Social media can form public opinion about your company whether your company is present or not. Think about when you get together with your friends… if you’ve just had a horrible burger, you’re going to blurt out that they should never go to that burger joint, right? You want to protect your friends from that terrible experience. That very behavior is a standard human behavior that transfers into social networking behavior. Social networks are not like chat rooms of yesterday where there were shields of anonymity because most people communicate online with their real identity, in most cases Facebook, Twitter or their blog.

Social media is a breeding ground for groupthink, and we’ve spent many years working with companies on how to harness that groupthink because it’s malleable and can be impacted by your own input because each part of the group has a voice and influences others. In groupthink, there are social norms and when one person in a group steps out of that norm (let’s say in your group of friends that one of your friends moves out to the suburbs after decades of your group living downtown), each group member individually can’t help but to evaluate their living situation in comparison to the person who stepped out of the norm. A decision has to be made as to whether or not that person that stepped out is on the fringe or if they are the new norm. This is how groupthink is malleable.

Groupthink has been positive so far, but…

While groupthink has so far been seen as mostly a positive with social media, it can also be a negative aspect and one that the majority of companies are currently not equipped to handle, be it their staff or their very culture. Most of the negative impacts companies see with social networking is done by their staff members or done themselves, for example:

In this scenario above (which is extremely common), a restaurant owner is responding emotionally to a complaint rather than listening to the core of the consumer’s problem and being sensitive to it and seeking to make a fan out of the complainer by apologizing and offering some recourse for the consumer (a free desert? a simple apology? drinks with the owner? anything!).

Okay, but I knew all that already…

So nothing I’ve said so far is new. This is all MarCom (marketing+communications) 101 and extends into print media, phone service, point of sale service, television media and the like. You have to consider all of these things first however, before I move on to what’s next…

Okay, did you consider them? Great. Now, think about this- imagine if instead of the owner answering above, one of his competitors answered for him, “yeah, I like 333 but we decided to open our own restaurant up the street because of similar experiences there. We deserved better and so do you, come visit to compare and while you’re here, drinks are on me!”

That’s pretty blatant, but what if the owner of 333′s main competitor asked their buddy to do something similar, “yeah 333 has terrible service and they treat everyone like crap. There were rodent droppings in my soup, I’m never going back.”

This isn’t like when you told your friends not to eat at that burger joint, no, social media objections are more like your standing in front of that burger joint for eternity with a protest sign. It doesn’t go away and it has to be dealt with.

The new threat in social networking

It’s not being done in mass, but imagine if companies began manipulating other companies’ reputations… in their very own Facebook back yard? It’s not hard to sow the seeds of discontent and it doesn’t have to be as blatant as what we’ve mentioned above. It can be simple and subtle yet effective.

The potential for carefully planted seeds of discontent to blossom into bushes, small trees, then soaring oaks demands a strategy (and we’re not talking about hiring an intern to manage your Facebook page). The fantastic benefits of social networks for your business that go on even when you’re not aware they exist, along with the possible new threats of manipulation by competitors demand a new set of expertise in the industry that can only be found by the experienced.

This very reason is why the high school intern cannot manage a social media channel, even if only limited to Facebook. This very reason is why someone with a marketing or communications background is best suited for the job. This new set of expertise is built on a current understanding of crisis management and brand messaging and the role looks more like a surgeon than a pharmacist.

A social median must be able to diagnose where the seeds of discontent were planted and know how to treat that… without the precise diagnosis, your company may be taking Aspirin when it really needs to be on a regiment of blood pressure drugs, clotting meds, anxiety pills and others that will prevent a heart attack rather than simply put a band aid on it after the fact.

The new era of social media strategists are different

The new social media strategist knows more than how to put together a flashy campaign that will resonate with your target demographic and lead to an increase in sales, no, the new strategist knows precisely how to remain vigilantly sensitive to the tone and trend of every single interaction regarding your company as well as the overall trends of interactions. These interactions are messages about you on Twitter, messages to you on Facebook, blog articles about your product’s performance, or comments on your own blog in opposition.

Social media is not just a sales tool, it is as real and human as a person and is just as complicated. Responses from your social media strategist must be balanced between the consumer’s needs and your culture and that balance is hard to find in an employee because most “social media experts” have a background in telemarketing, waitressing or retail sales and are being hired because they have a few hundred friends on Twitter (what a shame).

