Describe the mindset one needs to be successful at using social media tools?
As PR professionals, we help clients improve relationships with stakeholders. Depending on the client, the industry and the objectives, we recommend a range of strategies and tactics that best suits the client. It appears to me, that while some clients have become intrigued by certain social media tools, and feel some pressure to engage, social media isn't for everybody. So what qualities, or mindset, do you look for that would give you the confidence to recommend social media tools to your client?
Good Answers (21)
Kathy Cupper O
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Edward Howard, nation's longest established public relations agency
Best Answers in: Public Relations (1)
Hi Leo -
First, it is important to understand that social media is really just about conversations, and that conversations about your client have occurred and will occur offline AND online. Just as it is nearly always better (in terms of relationship amd reputation building) to be aware of and to participate in those conversations in the offline world, so is it nearly always better to be aware of and participate in them in the online world.
Realize that social media dialogue WILL occur about your client's products and services whether the client listens and participates or not. My view is that it is almost better to participate, with rare exceptions.
Next, it is important to understand that social media relationship building must be genuine and honest. There are far too many individuals, clients and agencies (ad, interactive and PR) who are trying to hide behind a keyboard and screen and pretend for their clients that they are something they are not... in other words, by pretending to be a happy customer or happy employee, etc., This is unethical, unacceptable, and must be avoided at all costs. It will backfire and hurt the client's reputation in the long haul. Be yourself, be open and honest and make acquaintances as if you were in the same room with whomever you are interacting with.
Next, make sure your client understands that anything that is a bad idea in the tangible world is also a bad idea in the online world. Molsons recently launched, and then had to take down, a social media contest that encouraged college students to send in photos of their campus party scenes in a competition for the best beer party university in Canada. Hmmm.. think the idea of encouraging students to get liquored up is a good idea in the real world? Nope. It wasn't in the online world either...
Good strategy still matters.
Finally, building the confidence to recommend social media tools can only come from experience. This is challenging because new applications are being developed literally daily. Some will survive and grow. Some will die. It is challenging to learn them all. At my agency (www.edwardhoward.com), we have invested heavily in developing staff in this area. We encourage our people to blog, be on Facebook, write wikis, post videos on YouTube, and on and on and on. We have an ongoing exploration and training program and we assign staff members the task of learning new social media applications and preparing presentations to teach one another and our clients about them every week. Only by using the tools can you be in a credible, and appropriate, position to advise clients.
I hope this was helpful. This is a very top line view..... drilling down into the details of each application would require more space than this forum allows! Best of luck to you.
Links:
Bruce M
Director of Communications and Outreach, Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program (brucem@mit.edu)
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There are a couple of mental/intellectual criteria which I believe are essential for a PR professional to both understand and leverage the opportunities offered by social media. These include:
1) Flexibility: The need to consider quickly the potential benefits of opportunities in the dynamic social media sector;
2) Adaptability: The openness to either embrace or discard potential social media opportunities depending on resources and prevailing media trends;
3) Sense of adventure: As social media evolves, PR practitioners in this field are, in a sense, pioneers. As early adopters, they must have a sense of adventure to venture into uncharted territory.
4) Team-building; This is perhaps the most important, as there remain many in the senior levels of PR who are suspicious of social media. To be effective in leveraging social media opportunities, PR practitioners must have the tools and skills to build teams and coalitions that also embrace social media sector opportunities.
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"Social media" is a term new to me. Can you explain? I might learn something here. Thanks.
Nancy S
Nonprofit Marketing Consultant, Blogger & E-news writer
Best Answers in: Non-profit Management (1), Blogging (1)
I'd say:
-- Confidence and positive outlook (necessary for any experimentation,and social media is just that)
-- Realistic (as in realistic expectations)
-- Open-minded, creative (so able to see benefits that may not be immediate ROI)
--Engaged in trying new communications channels.
All musts for social media success, in my experience bringing these tools into the communications strategies of nonprofits and grantmakers.
