- Microblogging
Leader: Twitter - Everyone knows this service. It's got such a lead in this space that it's difficult to see anyone else taking over. This is partly due to the traction it already has but it's biggest asset is the community of users. They are the ones giving the application it's value and this crowd will not be easily herded into another platform without a very compelling reason
Why microblogging? This article explains the value of microblogging more completely, but in summary microblogging is an ideal way to get a quick snapshot of the mood of the times on any given subject. It is also one of the first services to catch viral fire in the mobile space and shows a lot of growth potential there.
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Using Social Media to Uncover New Business Opportunities
Let’s face it, the sales and marketing professions have changed over the last several years. No longer is it simply about building relationships by listening to the customer. There is too much competition and distraction in the world to rely on relationship building alone. You also have to add value and demonstrate your relevance with every prospect or client interaction. This article is about how you can make the most of each and every business opportunity. By incorporating technology in the form of a Listening Dashboard, to give you a competitive advantage, you will end up enjoying the long-term relationships and repeat business that is every business person’s goal.Download This Free Report Now
- Bookmarking
Leader: Digg - They are tops in social bookmarking and it would certainly behoove you to really have a look at them, not just click through on a link they host. Because of their position, they are better able to try out what might be considered riskier or more blatantly commercial models. In the case of the latter, them adding a bar at the top of pages others have added to Digg might be annoying, helpful or neither but watching how Digg works to monetize is a valuable education in itself. Monitoring the reactions of others would be a master class. It is very important to keep in mind that Digg, like Twitter and Youtube are not the only applications of a given type. Always keep a look out for others in the same space.
Like microblogging, Social bookmarking adds a great deal of efficiency to your searches for useful information on the web. Not only are resources easier to find, but YOU are as well. This means additional promotional opportunities for you and your brand by being able to better target people who will be interested in what you are about.
- Video
Leader: Youtube - Youtube has the volume, there is an incredible amount of variety here and it is increasingly a source of education as well. I've picked up some tips from varioius videos here and find watching videos a nice change from scanning through assorted blog posts of various quality. Youtube videos do well on Google search, so videos you produce can help generate traffic as well.
Online video is going to become a standard component in social media, there is no doubt about this. What differentiates online video from your network TV variety is that you can do very well with a low budget and high quality content. It is an equalizer for many small businesses and if done well can create trust very quickly, perhaps even quicker than text which can easily be copied or paraphrased from others.
- Photo sharing
- Search
- Professional
Leader: Linked In- Like Twitter, the community is the asset and it is unlikely that people will abandon the connections they have built up over years to try the next cool thing. There is a lot of stability in this model and time put into it is a worthwhile investment
How you choose to promote yourself may or may not include a social network as tight as Linked In, but you should absolutely have a look at and understand the appeal of a system that is more exclusive.
- Purely social
- Forums
Leader: None - The leader depends on the niche and the number of communities around a given topic varies widely. You will have to do that research but there are great rewards to be had here
Forums might be a static throwback to last century, but they are still a great knowledge resource if moderated with care. Well run forums come with built in trust because the users know that the moderator will drive conversations toward constructive usage. Therefore, when you do put in links to your site, and they stick, you are more likely to receive quality, well targeted traffic.
- City/Regional Weekly
Leader: None - Like forums, there are no internet wide leaders. Individual cities and towns will certainly have them and you would be wise to make use of the marketing insight you can get from learning about smaller regional areas.
Social media is going local, this couldn't be more obvious when you see how many Tweeps are tweeting from smart phones. If you don't get a more specific regional knowledge, you are unlikely to be able to see where conversations are headed and your targeting of visitors may end up coming across as a spammy saturation bombing effect.
- Gadget News and reviews
Leader: Engadget - This one is more of an example, there are heaps of gadget blogs out there and they differ as to area of specialty. You may end up changing favorites as you investigate different types of devices.
Social media is going to go where ever gadgets go. Instead of waiting for the next iPhone to become so popular that you will have started building the application 6 months too late to get easy attention you should plan ahead. Gadget blogs provide a sense of where hardware, software and social interaction will intersect. They don't describe this explicitly, but the devices are part of the equation and essential to forecasting and preparing for future trends.
Search is getting more and more powerful and granular. Part of it's evolution will be to both measure social media sites and to incorporate their features. Both of these will be able to provide very valuable data.
With all the technology out there it's easy to forget that social media is about socializing. These sites are a great source of both inspiration and warning. Inspiring because of the number of creative applications found within and a warning for the same reason. Purely social sites don't seem to have a particular purpose and so it is difficult to identify a potential customer and point them toward your value proposition without being 'The Amway guy'
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What a Social Media Expert Should Be
What is a social media expert?
