The Building Blocks of Social Media for Business

September 1, 2009 · Comments

Lego Replica of Manchester NH Where do you start? That’s the question I get often when I’m asked how to help a company market using social media tools. The people who contact me are smart. They tell me things like, “Yeah, they said we should start with a blog, and we said, ‘like the blog we already have?’” But what comes next is rarely a simple choice. I wanted to take you through some thoughts on what the basic building blocks of social media might be for a business (in the context of marketing, but then stretching a bit further out).

Remember, roadmaps don’t work really well until you have a solid goal or destination in mind. None of this matters unless it feels right to you, regardless of my advice. You know your company’s boundaries. You know what your comfort levels are. Proceed at your organizational pace.


Grow Bigger Ears

Most social media plans start with how you can talk. I prefer to start with listening. We learn more by listening (all salespeople know this, as do animals). We hear what people are saying. We can learn the cadence of a place. Want to start out in social media? Grow bigger ears.

Make a Friendly Base

In the past, we used the web strictly to collect information or transact one-way business like shopping. Many companies still have their online presence set up like this: as a place to inform.

With the tools of the social web, we can offer so much more: a two-way place where information can be started by one person, and then augmented or refuted or discussed by others. One manifestation of this is a blog. A blog is a great place for discussions. If you want to be really daring and clever with your base, you might even contemplate a site that permits user-driven information. I could see that being interesting: a site where your existing customers provide the lion’s share of the information and interaction around your product or service. (Would you dare to do that?)


Also, make sure your home base has sharing tools like Share This on your site, to help empower others to spread the word about your content.

Extend into Outposts

Depending on your type of customer, it’s important to get out to where they are. It’s great that you’ve built a site, but find our where your customers are spending their time, and get over there. Your efforts to grow bigger ears will help in that regard.

When you decide to build outposts, start small but decisively human. If you build a Twitter account, follow some people (maybe prospects, but maybe also just people you find interesting: you met them via the “grow bigger ears” part), and pay attention to the flow of conversations. Listen for a few days before trying out your own voice.

Don’t make your efforts on places like Twitter and Facebook solely about driving people to your home base, but instead, be helpful, participatory, and a good citizen of the social space you’re occupying. When you have some really interesting or helpful information, consider pointing people to your post for more information.

Community Participation

There are places where people might be talking about your products and services. These might be on 3rd party communities, or might be in “commons” spaces like Facebook. If you choose to engage by being a participant, be wary that your efforts might be perceived as intrustive, that your efforts to correct factual errors on such sites might be met with disdain, and that when you’re participating on other people’s turf, you don’t have much say in how things are portrayed.

You might also choose to build your own community platform around your products and services. This can be a very rewarding experience, but it can also be an effort in futility. Just because you’ve got a great product doesn’t mean a community will be an obvious hit. Other times, there are great products, a community who really cares about it, and then the platform doesn’t empower the types of interactions the users want.

If you build a community platform, realize that the goal of that community is to empower your members, and to equip them with added benefits from belonging. Don’t use it as a marketing ground, or a place from which to advertise your products. Use it as a way to inform, to share, to give something back.

The results will be much more effective.

Email Marketing

You live or die by your database. If you leave all your online marketing efforts strictly to social platforms and your blogs, you’re missing a very effective and powerful tool: email marketing. Some of you just flinched, and some of you are thinking that email marketing is so 1995. The tool is every bit as amazing as it’s ever been. What’s changed to make me feel this way are the methods in which it can be used.

A solid email marketing experience in the coming months involves mass customization, something that goes beyond the “Dear [firstname]” experience we use today. If I had my way, I’d design an interface to my email marketing platform that let me make all kinds of calculations on what to send, based on my recent interactions, based on comments left on the blog, and based on all kinds of other information that’s not as simple to plan for as, say, adding in static database fields.

For now, simply having a solid list that appreciates your contact is a powerful tool to have. I use Blue Sky Factory for my email marketing platform (disclosure: I’m friends with the company and they have sponsored several of my events. I am more than a little bit biased). The reason I use them is that they have great support and great relationships with the spam police of the universe, a good thing to have.


Mobile and Beyond

Like with all things promised to us on the Internet, the reality of augmented reality is about a decade later than it was promised. With the Apple iPhone 3Gs, it turns out that applications that mash up location data with web information are coming and coming fast. I don’t have any implementation experience on these types of tools yet, but know that I’m going to dive in fast and furious, as it’s definitely part of what’s next.

Location apps, augmented reality, and much more context-aware marketing are where I think things will heat up next. If you think social tools are interesting in 2D spaces like your browser, imagine what the real world offers for thrills and overlaid excitement.

