Everywhere we turn, we are bombarded with someone trying to get our attention; someone trying to sell us something. We become desensitized to it and in fact, set up rules in our email to filter it out and deploy pop up blockers in our browser to keep from being bothered by the "pitch". We abandon groups on Facebook or LinkedIn when they cease sharing information and begin selling products or services.
This week I was talking to a colleague about the term Social Media and he suggested that we really need to coin another term. He suggested "Word of Mouth Media", which I think says it all.
When we really like a product or a service (or we've had a bad experience), the first thing that we do instinctively is to share it with others. Voila! Word of mouth. It is as old as the hills as a form of communication.
Next week I'm going to explore the power of "word of mouth" and the relationship that is implied by listening to anyone sharing their experiences. In the meantime, have a great long weekend. See you Tuesday.
Also, stay tuned for an announcement about the launch of our Word of Mouth Media book club!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
#SMTTIPS Return on investment of time
Today, I'm introducing a new term to social media. #ROIT
If we are to be successful in our pursuits to use social media to grow our businesses and our sphere of influence, we must have a way to measure the value of the time invested in social media as a toolset to get there.
SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN + GROWTH FOCUSED ACTIVITIES ONLINE + METRICS = #ROIT
The old adage, time is money, is as true today as it was when Benjamin Franklin first uttered the words. What would Ben think of the Internet I wonder? Would he be Twittering away about what he was doing or thinking? I believe we would be following Ben AND we would be listening and commenting. And if Ben later wanted to sell us something, particularly about making profitable use of our time, we would likely buy from Ben.
The metrics for #ROIT have to begin with the things easily measured, to be sure. Followers, click thrus on links, re-tweets, comments on your blogs, etc. But the real measure has to happen over time and must be linked back to your original goal. But it really has to start with developing a purposeful plan and then focusing your activities on those things that will help you get to the other side of the bridge - to achieve your vision.
This is a diagram that had its origins from Stanford Advance Project Management program. The Solutionz Media Group has adapted this to provide a visual vision for how companies should approach implementation of Social Media plans.
Becoming adept at social media personally, and in fact becoming an expert, should follow a similar pattern, with no less furvor than a company would apply to the vision. The vision is of course, Return on Investment of Time or #ROIT.
If you are launching a book and want to get a large number of folks to buy the book, but don't want to do a traditional distribution deal with a publisher, don't be fooled by believing that tomorrow you can establish a Twitter account or a fan page on Facebook and the next day begin promoting your book. You can no more jump to the Execution Phase of any plan and succeed than you can try to get a professional job without completing your high school (and perhaps even your college) education. It would be as foolish as a baseball player thinking that he can skip spring training and the regular game schedule and go right to the World Series.
You must follow a plan that closely mirrors a traditional business plan. Here is an idea of how that looks for an author:
I would highly recommend Simon U Ford's book Social Traffic to help you on the tactical front. Watch the video about the history of social media and then let me know if you want a copy of the book. I'll see that you get access to a few of the chapters free to evaluate it free of charge.
Then, we can take it from there and see what your vision is and how much time you are willing to invest to master social media for your own purposes.
If we are to be successful in our pursuits to use social media to grow our businesses and our sphere of influence, we must have a way to measure the value of the time invested in social media as a toolset to get there.
SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN + GROWTH FOCUSED ACTIVITIES ONLINE + METRICS = #ROIT
The old adage, time is money, is as true today as it was when Benjamin Franklin first uttered the words. What would Ben think of the Internet I wonder? Would he be Twittering away about what he was doing or thinking? I believe we would be following Ben AND we would be listening and commenting. And if Ben later wanted to sell us something, particularly about making profitable use of our time, we would likely buy from Ben.
The metrics for #ROIT have to begin with the things easily measured, to be sure. Followers, click thrus on links, re-tweets, comments on your blogs, etc. But the real measure has to happen over time and must be linked back to your original goal. But it really has to start with developing a purposeful plan and then focusing your activities on those things that will help you get to the other side of the bridge - to achieve your vision.
This is a diagram that had its origins from Stanford Advance Project Management program. The Solutionz Media Group has adapted this to provide a visual vision for how companies should approach implementation of Social Media plans.
Becoming adept at social media personally, and in fact becoming an expert, should follow a similar pattern, with no less furvor than a company would apply to the vision. The vision is of course, Return on Investment of Time or #ROIT.
