Social Media Groupies Should Face Up to Facts

All those overeager riders on the social media bandwagon are bozos on a bus, according to The Face-to-Face Book (forthcoming from Free Press).


Authors Ed Keller and Brad Fay argue that social media marketing simply represents another gold rush, as temporary and thoughtless as tulip mania.


And while credulous marketers go on a fool's errand, the authors contend, "the largest social gold mine is literally right beneath our noses."


They're referring, of course, to word-of-mouth conversations.


In the book, Keller and Fay present research showing that over 90 percent of "true interpersonal influence" results from face-to-face.


"Social media is big and growing, but it is still dwarfed by the analog world in which people live and interact," they write.


Marketers who place their bets on social media "to chase a dream" will wind up big losers.


The authors offer Pepsi as an example.


In early 2010, PepsiCo slashed its traditional media spend to place its bet on social media.


But the company's wager "did not come close to achieving the pay dirt it intended."


Twelve months later, Diet Coke surpassed Pepsi as the Number Two soft drink (Coke is Number One) and PepsiCo returned to spending big on traditional media.


PepsiCo bought the social media hype at its own expense.


"Pepsi does in fact sell soft drinks because of social interactions, but not necessarily because of online interactions," the authors write.  "In virtually every decision we make, every one of us is influenced by other people, mostly the people we spend time with in the 'real world.'"

Is Your Customer Experience Broken?

According to brand-builder Christine Mauro, "customer experience" is where it's at.

"Customer experience is about meeting customer needs, about choosing and using certain words, about aligning touch points, and about creating relationships," she says.

But marketers often overlook the three touch points with the biggest effect on those relationships, Mauro says.

Voice. Marketers speak inconsistently and use in-house or industry jargon customers don't grasp. "Establish a distinct voice that brings your brand to life, and stick with that voice," Mauro recommends. "Use clear language and jargon-free terminology. Explain details in simple terms that the customer can understand."

Language. Marketers frequently turn off customers by delivering a "fragmented customer experience." One department handles purchases, another rewards; one, payments, another refunds. Worse, they all use their own terminology. But customers think of you as one entity. All departments "should speak the same language, use the same terms, and create a seamless experience."

Fine print. Marketers often think a pretty Website is enough. But good customer experience stems from presenting information well, including fine print. "Consider every single word and graphic element, down to the tiny print of your Terms and Conditions copy," Mauro urges. Your "unheralded touch points such as bills, policies, and all the functional communications that customers interact with on a daily basis" have a huge impact on customer experience.

PR Flacks: Reap What You Social

PR flacks better watch out for hubris, warns Chris Abraham on Biznology.

Too often, they signal contempt to the the very bloggers they're pitching.

But bloggers have their number.

"Bloggers and other social media online influencers may not know who Edward Bernays is or have the lingua franca of a trained communications professional, but they sure can spot the eye roll of condescension and contempt from a mile away," Abraham writes.

Try as he might, the flack can't fool the blogger he secretly despises.

"If you think that bloggers are actually failed journalists, you may have contempt for your audience; if you consider the time spent by a blogger would be better spent "working," you may have contempt for your audience; if you believe what bloggers do is 'just prattle on,' you may have contempt for your audience; and if you actively play favorites and only engage with the crème de la crème of bloggers, you may have contempt for your audience."

Stifle your snobbery, if you hope to pitch bloggers successfully, Abraham advises. Start by reading How to Win Friends and Influence People.

The Secret to Better Blogging

Many social media experts insist that you cannot succeed at blogging without a content plan.


They argue that, without one, you'll procrastinate... or you'll fizzle out.... or you'll stray from your goals, producing off-target posts that fail to earn you followers.


I'm not so sure they're right.


Sure and steady output—even without a plan to back it up—may be just the thing for you.


In fact, a content plan may be the last thing in the world you need.


If planning your blog's content seems foreign, you might be the kind of writer economist David Galenson calls a "seeker."


Seekers, Galenson says, share "persistent uncertainty about their methods and goals."


And that uncertainty leads them to be dissatisfied with their output.


"Their dissatisfaction impels them to experiment, and their uncertainty means that they change their work by trial and error, moving tentatively toward their imperfectly perceived objectives."

One example of such a writer is the novelist Virginia Woolf.

Describing her production of Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf wrote, "the idea started as the oyster starts or the snail to secrete a house for itself. And this it did without any conscious direction. The little note book in which an attempt was made to forecast a plan was soon abandoned, and the book grew day by day, week by week, without any plan at all, except that which was dictated each morning in the act of writing."


How about you?

Are you a planner?

Or a seeker?

Boomers: Which Kind of Genius are You?

Social entrepreneur Marc Freedman, writing for Harvard Business Review, cites the research of economist David Galenson, who by studying painters concluded there are two kinds of geniuses.

Conceptual geniuses do their best work before the age of 30. These "finders" produce breakthroughs early in their careers, then peter out.

Experimental geniuses peak later in life. These "seekers" need decades of trial and error to accumulate the ideas and techniques that mark their signature work.

Freedman thinks Galenson's research is good news for entrepreneurial-spirited Baby Boomers.

"One in four Americans between the ages of 44 and 70—about 25 million people—are interested in starting their own businesses or nonprofit organizations in the next five to 10 years," Freedman writes.

Provided they didn't peak in their 20s, these 25 million Boomers stand to succeed in launching new ventures, because they bring decades of experimentation to the task.

Half of these aging entrepreneurs also want to "give back" through their new businesses.

"Research shows that half of those who want to become midlife entrepreneurs—more than 12 million people ages 44 to 70—also want to meet community needs or solve a critical social problem at the same time," Freedman writes.