The ROI is your business will still exist in 5 years. Social Media Revolution via @ErikQualman.
Thank You Economy by @garyvee in 14 Tweets
jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick Were riding a really, really fast train; the changes we’ve seen mark only the beginning of the transformations yet to come. #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick Every 2 days people create as much information as they did from dawn of civilization to 2003, ~5 exabytes data. -@ericschmidt #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick The earned media value of being 1st-to-market is priceless. Quality of fans/followers is vastly more important than quantity. #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick More & more individuals who make important B2B decisions are using (social media) platforms to get advice and feedback needed. #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick When moms are spending real money to buy virtual cows on FarmVille, you know games have reached a tipping point. #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick If you’re in the restaurnt biz and you’re not obsessed w/ your @Yelp strategy, please sell now while there’s still some value. #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick The companies that understand how to genuinely connect w/ their customers, online & offline, are the ones that will emerge… #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick Photo: I’m live tweeting my favorite excerpts from Thank You Economy by @garyvee. Follow along…http://tumblr.com/xd222161zr jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick “The money is there; it’s just being spent in the wrong place.” #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick There r only 2 thngs tht will convince consumers to pay more whn thy cld pay less. Convenience & Outstanding Customer Service. #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick “In the future, the companies with tremendous ‘relationship capital’ will be the ones to succeed.” #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick If you wait for social media to prove itself to you, you’ll have missed your greatest window to move ahead of competitors. #TYE @garyvee jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick “Your engagement has to be heartfelt, or it won’t work.” #TYE @garyvee
jaredzlotnick jared zlotnick 2010: the avg Facebook user has 130 friends, avg Twitter account holder has 300 followers… 7,740 people exposed per message. #TYE @garyveejaredzlotnick jared zlotnick (social media is more than media) It is a massive cultural shift that has profoundly affected the way society uses Internet. #TYE @garyvee
What Are Social Media Good For? Putting a Face to a Brand
In his recent Ad Age article Chris Malone suggests brands should exude competency and warmth, and consumers will respond.
He addresses “how to most effectively use new media that have aptly been named “social” — those virtual gathering places where people interact with each other and, increasingly, with brands.”
Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley has identified a $50 billion dollar gap between time spent online and advertising dollars. Considering that 77% of U.S. adults are members of social networks (with 67% in Facebook alone) this gap represents the most significant opportunity and may come to define the Internet.
Malone points out that few (brands) have been able to figure out how to monetize all the friends, followers and fans they’ve collected. There’s no doubt we’re in the very early stages of this new media but it’s surprising how few are daring enough to experiment.
It’s also interesting to note that two forms of experimentation include the brand loyalty attributes “acts in my best interests” and “is honest and trustworthy.” Effective marketing is driven by customer service. I recommend Joseph Jaffe’s book, Flip the Funnel, for further reading on this topic.
For brands and companies that want to build lasting consumer loyalty, Malone offers the following guidelines:
- Use social networks to better personify your brand and put a human face on it. Nothing is more powerful than real people demonstrating genuine warmth and competence in real time.
- Focus on social networks as your preferred medium for delivering customer service to consumers whenever possible. Putting service-related honesty and selfless intentions on display for consumers to comment on and share with others will surprise, impress and inspire them.
- Rethink your customer-service policies and practices to focus on building trust, goodwill and loyalty, rather than on minimizing company risk, cost and involvement. For consumers, these are often the truest reflection of your honesty, trustworthiness and commitment to their interests, rather than your own.
I’d love to hear your strategy in the comments below.