Your Turn

Did I miss any of the basic building blocks of social media, from your perspective? What needs more clarification? How can I help explain this out a bit better for you?

By the way, that cool Lego display is at the See Science Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, and is astounding.

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  • Nice post, and a very useful one for folks getting ready to take the plunge. The one element I'd add is to figure out who is on your internal social media roster, and what teams they are playing on. The same way that football players are on offense, defense, punt coverage, field goals, goal line, etc. you need different people in your company participating.

    All of them should have a passion for social media, but they likely will have different skills sets. It's unreasonable for most people to expect them to be manning all outposts, to be on Twitter and LInkedin and Facebook and blogging and commenting on blogs, etc.

    My suggestion is to break up your squad (assuming here that you have a big enough company to have a handful of social media participants), and divvy up responsibilities. Your quarterback calls the plays and is responsible for success metrics and reporting. Other folks specialize in one or more of the task you outline above.
  • Jason - you hit the nail on the head. Social media rostering is something that doesn't get talked about much, but it is critical. Everybody has talents in different areas and strategic placement can be highly beneficial.
  • Love it Jason. There have been some interesting posts going around related to this recently.

    Who Owns Social Media: http://www.briansolis.com/2009/08/who-owns-soci...

    Advertising, Marketing and PR Suck: Now What?: http://www.downtheavenue.com/2009/08/advertisin...

    In the nonprofit world it seem to be a one person show. Sometimes its a couple of people, but I've yet to see an organization that is totally on board with every department engaged.

    http://twitter.com/franswaa
  • I like your analogy of different team members playing different roles. One thing that I think is vital to businesses succeeding is to allow all of your team members to participate if it matches up with your strategy.

    A recent post that I found helpful discussed using a message of the day that is communicated across your team. This helps set the strategy and then each of your team communicates this with their own twist to the outpost they are using (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc)

    Chris, I think a good question for the group is to discuss which building block we struggle with the most. For me it starts with listening. Not sure if I am using the right tool, Twitter Search, is it worth the investment to look at a tool like Radian 6?

    Thanks as always for your insights.
  • Consider Techrigy, Networked Insights Social Sense, ScoutLabs, Sysmos as some other tools that also help listen.
  • "Most social media plans start with how you can talk. I prefer to start with listening"

    Wonderful insight. Many people do not believe in this for various reasons. Many are Network Marketers who are to excited to share and just want the hopefuls to shut their mouths and listen to what they believe they need instead of listening and learning if the prospect could use what they have in the first place.

    Companies are beginning to make this switch as well as many have seen that the old school white shirt way of doing business and interrupting the patterns of consumers to force feed their product or service into their minds is becoming less and less effective (Tivo, Etc..)

    Business and especially marketing as a whole are changing and for the better. More people are getting involved in product surveys (Blippr, Kaboodle, etc...) and along with that clever marketers must bend to give the people what they want and to bring the content they seek to their full attention in a way that pleases the consumer in the best way imaginable or their sales will dip and the product will have poor reviews.

    Great Post Chris,
  • Email and Mobile are HUGE.

    Email is still the best way to communicate with people on a large scale, but it can get more personal. I agree there. I've seen some tools that can be set up to do very nice things based on user actions. What I see less of is organizations spending the time to plan for and execute a email strategy that uses the tools they have to make the experience as personal as possible.

    Mobile is the way of the future for sure. Facebook is doing some nice things with their iPhone app. Think about if they introduces some location based tools and a recommendation engine that your network could build. Powerful. What if Twitter and Yelp teamed up and built a KILLER mobile app that had location based abilities tied in. COOL.

    I always love your "building blocks" type posts Chris. The 1st 3 things look surprisingly familiar =)

    http://twitter.com/franswaa
  • Good post, Chris. Love the how-to bent you have.

    I support the use of email, too. If content is relevant to the recipient, then it is welcome. The thought about "mass customization" based on data gleaned from a bunch of different sources like interactions, blog comments, and tweets would be powerful for getting the user experience right. Your mail service provider has the capability, but I'm guessing that you're the one who'll need to populate the underlying database.

    It'd be great if you can keep us posted on your progress on your mass customization journey.
  • Great post Chris. I've been researching social media for some time now for the third sector market in the UK.

