February 4, 2012
A few days ago I posted a blog entry briefly discussing the Social Media landscape, and the need to begin the journey into Social Media expertise with a concise plan including short and long-term goals. This blog entry is intended as a narrative of my experiences and progression as a social media user, and how my increasing depth of knowledge and understanding is helping me to manage my efforts more effectively.
I have an admission to share with you…I’m a technophobe that is fascinated by technology. I love gadgets, the internet, advancement of access to information, and the ease of exchanging opinions and perspectives online. But I’m not technologically savvy…I’m intensely curious, I’m a bit obsessed, and I’m unwilling to be passive toward learning about technology when it is so incredibly necessary and pervasive in our lives, personally and professionally. My guess is that many people feel similar, that being proactive is a far better pursuit than accepting a victim status. It would be very easy to say that I just don’t get it, or Social Media is a passing fad, or that this is for the younger generation. I’m 47, and as far as I’m concerned…I’m still young enough and stimulated enough to take advantage of progress, and to even become part of it’s growth.
Yunno…the internet is fucking awesome. I have learned exponentially more since 1995, when I gained web access, than the previous 30+ years of my life by far. It is fascinating when I think about the assumptions that I made because it was so inconvenient to find reliable data on the subjects that I regularly discussed. Now it is easy to find data, but we all are hopefully learning how to discriminate between sources that are reliable as opposed to those that mislead. It’s easy to find an answer or an opinion…now we are tasked with determining the quality of the information we acquire. This opportunity demonstrates the revolutionary capacity inherent of Social Media, and a major aspect of why I believe this form of exchange democratizes communication and reliability of content.
My Social Media epiphany occurred while reading Linchpin, by Seth Godin. His message of being confident in our own individuality really hit home. We know longer have to work as parts of a machine. Now we are required to challenge ourselves to be creative, loud, unique, and unrelenting in our commitment to being part of social and economic advancement. Because of our increased autonomy and the outsourcing of easily copied production, our careers are now pursuits of indispensability through passion and artistic expression of industrial optimization and the genuine connections between business and consumers in real-time. Consumers are now the marketers, the advertisers that represent brand by sharing their experiences and perceptions. So the more businesses engage and invite consumers into their sphere of brand relevance, the higher the quality of and volume of shared knowledge will be exchanged via social media.
Blogging content is key. Remember that Twitter is essentially a vehicle to promote content…whereby tweets notify readers of available information from a particular source. That is the nature of publishing via Social Media. The blog or article is content….the tweet is a way to promote the promotion. Twitter creates communities of interest relating to a given subject or topic. We create or inject ourselves into networks of commonality and exchange information via those non-linear relationships. Tweeting content gives tweets a deeper purpose than simply updating or announcing a status change. The value of a blog is enhanced by the traffic/attention it garners because it offers a message of substance that is recognized and appreciated…extended to other potential readers who share an interest in a given topic. This all rolls into the notion of becoming a unique voice worthy of hearing when made aware of novel content availability. Every time a tweet is posted of a great blog or ebook, that Social Media update attracts readers based on an earned reputation.
One of the best examples of using Twitter to extend brand awareness and industry data comes from HubSpot. They are constantly blogging and publishing information that is of genuine value to almost anyone with an interest in the machinations of social media. They use Twitter and their website in perfect coordination to create leads and drive sales. Their web presence and content have become widely accessible through word of mouth sharing. Their blogs are mentioned all over the internet, and every blog entry includes a Call To Action (CTA) for an offer of greater information that can be acquired through their website. The outcome being that in order to receive the valuable and free information you must provide contact information and become a potential lead. It is a brilliant model that works very effectively and leads to the credibility of HubSpot as an industry leader in Social Media Analytics. HubSpot will not be copied and replaced…they are indispensable as long as they keep challenging themselves to be a source of progress.
In my next blog entry I will explain the various unique qualities of the Social Media platforms and how they serve different purposes and strategies.
