Social Marketing Revolution

HBO’s Games &  Game Theory
Game of Thrones season 5 finale was disturbing, depressing and as close to experiencing chemotherapy by watching TV you will ever get (and we hope you ever get period). The season 5 finale has us wondering if social media marketing is changing the way we create art and not always in good ways. 

What about you? Share your GOT and social media thoughts on Curagami: http://www.curagami.com/magical-thinking/news/game-of-thrones-whack-a-mole/  

Weekly Cool Tools from The Tool Guy
If you've never followed or read Robin Good's tool reviews they are works of art. Robin is the best "tool guy" on the planet. Robin has started sending out a weekly Tools of the Week email. Here are his selections for this week:

5) Cloud Storage Cost Comparisons
https://cloudvertical.com/

Foll @Robin Goodand subscribe to his Tech Tool Roundup (couldn't find the link to encourage subscription, so Robin if you read this ping the link to subscribe and will include).

Sign up for Robin's Newsletter Here:
http://forms.aweber.com/form/61/518534561.htm

A prominent author tells brands that social media will not help their bottom line. Marketing leaders think differently.

Marty Note
Don't be fooled by nattering nabobs of negativity. Social media is changing the world and marketing at its core. Here's why....

Social Media Marketing Tools
Team Curagami thought it would be interesting to look across the tools we love to use to see who is helping and how much:

Total Views
GPlus: 1.92M
Scoop.it Views: 173,000
Haiku Views: 83,464
Twitter: ?

Use Time

Twitter: 6 Years

Scoop.it Use: 3 Years
GPlus: 2 Years
Haiku Deck Use: 1 Year

Content Created
Scoops: 6,716
Tweets: 17,300
Haiku Decks: 38
Google Plus: 2,000 (estimate)

Following

Scoop.it: 34,000
Twitter: 5,355
GPlus: 4,397

Haiku Deck: Doesn't Offer Yet (have talked to them about this)

Caveat
If your Apples to Oranges warning light is on we agree. There are so many variables with one of the variables being how each of these tools helps the others so comparison is somewhat moot.

That said here are some random thoughts about each social media / content marketing tool:

Twitter = Frustration
Twitter is always 3 steps forward and 2 back. Each day @Scenttrail (http://www.twitter.com/scenttrail) and @Curagaqmi (http://www.twitter.com/curagami )gain and lose followers. Engagement is limited in this kind of "fire hose" marketing and for every 3 followers 2 drop off (I trim with JustUnfollow) despite my generally trying to follow everyone even remotely related who has followed me or us.

When we see Ashton Kutcher has millions of followers and treats what we work at so HARD as a big joke it's frustrating and maddening. I don't think any team can DO WITHOUT the "radio of the web", but its hard to grow a tribe there. Best to use Twitter for what it is good at - informing your tribe about what is happening now.

Scoop.it = Following & Future of Content Marketing
Scoop.it's ability to form a tribe is outstanding. The stumble comes when we try to figure out how to communicate with, listen to or curate from our followers. We think our Scoop.it "Magazine" Page: @Martin (Marty) Smith should be MORE IMPORTANT.

Scoop.it has 1M users now. We would love to see more Hero Marketing similar to what Haiku Deck does so well. Where is the Top Scoop.it Curators list? Where are the stats showing the Top Scoops of 2014 on a variety of dimensions (share, links, views)?

Scoop.it is sitting in the catbird seat since content curation is about to be the big win, but we would love a more proactive stance from Team Scoop.it. That said, they've been KIND and GENEROUS adopting me despite tough financial times due to cancer treatments. Like Haiku Deck Scoop.it has a great team and they will figure it out.

Goole Plus
We LOVE Google Plus, but losing the charismatic leader Vic Gundotra was a shock. I love hangouts, but they are not enterprise ready full of creaks, pops and cracks when used. Not easy either. GPlus has a LEARNING CURVE.

On the positive side IT'S GOOGLE. I don't know anywhere else where a following of less than 5,000 can generate page views close to 2M. Content on Google gets seen, commented on and that's worth our investment and continued learning.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MartinWSmith/posts 

Haiku Deck
For team Curagami the real revelation is Haiku Deck. We get MORE for LESS with Haiku Deck than any other social media tool (period, full stop). The fact that our decks, even the old sleepy ones, continue to generate new views is amazing.

Haiku Deck's adoption of our favorite online community / Hero Marketing idea is why our 38 decks are slouching toward 100,00 views after only a year and much less ditch digging than our first two years on Scoop.it. We created a Haiku Deck about their creation of online community:

Haiku Deck Model
http://shar.es/1H5cUm

Yes, Haiku Deck is being helped by the entire ecosystem especially Scoop.it, but if you have ONE thing you can do create decks and pray.

Because no one can do ONE THING anymore (sadly). What about you? What are your favorite social media tools and why?

Marty Note
Solid post by Ted that explains the subterranean traps many marketers fall into when using social media. Rubin points out that some OLD marketing truths still hold water such as:

1. You are NOT Your Customer—Do Your Research

1. Frequency Isn’t a Bad Thing

1. Story is Important
   
   

Great tips here about lessons every marketer learned but seem to forget when "social media" is in front of "marketing".

Blogging and Social Media
Asking if blogging matters to social media is to ask the wrong question in the wrong way. Social media, like blogging, is a marketing tactic. Like all marketing tactics blogging and social media should come wrapped in a blanket of strategy.

