Screw Klout...These Are My Influencers

So, tomorrow I celebrate my one-year anniversary at my job. It's not really a big deal, one year woohoo, but I (at the very least) wanted to pay a #FF debt of gratitude to the folks I've met through Twitter that inspired my interest in Social Media and ultimately led me down this career path. Thank you all so much for your generosity and willingness to share knowledge and wisdom!

I don't care what Klout says, these are my influencers:

@ImMarkBernhardt

@krcraft

@KreusslerInc

@997dave

@cynthiakahn

@MostDarren

@Ken_Rosen

@PaulBiedermann

@Karen5Lund

@Shinng

@patrickthoburn

@M_Gagnier

@KnowledgeBishop

@erkramer

@mikulaja

@relevance

@seanmcginnis

@fredmcclimans

@CoachLibbytalks

@Sheree_W

@67tallchris

@mhandy1

@PaulaKPorter

@Spofcher

@RicDragon

@PegFitzpatrick

@WriterChanelle

@MyAgenda

@dabarlow

@SueanneShirzay

@LovelyLu

@samfiorella

@SteveCassady

@herskos

@righteousgeek

@BethGrangerSays

@sandyhubbard

@_Signalfire_

@OneJillian

@mantywebdesigns

@sumnermusolf

@DeRochier

@SMSJOE

@Clark_Jill

@MatthewLiberty

@lttlewys

@lindaperrybarr

@REALChaseAdams

@StephenCaggiano

@KyBedard

@Wedding_Crasher

@40deuce

@LewisPoretz

@Josepf

@joey_strawn

@tedcoine

@MargieClayman

@KatherineBull

@JessicaNorthey

Thank you all!!!

Facebook Pages...

As we (community managers) are aware, the pages notifications have disappeared from the left-hand side of our Facebook Homepage. A friend on Facebook recommended a solution to this problem (Thanks, Shane), please see below instructions:

1)      Go to your Home Page messages inbox and select any message from the inbox.

2)      Click in the comment box as if you’re going to type a message

3)      On the left hand side, the “Pages” should come up – Click on “Pages” or "More"

4)      A new window will appear which lists all of your pages – next to each page name, there is a pencil icon – click the pencil and select “Add to favorites” for each page

 

5)   The pages will then appear on your homepage!!!!

Hope this helps!!!

For the Communication Student...

So, I was going through some old files on my jump drive, and came across an oldie but goodie from the college days... The professor in my Senior Seminar class asked us to write a one-page paper that answers the question, "What is communication?" It's been a long time since I blogged, so I figured, what better way to get back into it than to share what I am thinking about right now...

Communication

“Persuasion.  Influence.  Understanding people.  Sales.  TV Broadcasting.  Public speaking.”  While these common misconceptions about the definition of communication help us describe what we can do with an educational background in the field, they do not get to the meat of what Communication truly is.  More often than not, people take communication for granted.  When asked this difficult question, “What is communication?” we often hear canned responses such as those with an occasional, “Communication is everything we do!” or “Without communication we wouldn’t exist today.”  While all these things are true, a similar observation could be made by a kindergartner.  To a college graduate in the field, communication should be something we define ourselves by.  As a Communication student, I overanalyze every bit of information that I perceive and assign some kind of psychological or emotional value to these perceptions.  I am constantly analyzing these perceptions and their value to uncover-on the deepest level-what inspired them, what perpetuates them, and, of course, how and why they were perceived.

Communication is a bit like Buddhism.  Our Nirvana or “Enlightenment” is the acceptance of one set of ideas globally.  If “red” could just be “red” and not “rojo,” “rouge,” “rot,” “rosso,” “vermelho,” “Červená,” “红色,” or “الأحمر,” all the world’s problems would be solved.  It sounds a bit farfetched, but most people look at conflict as a difference of opinion, two or more opposing viewpoints.  If you really think about it, there is no such thing as having opposing viewpoints.  Red will always look the same whether it is called rojo, rouge, rot, rosso, or anything else for that matter.  It’s not then, a matter of opposing viewpoints, but rather a matter of simple mis-communication.  Somewhere along the line of human existence, the “telephone game” got screwed up, and what was once “red” was mis-communicated as “rojo” and so on.  This simple idea applies to the root of every conflict; somewhere in its lineage, every conflict starts with a mis-communication.  Communication students are not only responsible, but also OBLIGATED in our ability to overanalyze, decode, interpret, understand, evaluate, assign meaning, persuade, influence, sell, publicly speak, whatever! We are obligated to bridge the communication gaps in the world. No matter your field, communication is...calibrating.

Your thoughts?

About Human Decency...