If you are launching a book and want to get a large number of folks to buy the book, but don't want to do a traditional distribution deal with a publisher, don't be fooled by believing that tomorrow you can establish a Twitter account or a fan page on Facebook and the next day begin promoting your book. You can no more jump to the Execution Phase of any plan and succeed than you can try to get a professional job without completing your high school (and perhaps even your college) education. It would be as foolish as a baseball player thinking that he can skip spring training and the regular game schedule and go right to the World Series.
You must follow a plan that closely mirrors a traditional business plan. Here is an idea of how that looks for an author:
- Identify the need (e.g. write your book about something that people are passionate about or are interested in)
- Identify the audience (who will buy the book)
- Identify evangelists (start with 12, that seems like a historically valid number for building disciples of your ideals)
- Establish credibility on the topic (blog about it, interact with others who blog about it, be on radio or TV shows that talk about it, comment in traditional print media about it)
- Build out your network to reach first the evangelists and those that trust them, then go for the larger audience
- Engage in real dialogue about the topic with those that are passionate (blog, comment, build relatonship)
- Then and only then, start to put together your campaign to launch your book
I would highly recommend Simon U Ford's book Social Traffic to help you on the tactical front. Watch the video about the history of social media and then let me know if you want a copy of the book. I'll see that you get access to a few of the chapters free to evaluate it free of charge.
Then, we can take it from there and see what your vision is and how much time you are willing to invest to master social media for your own purposes.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
#SMTIPS Tip for Today - Relationships are key
For the latest installment in our Social Media Travel Tips series, I would like to republish a blog posted today by my friend Bob Burg, the co-author of the Go Giver. You can subscribe to Bob's blog at http://www.burg.com/blog/
Offline, Online; It’s Still About The Basics
May 16th, 2009 by Bob Burg
We’ve all heard the expression, “The more things change the more they stay the same.” How true this is, especially in terms of cultivating new business.
As “Social Media” (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) becomes utilized by more and more people, the potential for its mis-use in terms of productive business-building becomes greater and greater.
The first thing I note (and most of my online social/businss networking is done of Facebook and Twitter) is the number of - ugg, I hate this word - pitches from people for their product or service…when first connecting!! No relationship-building; no focusing on the other (and, no, thinking you’re going to help them by their buying from you is not focusing on them) :-), no taking time to identify want, need or desire; no respecting the process, just pitching. {Side note: on Twitter this is often done via auto-responder which I believe, as the saying goes, “adds insult to injury”)
This is the online equivalent to introducing yourself to someone at a Chamber of Commerce or other business mixer and immediately shoving your business card at them and telling them all about what you do. Does that really achieve the desired result? While we can “never say never” we can definitely say the odds are well against it, both for short and long-term success.
Remember, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” This doesn’t happen as a result of being pitched but as a result of knowing the other person has their best interests in mind.
So, when connecting with someone online, instead of pitching your product or service or asking yourself how they can help you, ask yourself, “how can I somehow provide value - real value - to the relationship, and effectively communicate my desire to do so?”
If sales and referrals are going to happen, they will…after you’ve proved yourself to be an asset of value; not a taker of energy.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
#SMTIPS - Who are the experts in Social Media in Travel?
It is safe to say that the Travel Industry has been one of the most advanced in the use of the Internet for commerce, user generated content and now for the integration of social media tools.
From the launch of the first travel websites that were little more than brochures in the mid-90s, to full fledged booking sites and now robust shopping and planning sites, the Travel Industry scores an "A" in eCommerce, with nearly $140b in annual sales. We know how to drive traffic and how to convert business to a sale, although increasing that conversion rate well into the double digits is still the holy grail. For the purpose of this blog, I will remain silent on how I believe that this channel can become even more effective, as I cover that in detail in my Distribution blog.
A similar grade would be given for user generated content, with sites like TripAdvisor and Travelocity's IGoUgo leading the way in allowing consumers to rank various travel venues. The industry now fully understands that hearing the voice of the consumer is much more powerful than the understandably biased view of the brand.
And if PhoCusWright's Travel Innovator Summit is any measure, there are now more companies chasing the social media aspect of travel than any other niche. Literally millions are being thrown at coming up with ways to link people together in meaningful ways, and especially in ways that can be monetized. The emerging model is one of advertising and sponsorship and monetizing traffic, with a link back to the traditional ecommerce sites for good measure and a well rounded business model.