The new competitive advantage

The competitive advantage for companies is hiring the right talent. Some choose to hire a consulting firm to develop the strategy and hire a full time staff (or multiple staffers) to execute the digital strategy (which we recommend because someone in house that is devoted to you will perform better and understand your culture the best). Other companies choose to hire a third party consulting firm to execute their social media strategy. Either way, the competitive advantage goes to the company that understands not only the unparalleled advantages of social media but the potential threats that must be treated diagnostically like a doctor rather than retroactively like a band aid.

Companies must listen, be vigilantly sensitive and aim to go above and beyond to satisfy all consumers whether they are the happy consumers or the angry consumers. We predict that most companies will remain in the mind set that social media is questionable and may or may not work, but the few that understand that it is no longer a question of “if” but “how” will meet their goals beyond their expectations.

The same person in the same breath said, “3000 people get my updates and information every day, guaranteed.” If you’re a company and you’re thinking, “wow, I should call that dude because he can get my brand message out there like crazy,” you should stop right where you are. Pull up a chair, because I’m about to tell you why that is complete bologna (no offense to the bologna creators out there).

What this guru/expert/maven is claiming is that he has an expansive reach in social media, but the dirty little secret is that my 4,948 Twitter followers, 1,812 Facebook friends and 596 professional connections on LinkedIn does not mean that my reach (although expansive) is 7,356. Add on that the nearly 300,000 blog readers I touch every month in the various blogs I contribute to. My reach isn’t technically 307,356. The gurus are adding up numbers from all of their networks to determine their “reach” and “guaranteeing” they can reach that many people and badda bing, badda boom, magic is made!

Why those fudged numbers are bull:

Once a user of any social network surpasses about 50 connections, it is near impossible for them to read every single thing that every single connection says. Given that Facebook users average roughly 100 friends each, you get the picture that not all messages from all users are read.

These numbers are also bologna because of check in frequency. How can you possibly guarantee to reach 3000 users per day when not every user checks in every single day? Of even the most dedicated and tech savvy Twitter users (as defined by those who have downloaded TweetDeck for example), only 92% log in every day. The average user probably visits a tenth of that amount.

The trend is away from live constant contact where every reader reads every update to a more loose, “I’ll read the public timeline of updates for the few minutes that I am physically logged into the social network on the days that I feel like it.” In other words, no one reads the entire public timeline anymore, that is so 2007.

Guaranteed reach is a myth.

We consult with companies every day and the first thing we hear is, “how do I get 400,000 followers on Twitter?” to which we have to ask of course about what their goals are, where that arbitrary number came from, etc. Conference speakers who have never developed a strategy in their life yet are professional “keynote speakers about social media” are telling people to “hurry up and get mass followers which equals reach” yet misunderstand the fundamentals of reach.

To drive home my point, I want you to think about television advertising. Just because 3 million people watched the season premier of that show you like doesn’t mean that (a) 2.5 million didn’t fast forward through the DVR, (b) leave the room during commercials, (c) mute the commercials, or (d) any other infinite variable that means someone didn’t watch. But the tv ad sales guy will tell you that he can get you in front of 3 million people. Communications professionals know there is a margin to count on but the reality of 3 million is as unrealistic as the “guru” guaranteeing reach.

“Guru” guy can’t guarantee how many people will look just as he can’t guarantee how many of those people will share his message, and how fewer will take action at the point of sale. It’s just like the picture above… in a noisy crowd of people, with a good strategy, you’ll hit your target… but the rest of the crowd isn’t listening and your strategy should take that into account because the “guru’s” strategy misses this basic fundamental of Marketing 101.

photo source

But Google has yet to create a competitive social network. Sources point to a current social network project under Google’s belt called “GoogleMe” and rumors have been substantiated. With news of their launch, tech reporters across the globe are predicting its demise and some have gone so far as to map out Google’s continual failed attempts. For example:

What can you learn from Google?

There are many lessons to take away from Google’s attempts, but here are four to get your mind churning.

1. They’re still gigantic despite failure. These failures haven’t put Google out of business and they are still growing in size and stature. Google has the financial luxury of experimenting and they continue to do so. If you are a corporation that has an eye on innovation, especially tech innovation, you can take some risks and not necessarily go belly up. If you have the financial means and social capital to try new things, depending on your innovation methods, there might be room for you to take some risks.