A few nights ago, I was in Milwaukee, WI having dinner with friends when I was temporarily separated from the group.  I began tweeting that I was lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood and attempted calling my friends but none of them answered.  At that point, I was taken in a car by three gentlemen of African descent.  They drove me to a dead end road underneath a very large bridge by the side of a river.  They forced me out of the car and one of them put a gun to my head.  He demanded my iPhone and my wallet which I reluctantly gave to him and then they took off.  It's kind of a blur at this point, but the only thing that sticks out in my mind is the 30 seconds from when we pulled up to the river to the time they peeled out.  In that 30 seconds, I have never been more afraid in my entire life.  It was surreal, something you typically only see in movies, but it was actually happening.  I had just gotten my iPhone a few days prior so I am not sure if there were any features that could have alerted the authorities in that short period of time, but I wish there was.  In browsing some emergency apps online, the only one I can find that may be useful in this situation:

- Silent Bodyguard is an app that sends E-mail, TXT, and Facebook/Twitter messages with your GPS location every 30 seconds to emergency contacts.

Technology being what it is, why haven't we come up with an app that can alert the police/EMS personnel of our location if an emergency arises? I mean, there are EPIRB, ELT, PLB devices that alert authorities immediately of our location and are responded to instantly, but they are often bulky and emit noise and some type of signal light.  How is there no iPhone app that, with the press of a button, can call the police immediately to your location? Is there something like this out there that I am missing?

Apps aside, I am beginning to lose faith in humanity.  The reason I never expected something like this to happen is because it's hard for me believe the level of disrespect it takes to put a gun to some ones head and take something that they have worked diligently from nothing for.  I'm not rich, by any means, but I'm no longer poor either.  The fact is, a little less than a year ago, I was homeless (living on a friends porch), enrolled in college, near starving, and I hadn't a dime to my name.  I didn't even have a phone at that time.  As embarrassing as that is to share, it makes me all the more proud to say that  in that time I was able to climb back up on my feet.  I spent last summer working odd (legitimate) jobs for cash.  For three months after that I worked three fourteen-hour nights a week at a factory 187 miles away while going to school full-time.  I then found an excellent job in my field that I love, pays well, and is close to home.  I am bouncing back stronger than ever and it is not happening by doing nothing, going out partying and finding some out-of-towner easy target to rob.  It makes me sick that people exist that think this type of thing is okay, and what makes it worse is that society has gotten to the point where they can turn a blind eye to it.  I did.  None of us think something like this can happen to us until it does.  So we don't do anything to stop it.  Kind of like none of us think a Tsunami will never wash away our home, a plane will bring down our workplace, or fire will consume our house.  You don't have to like everyone, but you must certainly respect their right to pursue and achieve happiness.  

So long as space exists, 

So long as sentient beings exist, 

I will exist, 

In order to help, in order to serve, 

In order to make my own contribution.

365 Birthdays a Year...Personalizing Social Media

I’ve been talking a lot lately with some Social Media Marketing Guru’s from #usguys and #smmeasure and reflecting on a statement someone made to me:

 “Social media is about building relationships; it’s about knowing your customer and becoming friends with them.” – Everyone on Twitter

It occurred to me, in my consideration of this statement, that some people that choose to represent themselves as my friend may not actually know me at all.  To test this theory, I recently conducted an informal Facebook experiment in which I changed my birthday.  On March 9, 2011 at 10:26 AM, I updated my status:

“If i listed my birthday on facebook as tomorrow(which it's not) I wonder how many of my "friends" would still say "Happy Birthday" to me...we'll call this social experiment #1-A "Let's See Who Knows It's Not My Birthday Tomorrow" and social experiment #1-B "Let's See Who Leaves a "Happy Birthday" Comment Despite Todays Status. Shhhh...don't tell!”

I continued to change my birthday every day for four days.  The results are in and are impressive:

-          36 people responded with birthday praise-this is 6.8% of my network.  On my real birthday (December 3), I got 75 similar posts (14.1% of my network).

o   32 of these are people I actually know personally including:

§  9 people I have celebrated my birthday with in the last 2 years.

§  3 co-workers (one whom sits in the office next to me and ate my treats when it WAS my birthday, actually sent me a singing e-card at work).

§  3 women I have had a “relationship” with.

§  4 Fraternity Brothers.

§  AND 3 members of my own family, including my oldest sister!

-          To be fair, 13 people or 2.4% of my network (including 7 family members and 2 co-workers) publicly called out that it was not, in fact, my birthday.

In a world where your “friends” aren’t even your friends, how are you supposed to befriend the customer? 

The reason people (whether they admit it or not) are afraid of Social Media is not because of the change itself; rather, what the change is destroying.  Customers are people, not “followers” and Friends are Friends, not “friends”.  We need something personal, something real.  Social Media makes them feel that they are losing that personal relationship.  When done right, social media can be the perpetual motion of marketing.  But, in order to do Social Media right, we must reflect on the things we are attempting to preserve with this change.  We must bear in mind the traditional values of genuine human existence; Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship, and authentically represent ourselves, our brands, and our companies as a reflection of those values. 

