2. ‘ Social Media is like teen sex. Everybody wants to do it. Nobody knows how.’ Avinash Kaushik
3. ‘ That which I do not understand I do not consider of value.’
4. ‘ Twitter is just pointless chatter about nothing!’ I drank this at 9.06am on the beach. http://bit.ly/elynUh #breakfast
5. ‘ Facebook is just a load of needy envious voyeurs!’ Look how beautiful my son is. And how happy. I am a pretty good photographer too.
6.
7. ‘ Blogging is for lonely weirdos who write their diaries online!’ I took Arthur in for his 6 month checkup today. Dr. Plotnick was happy to report that Arthur is the picture of health. There are no lingering effects or even signs that earlier this year he was so ill. The only thing of slight concern is that Arthur now weighs 16lbs 6oz and the Dr would be happier if Arthur was closer to the low 15 range.
18. Your future customers. collaborators and employees are growing up with it @baby, @toddler, @kid, @teenager, @middleagedman, @grumpyoldman, @_____________
Right .Hello there. My name is Justin Small. Just before we start, I wanted to do a little bit of an exercise to get your minds open so you can receive what the panel are about to give....oooh..sounds a bit biblical!!!... I know that when I come to one of these events all I want to do is sit down and relax and be left alone...and when someone on stage starts talking about getting me involved in some ‘nlp’ or ‘ice breaker’ type exercises I shudder...‘Just leave me alone!’ I want to say...so I understand how you’re feeling... But at Rewire we have this idea that we want to put on events that take you out of your comfort zone a bit in order to aid collaboration and innovation ...that is why we run Unconferences...and in order to get do this we believe we have to get you to do something silly and mildly embarassing...and here in England that means just about anything that gets you off your seats and talking to strangers... So....this little exercise is called ‘High 5 Americana’.....what I would like you to do is High 5 (in the most USA like fashion you can) the person on your right...and if you have no one one on your right do it with the person behind you or in front of you....I will demonstrate first..(high five richie with a big over the top “yeah!’) .. God that’s embarrassing...and silly...which is good...we like silly! So..here we go..stand up if you can...and...after 3....1, 2, 3....Yeah!... How was that! Very silly I hope..silly unlocks the creative juices...and brings barriers down...ok...you can relax now
Who in this room is or would call themselves an expert in Social Media..? A guru perhaps? Any gurus in this afternoon? I will admit.... I am no Social Media guru or expert. But I hope I have some interesting insights into Social Media to pass on
And these insights about Social Media come from meetings I have had with clients where the subject of their Social Media strategy comes up...and generally I get some comments that fit in to this statement.What we don’t get we don’t try..and because we don’t try it we don’t get it.... here are the 4 most common...
I agree. It is sometimes. And people that continually tweet their locations, or their moods, I generally unfollow. However, Twitter is great for meeting new people in your area of expertise or interest. In fact, it is one of the best places to learn of the latest developments and cutting edge research.
Again, I agree. I don’t like Facebook. Well, it’s not facebook, it’s all my friends on it with their wonderful careers and lovely holidays and beautiful children that I don’t like! Joking...kind of... But companies are using Facebook with great success..the Red Bull page has 15 million likes!
YEs! Youtube is an enigma! How can a company make it work for them as a channel? Should they post some silly videos? In fact, YouTube is the world’s second most used Search Engine...and this silly video has had 164 million views!
Completely right! I found this blog about cats. This is Arthur. He went for his 6 month check up today. The vet is worried about Arthur’s weight. He now weighs 16 pounds..etc etc But for every diary there are some great blogs. And blogging creates original content that makes people come back for more.
After the knee-jerk reactions to Social Media... here are 11 of my more thought through statements about Social Media..
Twitter is in fact a key place to network. And you don’t have to stand about embarrassed in the corner all night pretending you just got a very interesting email on your phone. Twitter is networking for shy people.
By narrative I mean a story. A beginning, middle and end. It allows your customers to see your story unfolding, and to be part of it. And of course, you are the hero in the story.
Blogging creates original content, and as you know ‘Content is King’. Especially for SEO. But also Blog posts show engagement with your market, and allow your customers and collaborators to see your thinking and take part in it.
Social Media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Blogs are places where your customers can come into contact with your brand in the digital space. Before all they had was the website. Now they can interact with you in a choice of places depending on their personal preferences. And the more they interact, the more they engage with your brand and the more they buy, use, support or recommend your products or services.
New ideas, in our view, come from openness and collaboration. Innovation is the key to competitive advantage. The more you put out, the more you get back. So the more you get into to Social Media, the more you will get out of it.
Social Media is not just good for customer engagement. It is great for employee engagement. The only way to keep customers happy is to have happy employees. And employees are generally happier if they feel part of something. A social media strategy that is consistent across all channels creates a sense of history and future ambitions.
Offline brands with only a high street presence and an online website can be very static, and go stale very easily. The immediacy of Social Media means that brands become much more dynamic and are kept moving by the customers themselves in their online interactions with the brand.
If you work for any of the train companies you will understand this. Every morning there are thousands of tweets like ‘ I hate you #southeastern’ venting anger over cancelled and delayed trains. Twitter is the most immediate complaints procedure ever. And if reacted to properly can be the quickest and best resolution space.
If you’re not on Twitter or Facebook, where are you? Are you hiding behind an 0845 number? Or behind a form on a website? Not good enough and not immediate enough in the view of customers in the 21st century.
This is a biggy - for companies that are unsure about getting into Social Media - just think of your customer base in 5 years and 10 years time - will they be using Social Media? How about your future collaborators and employees? I think the answer may be yes.
As it is very easy to knock a company or individual, it is even easier to praise one. Good stuff moves as fast as bad stuff. And those that like you generally tell everyone in Social Media.
I believe in Long Term Planning. The decision of whether or not to go into Social Media today is not about what results you will get next week, in the next 3 months, or in the next year. It is about the results you will get in 5 years time..
If you are planning to still be in business, do have a 5 year plan? And does that plan involve a Digital Strategy? And does that Digital Strategy involved a Social Media Strategy? I would say it should do.