People everywhere complaining about social media fatigue
No question the honey moon with social media is over. Its time for balance. The real world matters. Measurement is needed. I'm tired of the cowboys with all hat and no cattle anyway! Here's my take. Balance baby! Set up a process. Get some guidelines going. As I was telling my pals Robbie Slaughter, Kyle Lacy and Adam Small at the Social Media Club Indianapolis cocktail session at The Jazz Kitchen – a knife is an extension of the person whose hand it is in. Robby may cut ham and Adam may sharpen a stick. So use the tools but more importanly remember that social is about conversations and community. Don't get obsessed!
An interview with Adam Small, Connective Mobile
Adam Small, Connective Mobile, and I have worked together for almost a year and a half, and this guy knows his stuff. Text messaging based marketing a.k.a. – SMS or text clubs – are starting to increase in popularity. The mobile phone is getting smarter and its definitely the most ubiquitous personal device we've ever seen. Its based on a permission based approach which is intrusive, easy to add to your marketing approach, and measurable.
Here are some of the highlights of our discussion:
1. Integrate mobile marketing into your overall marketing plan, and definitely to follow up on social media and email marketing. Of course you've got to promote the club so that people opt-in. This is pretty key. The work we do for YATS right here in Indianapolis is proof that a text club can grow organically, but they're an anomaly. Most text clubs need to be promoted to grow. If you'd like to read more – here is an article by Cindy Krum, who we've interviewed before.
2. Speak to your audience in the lingo that they're used to them. Its not about you. If you don't know this yet, fire yourself. It'll save who ever you work for a night of sleep. OR make your message about the audience and what you're prepared to do for them, how you live in their world. If you're marketing to professionals in a niche, use the jargon, and definitely (yes I know it seems obvious) don't use caps please.
3. Provide value. Nobody loves you that much to opt-in just because they love you. Even Britney Spears (who obviously has a marketing machine behind her) provides access and occasional personal messages as part of her value equation. When you or your client accomplish that level of success – you'll still find that your audience demands value, in fact, even more so.
4. Content is king. Not sure why so many PR folks still miss this in their marketing extensions outside of mainstream PR. By the way, I love PR people. I've been involved with PR for the better part of my career. Ad agencies. Hmm thats a different question for a different post. But, good content, is what works best. Exclusive, relevant and fresh content works best by the way.
5. Be concise. You've got 160 characters. Use abbreviations and get to the point quickly. Again learn the lingo and its essential to prioritize your messages. Don't try to cram it all in.
6. Innovate. There's all sorts of applications for this medium. You're only restricted by your own imagination and budget. We've used this in the waste management industry, retail and hospitality, and our own business to name a few.
Happy Texting Baby! BTW – here's a breaking piece on Nokia's plan to change the mobile game.
