Pickpockets and Social Media Marketing: The Art of Getting Close

Apollo Robbins is a theatrical pickpocket.  In a recent New Yorker article titled “A Pickpocket’s Tale,” author Adam Green chronicles Robbins’ ninja-like skills.  This is a fascinating read in itself, but when I got to the following passage my social media senses started tingling:

Robbins needs to get close to his victims without setting off alarm bells. “If I come at you head-on, like this,” he said, stepping forward, “I’m going to run into that bubble of your personal space very quickly, and that’s going to make you uncomfortable.” He took a step back. “So, what I do is I give you a point of focus, say a coin. Then I break eye contact by looking down, and I pivot around the point of focus, stepping forward in an arc, or a semicircle, till I’m in your space.” He demonstrated, winding up shoulder to shoulder with me, looking up at me sideways, his head cocked, all innocence. “See how I was able to close the gap?” he said. “I flew in under your radar and I have access to all your pockets.”... 

….“It’s all about the choreography of people’s attention,” he said. “Attention is like water. It flows. It’s liquid. You create channels to divert it, and you hope that it flows the right way.”

What can social media marketers learn from a pickpocket about attention, how to get close, and how to make a “lift” (or in our case, a “leave”) ? !   Please don’t bristle at the implied analogy, after all as Adam Green points out, “psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and the military have studied his [Apollo’s] methods for what they reveal about the nature of human attention.” Lighten up and let’s have some fun while we analyze.

Take  away the deception, the larceny, and the predatory language and there are important lessons here for social media marketers about how peoples’ attention works.  As marketers, how do we understand  the motivations and points of resistance of our social media audiences? How do we overcome the obstacles to getting their attention?  So without further apology I present to you the pickpocket’s guide to social media marketing and the art of getting close.

The Mark
The Mark(s) (read “target audiences”)  are individuals in our audience who have something of value. These can be customers, clients, or thought leaders in related online conversations. What they have of value is a personal social media audience that has been cultivated based on consent and personal likeability.   Unlike a pickpocket, we are not trying to separate the “mark” from their possessions. When we are successful in establishing a collaboration with our target audience we will ADD value to the conversations in which they are participating and increase the scope of their personal messaging.

The Personal Space
The social media news feeds of the “mark” is an actively and passively defended personal space. The first problem for the marketer is to  is that there is so much information and so many voices in social media that it is a challenge to get heard above the noise.  In addition to technological advances that permit our audiences to tune out marketing messages (remote control devices, spam filters, premium services without ads, etc) our audience can become inured to even the most effective and thoughtful social media content strategies. Just as the repetitive movement of windshield wipers of even in the most exciting and expensive sports car can mesmerize,  so too will endless stream of even the most creative brand-centric  and brand generated content  result in a desensitization in the audience.  How do we get through the active and passive defenses, not just to get their attention but to get their advocacy?

Attention
We know by our own experience that people don’t want to be marketed to any more.  We have developed technologies to block or avoid traditional outbound advertising: remote control devices , spam filters, subscription based radio, caller ID, premium web services are all examples of how people sidestep direct marketing even if it costs a little bit more. The dance to get inside this resistance point is key. It’s really so simple: we need to get consent.

The Bump
Interestingly enough, getting audience attention may involve what seems to be a distraction from traditional marketing messages. What do most people on social media want to get out of the experience?  One thing for sure is that they want to be heard! So listening, sharing others’ content, and empowering thought leaders in related discussions will be a rather pleasant distraction for them. Use your brand’s social media platforms to promote strategic allies. The promise of social media for brands is in interaction!

Choreography
For reasons having to do with the the mesmerizing effects of unrelenting corporate branded content,  managing the flow of audience attention requires the occasional oblique messaging.  For instance, if you are a company that sells houses in a certain geographical area you may want to interrupt the pattern of your newsfeeds with an occasional posts about bicycling, shopping, or any other activity that people may enjoy in your market.  Lightly branded stories of general interest will broaden your influence in your desired market and make them more receptive to your more traditional messages. Of course all content should still be optimized and lead users back to your landing pages.