I know from experience, that when you are well-funded as a company, it is easy to be a product leader if you are blessed to have a foundation of innovation to build upon. But at the end of the day, like any other discipline in our industry, there has to be training to create a level of expertise in the skill of Social Media. It must become a recognized discipline in its own right.
So I am left wondering, who the individual experts are in Social Media in the Travel Industry?
We have an amazing amount of talent in the travel industry and a lot of folks are working on building companies around Social Media tools, such as building and leveraging communities.
We know from the various travel conferences who the bloggers are. But are bloggers experts? We also know who Twitters and who provides frequent updates on Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo. Can we use numbers of followers or number of links to determine who the experts are?
In my 30 years in the travel industry, I don't think I've ever seen anything spread so fast, yet so ineffectively as social media. I say ineffectively, as the return on investment of time just hasn't caught up to the effort needed to cross the chasm from being a novice to being an expert. And it will take experts to ensure that ROI comes from business growth that is fueled by the viral marketing that is possible with social media.
I have started this new blog to dedicate some real time and attention to picking out those that if not already leaders in Social Media, have the desire to learn and lead the charge on the effective use of social media to fuel growth.
Join in to the conversation. Follow me on Twitter and look for #SMTTIPS. If you don't understand what the hash tag (#) symbol means, then bookmark this site (to use the Web 1.0 vernacular) and tune in to a dialogue that is sure to educate, will likely challenge some and it is my hope that it will raise everyone's boats more than a notch when it comes to using the toolset that is now in our hands.
Chicke Fitzgerald, Founder Solutionz Media Group
From the launch of the first travel websites that were little more than brochures in the mid-90s, to full fledged booking sites and now robust shopping and planning sites, the Travel Industry scores an "A" in eCommerce, with nearly $140b in annual sales. We know how to drive traffic and how to convert business to a sale, although increasing that conversion rate well into the double digits is still the holy grail. For the purpose of this blog, I will remain silent on how I believe that this channel can become even more effective, as I cover that in detail in my Distribution blog.
A similar grade would be given for user generated content, with sites like TripAdvisor and Travelocity's IGoUgo leading the way in allowing consumers to rank various travel venues. The industry now fully understands that hearing the voice of the consumer is much more powerful than the understandably biased view of the brand.
And if PhoCusWright's Travel Innovator Summit is any measure, there are now more companies chasing the social media aspect of travel than any other niche. Literally millions are being thrown at coming up with ways to link people together in meaningful ways, and especially in ways that can be monetized. The emerging model is one of advertising and sponsorship and monetizing traffic, with a link back to the traditional ecommerce sites for good measure and a well rounded business model.
I know from experience, that when you are well-funded as a company, it is easy to be a product leader if you are blessed to have a foundation of innovation to build upon. But at the end of the day, like any other discipline in our industry, there has to be training to create a level of expertise in the skill of Social Media. It must become a recognized discipline in its own right.
So I am left wondering, who the individual experts are in Social Media in the Travel Industry?
We have an amazing amount of talent in the travel industry and a lot of folks are working on building companies around Social Media tools, such as building and leveraging communities.
We know from the various travel conferences who the bloggers are. But are bloggers experts? We also know who Twitters and who provides frequent updates on Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo. Can we use numbers of followers or number of links to determine who the experts are?
In my 30 years in the travel industry, I don't think I've ever seen anything spread so fast, yet so ineffectively as social media. I say ineffectively, as the return on investment of time just hasn't caught up to the effort needed to cross the chasm from being a novice to being an expert. And it will take experts to ensure that ROI comes from business growth that is fueled by the viral marketing that is possible with social media.
I have started this new blog to dedicate some real time and attention to picking out those that if not already leaders in Social Media, have the desire to learn and lead the charge on the effective use of social media to fuel growth.
Join in to the conversation. Follow me on Twitter and look for #SMTTIPS. If you don't understand what the hash tag (#) symbol means, then bookmark this site (to use the Web 1.0 vernacular) and tune in to a dialogue that is sure to educate, will likely challenge some and it is my hope that it will raise everyone's boats more than a notch when it comes to using the toolset that is now in our hands.
Chicke Fitzgerald, Founder Solutionz Media Group
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