    Just working your way through the "noise" of social media is daunting for many small businesses, and even larger ones, and this can be very offputting for novices. Your advice about listening is good, but I think we are now also getting to the point of sorting "wheat from chaff" and trying to make some sense of which applications and networks are the best to use for our businesses. After all, it would be impossible to participate in all the social media that is out there. So, my question/observation is "what strategies and techniques can we adopt to navigate the social media scene, given that it is growing at a rapid rate right now?"
  • catherinewhite
    Love Wordpress - mine is the Sandbox theme
  • I love your take on email marketing. It's absolutely correct that you include it here among the other avenues. I'm looking forward to a time when tightly targeted, opt-in email marketing replaces more traditional advertising as the premier revenue generating model online. You agree to receive and read (or watch) emails directed at you in return for free content the rest of the time. Well, I can dream, can't I?
  • Great post. Amazing content. This will give a brief information about word press and will help as a guide to newbies. Keep blogging.
  • J.T. O'Donnell
    Hi Chris,

    The picture you used in your post is very cool! It's a lego town built and on display in Manchester, NH at the See Science Museum. There's a toy train running through the entire town with a camera on it so you can see what it's like (the run the feed on a flat screen above the display). My daughter's second grade class went there last year and I got to tag along. Definitely worth a visit with your kids if you've never been - it's extremely fun!
  • Very good points Chris.

    One issue that has kept me busy recently is the organizational structure of the businesses themselves. I'm not sure about the US, but in Europe 'command and control' structures can still be found everywhere. When talking about Social Media, we are talking about everything but 'command and control'. Engaging in Social Media therefore is about a change in corporate attitude and culture, which in turn influences the entire organization: internal communications, HR, R&D. production, purchasing, marketing, sales etc. From this I draw the following conclusions:

    Since Social Media is about attitude, treat people on the inside the same way you treat people on the outside, i.e. use the tools you mentioned in employee relations as well as in customer relations. A company might even consider applying the tools and 'learning' internally before opening to the public.

    Since Social Media is relevant for the entire organization, it doesn't really make sense to leave it to the marketing department.

    What do you think?

    Achim
  • Thank you for a wonderful analysis of the building blocks of social media for business. You`re talking about companies using social media.
    Of course, listening is a major factor for anything.
    However, apart from "listening", is there anything you would advise doing differently for a one man, home based business,? Would you organize the priorities in a different way? Or is it all the same for companies and individuals alike?
  • Nothing in life is all the same, is it?

    For one man shows, I still do most of the above in the same way, but the one thing I might do is set time limits and effort limits on the above. It's easy to fall into the "doing social media" thing instead of "doing work to make money" thing, and until one gets the balance and the leverage figured out, I'm wary of such.

    Great question.
  • Carla
    Great framework for anyone getting started! I like that the foundation is based on listening. While the buzz is all about social media and some of the tools that go along with it, we really are talking about a paradigm shift in how we engage -- across all platforms.
  • This is a good start. The most important 'block' is the listening part. First find where your customers (potential customers) are and then listen to what they're saying. You can respond to their 'conversations' via many social media platforms by offering solutions or participating in the discussion.

    The above is assuming that a strategic plan has been put into place - that a team within the organization, or person if necessary, is responsible for the social media plan and are given the authority to communicate the company's message in this arena.

    Love that you put email marketing as a 'block'. Whether it is sent to a business address or mobile unit, the message is still read. Part of the success of an email campaign is that it can be interactive, intitiate the conversation then encourage the reader to participate.
  • You're totally right about the assumption of strategy. I started from the tool perspective and not further upstream. Good point to stress.

    In lots of ways, I'm also trying to say that these tools are every bit a tactic and not always a strategy. We turn that word over quickly in our heads (I'm guilty of it) when we really mean tactics.

    Thanks for your thoughts, Charlene.
  • Chris,

    Thanx for the reminders about email marketing and LISTENING. All to often folks just jump in, and don't give the social landscape any justice by listening first.
  • terrygo
    I have been working through how to use social media for a while now and listening is so critical. There is a temptatation to jump in and get 'results' - big mistake. Whate ever you start you must continue so you must understand the resources needed and it takes a lot of time and effort. - This post is very good as it pragmatic, so much in the social media space talks about changing everything, the way we do business, we way we communicate and that is just impossible in the short term and written often by people who have never run a business, never carried a quote and never had to manage cash flow.
  • Exactly so, Terry. These are tools, not a whole new way of life. They're to be tested and integrated, not devoutly followed like a religion. You've got it right.
  • Great post. A couple additional thoughts about "Make a Friendly Base."
    First, hosting a community on your site can be extremely effective if done well or it can be a ghost town if done poorly. Not all brands have products or services that consumers are passionate enough about to want to participate in a branded community. Many times branded communities need to be built around a lifestyle passion to drive engagement and interaction. For example, the AmEx community, www.openforum.com. It's a community dedicated to providing value to small business owners and a place for them to commune with others in similar situations. Sony's Backstage 101, www.sony.com/learn, is another example (full disclosure, it's built by my company). It's a community for those passionate about photography to learn and share. Either of these communities are a place for consumers to simply interact around their products or services.
    Second, if you are going to build a community on your site, measure everything both quantitative and qualitative data. This one is pretty basic so I'm guessing it was implied but it's very important. Companies have a great opportunity to gain a ton of valuable info about their consumers by understanding their behavior in the community and getting direct feedback.
    See you Austin this week!
  • While 250 million Facebookers is a nice number, and Twitter is heading up the hockey stick, a large chunk of EVERY COMPANY'S target eyes and ears have yet to adopt new media as their main channels, and you'll find these pilgrims all over the scale when it comes to their level of engagement. I continue to hear about boomers signing up for Facebook, almost daily.