The Slip
Perhaps the most effective tool of the pickpocket (and social media marketers!)  is to use the momentum and natural proclivities of the mark to effect the lift (in our case, “the leave”).  It is the nature of the social media community to create content, to seek greater audiences, to broadcast, and to be seen as influencers. Help your audience to accomplish this and they will consent to promote and advocate for your brand.

The Lift (or in our case “The Leave”}
Companies spend a lot of time and money planning and producing branded content to promote their products.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much more valuable is it when the picture is produced by a customer rather than the manufacturer?  The photo above is an example of User Generated Content.  One of  our clients, Lissa Leslie of Cornerstone Tax Services, is a fan of So Delicious Coconut Milk. When the local supermarket ran out of her favorite creamer, a thoughtful client brought her some from another store. Our client posted this photo on Facebook and when the people at So Delicious commented on it, our client’s weekly pageviews went up dramatically.  In this case “The Leave” was something of value to our client, Cornerstone Tax Services: promotion of her own brand to So Delicious’ wider audience.   

In conclusion, we note that in effective social media marketing, the marketers start with knowledge and the users start with content (even if it is not yet produced!).  After the “bump” and the “lift”, the switch is complete: the user has the knowledge and the marketers have the content.  Ta da!  

The author, Philip Stephano,

is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Social Media and the Customer Buying Cycle

Social Media and the Customer Buying Cycle

DEFINITIONS

Social Media: online interactive communities that feature user generated content.

The Phases of the Customer Buying Cycle:

•          Awareness: customers/clients identify a need and begin the process of identifying products or services that meet that need
•  Comparison- customers/clients evaluate how your product or service meets this perceived need relative to the competition
•     Selection: through a combination of  analytical and  emotional considerations,  the customer/client makes a purchasing decision
•    Purchase: The customer/client purchases a good or service from your business.
•  Repurchase: Through emotional and logical consideration, the customer/client chooses to do business with you again.

Awareness: Whether we need a new computer, or our car breaks down on the way to work, or we have a legal matter and need an attorney, it is natural for us to communicate this need with friends, family and colleagues. We put the word out and invite suggestions that help us decide which products to consider and which ones to avoid.  Social media broadens the network of people that we invite into this conversation. If there isn’t already an expert in your network of connections, a simple shout out will produce a lot of volunteered information.  People in social media networks love to be helpful.

Comparison: When a consumer narrows their choices down the next natural step is to do a side by side comparison of features, benefits and costs of prospective products or services.   Social media has a growing impact on this stage of the purchasing cycle as there are conversations, blogs, and videos that extol the virtues of certain products and excoriate others. 

The influencers in these online conversations are likely to be engaged in specialized social media activity around that interest.  Make-up enthusiasts, for example, are blogging, tweeting and sharing YouTube videos on Facebook or in forums such as http://www.makeupalley.com    Meanwhile the cosmetic industry is also actively engaged in these conversations feeding enthusiasts’ interests with engaging content and shaping the conversation.    

   Selection:  The selection process may be the most private process in the buyers’ cycle. After going back and forth and talking it through, it’s the moment of truth.  It’s time to make the choice and put your money on the line.

     Purchase: You may have a friend or loved one with you as you go to the cashier or click on the “purchase” button on the e-commerce site but you are most likely NOT conversing with the twitter-verse or live streaming your activity to an audience.   All this changes as soon as the purchase is made.  After the purchase you call your mother, you call your friends, you take a picture of your new purchase post it on Facebook, and you tell your coworkers about the amazing deal you got. 

     Repurchase: The importance of brand loyalty has changed drastically as a result of social media.  It used to be that if you liked a product or service you would tell your friends and if you didn’t like it you would tell EVERYBODY.   Well the same is true now only the number of people that a person doesn’t know in the social media world is literally everyone.   

