RepMan

Look both ways before crossing an intersection and listen to all stakeholders before engaging in social media

I recently shared a Bulldog Reporter audio conference panel with two corporate communicators and another representative from the dark side (read: PR firms). The topic was social media and, thanks to some excellent moderating by the lovely and talented Brian Pittman, the discussion was rather lively.

I found myself disagreeing with one of the corporate panelists who advised the 150-plus listening audience to engage in social media at all costs, 'Look,' he advised, 'Social media is the future and you might as well engage sooner rather than later.'

I agreed, sort of. I think personal engagement in social media is, indeed, a no-brainer. But, an organization should think long and hard before taking the plunge. The corporate panelist said organizations can learn as they go. Well, yes, but some serious, and potentially devastating missteps can occur during that learning phase.

I likened social media to a busy intersection in a large city. Conventional wisdom holds that one should look both ways before crossing. Social media is the same: organizations should listen to all stakeholders before proceeding. Does each and every audience need/want your organization to engage with them in a social media dialogue? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe information overloaded employees don't want or need a company Facebook page. Maybe long-standing customers prefer the pleasures of a face-to-face meeting over a Don Draper-like scotch and soda. And maybe local community leaders expect a town hall type back-and-forth on issues of the day.

The social media land rush mentality can undermine your organization's image, reputation and credibility if you dive in without listening first.

Brian Pittman asked what sort of questions an organization should ask of its stakeholders during a listening phase. That's easy: the exact same questions neophyte journalists are trained to ask before crafting a news article: who, what, when, where, why and how.

Make sure your audiences want to engage in social media before you decide to flip on the switch. Just because your management wants to, or your competitors are doing it or, even worse, some expert says it's here to stay and you better engage are the wrong reasons.

In the same way rushing across an intersection can be detrimental to one's health, diving pell-mell into social media can be dangerous to one's brand.

What works in Jacksonville may not in Jakarta

As if marketers don't have enough to worry about, a new blog series run by PepperDigital and Upstream Asia says successful social media campaigns need to resonate with the unique wants and needs of every culture and subculture around the world.

Bottom-line: a one size fits all strategy won't fly. The McDonald's online campaign that drives consumers to stores in Clarksville will probably be a turn-off in Copenhagen (although the Mickey D fish sticks will probably still be big sellers above the Arctic Circle).

The series tracks the rise of subcultures across the globe who, while they may be separated by several oceans, share a common affinity for, say, obscure Norwegian rock music. At the same time, though, those very same affinity groups will have wildly diverging tastes in other areas. So, while savvy marketers may be able to engage with a wide mix of, say, Vietnamese, American and Tanzanian fans of the Norwegian grunge band Lars and the Golden Geese, they need to tread lightly when introducing a second topic to the same group.

The same 'new norm' holds true within borders as well. The discussion that might build buzz in Paris’ fifth arrondissement could be found objectionable in Les cites of Marseilles.

It's a mixed-up world in which we live. This new series proves the old adage that marketers need to walk before they run, especially when it comes to engaging in social media. The land rush mentality to embrace social media we've seen by many U.S. organizations will fail miserably if they extend across borders without taking the time to stop and listen. Listening is, in fact, the single best piece of advice suggested by the series.

'Think global, act local,' is a smart admonition for any traditional marketer seeking to extend its brand beyond its borders. Based upon this new series, it holds doubly true for social media and should be extended to included subcultures and affinity groups.

The rules don’t apply to me

Power brokers think the rules don’t apply to them. That’s certainly true of sports stars, rock impresarios and politicians. It’s also true of executives. Take the latest findings released by UberCEO.com that reveal a near total use of social media tools by Fortune 100 chief executive officers.

UberCEO thinks CEOs are either distracted or too timid to engage in the blogosphere. Timidity (or fear) is a likely culprit. But, so too, is hubris. CEOs move in rarified worlds and breathe rarified air. As a result, most think the rules governing mortal men simply don’t apply to them. One needs only to think of, say, Bernie Ebbers, Bernie Madoff, Dennis Kozlowski or Jeff Skilling to prove the point.

I think CEOs think social media is for the hoi polloi. They don’t need, or want, to dirty their hands by interacting with the masses. They already have their hands full with such irritants as analyst calls, CNBC interviews or annual meetings. Who has the time or patience to write a blog, Tweet or maintain a home page on Facebook?

