How do you fix Dumb? Start Talking TO your Audience Instead of AT them.

QUICK!!!!   What's the last commercial you watched? ..............


Ok, how about this, what's your favorite commercial on TV right now? .............  Still Nothing?


Do you remember any commercials?

That's ok me neither.  How much do those commercials cost that we don't remember?  Well if we're talking Super Bowl we're looking at millions of $$$$$$ and if we're not talking Super Bowl we're still talking millions of $$$ (note there are a couple less $).  That's a ton of cash being dumped into advertising that no one seems to remember.

Why do companies do it then?  Simple....... They're DUMB.
So why do most companies continue to do it?  Because....... They're DUMB.  (there seems to be a trend here)

So how do we start fixing DUMB?  It's quite simple actually, we start talking TO our target (People) instead of AT them.  Need proof?

How many of you remember the last viral video you watched? (all hands should be going up right now)

Why do we remember viral videos and not commercials?  (Hint, they're not talking AT you)
They're talking TO you.  You actually have to click on the video to watch it and that means that what ever the video is about is gaining your interest, enough that you CHOOSE to watch it.  Their message talks TO you.

There are many ways to talk TO our target (People), you won't believe it but they're all forms of social media. SURPRISE!!!!


1) Post a viral video - Easier said than done, right?  Remember viral videos don't necessarily mean millions of views (it helps), but you have to remember who your speaking to (this might help).  Every one on the internet doesn't have to see it, if you have  50,000 out of the 75,000 your targeting that's VIRAL!!!

2) Engage in social network and user generated content sites - This is where the Google+'s, Facebook's, Twitter's, and LinkedIn's come into play.  This is where direct contact is established and where personalities are "expressed" (remember my first).

3) Join the Blogoshpere - This helps spread your message while maintaining control of it.  This also engages conversation and feedback from your target.  A Google+ acquaintance +Peter G McDermott, is about to start this undertaking (he's starting a new project with blogging, not joining, but the principle remains).

4) Create a community - Communities are one of the strongest ways to communicate with your audience (remember communication goes back and forth).  They give you a chance to listen to your target and talk TO them not AT them.


Watch this and think about who the target is.

Yup it's a trick.  This Viral Video can target whomever you're intending to send it to.

If +Pepsi is sending it out to their target, people will get a laugh and think how cool Pepsi is but.......

If +Chevrolet is sending it out to their target, they won't even notice pepsi and they'll be drooling over the Camaro but........

If +NASCAR is sending it out to their target, they will be astonished at +Jeff Gordon's hilarious prank.

The same message can speak to different audiences depending on who their trying to speak TO INSTEAD of AT.


ANY comments, followers or shares are ALWAYS welcomed.

A Social Media Maze or Leap of Faith: Where is your brand going?

Mazes are a blast, everyone runs around laughing and smiling not having a clue where they're going and loving every minute of it.  Mazes are so much fun that people are even willing to pay to go in get completely turned around, disoriented, feel really dumb and come back for more.

The thing about a maze is that they can go from being a ton of fun to pure hell in 2 min flat (have you ever had to go to the bathroom when you're lost in the middle of one?).  Where does the fun go when the sun goes down?  All of a sudden a sense of panic kicks in and everyones scrabbling for the exit cause there's something creepy (I won't say scary cause real MEN don't admit stuff like that) about being lost in a maze in the dark of night.

I'm hoping everyone can see where I'm going with this (hint: its got to do with companies/peoples on-line presence).  Is your social media presence just as confusing as a maze?  Look at your posts, blogs, wikis, status updates, forums, tweets, pins, pluses, how consistent are they?

Last week I posted about Google maps and receiving direction, this week I'm supporting and adding to it.  A simple way to remember some of these lessons is to put them in an acronym. And believe me you would have to be dumb as a fence POST to forget this one.

People - This is your target.  Remember a previous post discussing how to find your target? (maybe Lego or Ladders will trigger a few memories)  Discovering what engages the audience you're targeting allows you to adapt to their needs.  If you develop a forum for commercial realtors when your audience are more COLLECTORS than CRITICS or CONTRIBUTORS it won't do you a bit of good, but if you create informative posts for your audience to share, all of a sudden your audience of COLLECTORS eat it right up and are continually coming back for more.

Objectives - What are your goals? (<-- repeat from last week / the addition -->) Is your intention to get People giving feedback, or do you want them spreading your message in promotion?  Maybe you want to market your brand better?  What ever it is YOU must decide what you want to accomplish, this has to be the FIRST step when approaching any form of social media marketing (remember this applies both personally and professionally).