When Netflix raised its rates by 60% they received 4,100 damning comments on their company blog within minutes of the announcement.  The outrage throughout the rest of the social media world resulted in a 60% decline in the value of Netflix stock within 6 months. Ow! 

Companies have to actively cultivate brand loyalty and also be responsive to disgruntled consumers.  They must be involved in the conversations that are already taking place regarding their businesses. 

The Buying Cycle has become a Buying Continuum: By bracketing the traditional buying cycle with these ongoing social media conversations the cycle has become a continuum.  Business can be engaged in conversation with consumers or the people who influence their purchasing decisions (early adopters, taste makers, mavens) before a customer has even conceived of a need for a product or service. 

Heather Gorringe, owner of Wiggly Wigglers in rural Herefordshire, England puts it this way: “We sell products that people may not think they want…..It is essential that we embrace new technology.  The reason for that is, if we didn’t do that we simply wouldn’t have any customers.  No one is going to wake up in the morning and think, “Ahaaa, I really DO need to compost my kitchen waste using worms.”  We need to be able to engage people and communicate with people on a nationwide basis and also on a global basis.”

      The Promise of Social Media: Business is engaging and empowering influencers and is helping to shape the conversation and win brand advocates.  More importantly business has the ability to LEARN valuable information about their own products and services that can give them a competitive advantage in the traditional buying cycle. Empowered consumers are in vibrant dialogues with business, the market, and each other.  This represents the true promise of e-commerce and social media and a revolution in how businesses market themselves.  

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA and founder of PrimalTweet.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Social Search: What's it Mean for You?

“search”: early 14c., from Old French cerchier "to search," from Latin circare "go about, wander, traverse," from circus "circle".   

Glancing into the near past...
Well, it’s the first weeks after the New Year and many social media visionaries are scanning the event horizon hoping to give us a glimpse into the near future.  I’m not going to do that.  In fact, I’m going to take you back to a simpler time when people had to haul their own water, heat their houses by wood, and cook their meals on outdoor fires by the light of kerosene lanterns.  Yes, I’m talking about the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.   

The storm hit Bucks County like Tonya Harding with a righteous grievance; we were without power for 11 days.  While the rest of the family went off to seek comfort, my granddog Critter and I stuck it out in my 18th century stone farmhouse.  We stayed warm by the fire, kept each other company and did important farm things like digging up moles and cleaning up debris from the storm.

Critter and I are raw dudes, stoking the
   fire and keeping the moles out.

     I learned a couple of things about social search during this episode.  Using my Droid (no wireless at my office due to outage) I searched my twitter feed to find useful local information such as where to find a shower, which nearby areas still had power, which local roads were passable, and where to find ANY size hot coffee for only 89 cents- McDonalds in Plumsteadville!  (By the way if I had done a traditional google search of roads closed in Bucks County, I might have turned up irrelevant news articles from storms in 2006.)   By searching my twitter feed I got real time information that made a difference.  Without being conscious of it, I was at the kerosene-lit intersection of two of the greatest trends in social media in 2012: local mobile and social search.

What is social search and why should you care about it?  
Traditional Search Engine Optimization relies on tag word and backlink strategies to get on the front page of search results.   As SEO companies charged big bucks to game the system with tricks and techniques designed to generate fake activity, companies like google and Bing rewrote algorithms to recognize and punish “grey hat” SEO techniques and reward authentic and organic website activity.  

Social Search integrates “social signals” to indicate the authenticity of a given search result.  Where backlinks and tag words were the sine qua non of a traditional SEO strategy, now a company needs to look at developing an optimized content strategy to build authority for their brand. In addition to a backlink strategy for the company website, a business must develop a strategy to propagate their optimized content through a network of individuals with high “author rank.” A strategy aimed at retweets, google +1s and facebook shares will increase visibility of a company and a brand in the new socially skewed search engines and generate authentic backlinks to the company website. While these SEO issues are important, even more meaningful is the ability of your brand to contribute value to the conversations your clients and customers are already engaged in.  This will build trust in your brand and that word will get around- especially in a local or regional market.

