to stand by your opinions. These are sometimes the conversations that attract the most attention and inspire the most engagement.

Have you been breaking through all of your fans and customers selective filters? Download our complimentary Ebook on the 5 Biggest Mistakes You’re Making on Social Media and find out. 

 

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Being Interesting, Social Media, Social Media Branding, social media marketing, Social Media Tips, Social Media Tips Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Getting Weird With Seth Godin

February 29, 2012 By 3 Comments

I recently read a powerful book called “We Are All Weird” by best-selling author and marketing legend Seth Godin. Seth wrote this book as a manifesto for marketers around the globe, to commit to forgetting about “the mass” and to start focusing on “the weird”. In this book, Seth talks about some of the big changes to our society that have shifted us away from being “normal”, including the increased number of “rich” people who can choose to do whatever they want. He also talks about what that means for the world of marketing and media.

I was going to write out what I thought were some of the most interesting points from the book and do my best to explain them to you but…

I interviewed Seth Godin instead!

Watch the video below to get insight into some of the key concepts and ideas from the book as well as some more in depth explanations from Seth himself.

 

 For more tips and insight in maketing and social media connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Is your online marketing strategy missing something?  Click here or on the image below to download our complimentary Essential Guide To Internet Marketing to fill in the gaps. 

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Being Weird, Book Review, Interviews, Marketing Trends, Seth Godin, Social Media Branding, social media marketing, We Are All Weird Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s Time To Socialize Your Brand

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There’s not a business out there that can afford to wait any longer. Your customers are using social media and so are other influencers in your industry.

If your competitors aren’t on social media yet, they soon will be.

Your brand is what your customer expects at any touch point they have with your business. Your customer service reps, your product, the package it comes in, the ads you run, and even the executives who run your company, all represent your brand. Those expectations have already started to be developed by the decisions you’ve made so far, but now your customer doesn’t just want to hear about you, they want to talk to you.

Social media has given your customers a chance to get to know you and they can’t wait! Leading brands like Skittles and Sharpie have developed unique personalities on social media to help enhance the relationships they have with their customers and the rest of the business world isn’t far behind.  So, you know you need to be talking to your customers through social media but you have no idea what to say and, even worse, no idea how to say it. Fear not!

We have a few social media branding tips to help.

1. Define Your Brand’s Personality – Once you have a clear definition of who your brand is, you will have a better understanding of what it would say. Would it make jokes? Does it love kittens?

2. Discover Your Brand’s Interests – Let’s make it easy. You want your brand to be your customer’s most trusted confidant, so you should have similar interests to your customer’s to help strengthen the relationship. Talk about topics that are relevant and interesting to your customers and talk about them like they’re relevant and interesting to you.

3. Develop Your Brand’s Voice – The more sharing or “talking” you do, the more you will see patterns in your word choice, your phrasing, and even your punctuation appear. Your fans and customers will get used to these patterns as well so make sure you stick to them.

Once you get through these basic steps it will become second nature to communicate on behalf of your brand. It may seem like you have a second personality hiding inside of your head, it’s not insanity, it’s smart branding. There have never been more or better opportunities for you to connect with your customers on such a personal level. Your connection leads to a relationship and with that comes loyalty which is one of the most valuable assets your company can have, but the hardest to gain.

 

Click Here to get The Essential Step-By-Step Guide To Internet Marketing E-book and learn more strategies to help your brand succeed online. 

 

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

More Posts - Website - Twitter

Filed Under: Customer Satisfaction, Social Media, Social Media Branding, social media marketing, Social Media Strategies, Social Media Tips, Social Media Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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