Like all marketing strategy the tactical and strategic blanket that wraps blogging and social media should start with a brand's why - the raison d'être for a product, company, brand or service to exist. 

Every communication should flow from the spring of what Simon Sinek so well defined in his must read book Start With Why (use that link to buy the book on Amazon to make a small donation to cure cancer).  Sharing is what is happening. 
 
The "sharing economy" may be part hyperbole, but sharing is a form of communication and a tactic and a strategy few can afford to not embrace. Our Curagami post notes the importance of content curation in support of blogging.

We mention @Scoop.it as the best content curation tool we know and use. Curation is important to form community and so your voice doesn't begin to sound shrill and demanding. Better to curate the relevant (to your branding) communication of others than attempting to create (write or blog) you way to submission these days. 

Blogging, done right, is a conversation between a company, brand or product's WHY and customer reactions, ideas and desire to join the movement. Movements are bigger ideas than brands, but smart brands have harnessed the power of bigger ideas.

Nike's Just Do It, North Face's "Never Stop Exploring" and Apple's Think Different are all brilliant examples of connecting brands to bigger ideas (read Jim Stengel's excellent Grow for more on Brand Ideals). Blogging is a share and so a natural extension of harnessing brands to movements and bigger ideas.

Goes blogging matter? Yes and in more ways than we know or fully appreciate. Is blogging critical to social media? Yes since blogging confirms a company, brand or products digital listening skills while reaffirming the brand, company or website's presence in the game / conversation.  

Social Media Darwinism
The world is irretrievably social. If you combine the Eli Pariser’s “Filter Bubbles” with how social media is becoming a search engine you will understand how your online branding and marketing can win and win big. 

9 Free Social Media Analytics Tools feature everything from Klout to Addictomatic. Most new to us, but worth checkout out.

The day a big company understands social media marketing it may be time to buy water and canned goods and get in the basement. The end of days is near.

As this post shares, doesn't look like the end of days is near based on how TONE DEAF Nissan was to a cool social marketing idea, and idea that would have sold $240,000 in cars and costs...well NOTING.

We may NEVER need water and canned goods...sadly.

Social Media Doubters Begone
Created an interesting spontaneous "campaign" for New Years. New Years day is my birthday. It is my father's birthday too. After a great suggestion from @Kelly HungerfordI set up a spontaneous event.

Every Happy Birth generated a $10 donation to Dr. John Byrd's work at the James Cancer Center at Ohio State where I'm being treated for the leukemia my father and I share.

After the event I created a report showing where my 72 Happy Birthdays came from:

33% Came from Social Media Friends (many made here on @Scoop.it).
24% came from work friends.

19% came from Greenwich (where I grew up during a special time)
12% came from Vassar where I graduated i 1980
11% came from Choate where I graduated in 1976

Still think social media doesn't matter? As I noted in the GPlus post, the ONLY thing that can scale in that list is Social Media. I may be able to incrementally increase my alumni networks, but only Social Media can quadruple.

The future is social. Get used to it and realize it changes everything.

Connection, our human ability to listen, share and respond, is the new ecommerce. This Haiku Deck is in support of Marty Smith's Keynote talk at FedEx Connection Conference 7.30.14.

Insight Squared
Link is to an interesting InsightSquared study that may answer the wrong question the wrong way. The question, should your sales person keep calling, should be should your sales person call. Calling or "cold calling" prospects in a social / mobile / connected world is a nonstarter.

Eli Pariser's Filter Bubbles explains why (TED Talk link: http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles?language=en ). Pariser explains there is NO WAY you can call me cold and win. Most "prospects" are surrounded by a fortress of content, friends and known and trusted resources.

Warm Is Better Than Cold
We don't know what we don't know and we don't care (lol). NO WAY I would suggest a call until your CRM (Customer Relationship Management like SalesForce) system shows and quantifies interest. I would email a prospect relevant information before I would call.

Calling is intimate and presumes a relationship that may not exist yet. I HATE talking on the phone, but I tweet, Scoop and G+ all day long. Interacting with me on any or all of those platforms earns the right to do something I hate (talk to me on the phone). I'm not in the market for enterprise SaaS stuff at the moment, but bet my feelings aren't too far off (since it wasn't all that long ago I managed a large ecommerce website).

Better when your prospects contact you. Contacting you means you are an order of magnitude more likely to "make a sale". Acceptable ways to contact someone cold include:

* Know one of my friends and they suggested contacting me.
* Read something I published and want to follow or add to the post.
* Responding to one of my requests for help on social media.

An example of that last bullet is I'm looking for a place to stay in Columbus, Ohio for several weeks in November. Help with that and I would be glad to listen to a relevant pitch. The most important point is not to be COLD anymore. There is so much information about all of us so easily available build on something shared, known and collaborative.

BUT BE CAREFUL TOO

I'm way to presumptive. I make errors of commission. Each step in a relationship requires time to solidify, improve and strengthen. Hurry = death in a sales call. Leave some openness. Don't worry or hurry and try not to make errors or commission or omission. Easy to write when I am years away from my last "MUST MAKE" sales goal.

The irony of TODAY is to hurry and push will kill you faster than almost anything. To be patient, relevant and invest is the key to long term sales success. Do I miss having quarterly goals hanging over me? Not so much :). M