**continuing to ponder what this means to me, and ways to improve my social media experience. Advice welcome…**

Year of the Unimaginable...? Part II.

Thank you to my friends @margieclayman and @tommyismyname (twitter) for their thought provoking feedback on my last post.  I want to take this opportunity to expand on this subject, and hopefully generate some more insight.

"Real Life Mad Man (@margieclayman) said...

It seems like you're kind of playing both sides - and that's the problem marketers are running into as well, I think.

On the one hand, there are people like me who literally would run away from data mining if I could. I mean, shoot me in the back, I am a coward in the face of that stuff. It creeps me out!

On the other hand, though, there is what some are calling the "opportunity economy." I was just reading a chapter about this in The Now Revolution. A restaurant worked it out so that whenever you check into a neighboring restaurant on Foursquare, a little pop-up comes up saying, "Well, you could also come over here since you're so close."

Creepy because they know exactly where you are, but a great marketing technique.

Good post - lots to ponder :)

February 11, 2011 6:22 PM    "

"tommyismyname (@tommyismyname) said...

Excellent and thought provoking post!

But to answer your question about anyone doing this, the answer is yes. I'm that marketer who is tapping into your thoughts. I am that marketer that plants the subconscious seed that says "I just did this, I think I'll go here next" I use all of the information you have talked about, and a little bit more to reverse engineer people's social media profiles to get them to spend more money with my clients.

As a consumer, I wish more marketers were doing this too. I would love to only see deals for things I already wanted. I would love to see less noise in the products that are advertised to me. I wish life were a bit more like pandora radio. I wish advertisers understood my needs, and gave me what I wanted. I think that would cut back on wasted dollars for sure.

February 11, 2011 9:41 PM           "

Margie, you're absolutely right, I am tip-toeing the line the line a bit.  I'm torn.  The marketer in me wants to capitalize on this, but the sociologist in me says, "Whoa, total invasion of privacy!" Recently, Wisconsin passed legislation regulating the Payday Loan industry because folks were being taken advantage of by outrageous fees and interest rates.  On the one hand, they knew what the terms of the agreement were when they signed the contract; on the other hand, these businesses profited by knowingly lending money to people who would not be able to pay it back.  Who is in the wrong? 

I'm not suggesting that Social Media Marketing is nearly as deceitful as what happened in the loan industry; but, when you create a Facebook account or add a new app to your iPhone, you agree to the terms and conditions (which you may or may not read) that, in some cases, allow those applications to tweet on your behalf or share your information with third parties.  It seems now that you’re almost obligated to be on Facebook, at minimum.  I currently use Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace (although I haven’t been on MySpace in half a decade) and I am beginning to feel pressure from my fellow social media-lites to join some other platforms as well.  None of them are coming out and telling me to join, but by not joining, I feel left out.  At any rate, “Social Media (Peer) Pressure” is a whole other topic in itself.  The point is, we are kind of “forced” into divulging all this personal information and have little to no control over how it is shared. 

In the corner of my Facebook page at this very moment I see that I should support our troops by purchasing a survival bracelet at "survivalstraps.com".  Coincidentally, I recently posted well wishes on my cousin’s wall.  He just arrived in Afghanistan for his 5th (or so) tour.  I also have (roughly) 57 “friends” that have served, in some capacity, in the armed forces.  Coincidence?  Not likely.  I can’t represent survivalstraps.com, but I am willing to bet that they are in no way endorsed by the armed forces.  That’s just one click I don’t want to make in the event that it causes this marketing chain to spin on and batter me with more ads.  My question then, is this: How far is too far?  I agree 100% with what @tommyismyname said, “I would love to see less noise in the products that are advertised to me. I wish life were a bit more like pandora radio. I wish advertisers understood my needs, and gave me what I wanted.”  I think this strategy would be better than any existing strategy for the marketer and equally as beneficial to the consumer.  My concern comes from Peter Parker’s (Spiderman) Grandfather, “With great power comes great responsibility!” I’m weary that many marketers may use this power negatively, deceitfully, to create exponentially more amounts of noise.  Thoughts?

Year of the Unimaginable...?

In one of my favorite Twitter chats (#smmeasure) the @Marketwire team covered a topic that got me thinking, as their topics usually do, about the direction Marketing, Social Media, PR, and (quite frankly) Society in general is headed. 