Sure, one needs to factor in Sarbanes-Oxley when conjecturing why CEOs avoid social media like the plague. And, yes, there remains a solid business case why the big kahuna needs to do this citizen journalist ‘nonsense.’ But, I think the average chief executive officer thinks just like the J. Walter Thompson CEO I once worked for. He felt himself above the fray and looked down his nose at lesser mortals. Let them eat cake (or hit ‘send’).

Until, and unless, we have some truly enlightened CEOs sitting in Fortune 100 corner offices, I don’t think we’ll see any blogging or podcasting. CEOs think that’s something for the ‘marketing guys’ to deal with. In the meantime, they have bigger fish to fry: Wall Street is unhappy with the stock performance, the board is questioning the latest downsizing and the charities are demanding some sort of sustainability program. Blogging? Bah humbug!

*Thanks to Greg Schmalz for the idea for this post.

I highly recommend it

Public relations is in the midst of unprecedented change. Traditional media relations, while still important, has been equaled, if not surpassed by social media. Indeed, we’re seeing more and more clients ask about word-of-mouth. How does one inspire, motivate and encourage a prospective or current customer to ‘recommend’ an organization’s product or service to a peer? The answer  to that single question contains the key to the future of marketing communications.

 

Like many forward-looking organizations, we’re grappling with how one goes about ‘encouraging’ or ‘enabling’ recommendations. We don’t know the full answer, but we have some ideas. In the spirit of openness and transparency, we’d like to get your perspective as well.

So, if you don’t mind, click the survey link below and let me know what you think. I promise to share the findings in a future blog that, I hope, you’ll highly recommend to others.

Check out the survey here.

Useless

Until a few seconds ago, I was blissfully unaware that Henry Feintuch's birthday was a mere seven days away. Now, though, thanks to the fine folks at Plaxo Pulse, I'm not only forewarned, I'm forearmed. Phew! That was close.

Truth be told, I have no idea who Henry Feintuch is. I'd guess he's a member of the Feintuch clan. But, that's mere speculation on my part. He could be one of the Kentucky Feintuch's, the Iowa Feintuch's or, heaven forbid, the Dakota Feintuch's. I've heard some of the Dakota Feintuch boys ran into trouble a while back.

I wish Henry a very happy birthday in advance (and many more as well!). But, I have about as much use for this information as I do, say, for the price of tea in China (a dated expression that may be considered politically incorrect in today's PC world).

So, cutting to the image and reputation chase, what good is a service that has done absolutely nothing for me since I registered? Facebook is fun, since I can occasionally check out new pics of old friends. And Linked In is an absolutely essential new business and networking tool, or so our strategy consultant tells me (truth be told, though, my 300 or so Linked In connections really haven't done anything for me). But, Plaxo and its birthday greetings? Gimme a break.

Call me old school but, when it comes to business development and networking, I'm an F-to-F guy (that's face-to-face).

Henry, do have a happy, happy birthday. But understand that my feelings for Plaxo and its advance birthday warnings can be best summed up by the immortal last words of a mortally wounded John Wilkes Booth, who stared at his hands and sighed, 'Useless. Useless.'

Sometimes, it's More Like Facelessbook

Do you ever get "friended" on Facebook by someone you've never met? By someone you've never, ever heard of?

I'll get an alert from Facebook stating that "Smedly Q. Armbrister would like to friend me." Huh? Who the hell is Smedly Q. Armbrister, and why does he want to be my friend? 

I've received quite a few friend requests from perfect strangers like Smedly. These people not only want to connect with me but, in doing so, want to connect me with their friends, who also happen to be perfect strangers. Great. Just what I need, virtual friendships with people I don't know and don't want to know.

These friend requests are always accompanied by photos of the strangers. Some are happily sailing in their boat. Others are completing a 10k race. Then, there's the woman holding a cat in her arms. That one always freaks me out a bit. Call me anti-social, but I'm just not into sharing Kodak moments with people I don't know.

Could you imagine this happening in the "real" world? A woman carrying a cat and stroking its fur walks up to you and says, "Hi, I'm Sally G. Renquist and I'd like to be your friend." Oh baby, get out of my way, because I'm going to be setting a new world record for the 100-meter dash.

So, why do we practice behavior in the digital world that we'd never, ever consider doing in the real one? I'm sure it's all about networking. But, networking first requires an introduction of some sort. One doesn't network by walking up to a complete stranger and saying, "Hi, let's be friends. Can you help me get a job?"

