Yesterday I asked, “Why are you in social media?” I primarily directed it to businesses who seem to have a presence on social media just to have a presence. You know who they are. They’re rarely engaging their customers, usually not providing any special offers, or real assistance for their customers. Sure, they’re on Twitter, but they’re just vomiting links and telling everyone they have a presence.
Today, I’m going to give you an example. My local NBC (KSN) and ABC (KODE) news affiliates have a combined Twitter account and I’m convinced they’re using social media simply because everyone else is. There doesn’t seem to be much of a game plan, they rarely (if ever) interact with their viewers, and much of what they are doing makes them look like a spammer.
So, @4StatesNews, if you’re reading this I would like to offer a little advice on repairing your current social media strategy. It’s a simple start, but it will help create some value in your social media endeavors.
Blind Links. I thought no one but spammers, phishing schemes, and bots did this. Actually even most of those will carry with them some sort of spammy headline with an ‘lol’ attached at the end. Here’s the deal, @4StatesNews, most people with even basic knowledge of the Internet won’t click on blind links. You must have a headline of some kind to let people know what they’re going to. You may be a trusted name in local news on the TV, but when it comes to the Internet, it’s a different ballgame. Suggested Solution: This is a simple fix. Just start adding headlines every single time. If your link leads to story about a local police officer dying, say that. Let us in on where we’re going. Your viewers want to know the link is safe before they commit to a click.
Tweet blind links. People make up their own headlines.
Using Your Facebook Fan Page as a Landing Page. Once you’ve repaired your problem of blind links, it’s time to do something different about where those links go. All of your links go to your Facebook fan page. I get it. You want people to follow you on Facebook too, but you need to be treating them as two different tools. When I click on a link that I think is going to send me to a story about the snow storm coming in, I don’t want to have to click on another link to bypass your Facebook page. How many people get to the Facebook page and then just quit clicking through? How much more traffic would you get to your site if the links you are sending out on Twitter actually went directly to your site. How many of your viewers don’t have a Facebook page? Do you think they like being directed in one direction before they get the story they were looking for? Suggested Solution: I think it’s clear. Stop using your Facebook fan page as a landing site. Direct your viewers straight to the story you want them to see. Don’t make the journey any harder than one simple click. If you want people to become a fan on Facebook, use Twitter to invite them to become a fan on occasion, but don’t back door the invitation by using the fan page as your landing site.
Engage Your Viewers. Having a presence on all the key social media outlets doesn’t mean you’re engaging your viewers. It doesn’t even mean they’re paying attention. In fact, if you’re constantly sending them blind links that redirect them to Facebook, they may be paying little attention at all. It doesn’t mean you have to be online all the time. It just means you @, RT, or DM them when you can on Twitter. It means you respond to comments on your Facebook page when you can. I hate to say it, but your local news competitor KOAM TV 7 does a much better job at this. They interact with their viewers regularly and will even retweet stories that don’t go back to their site. Suggested Solution: As often as possible, interact. If your follower on Twitter has taken the time to @ you, take the a couple of seconds to respond back. If your follower on Twitter retweeted your story, take a moment to tell them thank you. It will go a long way in encouraging them to retweet your links in the future. The great myth about social media is that it’s easy. The great truth about social media is that it works best when you engage people.
This isn’t something I just recently stumbled across. My friend, Stan Kost has been asking for some time why the blind links are being sent out (among other things). I’ve joined in on some of those conversations, but they’ve always been one-sided because there is never any interaction. Just more blind links, Facebook, and now Stan mocking the blind links with funny, fake headlines.
So, @4StatesNews, why have you signed up for social media? Why sign up if you’re not going to do it right?
As a business, why are you signing up for social media?
Are you doing it because it’s the next big thing? Is your plan simply to have a presence? Are you signing up because your competition is? You shouldn’t be.
I guess this is what I really want to know is, why sign up and create a presence if you aren’t going to do it right?
If you’re just vomiting links on Twitter or only talking about yourself on other outlets, what’s the point? When does the social in social media come in? Where’s the interaction with your followers, readers, or viewers? Where’s the clue that reveals you’re truly interested in doing the work necessary to make social media work for your business?
Of all the holidays in all the world, Thanksgiving is by far my favorite. It is simple. It has very few frills. There are no gifts. There is very little commercial fanfare. It involves family and includes thankfulness. The food and football are really just a side attraction for me.
I want to say thank you to all of you who take the time to read what I have to say here. I am grateful for your presence and your participation is always a source of great encouragement. Thank you.
You know how it goes. The project is due in a month. You identify some possible road blocks. Nothing is really done about them because, well, you have a month to get them resolved. You have other priorities to focus on. Time passes by. Now you’re a couple of days before deadline. The potential issues that were identified earlier have become actual issues. Suddenly time is short. It’s time to cram. The stress level is high. Everything must be tied together at the last minute. Panic!
