The Cold Shoulder Of Social Media

Logline: In a bid to survive the devastating economy...

...an optimistic businessman first has to overcome...

...the unrequited love of his new marketing darling - online social media – before his muse will save him.

The Set-up: Park Howell runs Park&Co, a growing Phoenix agency with a growing client list. In fact, the firm is celebrating its 15th year in business on March 1. Park’s pretty proud of his team and what they’ve built. He owns his own building, works with 16 wonderful employees...

...and he and his beautiful interior designer wife, Michele, have three lovely kids, each a creative entrepreneur in their own way. Park&Co is right on track to take over the world.

Always fearful of becoming a dinosaur, Park and the agency embraces social media early and begins successfully using elements of it for their clients. • The agency hosted its own YouTube film festival to help its team become more familiar with social media • He used iTunes as a distribution channel for a client’s training videos, saving the client more than a quarter of a million dollars in DVD production and distribution. • Taking a page out of Obama’s campaign, the agency deployed social media to help rural Arizonans tell their stories of the need for more jobs to lawmakers in Washington D.C. • And they’ve used Ning to host a wedding contest for Goodwill.

Catalyst, or “Inciting Incident”: Then “Bam!” In October 2008, the world ends as he knew it with the beginning of the global recession. The “New normal” was dawning. It was not enough for Park to help his clients weather the storm with decreasing marketing resources. He had to insure the survival of his own agency. Park followed the lead of many captains in the industry, and they all pointed to online social media as more than a temporary lifeboat, but the new marketing world order.

Debate: But can he pull it off? What will it take? Does he launch his own blog or amp up the agency’s online presence? What is his story, his niche, his expertise? Which social media tools, proven or not, will he employ? How will he measure it? What will he measure? What matters? Who cares?

Break into Two (Act 2, the “Love Story”): Following a Vegas ad agency seminar, and a biz dev. gurus introducing Park to the sultry and seductive attributes of online social media for his own agency, Park falls head-over-heels.

He develops his own blog, “A Brighter Shade of Green Marketing,” that focuses on one of the agency’s successful niches: Sustainability. He takes time to listen to his potential audiences with his new accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, FriendFeed. He monitors Digg, StumbleUpon, Technorati. He hosts online polls and posts videos.

He participates in webinars, creates a Ning network, and reads social media romance novels like Bernoff’s “Groundswell,” Brogan’s “Trust Agents,” Baer’s “Convince & Convert” blog, and a plethora of novelettes in the form of free eBooks and SlideShare presentations. Everyone’s a social media expert and he wants to be invited to the dance.

He is delighted and surprised when he is asked to speak about social media in a niche within his niche: Water conservation. He researches, and writes, and posts lists, and links, and insights. He comments on other blogs, reaches out to sustainability writers. ... and Tweets about everything but where he’s having coffee...

...until he relents on one rainy morning. and Tweets about having coffee. “ Sitting in Mama Java’s on a soaked Seattle-like morning in Phoenix...” he writes. Knowing he is in the clutches of the social media drug, he shakes out of his temporary stupor, and adds: “ ...There. I finally tweeted about having coffee. Won’t EVER happen again.”

Midpoint: Park finds himself in a feverish, but seemingly one-sided courtship with social media. He’s ready to round third base and head for home. Readers are going to come flooding in. The phone is going to ring off the hook. One person cautions him, “How are you going to keep this up – working four to six hours per day on social media – when you’re going to be so busy handling all of the new business?” Great question, he thinks. Then, in a figurative gesture, he puts his hand to his ear, leans forward toward the very computer he’s been banging away at for 10 solid months, and stops for a moment to hear what his efforts have earned him in the way of new business.

Crickets.

Bad Guys Close In: As Park’s doubts about his social media abilities grow, and its relevance as the new marketing beloved, the economy worsens...

...Not ready to abandon his initial romance, even though her delicate hand seems just out of reach in the way of biz dev reciprocity, he has to reinvent how his agency can remain sustainable in this new environment of more project work, less campaigns, and dwindling budgets.

All is Lost: Park travels to back east to meet with biz dev. gurus and other agency followers for a two-day session on “Best practices.” The more they talk of scheduling tweets, publishing lists because people don’t read but scan, how bloggers game the AdAge Power150, the more Park finds himself repelling from the process.

Dark Night of the Soul: Park returns to Phoenix more confused than ever about his wooing of social media and the unrequited love he has received in the form of zero new business.

Break into Three: With the help of his brilliant team back at the agency, and what he’s learned from the accumulated months of research while pursuing his social media muse, Park arrives at the greatest truth of all:

It’s not where you tell your story, but how well you tell it. She doesn’t want you to simply show up with flowers. She wants you to freely share your heart and soul. Only then will she give back. Finale: Park realizes that behind the siren song of online social media lays many virtues that aren’t at first apparent. Online social media loves you back by: • Making you a better listener • Honing your writing skills • Recognizing and capitalizing on trends • Developing ones self as a more skilled online communicator/marketer • Building expertise in your chosen niche outside of social media • Employing your new found knowledge to guide your customers • Creating more enlightenment to innovation with easy access to thought leaders • Exercising resiliency and self-discipline in your daily development • Perfecting presentation abilities • Enhancing your own leadership skills

And becoming a better storyteller. I want to share a couple of offline stories with you first, to demonstrate the power of drama in your marketing. And when you present great drama to someone, you are helping them to tell your story for you. Word of mouth marketing dates back to the caveman, only then, it was grunt of mouth marketing.

