its not social media its just media

February 11, 2010

stand out

Filed under: brand, media — Tags: be different, don't be scared, get in the game, its not social media its just media, jump in, social, social media, stand out — Aaron Steele @ 9:32 am

“Other companies in our space aren’t on Facebook. Our customers probably wouldn’t engage us online. This competitor doesn’t have a YouTube channel.”

So what? You aren’t in business to do what your competition does. You’re in business to be better than your competition.

Stand out.

Find a way and a reason to engage your customers online and do it. Own a construction company? Offer self help videos for smaller projects that individuals can do around the house. When those people need to hire someone for a larger home improvement project you’ll already have their trust.

Own a photography company? Let people know how you make your photos pop. Don’t worry about losing business. They’ll be more likely to come to you when they want their professional photos done.

Not taking the time and effort to engage your customers online just because competitors or other companies “in your space” don’t, is a cop out. Offer something people want, and it doesn’t need to be free stuff. Sometimes people just want a little help, direction, or good laugh.

Asking “Do we really need to engage customers on social networks?” is the new “Do we really need a website?”

The answer is still yes.

(Just like always, these thoughts are mine alone and may or may not be shared by anyone else I work with)

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February 3, 2010

Jump In

Filed under: media — Tags: blog, brand, its not social media its just media, social network, use the stinkin' service — Aaron Steele @ 9:41 am

Articles giving tips to small businesses on how to use social media are a dime a dozen. They all tell the same basic story. Engage your customers, don’t shout at them. Create engaging content, don’t be an RSS feed. Don’t talk too much, but don’t talk too little.

All of this requires one common element: someone who is actually in the game.

You engage people differently whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Digg, or your uncle’s blog. Talking too much on Twitter is different than talking too much on Facebook. How do you know, though?

You sign up. You get in. You use the service.

Take a break for a bit. Stop reading articles on what you should and shouldn’t do and actually get in. Get your employees to sign up as individuals to use the service. Have them follow people they like, fan organizations they enjoy, upload photos of their last vacation. Just have them get in.

Reading up on what other businesses are doing is great. Reading another “Top 10 Ways To Have Your Business Succeed In The World Of Social Media” article is fine. But if all you do is sit on the sideline and hem and haw about how your business should enter the social media playing field you’re going to miss the game.

Jump in.

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October 9, 2009

friday links for 10/9/09

Filed under: brand, friday links, fun, media — Tags: advertising, friday, friday links, its not social media its just media, links, windows 7 better than vista? — Aaron Steele @ 8:08 am

A Windows to Help You Forget - Walt Mossberg reviews Windows 7 for the WSJ. Keep in mind that Mossberg reviewed Vista positively.

IBM Study: The end of advertising as we know it - “User-generated advertising is as prevalent (and appealing) as agency-created spots.”

Live Blogging the US Berkeley Media Technology Summit - “While only 8 percent of consumer time is dedicated to reading newspapers, it receives 23 percent of advertising spending, she said. In contrast, 33 percent of media time is spent online, yet only 14 percent of advertising budgets have shifted to the Internet.”

(What’s this? Each “Friday links” post contains a summary of the best links that are sent around the agency each week. Some weeks are better than others.)

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