The power of social networks - we want our voice heard

Many of you know I'm a big fan of social networking (specifically Twitter, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn and some favorite vertical communities). While social networking has changed the face of marketing and communications as we know it, it has also changed how some societies are defying governments. Today's NY Times article Social Networks Spread Iranian Defiance Online shows the power of an open communications system.

While marketers are working on social networks, people all over the world are using social media to have their voice heard and gain their freedom.  

Twitter: How Tweet is it? I'd really like to know.

As you all know, I've been a Twitter fan for some time, but I'm disheartened a bit by the personal "look at me! look at me" posts - from "I'm getting a cup of coffee" (who the bleep cares) to "My toe ring is way too small" (once again, who cares). There's a lot of meaty Twitter conversations, but there's more garbage than not these days.

I'd like to find out how you use Twitter and what you like about it. I'm curious as to what else I'm missing and would be happy to share any results if you ask (nicely).

Click Here to take survey

Twitter for Tech PR

OK.  I’m completely obsessed with Twitter. So sue me.  If you’ve been on Twitter, you might be asking yourself, what the hell am I supposed to do with this?  So, I can blast out every move I make, where I am and read the same about other people’s lives.  But, who cares?  The question should be “what’s the practical use?”  I work with a lot of marketing/media clients and, for the most part, they get it. But for my tech PR clients, they haven’t quite made the leap yet.

Twitter is a utility to reach influencers, prospects and other important audiences.  Granted that at least 60% of the tweets are about getting coffee, venting and seemingly useless information, but when you look closely, is it really?  There are discussions on what people are interested in, what they are reading and industry debates.  The reason it’s important, the people are your target audience in some way shape or form.

Visibility is the key reason for why tech companies (or any company) should use Twitter – from the CEO to the head of sales to your marketing/PR department.  And, Twitter retains loyal little Tweeters as outlined in Gregor Hochmuth’s TechCrunch article - Why Twitter Hasn’t Failed: The Power of the Audience

1-      Get to know reporters and become part of their conversations.  Reporters are people too  and have lives, special interests, hobbies and viewpoints.  Follow your Tweets and becoming smarter about who they are.  More importantly, get into the conversation, share your viewpoints and show your expertise.  It’s a great way to become a resource to individual reporters and, potentially, to make it into their articles.

2-      Twitter is a great way to get to know your clients and to generate prospective leads, especially if you’re targeting the C-suite executive.  If you’re targeting CIOs or their direct reports, it’s nearly impossible to break the barrier using traditional marketing tactics.  The IT folks are so skeptical about marketing – even of their own internal marketing communications.  So, get on Twitter and start getting to know these folks.  Make sure you start a conversation with them on a topic they care about, not what you want to talk about.

      3-      Connect to influencers in your industry or even in vertical industries.  See what they are saying about trends, your competitors and your company. Industry analysts, pundits and prominent bloggers are (nearly) all on Twitter. You just can’t miss this opportunity.

4-      Keep an eye on your competition by seeing what they are tweet, tweet, tweeting about.  I’ll bet you lunch that they are keeping and eye on you….and, if not, their lost.

I admit I'm obsessed.  But Twitter is a great microblogging tool and it's served me well.  You won't be instantly gratified and you definitely need to spend some time building up your social media connections and participate in conversations, but when Twitter does "give back", it'll be worth it.

Palin Thought Africa was a Country, Not a Continent

Sarah Palin was obviously not prepared for many of her media interviews.  There are 2 PR lessons to be learned from the FOX news post-mortem of the internal rumblings in the Palin-McCain campaign:

1- Be prepared during public appearances, especially media interviews.  Don't stray from your area of expertise.  And, study what you need to know insteadn of winging it.

2- Remember that your internal audience - employees, vendors, etc. - are also part of your "public".  This post-mortem coverage of the Palin-McCain camp was contained during the campaign (barely), but the unflattering stories on Palin's lack of knowledge about the world outside Alaska will damage her reputation even further.  I'm thinking there is more to come.

Another point is how quickly news like this can spread on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs and other social networks. People just love to send around humiliating video or audio (remember Alex Baldwin's voicemail to his daughter?). Nothing spreads faster.

The Fish Stinks from the Head – Mind Your Customers

Every company talks a great game about respecting the customer.  If that’s right, how come customer service sucks at many companies? Just to name a few – Verizon, Time Warner, ADT, Comcast, etc.  I’m certain anyone reading this can probably name about 20 more.  If customer service sucks, if you’re getting shoddy product or whatever your complaint is, you’ll likely stop doing business with the company.  To borrow a saying from my old boss, “The fish stinks from  the head.”  And, the sad truth is that the CEO probably doesn’t know what the issues are. 