    Implementation of a social media strategy requires bridges between traditional media practices and new media tools. A company must not only provide their public (consumers, colleagues and media) with best-in-class social media engagement practices, they need to use everything they already know about their public to craft low resistance, high success entry points to social media engagement.
  • Great advice here, for me and probably for others that are relatively new at this, a few things at a time I think is the key. One cannot possibly tackle and execute all these things at one time.
  • I am trying to remember what you left out, Chris, without luck. Except perhaps to impress on people that nothing good happens fast? Patience is a virtue? Companies are used to reaping immediate results from well placed and well conceived ads. This just doesn't happen in my experience with social media.
  • Hi Chris,
    As you dig into how companies are using mobile to engage with people, I'd be happy to meet up with you to discuss. I've been in mobile for 12 years and have a pretty good view into what is going on. I definitely think it has been one thing missing on the radar of many social media experts so I'm glad to see you adding it to the mix. I'm in RI and happy to come up to MA to meet for coffee sometime.
  • I like what you said.
  • Chris,
    Read the words but really wanted to comment about the photo. I used to live in Manchester and work in the Mills at a web design company that was located right below where Dean Kamen would test the Segway and the upright wheelchair. Both used to be dropped above our heads from various heights. I never did get to go to see the great lego display but I will someday. I need to get back up there for a Fishercats game, visit Double Midnight Comics (Those guys know comics and have a fantastic shop and I went to school with two of the owners.) Anyway this has nothing to do with the content but the content I need to reread because I am looking to transition myself as the person at my company who champions the social media channels for our company, which is not at all connected to social media right now actively. I will change that.
  • "What needs more clarification? How can I help explain this out a bit better for you?"

    Glad you asked, Chris.

    Many of the comments have underscored your point on "listening" as the key starting point and overall basis for the marketing success. Our natural sociology describes us as a relationship-seeking species, so listening and participating are indispensable components of our nature.

    The question I have relates to the "how to" of:

    First, identifying which are the outposts, communities, forums, sites where your customers are likely to be--where to find our customers; and

    Secondly, using *search* to start creating lists or groupings of likely potential categories of individual persons to engage in, listen to. and participate with, and transform into customers.

    Ideas?
  • "I could see that being interesting: a site where your existing customers provide the lion’s share of the information and interaction around your product or service."

    I love this. I wrote a post which said that blogs are for bloggers, meaning those who write comments are bloggers. I do not try to control the information bloggers write on my posts. I am also quite interactive; a community is forever being built, hopefully of varying voices, even expression. Our learning comes through diversity not similarity. This I see as one of the biggest challenges of blogs.

    Blogs can readily become a meeting ground of like-minded people where the post writer seeks a stroke of the ego or continual sense of affirmation--no disagreement please. I am conscious of this as I write a post and respond to others. The fact that I am aware of this me reminds me of just how easy it is. I resist the desire to be stroked because this desire seems to come rather naturally.

    I wonder about the blogger who posts and rarely respond to comments. Does the mainly have to do with output and not input? Or, is it a matter of time?

    Thank you for this post. It's quite thoughtful.
  • saracanaday
    I like the "step" approach you provide in your post. This is exactly the kind of thing that small business owners and "soloprenuers" are craving. That said, I am often asked to give talks on what I call "Social Media for the Rest of Us". Though my list is similar, I have a few more steps. For example, I recommend a step for assimilating what, for some, can be an overwhelming amount of data. The simple idea of organizing data in an "at-a-glance" format, through applications like NetVibes, has helped my clients get a handle on the when, how, and what of this incredible platform/medium.
  • Great post! That's the mistake most often made when starting out with social media, people think it's a means to get out your product info. rather than a place to listen and respond. I too made that mistake early on. If you provide others with useful info. they will be more interested in what you have to say down the road.

    Keep the info. coming Chris!
  • Duke Long
    Big Ears ...I always hav
  • Another great post, Chris. You asked what's missing--here are a few things I'd add:

    * Don't just listen, but respond appropriately--with helpful, accessible , and ACCURATE information that makes people understand that you not only have their best interests at heart but also have the competence to be trusted.

