My friends Ginger Germani and Erica Haskins will be happy to see this.
And while you’re pondering what “radio hair” looks like, please listen to the podcast from Charlottesville — Right Now! We talked about reputation management, brand engagement and social media with Coy Barefoot!
I had an old boss who said you should never have to pay people to read our newspaper. 
We didn’t want those kinds of readers. We worked at a small market newsweekly and the radio station (like a LOT of radio stations) would constantly offer “on-air giveaways to the 14th caller”. Actual cash! They gave away actual cash. My boss raged on about the value of news media. We had investigative reporting, great restaurant reviews and we often scooped the daily on local news. Still, advertising dollars were spent all over town. Radio was often the competition. That’s OK. It was the bad radio that killed us. He hated it. I hated it. The on-air giveaways made our skin crawl.
Flash forward to my life in social media. I am now a website junkie. I’m trolling Twitter and LinkedIn and watching what companies are posting everyday. When was the blog updated last? Who else are they referencing? What kind of value does this offer? I love to see great websites. They are mini universes dedicated to companies. I could wax poetic all day!
But stumble upon a full on giveaway, and I find myself in disgust. I know I shouldn’t be so judgmental. Marketing is a new thing for a lot of companies out there. WordPress and Facebook in particular have given a voice to owners who had not previously been able to afford the ear of the public.
Giving away something seems like a great way to get attention. But it’s like the Skittles my toddler has happily gobbled up at every trip to the potty. The candy may get him there, but he’s not sold on the whole idea. That is a decision he’s going to have to make on his own. (Side note: I bet you never thought you could relate marketing to potty training. Welcome to my world!)
Am I wrong? Do you hate giveaways too? Is it just me? Be honest.
We were at a client meeting last week presenting social media strategy, and Marijean was kind enough to mention my past history as founder of a company called Rowdy.com. Rowdy was known as a “social network” and was focused on NASCAR racing. We built a platform to blog, share photos, video, comments, and observations on racing. Facebook wasn’t out yet, so we had to build it ourselves.
We produced award-winning podcasts, video, and content on our own to get the conversation started, but our primary goal was to create a place where real fans could get to know each other and get closer to their favorite sport and those involved in it. Rowdy grew very quickly primarily because we gave the fans something they could not get on their own–a singular voice that was about the real sport, not corporate spin. Our tagline was “Rowdy: Tell It Like It Is” and that’s exactly what we did. It was truly cutting edge and and was one the best examples of online community available, regardless of the topic.
One of the participants at our meeting remembered the site and was truly complimentary. I think it enhanced our reputation and credibility just a little and I was flattered to have had a positive impact on a race fan through that effort.
Cool, you say. So what? That stuff is old hat now! The takeaway is that even though that site was shut down earlier this year (after a two-year stint as a property of The Sporting News), folks still remember the quality of the content and the friendships they had there. Many fans are still offline friends–one couple who met there are actually getting married! Fans remember fondly meeting IRL at the races after friending one another at Rowdy. It was a true bonding experience because it was real people, useful and engaging content and a friendly, open forum for sharing and celebrating a passion.
So…are you creating that environment for your customers? Are you providing an open, engaging resource full of good content, friendly people, and social connective tissue? Are you using the tools currently available to maximize connection and interaction? If not, why not? Quit acting like this doesn’t matter. It does.
The other day, I was talking to a friend of mine about wine and how you always have that really nice bottle that never gets opened. (Or most people do. Wine has a short life span in our house.) She said she’s had one in her rack for years. The conversation went something like this:
Friend: I wonder how long it’ll last.
Me: Why don’t you ask the vineyard?
Friend: What?!
Me: Like, get on Twitter and ask the vineyard when that vintage will turn.
Friend: Is that how it works? (Mind=blown.)
This confirmed two things for me.
1) My friends are never actually listening when I talk about work. And 2) The idea of being able to directly ask a company questions about their product/service/organization is mind blowing. It really is such a basic, simple desire to understand what you are purchasing.
Twitter and Facebook are not just platforms for announcing promotions. (Or at least, they shouldn’t be.) They are also an opportunity to educate your audience. Answer their questions. Heck, ask for their opinion!
What has your experience been with reaching out to companies with questions? Or better yet, what sort of questions have you answered online on behalf of a company?
It’s a conversation I’ve had far too often; small businesses get overwhelmed by the responsibility of maintaining an online presence. They start to look for ways to outsource it. 
They ask:
There’s a statistic we throw out fairly often, because it’s true and compelling:
Study Shows Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors
The reason this happens is NOT because a blog is merely updated regularly — that’s important to be sure — but because the REAL, personal story of the people behind the business is what people connect with; not someone who is managing the account for the summer.
I get it if you need help. I completely understand feeling overwhelmed and like you need another member of your team to manage the production and posting of content on behalf of your business. It’s FINE to appoint someone to that role . . . but make sure it’s someone who is really part of the team. Someone who can really represent you in the public and social space and who others will happily see as representative of you and your business.
If it’s you, then it’s you. Suck it up and find someone to do some other piece of your business that’s it’s not essential you touch with your own two hands. But don’t try to have a surrogate social media manager. It just doesn’t work.