You know how it is. A troublemaker is within the midst of the team. This person’s causing the team to focus on drama instead of being productive. But, you’re busy. You don’t have time to deal with drama. You have more important things to focus on. Nothing is really done to hold the troublemaker accountable for their actions. Things get worse. It seems the drama never really goes away unless the troublemaker calls in sick. Suddenly a couple of your best employees have turned in their resignation. They’re tired of the drama as much as you, but they’re willing to do something to get out of the situation. Now you’re stuck with a troublemaker and some less than motivated employees. Your productivity is suffering. Panic!
In the short run it’s easy to hope problems will just go away. In the short run it’s easy to think someone else will take care of the issues you’ve just identified. In the long run, however, it will be much more difficult to correct your course, help the team regain focus, or fix the problems that were identified long ago.
The best leaders won’t wait until the last minute. The best leaders will identify a problem, find a solution, and then follow through on that solution until there is no problem. The best leaders won’t allow a deficiency of accountability within the team to occur. There will be no need for panic when everyone is taking care of problems as they arise.
Don’t be a reactionary leader who waits until the siren is sounding to lead your people through the panic. Be a leader who not only can see potential pitfalls, but one who leads the team around them long before there’s a need for panic.
The best leaders realize they aren’t leading lemmings or like-minded robots. The best leaders understand they are leading a group of diverse and different people. It may be that they buy into the system, the goal, or the vision of the leader, but it would be foolish to believe they buy into the leader so much that most will not think on their own.
Allow for the freedom of ideas, discussion, and new ways of doing things.
Listen.
Understand the importance of trust.
Are consistent.
Promote excellence within the team.
Refuse to accept mediocre performance within the team.
Lead even when they aren’t in a position of authority.
Have a vision of what is ahead.
Motivate.
The best leaders understand they are leading people with different ideas, backgrounds, and personalities. Instead of trying to force every crayon to stay within the lines, they understand some can perform their job best when outside the lines. The best leaders figure this out and are capable of juggling all the different personalities they are leading while never losing sight of the vision everyone has bought in to.
Thanks to Cymberly Pierce for providing the idea for this post when I asked for some tips the other day on what to post next. Yes, I take suggestions.
People are blogging, Tweeting, and yammering on and on about social media these days. If you took in everything being said, you’d think the world had changed so much that some of the most basic tenets of human interaction and business were no longer necessary. You’d also be wrong.
Social media is just a toolbox with a bunch of tools (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Google Wave) in it, and those tools are constantly changing.
Is social media changing the way many do business with one another and even interact socially? Absolutely. Is social media revolutionizing human behavior? No.
Here’s what I mean:
Social media won’t help you interview better – You still need some of the most basic of social skills. You still need to interview well. Also, you still need a resume, no matter what Seth Godin tells you. Will your activity on social media help or even hurt your chances of getting a job? It can, but in the end you will still need to impress in person (that’s IRL for you social media nerds). You can’t go into an interview and simply say “Please read my Tweets for information.”
Social media won’t help you if you’re a jerk - You can use social media to enhance your personal brand and make yourself look like a genius, but if you’re a jerk in real life it will shine through at some point. It will eventually make it to social media and those who get to know you, that you’re a fake or real downer in real life. Soon enough, no amount of personal branding through social media will be able to hide it either.
Social media won’t improve your social skills – In fact, it might just hurt them. Sure, you’re talking to people more often, but not in person. You’re hiding behind a computer screen. It’s a safety net that’s nice when you just want to wear your pajamas and keep your slightly disheveled hair. Nothing can ever take the place of good, old fashioned face to face interaction. Looking someone in the eyes and having a conversation is far more valuable than a retweet or @. Period.
Social media won’t improve your life – It’s a tool, people, not a cure for all your ills. Sure, you can find some great inspiration from others. You can learn great workout techniques (like my wife frequently searches for). You can find information on how to live a healthier life overall. You can find tips, strategies, and ideas on how to improve your financial situation. In the end, you still have to get out there and do something.
I know it can be easy to get caught up in the whole, social media is changing everything mentality. We all would love for that to be the case, but it’s not. You still have to get out there and act. You still have to work. There’s a lot social media can do, but there’s quite a few things it won’t do for you.
Taking a box of perfectly good crayons and shaking them up won’t revolutionize your crayon box. It won’t bring real change to the crayons. It won’t turn the crayon box into something else. You will still have an ordinary box of crayons. The only difference is they were shook up a little. Nothing was created. Nothing really changed with the crayons themselves.
How often do you see people shake things up and call it change? They shuffle this employee here. Move this one over there. Move their office to the other side of the room. Change someone’s job title here and add another position there. Is it true change? Sure, things look different, but are the results revolutionizing the the way you do business? Is it going to change the structure of your business? Is it going to improve morale? Is it changing the way people are thinking or looking at things? Is it making the vision clearer and causing people to buy in?
Government is a great example of this. They shuffle. They shift. They shake. It even looks different sometimes, but the same players and ideas that caused the inefficiencies and failures often remain. Government likes shaking the crayon box and calling it change.
Try something different with your crayon box. Try using a crayon outside the box. Throw a crayon out if it doesn’t work for what you’re creating. Use just a few crayons for your goals. Use many crayons for your goals. Use all the crayons if that’s what it will take. Use the right crayons.
Never just shake up the box of crayons and say you’ve accomplished change.
