Social Media: Presence matters most

The lead fr0m the eMarketer article says it all:

Social media marketers feel that having a presence on social sites is more important than advertising there, but there are still challenges related to keeping a community running online.

And so it is today as it was in the beginning: Social media is about showing up and showing what you know. Because, let’s face it, in today’s world no one will give your ad a second look without trusting you first. That’s especially true in the B2B space. And that is the beauty of the power of social media.

Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, to name the biggies, give you ample opportunity to seek, build and engage an audience in a way that positions your people – and by extension your company – as industry experts. And when you take the step of sharing your expertise in public forums the market takes note and comes to see that your people can be relied on to offer counsel without without an invoice attached.

So we all seem to understand the importance of taking part in social media, but where we, all of us, still struggle is the all-important content creation. It’s not a question of how to do it, it’s a question of how to find the time to do it. I wish I had a good answer for you other than making time – 20-30 minutes – every day, or every other day, to scan your Google alerts for ideas (where do you think this came from) and decide how you want to handle them: Is it blog-worthy, or will a simple tweet do, and then handling them.

Of all the possibilities for social media involvement Twitter is, by far, the most forgiving. It takes very little time, yet it will expose your company and it’s people to an audience you won’t find anywhere else. Add a hash tag or two into the mix and you have the potential to grow your audience even faster.

Let’s be honest, we are constantly making accommodations for our time, letting something slide because another, more important, thing pops up, or dropping activities altogether. If you believe there’s value in social media, you will find the time to work it in. And as its value to your marketing programs grows, you’ll find yourself dedicating more time to it.

Regardless of time, market expectations say you have to be involved, so it’s time to get in and make your presence known.

It’s hard to argue with Search Engine Land’s B2B Social Media tips

Every so often I run across an article that has me nodding in complete agreement, and this one from Search Engine Land had me doing exactly that. The article – while using the work “tips” – actually outlines four reasons B2B companies need to be involved in social media.

Putting aside tactics like Facebook, Twitter and blogging, SEL’s Strictly Business points to the four basic elements of why:

1. Influence your online reputation
2. Better position your brand
3. Engage prospects & customers
4. Improve customer service

If you’re not doing these things for your company, others will do it for you. And those others will include customers (happy and not so happy), competitors (looking to gain an edge), and media.

Not only does social media give us the power to monitor and comment on what others are saying, it also provides the opportunity to drive what is being said. It’s an offer that’s hard to refuse and one that can be accepted in 4 simple steps.

Isn’t it time to take the first step?

Playing with the LG Revolution for social media evolution

By day I’m the director of marketing for OptiMine, a paid search bid management solution and I spent last week in Boston exhibiting at Shop.org, a trade show for online retailers. Most of our marketing efforts are executed across the Web and social media is becoming a major part of that. I say becoming because we are a young company, almost four years old, and, as the first marketing hire, I got started only three months ago.

Using a smartphone while on site is a must for anyone who is doing trade shows. There is no better way to capture the activity. For Shop.org I was fortunate to have gotten my hands on the LG Revolution with Verizon service. I say fortunate because it allowed me to accomplish everything I set out to do.

While meeting prospects and customers is the primary objective for any exhibitor, Web 2.o and smartphone technology has made it possible to go beyond, bringing the wider experience to a much bigger audience. I’m talking about more than live tweeting with a hashtag. For example, the video below was shot using the Revolution. I was standing a few feet away from the subject and, although you can hear the background noise, y0u cannot appreciate just how loud it was. That’s how good the mic on the Revolution is. In terms of use, shooting video and stills and immediately uploading to YouTube, Twitter or Facebook is as simple as selecting “Share” and deciding where you want to send it.

 

The Revolution is 4G and the speeds are amazing, but the call quality does leave a little something to be desired. While I didn’t experience any problems, I did use the phone to call several people and a few did comment it sounded like I was speaking in a cave.

If you’re looking to shoot video, or stills and upload to your favorite social networking site – for  business or pleasure – the LG Revolution is a great option.

Blowing Taps for Twitter?

Seems impossible, doesn’t it? Just a few short years after Twitter took the social media world by storm, at least one industry veteran is asking, “is the party over?”

Kristine Schachinger of SitesWithoutWalls makes a strong case built on many of the moves Twitter has made recently, not to mention a couple of individual’s moves away from Twitter – Biz Stone and Ev Williams. Buying TweetDeck, shutting down API access, clamping down on third party developers (without whom Twitter would be nothing) all point to Twitter’s inevitable decline into mediocrity according to Schachinger.

Will Twitter go away? Doubtful.It’s become too much a part of the social media fabric to every disappear completely, but there may come a day when it is replaced – however slowly – by “the next big thing”. We don’t know today what that will be, but there’s risk for Twitter is high. After all, management’s moves are creating an insular company that is turning away the very people who made it the cutting edge communications tool it is today. They need somewhere to turn and Stone and Williams just might have a home for them at The Obvious Corporation.