What is the future?...
I don’t know.  On Tuesday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had Wall Street and the
social media marketing community holding their collective breath prior to announcing that Facebook was launching “Graph Search”, a foray into social search.  What happened next was more an anticlimactic expression of confusion than exuberant approval ; Facebook stock sold off, some critics decried the implied invasion of privacy, and CNBC braniacs pontificated about whether or not Graph Search  was going to be a significant source of additional revenue for the stumbling giant. What the pundits have missed is how significant the small and the local and the recent is to the decision-making of consumers and brand advocates. If traditional SEO is dying the death of 1000 cuts, my take is that Zuckerberg’s announcement is more than just another nick on the way to true user generated search. For the first time, local and regional businesses have a unique opportunity to beat the big brands in grooming their local markets.

So if author rank is the new SEO, here are some action items that will help to improve your rank or at least get you interacting with authors of high rank:

1. Develop a strategy to generate original, high quality content that will be entertaining, informative, or educational to your audience.
2. Post consistently. Authors will get a higher rank if their content is seen, shared or “liked”.
3. Post as an individual.  Author Rank on google is calculated for individuals, not company profiles
3. Sign up for a personal google+ account. Google is the giant in the search business.  Google+ posts with high author rank now appear alongside traditional search results and while google says they do not give additional weight to g+ in their search, experience shows otherwise. By having a personal g+ account you can engage authors with high rank and they will help propagate your content (if the quality is there).  High ranking g+ posts will show up in search results for key words.
4. Engage your audience in your social media circles.  Comments by readers and interactions throughout your social media channels will boost your author rank.


The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Small Business Saturday Night! 1/5/13 at 8pm

What is "Small Business Saturday Night"?

"Small Business Saturday Night" is the brainchild of several kindred spirits with a passion for entrepreneurship. Taking advantage of the video conferencing feature in social media channel google+ the group meets online every Saturday night at 8pm to discuss issues of importance to entrepreneurs. Stephano describes the sessions as "mind jazz." "The idea is pretty simple," Stephano says. "We start with a bunch of talented business leaders with complimentary skills. Then we have a theme for the evening and let the conversation develop." The leadership group are on video but anyone who joins the conversation can participate by typing questions and comments into the chat feature on the google+ hangout. 

How Do I Join?

To participate in "Small Business Saturday Night" :

1) you must join and login to google+.
2) then go to the PrimalTweet google+ business page (you can CLICK HERE!! to go to PrimalTweet google+page)
3) add PrimalTweet page to your "circles" and we'll contact you with an invitation!!
4) follow instructions for the invitation and you are in.

Small Business Saturday Night, because small business people and entrepreneurs don't go out on Saturdays!

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA and founder of PrimalTweet.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Social Media for Local and Regional Business: A Primer

A.      Your customers are already on line.

B.      They are google searching for goods and services.

C.      They are either engaged in social media themselves or…

D.      They are talking to people who are getting information through social media.

E.       Putting up your company web presence is easy.

F.       Putting up a company web presence is necessary.

G.     Putting up a company web presence is NOT sufficient.

H.      You have to drive traffic to your business’s web page.

I.        You have to increase the visibility of your web presence in a google search.

J.        Having backlinks to your web page or landing page promotes the value that search engines place on your website or landing page

