Social Media Impact — Some Ideas Worth Trying

Sometimes, I just want to figure out what matters most in terms of social media impact.  As messages, dire and otherwise, blast my ears, and content consumption line my days, I decided to attend an Inbound Marketing Conference moderated by Chris Brogan in San Francisco.

I walked away with two major insights.  How to be as consumer-centric as possible, and what that entails, and how to get yourself/your company ready to deliver impact.  This topic is split up into two posts.

Developing Consumer Centricity

• Always be helping has replaced always be closing — The context at the conference assumed you were selling something, and of course, with selling, this is how it is more than ever. Can’t be overgeneralized though.  If I were always helping, I’d become depleted and lose my usefulness, not to mention go broke. But within certain boundaries, building social capital and meaningful relationships (being responsive to fellow community members on social media sites) is a valuable endeavor, requiring that you focus on ways to recognize and empower others through what and how you share.
• When you want to crowd-source something, by all means, make it easy.  Crowd what? Crowd-sourcing.  Simply means enlisting your community to contribute content. Ever try Pegshot.com or hear about the Extraordinaires? The former makes it easy to share videos and photos of what’s happening where you already are.  And the latter provides the software to help you mobilize your community to contribute photo albums and maps.  Either way, you are getting people to know who you are and what you aspire to.  That willingness to crowd-source will fuel a sense of affiliation within your community.
• When you ask people to register for your e-alerts or info, manage their expectations about they are signing on to receive — how much and when.  This will let customers know you value their time from the get-go. Don’t forget to also include options for sharing (e.g., send to a friend options) within your emails.
• Always ask: what does your community really need most from you?  Don’t wander too far from that need. What is the point of your content from their perspective?   How can you most help? Come to think of it, why not come up with something actionable from every conversation you have.
• Trust comes most frequently from recommendations and you must learn to make customers a more central part of your story in order to earn those recommendations.  Check out sources of customer case studies; in all of the ones that were effective, you can be sure customers had a meaningful opportunity to contribute and loved the recognition!