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Social Media Marketing is about the Social, Not the Media

Masters of Business Online — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:27:37 +0000

Social media platforms are tools. Social media platforms are software. There are other tools and software out there. There will be better tools around the corner.

Twitter doesn’t matter. Facebook doesn’t matter. LinkedIn doesn’t matter. Blogs don’t matter. They all just help us get a little closer to what we really want.

What we really want is the truth.
What we really want is to trust.
What we really want is to understand.
What we really want is friendship.
What we really want is help.

This month is a HUGE month for one of my good friends in technology. He’s moving his social media company from Indiana to California. He’s going to be embedded in the heart of The Valley with some of the other sharp minds that have grown their social media applications explosively. (Yes, I’m a little bit jealous).

The application that his team built is simple (so is Twitter!) but it gets to the heart of what people really want. They make it easier. The platform is simply the means to get to the social part. I’m not underestimating the incredible talent and imagination it took to launch such a cool application, there’s no doubt. But the popularity is because of what the application enables. It enables a social engagement we’ve not seen yet.

I educate clients and customers about the technology so that we can fully leverage it and maximize their social impact. So, when clients ask me, “How do I get more [insert followers, fans, subscribers, buzz, retweets], I’m always a little put off. If your company is not a social company, if you don’t care about your clients, if you don’t write fantastic content, if you don’t have a great product, if you don’t have special people, if you’re not remarkable… then the big numbers won’t do you any good.

I keep saying it…. Social media is an amplifier. If you have nothing to amplify, then the biggest amplifier in the world won’t help! Stop searching for bigger and better social media experts to keep building bigger and better amplifiers for you. It’s what they’re amplifying that makes the difference.

It’s the equivalent of someone who can’t sing asking us to fill a stadium. After we fill the stadium, then what? If you can’t sing, we had no business selling a single ticket! Folks like me can get people to show up to the concert… then it’s your job to put on a heck of a show!

So… quit asking me to get you more if you can’t handle the ones you have now. If your 500 followers aren’t doing business with you, then how is getting you 5,000 more going to improve your results? Here’s a tip… it will result in ten times the impact.

Ten times zero is zero.

Some day Twitter won’t be here, Facebook won’t be here, LinkedIn won’t be here… and we’ll be working with newer channels that may continue to make things just a little bit easier. Those new media platforms still won’t be able to fix the core issues challenging your strategy, though. Let’s fix those first.

This post was written by Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is the founder of The Marketing Technology Blog. Doug is President and CEO of DK New Media, an online marketing company specializing in social media, blogging and search engine optimization. Their clients include Webtrends, ChaCha and many more.

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Scott Hoffman: Discovering Consumer Intent through Social Media

Masters of Business Online — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:05:37 +0000

New friend, Scott Hoffman of Cliqology, shared an incredible presentation on the simple foundation of so many social media platforms… the status update.

With the assistance of Bit.ly, Scott did an analysis of shortlinks and where they lead to. It may surprise you! This was filmed at Webtrends Engage conference in New Orleans earlier this month… see you next year at Engage in San Francisco!

The two videos Scott shared:

This post was written by Douglas Karr

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Harnessing the Power of Social Media – March 16th, Tampa

Masters of Business Online — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:37:47 +0000

Off the heels of a successful trip to New Orleans to speak at Webtrend’s Engage 2010 conference, I’ve been invited by Jeremy Fairley to sit on a panel at the University of Tampa’s Center for Leadership.

I got to spend quite a bit of time with Jeremy when he was launching his blogging initiatives in Tampa and his program has been recognized nationally. He understands how to motivate his team, measure the results, and continues to refine his strategy. I’m looking forward to catching up!

The breakfast panel will be discussing Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Business. Here’s the information from the official site:

The topic of Social Media captured the attention of the business world in 2009. A multitude of seminars and online discussions answered the question: “What is Social Media?”

This panel discussion elevates the discussion to a higher level by bringing together Social Media experts who will address the next steps to answer the critical question: “How do I harness the power of Social Media for my business to succeed?” The discussion will open with a Tampa Bay organization’s Social Media success story, and be followed by a moderator-led discussion with the experts that will focus on critical success factors in Social Media use. Next, the floor will be open to questions from the seminar participants.

Attending this panel discussion will empower business leaders to capture the unique benefits of Social Media to leverage a firm’s presence in the marketplace. Among other topics, the panel will address: how and when to use social media effectively; how to integrate the use of multiple social media platforms; what social media can NOT accomplish; how much Social Media costs; how to measure success; how to use Social Media in a B2B environment and what the future holds for Social Media marketing.

If you’re a reader from the Tampa Bay or Bradenton area, I’ll be flying down a couple days early to spend time with my parents (in Bradenton). Please let me know immediately if you’d like to meet up – I’ve got to book the tickets soon!

This post was written by Douglas Karr

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