K.      One objective of social media marketing is to build authentic backlinks.

L.       Another objective of social media marketing is to build keyword association with your webpage.

M.    You want your webpage or landing page to be on the top third of the front page of a relevant google search.

N.     Social media engagement also builds brand awareness

O.     Social media engagement is more than transmitting brand values. It is dynamic.

P.      It allows for a give and take of information, a conversation.

Q.     Social media is a way to interact with your customer to get their input.

R.      That input is valuable in shaping the way you deliver your goods and/or services.

S.       Engaging with your customers, giving them a voice in your business builds trust.

T.       Building the trust of clients or customers makes them advocates of your brand.

U.     Having authentic brand advocates increases the offline word of mouth of your goods and/or services.

V.      Having people talk up your business is called buzz.

W.    How do you attract your social media audience?

X.      How do you convert that audience into a return on investment of money and time?

Y.       How do you decide what social media channels to use?

Z.       How do you analyze all the data to see if you are on the right track?

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

What Local Businesses Can't You Do Without in Bucks County, PA

 What makes Bucks County such an amazing place to live?  The natural beauty, the varied activities and the people are only some of the reasons that we love to live here.  I am grateful for so many amazing businesses and organizations  that have made Bucks County such a culturally rich place to live.  The economy is tough on business right now.  We want to put the spotlight on those businesses that mean a lot to us.  Maybe we can even go out of our way to support them during tough times.

Here are three businesses that I could not do without (Bucks County ONLY! No cheating.): 1) Crossroads Bakery in Doylestown, PA, for killer breads and emergency birthday cakes 2) Auto Express in Doylestown for a quick oil change and wireless internet, coffee, and big screen TV while waiting, 3) Nonesuch Farms in Buckingham for heirloom tomato seedlings, whatever produce I need.  Of course there are MANY more businesses.  What are your top three?

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA and founder of PrimalTweet.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Ramps (wild leeks) and Bucks County

I first heard about ramps, or wild leeks, from an old coal miner friend of mine from West Virginia named Arnett.   Arnett lived near my former office in Quakertown.   Some years ago, in early Spring, he walked into my office with a big grin and two bags of smelly plants.   In his inimitable thick drawl he asked me, “do you know what these are, Philip?  These are ramps!”  I asked him what he did with them.  “Well, we cook ‘em with potatoes in bacon fat and have big ramp feeds!”  “Where did you get them,” I asked politely.  “Back by the railroad tracks.  The woods is thick with ‘em.”  He held out a bag for me to take. “You know in West Virginia we eat ramps as a ‘spring tonic’.”  Ok, I thought. 

There are a few times in my adult life when Bucks County locals have handed me a local delicacy like a freshly killed Canada goose or what purported to be a chanterelle mushroom.   I used to feel slightly conflicted about eating something that doesn’t come from a grocery store.  This is a hang up from growing up in the 70s when vegetables were something that came frozen in a bag and corned beef in a can counted as meat.

I thought my friend Arnett was some kinda whacked out Southern fried Euell Gibbons. I took the bag of ramps home with me and my car smelled like an Italian locker room.  I have to say, my expectations about how they might taste was pretty low at that point. 

                I cooked up some sweet potatoes and added in some cleaned and chopped ramps and cooked them up.  OH MY GOODNESS!  What a revelation!  The ramps were sweet and flavorful.  I was also pleasantly surprised that they DID have a tonic effect.  I didn’t even know what that meant, but the ramps just give you energy and clean out the winter blues.  That is some tasty tonic.

                Every Spring, when the last snowfall has not quite melted, I go to my secret spots around Bucks County and gather ramps.  I invite my friends over for a ramp feed.   Try ramps sometime. They go well with goose and chanterelles too!

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: Social Media and Small Biz

These are just a few examples of how business has social media wrong:

1) “It’s free”.  An effective social media initiative is definitely NOT free. Building an audience and keeping that audience engaged is time consuming.  Time is money.  Acquiring the knowledge to choose, much less run, multiple social media channels is also time consuming. See above.  Branding, research, and content generation….you get the point. Not free.

2)“Posting is like putting up a classified ad”.  Social media is not a static medium. It should be dynamic and interactive.   If it is done right you should actually be engaging in conversations and helping OTHERS to get their message out.  There is a reason why we have TIVO, caller ID, spam filters, and a remote control for the TV:  we don’t want to be marketed to anymore. Period.  Be useful, entertaining, or informative or get out o’ the road.