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch, who writes the Marketing KnowHow blog, outlines three imperatives for what CEOS should focus on to attain customer  insights: metrics that indicate sales or profit performance, ensuring sufficient market opportunities and developing marketing talent throughout the company. 

The sad fact is that the majority of CEOs and managers are far removed from the daily ritual  of customer service and having to meet customer demands.  In fact, I would venture to go so far as to say that the majority of upper level executives at large companies have spent less than 24 hours this past year with customers (minus the closing of a huge sale).  And, few CEOs address bad customer service issues. Dovetail Software has a great view on the disconnection between customer service and the CEO. Of course, the main argument is that CEOs are too busy running a company, but it’s similar to running a presidential campaign.  If the nominee if out of touch with what the people want, how can (s)he deliver?

So, what should a CEO do to get to back in the game?

                                1-      Understand what it really means when you say “we provide world class customer service.” Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com – the first US shoe e-tailer – is on target for hitting the $1 billion revenue mark.  He based his company on providing the best online experience possible with the best customer service.  Customer service was based on his employees being human.  His call center has no time limits on service calls and they care about what the customers.  Case and point, a woman was returning shoes bought for her deceased husband. Of course, Zappos took the shoes, but the customer service rep also sent flowers to the widow.  Though the CEO may not be directly involved in this case, by setting up a distinct culture of caring for the customer.  The widow was astonished by the action, she mentioned Zappos’ lovely gesture at the wake.  The message (though unintended) is wouldn’t you want to do business with a company this caring?

2-      Get out and meet your customer.  Well, duh….it’s that simple.  I would even advise you to not identify yourself as the CEO of the company (unless asked) and see what people have to say.  And, if you’re hearing something that’s not in line with your customer service philosophy, don’t slink away.  Let them know who you are; say “Gee, I’m really sorry to hear that.  I’d like to hear more”; move forward with an actionable plan.  Most customers just want to be heard and who better to listen to them than the CEO of the company. Is says that you care.

      3-      If something is broken, admit it and fix it. Kudos to new Sprint CEO Dan Hesse for shaming the devil by telling the truth – Sprint has customer service problems (now if only Comcast, Verizon, ADT and many of the large service companies out there would admit the same).  Granted, Hesse only made the statement after Sprint lost 1.09 million customers in Q1.  Shortly thereafter, Hesse became the face of Sprint with a surprising and successful commercial and customer response.

      4-      Numbers.  Look at your customer acquisition and retention numbers either.  Numbers rarely lie, but people do.  If you’re looking at customer service for the first time, get the data for the last 6 months broken down by month.

5-      Be accessible.  Most CEOs are not accessible to the average consumer.  But with social media today, there is no reason why you can’t be accessible.  Must be working since 75% of purchases are from repeat customers).  He can be found on Twitter @Zappos and is often found Tweeting.  Kevin O’Keefe talked about how companies are using Twitter for customer service.  The only CEO mentioned using Twitter…you guess it - Tony Hsieh.

6-      Meet and talk to your customer service people.  Your customer service people are the front lines in your company.  If there is something wrong, they are hearing it directly from the public.  Meet with your customer service people.  I hate to keep using Zappos, but Tony Hsieh really does it right.  He meets with his people to find out what’s broken (if anything) and what can be fixed.

7-      Become part of customer service – even for 30 minutes. Steve Jobs must be one of the busiest people alive, but he’s rumored to answer customer service queries as a way to keep in touch with what customers are saying.

So, what does this have to do with marketing.  Everything.  Today, the public wants transparency and part of that means access to the CEO.  They want to be communicated to in a genuine fashion.  A primary responsibility of the CEO or anyone at a company is to understand the customer.

Twitter as a Conduit of Fiction

TechCrunch's Jason Kinkaid explored whether or not Twitter could be a conduit of fiction in yesterday's Can Twitter Authors Capture the Magic of Lonely Girl 15.  Hmmm...only 140 spaces to fill up. 

Twitter has become the text version of “Reality TV” online. I know so many people hooked on Twitter and “watching” people comment on the most mundane things or retort in some witty fashion. Will Twitter capture an audience for authors, dramas and other fictional mediums. I say yes. For goodness sakes, there are a bunch of mad men (and women) posing as the MadMen characters on Twitter and they have a huge following.

So, I'm afraid the answer is going to have to be yes. I think authors could write their novellas on Twitter and have a following.

Some questions come to mind.

• Would a chapter consist of 3 tweets or 4?
• Is this the death of literature as we know it?
• Will acronyms like LOL and IMHO begin becoming an acceptable form of grammar in the publishing world?
• Will literacy decline?