Looking at the wide variety of social media experts, it is easy to quickly become jaded to their assorted value propositions. At the same time, however, there is still the inkling that social media is part of a greater transition from Television, radio, and print media to the web. This transition will occur and it will not simply be a matter of copying content from one staging area to another. The internet is a two (in fact, a muli-way) medium and leveraging this power will require knowledge of social media and how to utilize it. This is where knowledge of social networks and marketing across these channles comes in. There will be a need for social media experts and some will emerge who can create value. Currently, however, we are still in the starting stages of this transition and many of these 'experts' have little more than a couple of months more knowledge and experience than their customers. The list below discusses some of the traits that a real social media professional should exhibit. These traits should be up front and free. The specific details of their offerings may of course cost money, but there should at least be a well presented and organized presentation of how they can deliver on their stated promises.
a) Awareness of the available social media tools Twitter, facebook and YouTube are not the only social media platforms out there. There are many others that are approaching this shift to the internet from a variety of angles. Some may target your desired customers with greater efficiency. A social media expert cannot be expected to know of all of the options available, but they should be able to review a given site based on the potential values it offers to the client. Many social media experts will only reference the sites that have the largest amount of traffic, or the most press. This is because they are in the business of marketing, not social media optimization.
b) Knowledge of how to use each of these tools effectively Twitter is full of experts offering ebooks or social media solutions that seem to endorse using the same set of techqiques for all sites. In fact, each site has a different type of visitor, set of interactions, culture and set of rules for behavior. Not knowing this will eventually mean that the unique possibilities of a given platform are not utilized. The internet will evolve into many things, not one big thing, and a variety of approaches will have to be taken. -> This DOES NOT mean a one size fits all approach to every social network
c) The ability to discern which sites have marketing value and which do not Some platforms and sites will have greater value for marketing and promotion than others. This effect can be multiplied by way of the social interaction the site utilizes. In order to have value, these features have to be used by a quality percentage of the sites visitors. Simply having feature A or B will not mean it is being used. If a sites features are underutilized, it should be the SME's job to get utilization out of it. He or she shouldn't just turn it over to the technitions and intstuct them to create 'some more cool features'.
d) The ability to gauge and intelligently discuss the trends inherent in a given network This is about level of depth. Any so called guru can talk about Twitter getting 10k new users a day, or Facebooks valuation. A real SME can discuss they kinds of people on a given network, their interests and their level of investment into the system. All of these work to determine just how worth while a campaign is.
e) Knowledge of methods to maximize Social Marketing efforts across the widest variety of social networks Some strategies can work across a variety of networks because they are generic enough and unobtrusive. An SME should be able to determine what these are and how they can be employed. Just as important, they should be able to explain why other methods won't work and the reason why. In addition, tools like Ping.fm can be used to send content to a large number of networks. An SME should know what they are as well as how to use them properly. Ping.fm, for example, can send to round 50 different networks. Many of these networks will not have much value to a campaign, so saying that submitting to all 50 sites on Ping.fm does not mean much. It would be better to classify those sites and explain the variety of strategies applied to each class.
f) Knowledge of the different 'cultures' in a social network. (See an anthropological study). Twitter appeals to techies, marketers, public relations and gadget junkies. They rebel hard against explicit selling or affiliate efforts. An SME who proposes such a thing on Twitter is no where near an expert. Likewise, other sites have different demographics and cannot be treated in the same way. Make sure that your SME can explain the difference.
g) Continued study, the willing ness to discuss what one is learning To get the most our of your SME, do your own research. Go to technorati, techcrunch etc and see what's happening out there. Use your own reasoning to estimate what might have value for you and then ask your SME about it. The feedback should be intelligent and well thought out.
h) A variety of options and strategies for a given customer or client. Like any other service, an SME should provide the customer with a variety of solutions. In fairness to he or she, they will come at varying cost. You should be able to expect levels of service and customization. Not having this is like going to a restaurant that only sells spam and eggs.
i) Knowing that more granular targeting = more work. This is an important realization or both the SME and the client. Targeting a wider spectrum of potential customers means better targeting but it also means more effort in implementation. For the SME this means more work. For you this means a higher cost.
j) Because of the above, the SME should be able to determine which effort delivers the most bang for the buck, and then leave that final decision up to you.
k) Introduce efficiencies, and DRY priciples. Eventually, efficiencies can be created as common tasks emerge. This can eventually save time and money in the long term for a higher up front cost. In addition, repeated tasks should eventually be eliminated and abstracted out using templates and scripting where appropriate.
l) Technical knowledge. SME will eventually require a blend of graphic design, advertising and coding skills. An SME should know the place of all of these and be versed in at least one of these skills. Beyond that, he or she should be able to effectively locate and utilize talents in areas not versed in.
In summary, Social Media Optimization is like any other service. It is a skill and as a service it is performed to save the client time and money compared to doing it himself. The SME market right now is full of short cuts, quick solutions, one-size-fits-all and outright scams. Approach hiring such an expert with caution. More importantly, approach the process with curiosity and a willingness to explore this new facet of the internet. This phenomenon is here to stay, so an investment in learning about it has long term cost and competitive benefits.
TAGS: Lead Generation Social Media