Business Growth Promoted Through Consumer Conversations

A lot of companies today have realized that their brand is an important thing to protect. They’ve developed SEO strategies to push their names higher on Google and Bing searches. Executives have come to realize they need to monitor and respond to the conversations taking place on line about their products. Some businesses have even taken to scrutinize the discussions taking place about their key employees.

But the one thing most firms have neglected to include in their social programs is perhaps the most important capability: sales lead generation.

Yes, social media programs can actually be tailored to produce high quality, readily available sales leads. The key questions here is “How could you possibly get real revenue producing leads from social media?”

Simple. A high quality social intelligence program goes much further than keeping an eye on Facebook and Twitter for people talking about your company. The provider will “listen” for the conversations taking place across all sources, including among others personal & business blogs, news media, consumer boards, and traditional ad campaigns. The key component of the program requires real human interaction at this point to streamline the conversations into useful data. Without the human factor, the program will produce so many “hits” that the information becomes muddled. An expert analyst will filter through the conversations and aggregate the relative discussions to present to your staff.

A key information topic many companies neglect is to follow their competition. By following your competitors closely, you'll be able to respond to new ads and products, react to changes in the market, and most importantly, find out who your competitors’ customers are. By following a competitor’s brand, you can listen for consumer sentiment on their offerings. Opportunity often develops when a consumer has been disappointed in their expectations for some reason.

As an example of what I’m referring to here, if a person is complaining on Facebook about their Kia (nothing personal here folks at Kia, just an example; it could be easily switched around the other way) being in the shop all the time, it would be a great time for a Chevrolet dealer to send some information to the consumer. Maybe a friendly post on their wall or a quick “tweet” on an upcoming sales event could generate a new customer.

By finding out your competitor is holding an event like a webinar or luncheon with a keynote speaker, it gives your marketing staff a chance to monitor the program and respond accordingly. If you look deep enough, it may even be possible to find an attendee list or program agenda. 

Acquiring new business and keeping satisfied clients are the long term keys to any successful business plan. We have emerged today into an information rich society with millions of people talking and tweeting and posting on a daily basis. It is imperative business don’t ignore the conversations and they must react accordingly. The only way you can react accordingly is to know what is being said.

I ‘d enjoy hearing how all of you are handling your on-line listening and what types of programs you’ve put in place to respond to what you’re hearing.

If you want some direction on launching your listening and reacting program, please contact me directly on Twitter @DaveHanron or via email at Dave@socialstrategy1.com

Buttons, Buttons, & More Buttons --Where Does It Stop?

Buttons, buttons, and more buttons……..

First we had the “Follow Me” button from Twitter.  Originally, this button would link a reader to a Twitter account and you would have to manually follow the individual or business.  This button did allow readers to easily link an individual to their personal Twitter account and follow their tweets. It simply was a two step process.  You see this button on virtually everything these days, from blogs, to news articles, to corporate websites, to TV shows and movies.

Shortly after the “Follow Me” button, Twitter announced a new “Follow” button which eliminated the two step process and automatically starts following the individual or business without ever leaving the web page.

Then there is the “Tweet” button.  On August 12, 2010, Twitter launched the “Tweet” button.  This button allows you to share links directly from the page you’re on. When you click on the Tweet Button, a Tweet box will appear -- pre-populated with a shortened url link that points to the item that you’re sharing.  This made the act of tweeting something much more simple.

The buttons don’t end with Twitter.  Facebook has gotten into the act with their “Like” and “Share” buttons.  On April 21, 2010, Facebook announced the new “Like” button which allows users to show their approval of any piece of content on these sites with one click. You can also include a little note saying why you like the item.   The “Like” button has basically replaced the “Share” button.

On June 1^st, 2011, the social media company Klout launched it’s “+Klout” button which allows people logging into their dashboard to add “Klout” to any of their peers spheres of influence like social media, technology, music, films, sports, etc.  Each day, Klout users get 5 “+Klout’s” to add to whomever they wish.

Google has jumped into the fray with it’s “+1” button.  This allows users the add their support to any article or website they visit, helping to push the site up in Google’s SEO ranking.  As Google’s web crawlers scour the web, they  will see the “+1’s” on sites and place them higher on their credibility scale.