Strategy - This directly ties in to your People and Objectives.  What do you want to convey to your audience?  How do you want them to react?  What form of social media will you utilize?  If your audience and feedback objectives are met from the benefits of blogging then start a blog.  If you need feedback and your audience are contributors start a forum.  Your strategy provides you with a plan of attack and gives you direction if things start to go off the rails.

Technology - Refers to the tools you're going to use.  Believe it or not, not everyone responds well to social networks (I'm talking the Google+'s, Facebook's, Twitter's), some simply prefer blogs or wiki's.  Wherever your target is that's where you go.  If you go looking for sharks in the mountains you'll be sorely disappointed.

Social media can be so beneficial to brands, companies, and personally.  It has the ability to transform peoples lives and alter brand image.  EVERYONE must realize that jumping into social media takes responsibility and strategy.  Companies can find themselves battling to try and regain control of social media gone wrong, just ask Shell about an open caption contest (it happened to be fake but grabbed everyones attention, these situations actually happen and can be a companies worst nightmare).

The reality is that once you jump there's no turning back, you can change direction but there are no guarantees.

ANY comments, followers or shares are ALWAYS welcomed.


Speaking of jumps.

Arrogance or Stupidity? Marketing Your Brand

Thank goodness for +Google Maps, WHY? Because I'm a man, and real men don't like asking for directions, now thanks to google maps I don't ever have too.  But what did I ever do before google maps and the mobile craze? Well if I knew where I was going I would plan out the trip with the good old paper maps (that were the size of the dinner table and impossible to fold back up) and follow the street signs along the way.  It was a piece of cake (mostly because I'm a man and directions are a sixth sense for us), but once we get out off our route and start "winging" it that's when "it" hits the fan and all of a sudden english starts to look like chinese.

Is a man's attitude arrogance or stupidity? (easy women don't go too crazy with that question) When it comes to social marketing do we have the same attitude or do we suck it up and ask for the directions?  The old saying is still relevant, "You don't plan to fail, you only fail to plan".  How many of us know where we're going with our brand or our companies brand?  The most common answer is EVERYWHERE, we want to be everything to everybody. WRONG!!!! If this is your plan then refer to the pic above or the dog chasing his tail in my previous post.  Whether you're doing it for yourself or your company you need to establish a plan and goals.

1. What are your objectives? Where do you want to go and why do you want to go there?  The cheshire cat said it best in Alice in Wonderland, "If it doesn't matter where you want to go, then it really doesn't matter which way you go"

2. Build a strategy - Just like the table sized maps of the past, you must take the time to plan out your trip.  Expecting to do everything all at once is impossible, but breaking your objectives down into steps gives you or the company the building blocks needed for an overall successful strategy.

3. Buy In - In a large corporation or a one man show you need to have everyone committed to the plan.  This is obviously much easier to do the smaller you are but gaining acceptance and support throughout company culture is imperative to success of the strategy.

4. Focus on a specific area - The first area that should always be mastered first is LISTENING, CAUSE IT'S ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA.  Once you've got that covered branch into specific areas like engagement or content.

5. Take small steps that make the biggest impact - Whether it's spending 15 min a day posting content and engaging users, or hiring a social media manager for the company these steps bring results. It's amazing how many people and companies want to have a million "likes" or "follower" and put no time into it.  People and companies online are successful because of their efforts and engagement.  It doesn't just magically happen because it's the internet.

6. Be authentic - How many people roll their eyes when they get the response from a company saying something along the lines of, "Thank you for your patience, we're working as hard as we can to provide you with the best services available" BARF!!!!!  You know it and so does everyone else.  You need to change this, authenticity will take you way farther than any type of canned response.

Breaking into a new industry can be tough, just ask Apple and their maps fiasco, but they listened to their customers and responded publicly telling their users to use other services for the time being and that takes GUTS.  I tip my hat to them for not just giving the canned responses when their users were upset.

When companies or people ignore their customers/followers you have to wonder if it's shear arrogance or stupidity, either way it does not help their cause it only kills it.  Where are you with your brand? Are you on track with stable growth and excellent user engagement or giving the cold shoulder in arrogance or stupidity?

Plotting out YOUR trip can make the difference in reaching your destination or remaining lost and bitter about the situation.

ANY comments, followers or shares are ALWAYS welcomed.

Having a plan will help you recognize what's right in front of your face.