2. They let others lay the track, they just put the railroad on the track. Google has bought countless companies to form their social network. Are you trying to reinvent the wheel with your company or are you partnering with others to fill in the blanks you can’t fill yourself? Are you hiring a graphic designer for your professional identity or are you opening up Photoshop and trying to figure out what layers and compression rates are? Are you hiring a digital communications company or are you opening up Twitter and saying, “I’m eating a bagel” then wondering why the leads aren’t pouring in (ahem)?

3. Most people have forgotten or never knew about their failures. The tech savvy know of some of Google’s moves, but those who don’t study this day in and day out likely have never even heard of most of the companies in the chart above. Why? Because Google has the social capital and high visibility rate with consumers to try things behind the scenes. Your company may be experimenting with a new customer service theory or a new lead management system, and your employees will know, so it feels like everyone in the world knows, but chances are, your clients never will.

4. Poor reputation due to lack of follow through. Google’s downfall is that through their failures, they have earned a reputation the tech industry as dabblers and that they lack follow through. Follow through is critical when you’re providing services that people rely on for their business. If Google magically closed their doors tomorrow, I would lose all of my email, many documents and a blog I run for a nonprofit. Experimentation can only go so far… any company that dabbles and never finishes anything isn’t truly innovative.

There IS room for innovation

If you or your company has the means and ability to complete a project, there is room for innovation. But if we look at Google as an example, they took tiny pieces out of all companies they bought and either used them or put their competition out of business. The bottom line however, is that companies and individual entrepreneurs must have a certain level of social capital with consumers to innovate and make an impact.

CC Licensed image courtesy of missha via Flickr.com.

Please feel free to scroll through this blog site and get some ideas here and subscribe via email or RSS for new ideas as we’ll be sharing more this week from inspiration during tomorrow’s breakfast!

Obama & a Blackberry sittin’ in a tree

So we’ve all heard that Obama is addicted to a crackberry and we’ve also heard a great deal of credit for his win given to his use of the Internet. It’s not such an amazing feat, hundreds of companies are winning business by using the same tools. Sow how did he do it?

Well, not so fast…

First of all, as a business person, you have to understand that Obama isn’t responsible for his web efforts, he had a large staff heading it up and you can’t always match the efforts of a large team of specialists. That doesn’t mean that hope is lost for you- your target isn’t millions of people, it’s more defined.

So the first step to Obama’s social media strategy was beginning before the race started. Most politicians get a website when they’ve garnered a nomination or when it’s near time to vote, but the clock started long ago. Starting early is like preparing for a race- you don’t just show up at the starting line, you alter your diet, you practice, you hydrate, you stretch, and you meditate, right?

Just jump in!

The same goes for a social media strategy. Many social media advisers say “just jump in!” but we couldn’t disagree more- you’ll pull a hamstring, buddy! There is a great deal of preparation to be done before fully implementing your social media strategy. Depending on the size of your company, you may need to hire a social median (which we will cover more in depth over the coming weeks) or if you’re a freelancer, you ARE the face of the company.

Step One

The first step is determining your goals. Do you want to reach out for customer service and customer retention or is your ultimate goal to reach new clients or new markets? Or, would your time be best served as keeping tabs on trends by being present? Establishing your goals will help determine which direction you should head with your social networking efforts.

Step Two

Once you’ve determined your goals, you should check out what already exists. Take a look at your competitors and check out what is already being said about you (you do know that you or your industry is being discussed presently, right?). A multitude of listening tools are available to get started in getting to know your space… this could seriously change your entire set of goals.

Your Assignment:

Try this right now, search for your company name (or industry if you’re a freelancer) and then search your main competitor’s name and see what comes up right off the bat:

1. Google Search- you already know this one! The most highly ranked content shows up first.
2. Google Blog Search- see what bloggers are saying about you, your industry and your competitors.
3. SocialMention- search microblogs (like Twitter), bookmarks, comments, events, video, news and more, select “all” on the far right so you don’t miss anything!
4. Board Tracker- bulletin boards are still used in certain industries, so check out what is being said there as well to cover all of your bases.

Do you like what you’re seeing about yourself? What are people saying about you and your competitors?

Your Homework

So you’ve seen what is said online and now it’s time to do something with that information. Make a list of five positives and five negatives you saw about yourself (bonus points for doing the same regarding your competition). In Part Two, we’ll talk about how to set your strategy now that you have your goals in mind and you’ve scoped out the scene. Oh, and “the dog ate my homework” won’t cut it here, bud!