    * Stay out of catfights in communities, no matter how tempting--and if someone else perceives you as getting nasty (even if you didn't intend that), apologize and move on.

    * Look for ways to syndicate yourself to a broader audience. This may mean anything from repurposing your blog or newsletter posts into the beginnngs of a book on down to something as simple as auto-feeding your blog to your Twitter and Facebook feeds.

    * Oh yes, and give people a way to reach you, as I've done below :-)

    Shel Horowitz, http://www.frugalmarketing.com
  • lieflarson
    Good post. Dunbar's Number (the so-called rule of 150) I believe does have something to teach business people about why there are some limitations to social networking. If we could do more business out of our existing social network, we would. To truly "extend" yourself you need to overcome the problem of making new connections with people you don't already know. That's what we're working on over at BusinessCard2. How do you leverage the web to connect with previously disconnected nodes?
  • social_smart
    Nice to see email marketing mentioned in a list of the key 'building blocks of social media for business', especially in terms of customizing that outreach. It is precisely why we made 'interest-tagging' one of the key features of the email functionality in our Social-smart dashboard - http://socialsmart.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/the... - The emails of individual customers can be keyword tagged with their particular areas of interest and then retrieved from a tag-cloud list of those interests/keywords. This allows you to generate an email list specifically targeted to a particular group of customers with a particular area of interest. Information and/or offers can be sent via email or e-newsletter to people that are interested in that subject matter, making it much more likely that they will read it and respond to it. And all this is integrated with your search and social media channels within a single dashboard that can be accessed by multiple moderators.

    And as Chris says, integrating mobile messaging with social media is the next big thing, especially as Near Field Communication technologies hit the streets next year. Mobile integration will also soon be become the next feature of the Social-smart dashboard.
  • Great stuff Chris. Aside from tools and strategy, I would add that the right frequency of communication makes a BIG difference in terms of influence. You won't meet the right people if you only show up to the cocktail hour for a few minutes.

    On the flip side, it's easy to get sucked into putting out too much content. I often wonder of some folks who are all over social media ever get any offline work done. Likewise, no body likes people who talk too much or too loud.

    Having the right frequency is big on Twitter, and you seem to have mastered this. I would love to learn tips and tricks on how you find the right balance when you communicate there...
  • From my vantage point, the community platform is the key to grabbing and keeping my attention. When I feel that I have the power to engage with the product on a human level, to talk to others about its ins and outs and essentially become an authority, I become 100% invested in its well being. It is no longer a product at this point, it is something with known, tangible benefits. I would do anything to defend it. Think about people like this when you develop social media tactics.
  • carolyntaylor88
    I love your advice, and am eating up your book right now. I would value some thoughts on a real basic issue. I am just starting out in this game, so forgive my sounding like a complete ignoramus.

    I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the technicalities of getting all this started and then keeping it all going. I feel I need someone to play my right-hand person on all this, and as people do pay me good money to advise them on stuff (corporate culture actually) my business could afford to pay for that help. In the old days I had a PA. But I actually don't know what sort of person (or group of people) I should be looking for, and with what skills. Examples which overwhelm me are SEO stuff (yes, learned that term:-)), linking to other sites, sending out group emails, building database, lots more).

    Chris, beyond doing the actual writing of your various posts, what support do you have, and what activities do you pass on to them? From the way you talk, it sounds like its just you and your computer, but I suspect there is a lot more infrastructure behind you than that.

    Thanks Chris
  • Elizabeth_H
    Thanks for the post, Chris. Social media can be a great, great tool for companies if they use it to listen to what customers are saying. But listening is only part of it though; they must also then take that information and do something about it.
  • Excellent commentary Chris - I couldn't agree more --

    A couple of challenge areas I've noted with people we've been working with is as simple as personal bandwidth & how do I really get it started, not to mention maintain it. One other problem area has been the aspect of data capture, crm type stuff, etc. We've found some big holes on the data side, paticularly as the companies get smaller, and this is a huge hurdle to many of them - sometimes they can't even pull up their own database efficiently, let alone do anything with it. There's seems to be a world of complexity whirling around behind all this social stuff that people have a hard time getting past.
  • Very helpful and timely for my presentation next week to HR job seekers on 'HR & The Social Media: Will there be conflict or collaboration? http://bit.ly/T2Jpk When these job seekers land their best next opportunity they will better serve their next employer with your thoughts in mind as they define a social media policy.
  • Chris_Ott
    I think your final sentence is indicative of the entire post... ask questions. Believe it or not, I've been in the space for three years and just started following Chris Brogan. I think there is a lot to learn. (I was also very excited to learn he's also based in Boston just like Referral Key).

