Slideshare winning mindset for social media

Here is my latest SlideShare Presentation. I welcome your thoughts!

Slideshare winning mindset for social media

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Make engaging with your customers first. Amidst the floods, your brand will not only stay afloat but can be the Force coming to the rescue.

Inspired by historic flooding in RI this week: A theme for considering what so many people who have worked so hard to build up their brand recognition are now doing to survive in rushing and/or unfamiliar waters...

Recent articles about social media discuss how the ease of creating content, flooding numbers of participants, pressures of the down economy and resulting increased competition for brand recognition can lead to brand mistrust.

Photo from The Providence Journal/John Freidah/www.projo.com

In one such article, technology blogger Brent Leary wrote that “…an overemphasis on branding and self promotion can really turn off prospective clients, which may in turn send them to others when in need of advice and information.” Given that social media is intertwined with the critical paradigm change in how customers educate themselves and make decisions, taking the wrong approach can and will translate into the decline of perceived authority, loss of respect, and if you will, the literal drowning in one’s ecosystem.

Twitter has been cited in this offense, because among the various social media Twitter lends more to constant and valueless information being pumped into this channel. Twitter and the use of it presents a variety of flaws, as pointed out by Jay Baer who called Twitter "the most widely adopted flawed techology since silicone boobs." Problems with use seem to be a tactic of some in the quest for their brand to be noticed who are perhaps not playing by the official rules and more importantly not understanding that social media is about relationships and how we nurture and are thoughtful of them.

A familiar sentiment voiced within the context of social media and brand mistrust is the treatment of it as a one-way opportunity (old marketing), the volume of information tweeted particularly in light of RTs (re-tweets), and the trivial minutia filling the channel which creates a turnoff/tolerance effect. One executive framed his perspective in light of his mistrust and distaste towards Twitter and indirectly – or directly - its users. For this reason, because of the imperfections and the responses illicited from our clients, it is critical that social media experts ensure the setting and maintaining of high communication standards, not the exploiting of medial tools/flaws.

Overemphasis on the marketing aspect of building the brand - without building the relationship - can result in mistrust, regardless of the tool or the medium. Assessing our customer landscape and going to the places and spaces where our customers are active is critical regardless of whether those particular media appeal to or serve us. Social media is about community as well as like-mindedness and engagement. By interacting directly with the customer to learn what it is that is on the top of their minds we will be able to build that relationship in order to improve their experience, trust, and hence, buy-in.

Some may find that in fact, Twitter is where many of their clients have those key conversations. If it is determined as a space necessary for us to be in (because our customers are), there are some values to be found. For example:

Spending time to select the important influencers among our customers, we can keep a finger on the pulse of key conversations and topics.




We can purge those who are providing only junk content especially if they are not a key individual.



The tweet length of 140 characters or less provides ease of skimming for key words and topics



Acting on a tweet right away can mean crisis management, repairing a relationship or gaining a leg up on our product.

Those who "get" Twitter have harnessed it as a powerful tool for conversation (even casual chat can serve a purpose) with targeted individuals as well as with a global audience and understand its value as a means of cultivation.

Twitter tweets and retweets when done well provide a positive exposure beyond what we were ever able to gain using traditional marketing and now it is the responsibility of the brand to take that further to get to know and engage our clients.

Photo: The Providence Journal/Kathy Borchers

I actually favor LinkedIn and Facebook. But if overemphasis on branding means “inconsiderate marketing” – just pumping out the info and not ever asking questions or engaging - those social media may not be any more effective in building trust. We can show our clients that we care about them by giving them opportunities to talk, to provide feedback and by responding in a timely and positive fashion. This will help us to keep our ground as a trusted source to whom they will turn. Want to be really client focused? Toss your competitor a floatation device. Doing these things will result in a Win-Win-Win. :)

Now you go: I would love to hear your thoughts!