3)Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.  The number of “followers” or “friends” you have in your social media channels is NOT an indicator of how effective your business is in this space.  You can buy followers and friends or acquire them without establishing any value for your brand or your company.  The best indicator of an effective social media presence is how much people trust and value your presence.  This is measured by whether they share your content, engage you in conversations, or otherwise become brand advocates.  Again, this is a matter of trust.  You can be fun, funny, quirky, serious, but you better be relevant.

4)“OK, I’ll hire a PR firm to do my Social Media Management”.  While a PR Firm can be helpful in setting up your social media platforms, running special promotions, or generating content, they do not have the granular knowledge of your company’s values and your customers’ sensibilities.  If you ARE going to hire an outside social media manager it is essential that they are in constant contact with key people in your company to help shape the messaging and to speak in a voice that captures the personality and values of your firm.  In fact it is a good idea to have key employees participate in social media efforts; but ONLY if you have a social media policy completely thought out.  Be relevant, entertaining, informative and disciplined or don’t be in social media.

5)“There is no Return on Investment in Social Media Marketing”.  The 2011 Social Media Marketing Report by Social Media Examiner indicates that 93% of marketers are employing social media.  88% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses.  Nearly two-thirds of marketers indicated a rise in search engine rankings was a benefit of social media marketing.  More than half of marketers found that social media generated qualified leads.  72% of marketers who have been using social media FOR MORE THAN 3 years report that it has helped them close business.  If used correctly, consistently, and within a well thought out plan, social media is an opportunity to build trust and relevancy with your customers, suppliers, potential partners, and even potential employees.  Trust equals conversion. Conversion equals ROI!

Remember without a plan, “social media” is just a buzzword. Plan your work and work your plan. 

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA and founder of PrimalTweet.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses: Cat Juggling

    Running a small business is especially challenging these days.  Under the best of circumstances being an entrepreneur requires courage, optimism, creativity, balance and determination.  Playing all the usual roles of chief negotiator, brand manager, human resources director, psychologist, financial officer and salesman is like juggling cats.  Add to this the shaky economy, and it is like cat juggling while standing on a teeter board.  And now, just when you think you have everything “under control” you get tossed a flaming cat called “social media marketing”.

    Don’t panic.  We are going to talk this through in steps.   Fortunately you are entrepreneurs and your natural reaction is that there has to be an opportunity in this crisis.

     For those of you who may still be more skeptical than optimistic, let’s look at the example of the music industry.   The record business used to have large barriers to entry.   The recording equipment was expensive and an artist had to have physical distribution to get into record stores.  Finding an audience required radio, paid promotions, buy-ins at stores.  It took big money.

     Today an artist can make a record with a decent microphone, a computer, and some relatively inexpensive software.  Significant distribution can be accomplished with very little, if any, physical product using services such as itunes and tunecore.  Artists are finding their own audiences through social media.  As a result of this phenomenon there are many fewer middlemen between an artist and his or her audience.  In fact, the music business as we knew it is gone or soon will be.  And yet there is more new music available now than ever.

    How does this apply to small businesses?   We also used to face large barriers of entry into the marketplace but technology has begun to level the playing field for us.  Super efficient shipping companies allow small businesses cost effective distribution to customers.   Affordable software systems allow for rapid and precise bookkeeping and financial modeling. We can save money on travel by video conferencing with business associates and by using virtual offices.  Most importantly, we can effectively engage our customers in conversations without the costs associated with traditional advertising and marketing. Like the music business we can bypass entire industries that used to stand between us and our customers.        

   The opportunity to engage with consumers and customers, to get the feedback necessary to shape products and services, to create brand advocates, and to increase sales is definitely worth investigating. In the next few blogs we will discuss some facts and myths that should be of interest to the small business manager.  We will also focus on the question of how to make your brand stand out in the crowd.   I encourage you to join this discussion by posting your questions or comments.

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA and founder of PrimalTweet.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano