Hey Marketers! Social Media is alright but…
A couple weeks ago, I gave two lectures at Charlotte BarCamp. The titles were “How to Make Money Online” and “How to Market Anything Online”.
In doing so, one statement seemed to get the most attention. Heads turned when that I told everyone that if you are just doing Social Media, you are missing out.
The ease and quickness of posting something on Twitter and Facebook has gotten many marketers and business owners to get lazy. They forget about the real opportunities that exist on the Internet for gaining attention.
NOTE: People use Twitter and Facebook for all kinds of reasons. If you just use them personally, that’s fine. But if you are a business owner and/or a marketer, you need to consider the below.
1. Blogging
If you have a huge following on Facebook and Twitter, but don’t own your own blog, you’re crazy. Putting all your content on those two platforms and not owning it just doesn’t make sense.
Take the time to buy a domain name, obtain hosting, and learn WordPress. Then, when creating content, do it on your own site with your own RSS feed.
If you’re smart, you’ll feed that content to all your Social Media profiles in a way that is automated, yet appropriate.
Drive social media traffic to your blog, not the other way around.
Own the platform. Own the images and advertising around your content.
Don’t just do social media.
2. Email Newsletter
If you assume that email doesn’t work anymore, you clearly are not paying attention. At a minimum, you should test that assumption.
Last I noticed, Facebook had almost 400 million users. Twitter has almost 100 million accounts.
How many people use email? EVERYONE! We don’t even count them. It’s a good assumption that every potential customer you want uses email. You probably can’t say that about Facebook, and certainly not Twitter
And think about the differences. When you post on Facebook or Twitter, will your followers get that message? Maybe.
An email will almost always reach their inbox and sit there until they look at it (which most everyone does every day now).
So take a look at your website(s). Do you have Twitter and Facebook badges on it? Do you encourage people to retweet what you write?
How about asking them to sign up for your newsletter?
Think about it. Don’t just do social media.
PS: You can sign up for my newsletter here.
(I just had to add that. You knew it was coming, right?)
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November 4th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
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November 4th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Corey, as usual, you are dead on. Using Facebook and Twitter often are only tactical in nature because people don’t want to spend the time to figure you out the strategy and implement a program in disciplined fashion. Blogging and email marketing are the hub of your effort and social media are two of the spokes.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Corey hallelujah — happened to post this today on Facebook - think it fits
OK here’s my tip on social media visibility - before you can be visible you need to have something for people to see - write something original (yes blogs are not dead), start up a YouTube channel, do a podcast - whatever is your thing just make it yours - you need some original content, somehwere! Think of it this way Twitter, Facebook are fast moving shallow streams - a blog is a deep lake. If you don’t create then you’re simply “pushing noise” and that will make you invisible at best and at worst boring.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I happened to be at the BarcampCLT - best information of the day - I have been feverishly working on my email newsletter - great blog post and worthy of multiple reposts and trackbacks
November 4th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Great post Corey! My favorite line “Drive social media traffic to your blog, not the other way around.’ Internet marketing has changed for sure over the past 12 months, and having an expansive involvement into social media is critical for a business, but should not be the only channel.
However, if you ignore using social media, you are at risk of additional branding and “word of mouth” referrals. Since Google (Testing) and Bing have announced including flickr, social media status updates, Google calls it “Social Search”, into SERP’S, business’s are losing out if they ignore SM altogether.
The main thrust I get from your post is to have a healthy balance of all marketing tools, and make sure you direct people back to your branded space. “Build Your Tribe” Seth Godin speaketh!
Excellent post Corey!
November 4th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
You’re right that social media is just a piece of the marketing pie, Corey, and that we often overlook other tactics that may fit better.
I consider a blog part of social media — although, it’s not a social network like Facebook and Twitter.
Whichever terms we choose — content marketing, social media marketing, social networking, email marketing, advertising — these tools work best in combination. The right mix of tools, the right message(s), audience segmentation, and a clear call to action lead to success.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Ty, thanks for the positive comments. However, I think the pendulum has swung way too far for many. Social Media has gotten more attention than it is worth the last six months and for most, it needs to come back to center (IMHO).
Scott, thanks to you also. Interesting thought about blogs being part of social media. I guess that could be true. It’s just that blogs have been around since 1999 and social media as a term has only come around since 2006 or so. Therefore, it’s difficult for me to group them in. I tend to think of blogs, podcasts, and online video (YouTube) as NEW MEDIA, not Social Media. But clearly, they have social components.
(But that just may be me.)
November 8th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Great advice to get marketing folks thinking about a global marketing strategy–social media is just a piece of the puzzle. One thing I might add, and it’s been touched upon indirectly, is to only send out email (newsletters, anything) if it contains worthwhile information. Yes, more is more when it comes to advertising, and the more often an “ad” comes before you, theoretically, the more likely you are to act. The problem is that not everything is super important, relevant or even worth my time to read. So, if I get a marketing email daily from someone, even someone who sells something I like, I’m probably going to adjust my email settings so that anything coming from them goes directly to my junk mail. It’s a fine line–I don’t want nonstop marketing from anyone. Give me some really great info and pepper it w/marketing–I can live with that. I just don’t want to be bombarded with nonstop marketing messages from anyone. The bottom line, as has been said in previous comments, is to concentrate on a wholistic marketing campaign that is smart for your business.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
[...] You can’t score points with head fakes. You score points with content. Well-written, relevant, refreshing content. And you need to own your content as Corey Creed so succinctly wrote in his recent social media marketing blog. [...]
November 24th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I read this post a while ago… and took to heart the concept that social media should drive people TO your blog or your site.
Now I’m gonna rant back at cha.
I still say Twitter and Facebook aren’t ideal for “all” businesses. It’s hard to create a following for mousetraps
As you know many (too many) of my clients are very small businesses and when I consult with them, I recommend whatever the most promising path of online presence might be, whether it’s an expanded site, a blog, SMM, an e-newsletter, whatever fits their business.
But I still battle the “time” issue. I’ve got one client that I set up a blog for, because they definitely have an opportunity to build a fan base. I have another client that would also benefit greatly, in the same way. But SMM and blogs always seem to fall to the bottom of the client’s priority list. Breaking them out of the old molds for marketing & advertising is tough and I get very frustrated.
Re SMM in general I happened to be hobnobbing with a large Asheville firm’s CEO recently at a BBB event and he told me they do all their SMM in-house… which is smart.
It does not make sense for a consultant like me to be “doing” SMM on behalf of just about any company. The small businesses can’t afford to pay me for the time (and won’t do it themselves) and the big firms who are smart have employees for it.
I don’t know - is this the “Asheville Syndrome” rearing its ugly head again?
More thoughts about how independent consultants fit into the whole picture would be very welcome.
Fiona
November 24th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Speaking of rants…
Like lots of new things that came before it, social media is getting a lot of unwarranted attention. Is it because of the venture capital $ flowing in? I’d guess so. In my experience, (and actual studies have shown this) 80% of the posts are babble.
Most businesses are using the technology as if it was broadcast television. In the testing I’ve done, most are not even listening, or if they are, they’re not responding to the opportunity. They are just blasting out messages. Do I really want or need to read about the latest JetBlue deal 10 times a day?
Assuming microblogs find a way to pay off investors and fund themselves permanently, there will be a place for them. After all, humans like to socialize. Smart companies will learn to integrate intelligently.
A recent WSJ article showcased intelligent usage by a few leading agencies and brands. In the case of Harrah’s, they updated their website with content and iconic images in response to what they heard on social networks and their profits jumped “by a double-digit percent.” (You need a subscription to read the whole article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703819904574551562382557556.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)