Best,
Nancy
Links:
Mentality requirement: Collaborative risk-takers.
Buttoned-up companies that are reluctant to give their employees opportunity to participate in social media won't succeed. This is an "authentic" medium, no room for much hype. Honesty is a requirement. And it's immediate - there's no time to wait on legal approvals for communication distribution.
For companies willing to share their knowledge freely, participate in open dialogues with their customers, and regularly keep up with blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn or other vehicles, the social medium can be a great connector.
As a communications consultant just getting engaged, it does take time to keep it going. But I'm convinced it's worth the effort.
Richard F
Partner, Watts Partners
Best Answers in: Government Policy (2), Career Management (1), Professional Networking (1)
Social media offers an enormous opportunity for certain clients, but you are absolutely correct that as a tool it is not right for everyone.
First, a client must be willing to accept some loss of control over their communications. Social media is, by definition, driven by the participants as much as (or more than) the initiator. For highly controversial clients or campaigns this can be very risky but not impossible. I have found that the best clients for social media efforts are those that have a high level of confidence in their message, and those that are willing to engage supporters and opponents equally and respectfully.
The second key factor is the likelihood of the social media public to participate. Using social media tools does not mean you have a social media program - only active interaction with a target audience will do that. Therefore, it is critical that you build for your clients a campaign that is guaranteed to engage the public using these tools. If the client's communications are controversial, social media can be used to raise the level of awareness by stirring up the controversy (e.g. the "Barbra Streisand Effect). For more mundane campaigns, it is crucial to identify and engage your online target audience before you launch the campaign, so you can determine precisely what kind of effort will be most effective in gaining their attention and participation.
Finally - and this is crucial - your clients must be willing to invest appropriately in social media solutions. All too often clients that are right for social media campaigns, and that are excited about engaging on that level, are only willing to spend 1%-5% of their budget on it. In other words, they want a successful campaign for pennies, and that will rarely work. I typical insist that clients be willing to spend 15%-25% of their media budget for online activities.
I agree with the other answers, but I also think clients need authenticity.
Social media, more than traditional communication channels, demands authenticity. Clients that use social media simply as another marketing channel and do not to try to truly engage their audience will fail. Think of it like making a new friend. You know when someone engages you with ulterior motives.
However, for clients that want to truly engage their customers, value what they have to say, start a conversation with them and offer them real value, then social marketing is a great tool.
However, clients expectation should be set appropriately. This is not something that pays immediate dividends. As with any other type of relationship, it takes time to build it.
A great blog about this is Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff from Forrester Research. The link is below. I recommend their book, "Groundswell", as well.
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The only reason in my opinion to have a social media campaign for any company is to establish an ongoing conversation with customers and potential customers- not to just sell, sell, sell, but rather, to find out what customers want, and then ultimately give them what they want. Eventually, these efforts will result in increased sales via online customer references and referrals.
Because of this, I think that the most important qualities a client should have in order to be successful at social media marketing are:
A desire to actually find out what their customers want, and a wilingness to converse with them actively online about it.
Motivation and resources to take the information they learn from their cusomers and give them what they want.
Understanding that once they enter social media, that they will no longer be able to control the conversation, but rather, will have to listen and engage with their public on the public's terms. A willingness to give up that control over what's written about the company in exchange for better customer relations and increased buzz.
A desire to "link arms" with other companies and resources that serve the same customers, along with an attitude of sharing and helping others, rather than "hoarding market share".
The resources to hire knowledgeable individuals who can manage and maintain their social media marketing efforts well.
It also requires specialized knowledge of how to use social media wisely. It's very easy for a business to fall into the most common trap- using social media solely to try to sell their wares, thus shooting themselves in the foot and ruining their credibility in the social media realm. That's not what social media is about- it's about conversation, not control, and that's such a new concept for so many that it's very difficult for most companies to wrap their minds around it.
If a company had all of the traits listed above, I would consider social media a good marketing outlet for them- particularly the willingness to converse and not control the conversation.