Don’t forget Linkedin.  They don’t want to be left out of the button craze.  Linkedin has the “Linkedin Share”, “Login with Linkedin” and “View My Profile on Linkedin” buttons.

Digg, the social news website, has the “Digg This” button where you vote for the content of an article, pushing it up higher on the distribution pages.

Bottom line here is every social media type site we have been exposed to is trying to find ways to get it’s presence included on as many sites as possible.  It’s too early to tell if there is any type of underlying data mining going on with these buttons.  Are they recording topics we “Like” and “Digg” for future marketing purposes?  The official responses to this may be “no” but do we believe it?  I really want to as I enjoy the social media world and find the more social intelligence I’m able to gather, the better off I am.

But remember, the use of these buttons is exploding in volumes.  According to a May 24, 2011 interview with Techcrunch Disrupt, Carolyn Everson, Vice President of Global Advertising Sales at Facebook, revealed that 50 million likes are clicked for brands each day.

I’m sure I’ve missed lots of buttons and would love to hear from my readers on any I’ve missed…I’d like to see how many we can actually come up with.

WOW! Can Using Twitter Really Do that for Me?

140 characters…..a shelf life of approximately 1 hour…..a “free” service…..no point of sale application……

Can using Twitter really help my business?  Is it worth the investment of my time each day?  How much can interacting with strangers really help? How do I possibly measure Return on Investment (ROI)?

All legitimate questions that get asked everyday by people considering the entry into the social foray so prevalent today.  I believe there are some compounding reasons why you should jump in with both feet to the Twitter world and start “Tweeting” today.

The 1990’s saw the technology explosion on many of the everyday items we all use today.  Cell phones became mainstream and affordable for the general public.  Wide screen TV’s began to appear in homes of people other than the super wealthy.  The space shuttle became an expected occurrence every 3 months or so.  The personal computer was accepted as a necessity. There are too many of these examples to note here but you get the picture.  Technologies are constantly changing the way we live our lives and operate our businesses.

Twitter was launched in July 2006 by Jack Dorsey and has expanded today to have more than 200 million worldwide users and produces more than 65 million “tweets” per day.  Twitter has developed into a platform that allows anyone to interact on a personal level with any other user.  No other place in society allows for the ease of communicating between two people, regardless of where they live or what they do for a living.   For example, a school child in Australia could in theory communicate with the President of the United States by simply entering his name and performing a search to find his Twitter user name and then send an “@name” message.

This accessibility component is exactly why every business and every business professional should be using Twitter and other social sites to grow their reach.  There is no other media available which makes it as easy and simple to reach millions of potential customers at the push of a button.  You are able to post links to blogs like this one, discuss your products or field of expertise, share personal thoughts on other subjects, and make yourself available for further discussions on the topics.  It’s the interaction with others that makes Twitter such a powerful business tool.

Today’s executives who make purchase decisions do not regularly take the “cold call” from the 90’s anymore.  They are under time and budget constraints and know what they need.  When they need it, they contact an “expert” or “authority” on the service and buy it.  To quote Alec Baldwin in the 1992 version of Glenngarry Glen Ross “they walk on the lot, looking to buy”. 

The goal here is to get that executive to walk onto YOUR lot and buy YOUR service.  Twitter is a means to help make that happen.

The use of Twitter does many things which improve your chances of landing a sale or gaining a new customer.  Everytime your name hits the web, it’s another landing spot for the “spiders” or “bots” that Google and Bing have scouring the internet for topics.  The more your name is associated with a product or key word phrase, the higher your name will appear in the search engines.  And the higher you appear in the search engines, the more likely you are to be perceived as an “expert” and have your lot chosen to sell the product.

Getting results using Twitter doesn’t happen overnight.  It can take months or even years before you attain the type and size of following necessary to get results, but be patient, it WILL happen if you keep at it.  Before you know it, you’ll be getting “@” messages from people inquiring about your services.  Keep track of these and record any actual sales you make from them.  ROI is easy to determine by doing this and once you get going, you’ll see Twitter can be a real winner and indispensible tool for your business or brand.

A few key points to remember as you “tweet”

1.      Keep the conversation informational -- nobody likes a constant sales pitch.  An occasional plug is OK and basic discussions on the benefits of your product line in general are fine.