Here are two superb examples: The Wynn Las Vegas and Prostate Net.

Wynn Hotel opening Story: “Steve Wynn is back and has created something different and more extravagant than anything you’ve seen in Las Vegas before.” Genre: “The Fool Triumphant” – After a decline and nearly fading from existence, everyone had written Steve Wynn off. No one believed he could come back or that his latest hotel would be able to compete with the Vegas heavies. Everyone underestimated him. Until it opened when people discovered that he was back and had created a truly remarkable hotel experience. This was a classic underdog tale. Now how did they tell it? • When the Wynn Las Vegas hotel was getting ready to open it targeted a particular group to open to first. Not celebrities or high rollers but cab drivers. The Wynn knew they had a great story to tell in each corner of their new hotel. Every restaurant, room, show, and table had a story of it’s own. So, to tell this story, the Wynn turned to the people who relay stories to Vegas travelers everyday. • Cab drivers had full run of the hotel to themselves free of charge before everyone else so they could discover the hotel’s stories and create their own. The entire campaign took place offline and provided the hotel and army of evangelists that speak directly to their target audience each day. • Source: “Word of Mouth Marketing” by Andy Sernovitz

Prostate Net Story: “African American men are 66% more likely to develop prostate cancer and twice as likely to die from it and no one seems to know or care.” Genre: “Dude with a Problem” – An ordinary guy in an extraordinary circumstance. The local barber is asked to take on one of the biggest problems in the African American community. Prostate Net educated the barber so he can help defeat the bad guy - prostate cancer. Barber wins by using his individuality and personality to outsmart the villain (In three months after the campaign 10,000 men had their first prostate exam). How did it work? • Prostate Net identified the audience an audience that makes their living telling stories. If they could provide these storytellers a story to tell on their behalf they’d reach their audience in an environment they trusted. • Prostate Net first educated the barbers, then once they had buy in they taught them how to tell the story. The result was trustworthy, organic marketing that made a difference. • Source: “Word of Mouth Marketing” by Andy Sernovitz

Telling a Great Story Online Emphasize that’s it not about technology. Social media works as an extension of a great story. At it’s best when used as a technology to spread a story. When you give people a reason to share, they will share – via social media.

Apple Social Media Footprint Story: “We cultivate passionate evangelists by creating the best, cutting edge, user-friendly products out there.” Genre: “Institutionalized” – Apple followers become so passionate they associate their identity with the brand. They display their devotion on their clothing, vehicles, in person via stories, and of course online. • Leveraging social media is possible without even participating. Look at Apple. According to a 2009 study by Sysomos that measured mentions across all major social media forums, Apple ranks second behind only Google and ahead of Microsoft. This is without really any social media presence. In fact, Apple discourages the use of social media among its staff. • This proves that with a great story comes mentions. Microsoft is all over the social media space yet their story isn’t good enough to overcome Apple’s. • Sources: Links above

Charity Water Story: “One in eight people in the world don’t have access to clean drinking water. We show you how urgent the problem is and with your help, bring clean drinking water to these people.” Genre: “Whydunit” – Charity Water sheds light in a problem most of us didn’t know existed before. We’re let in on the problem and are made to ask, “Is this right?” “Can I let this go on while I am so fortunate?” “What can I do to help?” • Charity Water is one of the most successful non-profit organizations out there because of how they tell their story. It’s not about the organization; it’s about connecting you with those struggling without clean water. • Throughout their website the emphasis is on telling a great story regardless of the medium - video , merch andise , the cause , and s ocial med ia . • The r esult is a c ompelling story throughout leading to 2009 results including: o 40% compan y growth o 8 .5 million dollars raised o New projects in Cambodia and Sierra Leone o 1,145 new freshwater projects added including 200 schools and 26 health clinics o And much more.

How social media fails without a great story Skittles Home Page Story: N/A Genre: N/A • Skittles looked to make a big impact by turning their homepage into a glorified Twitter feed. Their site turned into a Twitter search feed for “Skittles.” It was initially touted as revolutionary but soon people realized it was simply a feed that said meaningless things about Skittles and quickly lost momentum. Why? • It failed because the company looked at technology before telling a story. There was no story at all, no engagement, no community. Just a new technology that eventually fell on deaf ears. • Source: ZDnet - http://blogs.zdnet.com/feeds/?p=1204&page=6&tag=col1;post-1204

So, what’s your story?

Here are just a few sources that have helped me tell better stories: Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat” outlines the 10 story genres and the 15 beats to every great story, all starting with one concise “logline.” David Mamet’s “three USes of the Knife” thesis on the nature and purpose of drama is look into what has driven great storytelling throughout the centuries. Famed scriptwriter and professor, Robert McKee’s “Story,” is the most often referenced textbook on how to craft stories worth sharing. And finally, the no-brainer of them all: Seth Godin’s, “All Marketers Tell Stories.”

For a bibliography of sorts of each story and resources I mentioned today, please visit my blog at ParkHowell.com...

...or our agency blog at ParkandCo.Com.

Allow me to leave you with this. In the low resolution communication world of Twitter’s 140 characters, who do you think, between theses two guys – one of them being the acclaimed marketing mind, Guy Kawasaki – has more followers. Guy Tweets, “How watching crystals grown can lead to faster electronic devices.” The other guy, using the handle “@Shit my dad says,” writes: “The whole world is fueled by B.S....What? The kid asked me for advice on his science fair project so I’m giving it to him.” He beats Kawasaki 1.2 million visitors to around 200,000. Why? He tells a darned fine story, don’t you think. Thank you.