We are now a world of skeptics and non-believers.  As Seth Godin says, “All that succeeds is the unreasonable.”  Consumers are looking for unbeatable prices on unattainably high quality items that are unimaginably marketed.  In this particular post, I’d like to address the latter of the three.  I won’t pretend to be a Marketing expert, as I am still “wet behind the ears,” but I want to attempt to paint a picture of an otherwise unimaginable marketing strategy of which I’m certain I am not the first to consider. 

The Patriot Act in 2001 was sold to the public, by our elected few, based on the fear of terrorism and has since been under immense scrutiny based upon the invasive nature of the legislation (among other reasons).  However, the level of invasiveness we consciously gave our government is peanuts compared to that which we are unconsciously giving to Marketers on a daily basis.  The folks in #smmeasure yesterday were talking about "locator" apps such as Google Latitude, Layar, Wikitude, FB Places, and it FREAKED me out; and, not just in a “big brother” kind of way.  We hear all the time that “the power of social media is endless” and we should “be careful what we post online” but, how is the “power endless”?  Why should we “be careful”? 

The simple, cookie-cutter response is:  It’s so “powerful” because millions use it and you should be “careful” because you never know who’s watching (creepers!).

But there is a far more complex answer to these seemingly simple questions:

The information we make public about ourselves and our friends is to Marketers what plutonium is to Marty McFly.  That is no lie!  When we allow Marketers access to our likes, our dislikes, our favorite music, what we are watching on TV, who we are watching TV with, their likes and dislikes, etc. we are planting information for them to harvest and it truly is a cash crop.  Though the arenas have changed, marketing itself remains the same it always has: INPUT à ANALYSIS à OUTPUT.  The “INPUT” is everything you tell them; be it in a focus group, survey, consumer report, or (nowadays) on Facebook.  What you don’t realize is that, now you don’t even have to offer the information, you offered it as soon as you accepted the “Terms and Conditions” of Facebook use.  The “ANALYSIS” is everything they think your saying and how they plan to respond with exactly what you want to hear.  This may or may not have changed much, but the technique and philosophy of analytics vary from company to company.  Some successful examples of truly impactful analysts; Clotaire Rapaille, Frank Luntz, Mike Maslansky, Leo Burnett, and the list goes on.  The “OUTPUT” is the message they are sending you; you know, the one you told them you wanted to hear (though you may not realize you did so) during the “INPUT” phase.  The “OUTPUT” is the part of the equation I am increasingly weary of. 

They already know how to strategically advertise via social media platforms.  I’m sure you’ve realized this every time you log onto Facebook and see an ad for Dick’s Sporting Goods if you “like” hunting, or an ad for Tangled if you have 4 year-olds, or an ad for Depend if you’ve recently retired ;)  Marketers have clearly been successful in infiltrating social media ad space, and are proving to be nearly as successful in engaging via SM, but what I have yet to see is “unimaginable OUTPUT” coming from social media.

With all these “locator” apps, marketers possess the capability to slap an @DairyQueen ad on an e-billboard across the street as I’m walking away from the dinner table @ChinaBuffet and tweeting about how much I could go for an ice cream.  Isn’t it creepy enough when you’re driving and happen to be craving something very specific, a taco perhaps, and all of the sudden a Taco Bell ad comes across the wavelengths?  Now, they know what you want, they know where you are when you want it, and most importantly, how to deliver it instantaneously.  Imagine leaving the office with a tweet, “Could totally go for a burger right now…@(myoffice) #starving #mcdonalds” and as soon as you walk out the door an LED billboard flashes golden arches and an arrow, “1.2 miles to Mouth Watering, Heart Stopping (quite literally) Goodness.” 

I wanted to get my feet wet in SM Consumer-ism so I recently “followed” some products I use as well as signed up for some mobile coupon offers from some stores I shop at.  I am NOT impressed (from a marketing standpoint).  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve mentioned @verizon @sprint or @mtn_dew and gotten ZERO response.  Why do you have a twitter account if you’re not going to engage?  In some of those cases, I have asked direct questions to them and been referred to a link about their products.  As a consumer, I don’t want to be “referred” anywhere.  I asked you on Twitter, because I want you to talk to me on Twitter.  My mobile coupons are a joke! @JCPenney texts me a coupon maybe twice a month.  How about @JCPenney figure out when I am in need of new clothes for work or when my tennis shoes crap out (like when my Facebook status says ‘D#!@ I just blew a hole in my shoe…in the market for some fresh tennies!’) and send me a sweet coupon on shoes?!?  Is it possible to monitor hundreds of thousands of followers and engage them individually?  I sure think it is, there are certainly the metrics available to monitor what your “followers” or “likers” are saying, why not use them to your advantage?!

Can you imagine an otherwise unimaginable marketing strategy like this? Is anyone out there doing this?  I’m sure the boys @Marketwire are cooking something up as we speak!

@spittk07