2.      Be interactive – don’t just push your “tweets”, but engage your followers and those you follow in meaningful conversations.  Ask questions on their “tweets” and leave pertinent comments on their blog posts.  (and leaving comments gives you another plus with the Google and Bing search engines, as it creates a “Backlink” to your brand)

3.      Try and reference your source of information whenever possible – insert a link or hyperlink to the site where you found your supporting info.

4.      Be consistent – in order to be successful, you need to be perceived as regular user.  That means making an effort each day (yes, Saturdays & Sundays too) to “Tweet”. Often you’ll reach an entirely different audience on weekends and nights.  I’ve taken the two hours per day I used to block out for cold calling and now use them to develop my social presence.  It has a much better return on my efforts.

Have some other ideas?  Let’s discuss and see what we can come up with to help everyone get the most out of Twitter……..

Twitter - A Social Way for Everyone to Make Money

Social Media…..we’re all deeply embedded into it. And seemingly for good reason. It works! And now people are making real money not only using these sites, but selling their audience base for a fee.


Just this morning, I was glancing through my Twitter account and noticed a “tweet” referring me to eBay. The tweet mentioned “get your product out to 380,000+ followers”. I clicked on the link and VOILA!, there was a genuine product for sale on eBay.

For a mere $40, there is a seller who apparently has amassed 380k+ followers and is willing to share his connections for 28 days for a small fee. Now that’s a novel idea.

Not sure whether this is ethical or not. On one hand, it seems to me like they’re basically doing the same thing as selling an email list of contacts. On the other, it is truly taking social media to another level and making use of your personal sphere of influence to make some money. And everyone wants to make money.

If you want to check it out, the seller is “isurf2net” on eBay. There’s also a lower cost model offering re-Tweets to 80k+ followers for 28 days for $10.

It seems inevitable that sites like Twitter and Facebook would evolve into marketing means for small and large businesses alike. There are hundreds of Twitter users out there with millions of followers. As of this writing, Lady Gaga has the largest reach, with over 9.5 million followers. Think of that….if Lady Gaga were to offer her Twitter followers for a fee, what do you think she could charge? If 380k followers are worth $40, would people pay $500 to reach 9.5 million? Not sure, but it’s an interesting thought. Maybe if you pick the right product for the right “follower” audience, we may be onto something here….

I think the bigger question in this topic is will people tolerate being bombarded with solicitations on Twitter and Facebook? I enjoy going through Twitter posts as I find many interesting posts. I question though whether all people will tolerate sales pitches on a personal account level. Could we see a mass “unfollow” on sites that openly sell their follow list or will it become standard practice to gauge your individual advertising power?

If you want to find out your current social media prowess, trying going to http://www.klout.com/ and entering your Twitter name. This is a relatively new site (I found it in a Boston Globe newspaper article on social media a few weeks ago) which will give you a snapshot ranking from 0 to 100 of your social influence. Add your Linkedin and Facebook accounts to it and it will add those into consideration model too.

If you’re looking to get more involved in the social media world and would like to consider adding an experienced team of industry analysts to your social media campaigns to help expand your reach, please drop me a note @DaveHanron on Twitter or at dave@socialstrategy1.com

Great Twitter Tool

Are you “Social”? Do you use Twitter? Facebook? Digg? Linkedin?

If you’re just getting into the cyber social scene, here’s a great application to add to your social toolbox.

If you enjoy taking pictures and posting them on Facebook, but struggle when trying to express your views on Twitter, try signing up for Y Frog (http://www.yfrog.com/) and download the mobile app. to your mobile device. YFrog is a product of Imageshack, which has been hosting images and videos since 2004.

YFrog is a free application that works from your desktop or mobile device. YFrog seemlessly integrates with your Twitter account and allows users to add photos and videos to their Twitter posts. Users can post directly from the YFog interface, making “tweeting” and “re-Tweeting” a breeze! Currently, YFrog is available for use from Blackberry and Android mobile devices. For you iPhone users, the application is available using Tweetdeck.

So, next time you find yourself at the scene of a newsworthy event or in the presence of a person of interest, grab your cell phone camera, snap the picture and “Tweet” away. Stats have shown that the average “tweet” stays in cyber space for no more than an hour (http://tinyurl.com/6ly6nfw). “Tweets” containing pictures have a shelf life of nearly triple that!