Facebook, LinkedIn and their ilk are pretty cool ways to connect, re-connect and network with people you know. But, I'm just not connecting without a prior introduction. It's kind of like John McCain's refusal to meet with the leaders of rogue nations without conditions.

So, here's a quick piece of advice to all the Janes, Sallys, Dicks and Toms that I don't know. Save us both some time and friend someone you actually know.

Matt Waters run deep

Hats off to Matthew O. Waters of Doylestown, Pa. Matt read my blog about the dearth of hand-written letters from Gen X and Gen Y job seekers and, yes Virginia, sent me a lengthy, handwritten note with his resume.

Good for you, Matt. You've not only differentiated yourself, you've gotten a blog written about your iconoclastic ways.

Matt's a University of Vermont graduate who's seen me speak and visited Peppercom's office in Manhattan. That arguably gives him an advantage over, say, your average Drew University student. But, Matt took his game to a new level by writing to me about himself, his grandfather and his desire to work for Peppercom. His approach would have been commonplace in 1978. In 2008, it's downright revolutionary.

So, Matt, rest assured I will not only forward your materials to the appropriate people, I will also guarantee an interview if you can make your way to the Big Apple. After that, though, it's up to you.

It's nice to know people like Matthew O. Waters do exist. They do listen. And, they do do the right things to differentiate themselves and begin building their own brands. It's enough to make a jaded, middle-aged blogger stop and smell the roses.

Responsiveness 101

What do communications students from Marist College, Northeastern, the University of Vermont, the College of Charleston and the PRSSA share in common?

Almost all have failed to follow-up with me after being urged to post comments on my blog, submit a writing sample for my edits or just plain ask for my help in networking.

I'll bet I've lectured before 500 or more college students in the past year alone. And, I'd guess that less than two percent have leveraged the 'meetings' to connect with me. These are the same kids who, in conversation with me, voice serious fears about successfully entering the workforce.

I've discussed the students' lack of aggressiveness and follow up with search consultant par excellence, Bill Heyman. He agrees that, while the latest generation of college kids, live, eat and breathe all things digital, they lack either the competitive drive or intellectual wherewithal to connect, network and differentiate themselves as thought leaders.

I'm sure sociologists could have a field day with the various reasons why this is happening. But, in my mind, it comes down to two factors: my generation of parents has spoiled the current one, most of whom expect the business world to beat a path to their door. Second, the Web has become a virtual crutch of sorts enabling kids to avoid direct confrontation.

Regardless of the causes, we're left with a group of kids who desperately want jobs, but seem reluctant or unwilling to roll up their sleeves and do it what it takes to succeed. File it all under the term 'sense of entitlement.'

Students determined to be more successful than their parents

Steve and Ted sit down with University of Vermont students to discuss their job perspectives and whether or not they believe they will be as successful as their parents. 

This discussion centers on the latest student survey that shows that this is the first generation that does not believe they’ll do better than their parents in terms of financial and job success.  What are the reasons for this?

Is the recession causing concern for young job seekers? Perhaps Generation Y has a different definition of success?

A sure fire Rx for the job hunting blues

My partner and I were recently dazzled by a job prospect who did absolutely everything conceivable to 'win' the interview.

She employed some strategies that may seem academic, but proved spot on for differentiating her from the competition. And, with a much-hyped Recession on the horizon, I'd suggest any jobseeker: consider some of her approaches, including

- tell the prospective employer exactly why you think you'd be the ideal fit

- spend the time to not only research the company in general, but be able to share 'trivia' and 'tidbits' that will demonstrate your interest and passion

- demonstrate knowledge of the company's points of differentiation as well its leading competitors (i.e. 'Industry knowledge'). This particular prospect knew our positioning, key messages and milestones.

- come prepared with tailored questions. While our job prospect didn't know she'd be meeting with us simultaneously, she nonetheless had a set of questions ready for each of us

- follow-up the first interview with HAND-WRITTEN thank you notes. It shows the employer you're taking a little more time and energy than your e-mail dependent competitors.

I'm probably missing some nuances from that fateful interview. But, I promise you that, as soon as the prospect left, we asked our senior people to set meetings with her. And, we extended an offer shortly thereafter.

So, rather than fretting about the latest economic news, create a tailored action plan for 'winning' interviews with the organizations you admire most.