Jeremy D
Business Development at Juice Digital
Best Answers in: Government Contracts (1), Advertising (1)
Authenticity and honesty. A client really needs courage to use social media as a means of gaining real interaction with those who might not regard their organisation positively.
Sustainability. A willingness to appoint an internal team, take advice and adopt a strategy for the longer-term, however unfortunate short-term results may look.
One core issue - often the one the hardest to understand for traditional marketeers (that we PR people often work for) is the need to 'let loose'. There's absolutely no way of 'controlling' which direction an online engagement (of whatever form) will take. Social media essentially build on people having and expressing their opinions - which is what makes them so engaging and interesting. If you're affraid of not controlling the message, stay out of social media altogether.
There's not much to add to the previous answers, but I'd like to stress out one issue: social media is about having little to no control over content you share, it doesn't mean you'll only loose some control over communications.
A company engaging in a social media campaign should be able to adapt fast, be curious, genuine, share and help others out, be creative and have loads of time to invest in it or enough money to buy other's time.
Also, if a client is looking for immediate results, social media is not the place to start. It will only help to build a lasting brand/product reputation and trust based relationship with existing and potential customers. On the long run, the results can be amazing.
There's a few qualities that come to mind:
1) some familiarity and comfort with technology
2) some commitment of time to engaging with social media
3) a relaxed attitude about controlling every aspect of a message
4) an ability to communicate effectively
5) above all, a desire and willingness to learn
People who are new to social media should get their feet wet by finding some blogs and podcasts in their niches and just reading and enjoying them for a month or so. Get familiar with the conventions and styles that are out there. Read a few books, like Robert Scoble's Naked Conversations.
Then start simple, with a blog. Add a Flickr account if you're into pictures, and link the two. Ensure that you're on Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other social networks that might be verticals in your area.
Say interesting, informative things about your industry. Link generously, and be generous with data.
Most importantly, don't lose it when people disagree. That's natural, and it's going to happen. Use these situations as learning experiences. Respond calmly and politely, apologize when you were wrong, and move on. You'll be respected for how you deal with disagreement.
JL R
Virtual Assistant at JLR Business Services
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You may find some useful information at Chris Brogan's blog. His description/tag line is: Chris Brogan advises businesses, organizations and individuals on how to use social media and social networks to build relationships and deliver value.
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/
Links:
Marc S
Chief Community Officer at Autism Speaks
Best Answers in: Graphic Design (1), Web Development (1)
The mindset one needs to be successful is authenticity. Everything else seems to be icing on the cake and flows from it. It seems to me that you don't have to be the best writer, the funniest person or even the most knowledgeable so long as you are completely authentic about it. When I helped to build the Share Your Story community for the March of Dimes, I managed to connect deeply with the audience despite being a guy and never having had a premature baby. I believe it was my authenticity that made it possible for me to connect with that audience.
Leo, as a PR professional, I'd highly recomend that you challenge your clients on this point (authenticity) first and foremost. If they can't manage it, then I'd say that social media is a terrible idea.
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Marc S also suggests these experts on this topic:
Your client must care about the needs and experience of the consumer or user. If they are thinking social media tools as a quick way to build relationships and do product improvement- then let them know it doesn't work that way.
To be successful with any social media outreach you will need to offer tools and resources that truly fill a need that isn't already being met. Go to where consumers spend their time (related product sites and online communities). See what people are saying about the product. Creating more tools isn't always the answer, leveraging and communicating outwardly can often do the trick (with less investment).
If you do try creating your own social media tools or community then go for something very small- like the ability to comment or rate content on their site. If your client continues to push you- then ask to speak to their users and ask them what they want. Most of the time they (users) want simple things and just want to be involved in the conversation- which could be as simple as creating a CEO blog.
Carri B
Award-winning tweeter, writer, marketing strategist, PR pro, teacher of Social Media Mkt at PSU, social media speaker.