    The biggest thing I am going to take from this piece is to ask more questions, which I think ties into listening and being friendly as well. It was also nice to see another social media expert include "email" as a fundamental building block. Some experts disregard email as traditional (if you could call it that) or outside the scope of good social media.

    best,
    @ReferralKey
  • It's funny. What MOST people seem to get out of this post was that I mentioned email as important. I'm surprised. I just thought everyone was doing it. Maybe I just gave away a trade secret? : )
  • Thanks Chris.

    All great advice. And, like you I'm starting to think more about mobile marketing. Currently reading good book by Kim Dushinki entitled The Mobile Marketing Handbook. We're tweeting about it this month at @webermedia.

    Best,
    Debbie Hemley
    www.impressionsthroughmedia.com

    Twitter: @webermedia
  • Thank you Chris for mentioning a plan. I find many companies jumping onto the platforms and wonder why social media doesn't work. When consulting with a new client, I'm always impressing upon them the high importance of a planning/goal session. Here's a video on how I explain what I cover during a planning/goals session. http://tianelson.com/archives/43
  • Thanks for sharing it. : )
  • Don't forget HR. A lot of PR nightmares dealing with Social Media come from HR's disconnect from the space. So:

    1. Developing adequate corporate guidelines for employees is pretty important from the start. (You can't wait until something bad happens and then hit the panic button.)
    2. Communicate these guidelines with employees and allow them to comment, review, make suggestions, etc.
    3. Finalize the guidelines and publish them.
    4. TRAIN employees to avoid common pitfalls of Social Media (the kind that could land them - not just their employers into hot water). Think of Social Media sensitivity training as the new sexual harassment sensitivity training.
    5. Provide support and resources for all employees in regards to Social Media. Make it easier for them to become good SM citizen (and by default, good company ambassadors). This is much better than blocking, micromanaging or threatening them, by the way.

    So I would add HR as one of the very first areas of an org that needs to brought into the Social Media fray. ;)
  • Great article Chris, you really touch base on the key elements of a solid social media marketing campaign. It is very crucial to have a good administrator managing your Facebook page - the key to growing a solid community is content and interactivity.

    Here's another blog I help contribute to that focuses on Social Media for Business from Hilinsky Consulting (a SF Bay Area Social Media Solutions firm):

    http://www.hilinksyconsulting.com/blog

    Check out our page if you're interested in better understanding how to promote social media for your business. In the meantime, I'm going to regularly check Chris' blog because I'd agree that he know's what he's talking about.
  • You had me at "cadence"
  • Another classic meant for sharing.

    I particularly liked:

    "Don’t make your efforts on places like Twitter and Facebook solely about driving people to your home base, but instead, be helpful, participatory, and a good citizen of the social space you’re occupying. When you have some really interesting or helpful information, consider pointing people to your post for more information."

    How is it that the people doing that don't see what a turn-off it is?

    Love the lego pic.
  • I love the fact the DISQUS supports "reactions" (those Tweets about your post below). I've been holding out on installing DISQUS on my blog because my understanding is that you can't use CommentLuv at the same time.
  • julieannevanzyl
    sorry about blank comment, having probs on google chrome, these comments work much better on Firefox
  • julieannevanzyl
    I can't find any building blocks that you've missed out on Chris. Its interesting to watch posts on Twitter and Facebook, and see how people listen to others, and others just "talk" all the time. Amazing how social sites reflect what people are actually like offline also. (sorry about my empty comment - Disqus didn't seem to like Google Chrome browser:-)
  • ChuckPass
    This may sound "crazy" but I don't follow you to glean new ways to make $. I am working on developing an online presence for our church. I'm learning to adapt all the "build your business" gems you offer to "reach the people." We are not online yet but learning fast. Thanks
  • Thanks for another very informative post, Chris.
    Your example points out the importance of integrating the old tools and tactics with the new.
  • Hi Chris,

    This is a great post. I'm one of those folks who is happy you mentioned email marketing, but that's just me being selfish.

    I wanted to add a concept that fits in between your Outpost and Community sections. I call it Constituent Empowerment. One of the most powerful ways to be effective in those outpost is to leverage your community by giving them opportunities and tools to not only discuss your company, but to advocate for your company. This means more than just being present in those external communities, although I agree that that is very important and best done with a personal touch. Empowerment means actually giving constituents portable tools to work for you.

    I also think Mobile is going to be huge, but I wonder exactly how companies are using it successfully, especially in the texting space. I can see the potential in apps. In the nonprofit space, it seems like most orgs are only doing text to give or text to call legislators. Very few have done mobile apps yet. Do you think text should be bypassed, and we should all go straight to building the killer mobile app?

