The Social Lites

Poor Motrin. They dip their toes into the pool of Social Media and truly end up sticking their foot in it. Now other large companies will surely point to their failure as an “I told you so” tale and shy even further away from the use of Social Media in their marketing and messaging. Exactly what we advocates for SM don’t want to see. But was it really Social Media’s fault?

Motrin devised a little YouTube ad campaign. It was in recognition of National Baby Wearing Week. The video was to be a sneak peek of a larger traditional media campaign now launching - a media campaign Motrin is already apologizing for. If you watch the video (if the link works, it is still up) you will see an animated road map of how and why moms “wear” their babies and that any ensuing pain from this practice can be alleviated with Motrin. Sounds fine, so why the fervor? It’s in the way the message was pitched. The ad told Alpha Moms they wear their babies as a fashion statement for reasons that may, someday, be considered legitimate. The ad basically says these moms are only suffering through baby wearing so they can “look like an official Mom” in the eyes of society. That message is so wrong on so many levels for the audience Motrin was reaching out to, that you’ve got to wonder if they did any research at all.

Alpha Moms are educated women who take pride in caring for their families. They are savvy enough to poke fun at themselves, and don’t need companies to do it for them. Motrin could have garnered the favor of this economically powerful group by aiming at their hearts rather than by pricking their egos. How’s this for a story line: “You thought the pain would be over after childbirth? How could it be when you’re still carrying that baby? But you carry her because you love her. Let Motrin help ease the aches.”

Unfortunately, the viral backlash Motrin is now suffering gives them every reason to pull out of future Social Media usage and that is a shame, because that is the wrong lesson to learn from this episode. Why? Just look. Everyone is talking, tweeting, blogging and podcasting about Motrin. There is a definite buzz so, from a Social Media view, the campaign has worked very well. It is Motrin’s message that was bad. It’s Motrin’s message that has caused controversy, not the way that message was delivered. Regardless of how companies reach out, they still need to know their audience, and Motrin didn’t.

So I have a meeting tomorrow morning at 10, and I really should be getting ready for bed so that I can get a good night’s sleep, but I’m just SO jazzed about today’s event that I have to crank this post out now. Highlight Midwest was just too awesome for words!

The un-conference portion of the event was held during the day at Kansas City’s Record Bar. I have to say, I was skeptical at first about it as a venue for a conference like this. But I’d never been to a barcamp-style meetup before, so I also wasn’t really sure what to expect. After having experienced it though, I can now say that I really like the format and will be looking for similar events like it in the future.

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DevCentral is espousing Twitter as the next big data security threat. Leaving aside the truth that to Data Security personnel, everything is a security threat; I’m not following DevCentral’s logic.

For those who may not know, Twitter is a micro-blogging application that allows its users to “Tweet” or write text-based broadcasts of up to 140 characters in length. Besides broadcasting messages, you can also direct message anyone who is “following” you. How this makes Twitter a darker security risk than email, forums or travel drives, I don’t know. Unless you are using a secret code, the broadcasting nature of Twitter seems an unlikely place to pass along proprietary information. Using a simple Twitter Search would land whoever is sending inappropriate material/information in the soup due to the transparent nature of the network.

In my opinion, it is Twitter’s transparent nature that makes it an ideal social media platform for businesses. Twitter is a way to monitor customer attitude and opinion, a way to create and support brand evangelism, and a way to broadcast your own corporate messages. Why should companies hesitate to jump in? True, corporate competitors can easily find your following fan base and directly target them to “change sides.” But, if you are courting your followers properly, they are more likely to be offended by such a tactic than tempted.

Let’s look at those followers from the other side of the ice. If your competition can find them through you, the friends of your follower’s can find you through them. That’s what we call a “win” folks. Recent studies have shown consumers are 83% more likely to take purchasing advice from people they know rather than from traditional advertising campaigns. And 93% of consumers are asking, no, begging companies to meet them in the social arena. Twitter can satisfy that need for connection without requiring a large investment of corporate time.

So what about a company’s own employees? Should they be allowed to Twitter? Might they let slip with proprietary information or paint an ugly picture of their workplace on the blogosphere? Rest assured, if employees wanted to do those things, they would be already, whether Twitter was in their lives or not. Some psychologists even think that Twitter may be a much-needed safety valve, helping employees relieve stress. A few minutes taken out of the workday to check in with our emotional support systems, i.e., friends and family, could be just what we need to keep us from “going postal.” I think when companies weigh the real benefits of a social networking platform like Twitter against any perceived threats to data security they will determine that Twitter poses no real risk at all.

It’s no secret within the Web 2.0 community that social media is the Next Big Thing for marketing and customer relations, but it may surprise you to learn that your customers are actually asking you to participate.

According to the 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Survey, a whopping 93% of customers say that they want businesses on social media sites.

“Americans are eager to deepen their brand relationships through social media,” says Mike Hollywood, Cone’s director of new media. “It isn’t an intrusion into their lives, but rather a welcome channel for discussion.”

As we’ve mentioned, being involved in social media gives your company a human face and gives a sense of transparency to the people who are using your products and services. Just being a face on social media platforms isn’t enough, however: 85% of those surveyed agreed that businesses should also utilize these new methods to interact with their customers. They cited customer service, solicitation of feedback on new products and services, brand interaction, and direct marketing as the areas businesses should explore in their social media endeavors.

This doesn’t mean you should be forcing your product down their throats all over the blogosphere, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, however. Customers want the capability and the option to interact on their terms, initiating the conversations themselves and having their conversations listened to with earnest.

One of the best ways to develop new marketing strategies is to listen to what your customers want and cater to their needs, and from the sounds of it, what they want is your participation in the social media revolution.

I think that speaks for itself.

As the blogosphere continues to grow exponentially, a new form of social media called “microblogging” has exploded onto the scene, giving users the ability to communicate instantly through short written updates on sites like Twitter, Plurk, and Tumblr.

Like a lot of other social media sites, these sites are primarily used to communicate socially with other people, allowing you to add “friends” or “followers” whose updates are fed to your account, allowing you to keep up with what they’re doing. However, there are several reasons to utilize microblogging in your social media marketing endeavors.

For starters, it’s a great way to build your professional network. Through my Twitter contacts, I’ve been able to meet people who have helped me with my design work and coding, gotten me in touch with local media to promote The Social Lites, and recommended our company to others, leading to business opportunities that I would have missed out on otherwise. You’ll meet like-minded folks who will provide stimulating conversations, and build great relationships with other bloggers and social media lovers.

It’s also a good way to promote your brand and your blog, and it aids in SEO. By adding a link to relevant blog entries when you post to your microblogging platforms, you expose more people to your content, and you can increase your search engine rankings. And if others “re-tweet” or link to that same post, your exposure and rankings go up yet again.

And, in case you’re thinking that 140 characters isn’t enough to say what you need to say, consider Ernest Hemingway’s famous six-word story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” He’s said to have called it his best work. Also, check out Copyblogger’s Twitter Writing Contest. Big creativity in small packages!