Best Answers in: Public Relations (1), Writing and Editing (1)
Leo, most of the answers here cover the “philosophy” of social media: authenticity, conversation, letting go, etc. But as someone who has been counseling clients for 20 years (and is now helping clients with social media strategies), I think this stuff generally boils down to a matter of logistics over philosophy. The best intentions can easily fall by the wayside without follow-through.
Engaging in social media is, first and foremost, extremely TIME-CONSUMING. It can become less so once you’ve got the hang of it and have a zillion profiles and parameters set up in all the places you want to connect. Or it can actually become more so as you find more ways to connect and engage. This is very hard for any executive who is already stretched to the limit, can barely answer 200 emails a day, and won’t see any immediate (or perhaps ever see measurable) ROI for their efforts.
The other factor is that people must have a genuine interest in getting past the learning curve of all the different technologies. It’s not that hard (hey, adolescents can do it!), but I have clients who can’t figure out how to set up an email client or use FTP (they are smart people, but just don't have any desire to know how technology works). I’d love for them to be involved in social media (and I’m always encouraging them in that direction), but realistically, I know they will be daunted by (and may not have the patience for) signing up for a bunch of stuff, logging on all the time to participate, update their profiles, do some micro-blogging, join new groups, follow other social media insiders, etc., etc.
Bottom line: clients will need to embrace the amount of TIME this takes and will need to have at least some fascination with TECHNOLOGY and an early-adopter attitude. They will also need to understand that this is a long-term strategy with no obvious way to measure the ROI.
Carri Bugbee
Big Deal PR
www.bigdealpr.com
While I agree that conversation and participation are key parts to social media people are shy to state a simple fact. It is a sheer leveraging of numbers on multiple platforms, eyeballs lead to fans and you can get THEM to create the conversation and come to you if you do things right.
John W
Owner, Wagner Communications | a full-service marketing and public relations firm
Leo:
Some great answers here ... but one of the biggest obstacles for most businesspeople is that they simply aren't content creators.
As you know from your experience blogging, answering the question "what do I write about today?" can be difficult even for communications professionals who are used to developing content for organizations. Eventually, even some of the best bloggers run out of steam. :)
In my opinion, the key to success with social media is that the individual must be able to identify, develop and nurture topics of interest to the reader -- information that adds value to the reader's life or business. That's not easy to do and some folks just aren't cut out for it.
Jeffrey D
Partner at Sawmill Marketing Public Relations, a PR firm in Baltimore, Maryland
Mindset? I'd say one must be willing to give up the control inherent in one-way traditional communications and allow for the two-way exchange - a.k.a. conversation - that takes place with social media. Not everyone is comfortable with this approach.
Sure, there's the potential you'll expose your company to negative comments, but the fact that you're engaging in dialogue (plus how you respond to any issues raised) will go a long way in a world that's getting used to - and some day will expect - engaging with companies vs. being "talked to."
Want to take the first step in social media? I wrote a how-to primer on my PR blog.
Links:
Marsha K
Fiduciary Industry, PR, Resume Writing
Best Answers in: Freelancing and Contracting (1), Writing and Editing (1)
The client needs to be open to experimentation, understand how much time it will take to gain the desired results, and willing to invest the money required to pay for the work done using social media.
I view it as an addition to the toolkit - not something that eliminates everything in current use. It's important to use what works and is appropriate to obtain the objectives the client needs. Social media probably wouldn't be tremendously effective for a client involved in classified government manufacturing, for example.
A client not willing to engage in conversation with users, customers or clients won't be well-served by social media. Listening is critical. If the client doesn't understand that with the new media communication is a two-way street, they're likely to be unhappy with the process and the end results.
Starting work with social media requires tenacity and an understanding that it requires experimentation and lots of adjusting along the way.
I think you have to enjoy being a connector (as opposed to a networker, who consciously and purposefully collects people). I think you need a certain generosity of spirit and be willing to share rather than horde your knowledge because what you give comes back manyfold. You have to be willing to give more than you expect to get back, just appreciating that you're going to get back more than you would have if you hadn't given at all.