    I'm in Austin, and looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

    http://twitter.com/iberyoung
  • Daniel
    testing
  • Love the post, Chris. This is definitely one I will share with my clients as well as use for my own business. One thing I'd like to add is to start using video in your email marketing campaigns as well as on your web site whether that's on the welcome page or tutorials, tips, etc. It's a great way to make them more personal. Many times I get people across the country subscribing to my e-newsletter. By incorporating video, they can now get a sense for who I am and what I'm all about.

    Tisha
  • danielruby
    It always shocks me how the purported instantaneous power of the Internet flies in the face of doing it right with social media. The Internet has always been the place to go to get things done quickly (or get nothing done, but still quickly), which leads to odd expectations of social media and SEO. It can be very hard not to just blow what little credibility you've built up in, say, three days on a drive-my-numbers-now scheme.

    It's nice working in a smaller, more tech savvy office if you're a social media marketer/influencer, but I fear for the people in huge corporations who are expected to flip a switch, so to speak, and suddenly drive massive sales numbers by marketing on the social networks.

    For that, Chris, this is a great primer that any social media professional should show their bosses. The excitement and potential are there, but the amount of time it takes you to matter in this world can't be brushed aside.
  • As usual the post is very thorough. Listening is a lost art in much of todays society yet is needed to make a lasting favorable impression. The simple act of listening has a value far greater than realized by most Gurus today. Better to remain quiet and be thought a fool than to open ones mouth and confirm it.

    Social media is a bit new for me so my feelings are a bit mixed. I find Twitter to be very powerful if used appropriately, and has provided me with some excellent business contacts. The quantity of followers I have blocked sometimes amazes me, but I choose to only be followed by sincere individuals.

    My question for today. How do we overcome the negative effects of spam so prevalent in social media, e-mail, and sales in general? People in general, me for one, are absolutely exhausted from the barrage of material thrown at us everyday.
  • I admit it, I flinched when you talked about email marketing. This is something that really is a great part of marketing but needs to be used in a more evolved fashion.

    Great post. Most of the clients I work with have the mindset of "what's going on, I have my website up, but I'm not getting more clients." Social media is all about the two-way communication and a lot of businesses don't realize the participatory aspect of that.
  • phogos
    I have just started getting involved with social media. It is helping me tell future consumers about my new product, Address Life Sign. It has been a great experience being able to interact with so many people.
  • Hey Chris,

    Thanks, as ever, for the great post. Excellent points on email marketing. Sometimes the oldest methods really are the best. It's the way we expand on those methods that keep them useful and relevant.

    http://simonmainwaring.com/blog/
  • marketingdonut
    Love the idea of 'Grow Bigger Ears.' We need to put more focus in the absorption of quality info and not the mass broadcast of anything and everything. great thought provoking read, thanks.
  • Awesome content. I liked your approach of social responsibility as the building blocks of social media. I really think that social media is a powerful tool that helps companies share useful information with people, even if they have underlying business motives. Simply throwing information at visitors or potential clients just doesn't cut it anymore. Focusing on building relationships, listening and sharing real information is the way to go. Thank you Chris for the analysis!
  • Chris -

    Thanks for taking the time to talk about email marketing (and Blue Sky Factory) in this post. Your email newsletter is one I look forward to receiving in my inbox. It's also one of the few that I read word for word.

    We really, truly appreciate all of your support and kind words.

    Rock on.

    DJ Waldow
    Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
    @djwaldow
  • this is a good post b/c I have a client that's utilizing social media and other online marketing tactics that involves community engagement and she's upset b/c she's not seeing a ROI. I explained to her that those efforts are more so for brand awareness and customer engagement, building that relationship. So probably won't see a monetary ROI from that efforts. Additionally, she doesn't have a website up to make a transaction away, so she wouldn't see an ROI anyway.

    So again its safe to say social media is more for brand awareness and consumer engagement, building the relationship?
  • eddiereeves
    Chris, you know I love virtually all your stuff, but you have outdone yourself with this post! Great. Thank you, my man!
  • This one is the blog which I like most,I would like to thanks that master brain who make all this for the readers like me.keep up writing good job.
  • Great tips.Thanks for sharing all the information with us.Really they are great.Thanks again.Keep it up.keep blogging.
  • Pretty cool post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really liked reading your blog posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you post again soon!
  • Couldn't agree more with "you live and die by your database". Well put :)
  • Stores_Online
    Hey yup! Its one of the creative post which I really need and thats the one reason of liking of mine,really you think nice I salute to your thinking and Its one and only site which makes me happy.Thanks a lot.
  • Excellent post Chris. Found these information worthy as i am new to online business. It really helped me a lot. Thanks for sharing such an interesting post with us. Keep blogging.
  • Nice post. Great and informative post about the building blocks of social media for business. Found these informations worthy as i am new to this online business. Its a very useful post for the newbies like me. Very clear and easy to understand. Thanks for sharing such a great and wonderful post with us. Keep blogging.
  • Awesome content. I liked your approach of social responsibility as the building blocks of social media. I really like your blog very much. Thanks for sharing such a great blog with us. Keep blogging.
  • I love your take on email marketing and i like your analogy of different team members playing different roles. Great advice here, for me and probably for others that are relatively new at this, a few things at a time I think is the key. Thanks for sharing. Keep blogging.
  • Great post. Its really a useful post for the newbies like me. Some great information to be absorbed in this post. Thanks for sharing such a great information with us. Keep blogging.
  • Excellent post. Found these informations worthy as i am new to this online business. Its really an informative post for the newbies who want build there carrier in online business. Thanks for sharing such a great and informative post with us. Keep blogging.
  • I just love wordpress. You're totally right about the assumption of strategy. I started from the tool perspective and not further upstream. Good point to stress. Keep blogging.
  • Excellent post. I really like this post very much. This is my second time in your blog. I just love wordpress. Its really a nice post. Thanks for posting. Keep blogging.
  • Thank you for a wonderful analysis of the building blocks of social media for business. You`re talking about companies using social media. It really helped me a lot, will be referring a lot of friends about this. Keep blogging.
  • Apx_Alarm
    Hi chris! Its one of the nice post which I really like and it helps me a lot,for the information of quality this is no.1.Thanks for the no.1 blog and keep blogging.
  • For me in the B2B space I think the approach works to have a "Social Media Manager" across all departments to make sure everyone has been trained in a consistent mindset, understands the guidelines for the tools, the social media space, and the company itself. Like Jason said -the quarterback.

    They should not be the one working in social media but should share in the same knowledge as the implementers. The SM managers are tuned in and coordinate the communication internally, helping each department track and measure success, and also becomes a resource for escalation of needs by each group. As they grow this individual could also stay tuned to new potential initiatives.

    For small and midsized companies, the team might be one, two, three or more. But to start is the key and I couldn't agree with you more, Chris. If they don't have enough resources internally, I think this is where an outside social media "coach" can provide just the right guidance and accountability for these companies to move from zero engagement to movement. The goal being -to help them develop an internal resource into the team manager.

    This is the approach that Social Media Academy has taken with the business leadership and strategy course they offer and which I attended. In discussions with businesses who are asking me the question “How do we get started” the particular methodology and approach I can offer to train, introduce social media and find the right places to get started (based on assessments of customers, brand, partners and competition) is one that is positively received, and most importantly understood on a core business level – not with a lot of social media web 2.0 confusion.

    Wendy Soucie, Principal
    www.xeesm.com/wendysoucie
  • The take away..give to get? Is there a particular business or industry that social media fairs better?
  • shellyk
    Wow!!!!Thank you for a wonderful analysis of the building blocks of social media for business. You`re talking about companies using social media. It really helped me a lot, will be referring a lot of friends about this. Keep blogging. I am waiting for your blogs. You are simply awesome guys.....
    ===========================================
    SHELLY KANE
    mls
  • Hi! This is one better ideas which given in this blog and it very creative,also now a days its one of the developing one and I think to start.Thanks for the creative tips,which helps me a lot,and keep up blogging for the readers like me.
  • susanyoung
    Hi Chris,

    Thank you for the helpful insights and information. The listening and "grow bigger ears" especially resonates with me. And of course the need to use your blog to market your buisness with 2-way communication. I invite readers to see my post on this as well. http://budurl.com/hrzj

    Susan (www.getinfrontblogging.com)
  • Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing this post with us. Keep blogging.
  • Thanks for an insightful post. These tips are really helpful. Again thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.
  • Hi! Its really very nice business information blog which I like most and also see your plan for NH and this is very creative just to say superb,excellent thinking is their.Keep up blogging continue and stay tune with us.Thanks a lot................:):):):)
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  • Informative point on keeping focused on goals in business. I really appreciated many aspects of your blog. I found much more information from this post. Thanks for sharing. Keep blogging.:)
  • I like the way you present the post.Very clear and useful for a newbie like me. Your way of writing posts is great and I think this was and will be your best strategy to win the attention of your readers. I would like to visit your blogs oftenly. Keep blogging.
  • Having written articles that require this much work, I commend you for your service to the future bloggers. I’m sure they will appreciate it! .I really enjoy reading your blog.The keyword sniping links are awesome.Keep it up.Thanks for sharing with us.
  • I recently came across your blog and i have been reading alone. I thought I would my leave comments for this post but I’m getting confused about what to write exactly that I have enjoyed reading. Simply nice blog awesome.. I will keep connect this blog very often …
  • Really a great post.Thanks for sharing such good tips with us.It will help me a lot.
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