In today’s business and economic climate individuals and companies search for ways to cut costs without sacrificing functionality. Blogging is one strategy that allows individuals to leverage a publishing platform while competing with large companies. The following are excuses, myths, or push backs we hear from people and companies on why they just do not want to adopt blogging. What is your excuse?

6 Excuses and Myths Why People Do Not Blog

• Articles must be long:
  Blog articles according to usability expert Jakob Nielsen are best very short, succinct, and written in a “short writing” style. Our average post contains 200-350 words. According to Nielsen, online readers: “users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely”
  
• You must write everyday:
  Everyday is great but even if a blogger writes once a week they are ahead of most competitors. One quick source of content is to convert monthly newsletters to blog article(s).
• Fear to write publicly:
  That will happen to most bloggers if they do not formulate a plan (you should do this first) for their blog and a purpose for writing
• Resistant to take on new technology:
  This is often the biggest reason people do not blog. If a new blogger practices using their blog software they become more familiar with the technology. This familiarity breeds confidence which  makes the blogger more efficient
• What do I have to say that has not already been said before?
  Most likely nothing. Yet if a blogger can prove they are willing to give people valuable content, many readers will return for information. Readers want to understand how a blogger will react in  business situations. Saying what has already been said is fine–each blogger has the opportunity to develop their own voice
• Who will see my blog?:
  Very few readers will see a blogger’s work if that blogger does not know how to promote his/her blog, make it more visible, and be patient. The most important benefit of a blog is the fact it is a delivery system for multiple forms of content. By delivering url-hyperlinks, a blogger can deliver their content through other social networks, within comment sections of blogs, and even via email

Blogging has lead the paradigm shift and evolution in communications away from an environment dominated by the print and electronic medias, of newspapers-magazines-radio-television, to an open “architecture of participation” online.  Businesses and companies that ignore this shift should consider the following 10 Reasons Businesses Must Blog:

10 Reasons Businesses Must Blog

1. Publishing Platform: a blog is the writing platform to begin creating content about your products, services, business, and business culture
2. Control: blogging allows businesses the opportunity to control their own information about their expertise, experience, and brand
3. Delivery: blogs are delivery systems for a company’s content. The url for articles can be delivered to prospective consumers, clients, or strategically targeted audiences within a social network
4. Networking: a blog allows key employees to meet other industry professionals or consumers, it allows networking through the comment section, and it provides a forum to recognize industry association partnerships
5. New Skills: by adopting blogging, key company employees  begin to learn about Web 2.0, social networks, blog software, delivering links, and how the new paradigm shift of information is being formulated everyday
6. Perception: businesses that blog are perceived as being more savvy, as more progressive due to the perception that social media-blogging is a cutting edge progressive activity, and more relevant to their audience of consumers for providing a direct channel of communication and participation
7. Visibility: blogging provides businesses with more visibility as a blog is “open” 24 hours a day, 7 days per week
8. Reputation Management: blogging provides a tool for companies to deliver messages that can correct or challenge erroneous information about them online
9. Due Diligence: when consumers or clients perform due diligence on a business, the first place they begin is with a Google search of that company. The fact remains that consumers searching for any bad behavior or information that might signal the company is unfit as a service provider
10. Research: blogging requires research. Research requires skills in searching and finding information online which is a new skill for many employees. Research opens the door to finding and understanding the conversations and buzz that surrounds a company or brand. This is a vital piece to a business connecting with their audience online

Over the past few days, Facebook has unleashed an overhaul

What has changed?

Prior to this redesign, users would log on and see their home page streaming the most recent updates from all their friends and all the pages they are fans of in reverse chronological order. Now Facebook has changed this landing page to include only the stories they believe the user will be most interested in based on an algorithm that looks at the user’s prior engagement history.

A number of my Facebook friends today were passing on tips on how to configure their settings to see all their updates on their home page proves that there are users who dislike the filtering enough to learn how to disable it. Yet these types of users are not the majority, so any business using Facebook as a channel for delivering marketing messages to customers must understand the implications of the new feed.

Marketing implications of the new feed

The bottom line is that Facebook’s algorithm is determining what level of importance your message is  to your fan. Facebook decides whether your message should be included in the landing page News Feed, or whether your fan will need to click on the Live Feed option to find your message with all the others from their friends and pages which didn’t make the cut of importance.

In order for your Facebook messages to be effective, they first need to be seen. You can increase the chances of your messages getting seen by increasing your chances of getting them picked by the Facebook algorithm as important or relevant stories.

Clues to what Facebook deems important or relevant

I will not pretend to be an expert on Facebook algorithms, but observations I have made from studying the updates selected for my own News Feed give me some insight about how updates get chosen.

Criteria I have observed:

• Updates from people I have sent direct messages to recently
• Updates from people I have commented on the most
• Exact keyword match with another status update I commented on

How to use this information

Once you understand a bit about what Facebook looks at, you can then begin to incorporate this knowledge into your messaging strategy.

Do you have more observations to add from your experience? I’d love to learn and pass them along here.

Those of us who have been marketing directly to consumers since the 1980’s or before have experienced the evolution of channels from mailbox to internet and email. My work now involves encouraging clients to begin to look at Facebook as another prime environment for managing communications with customers and prospects.

While thousands of companies have hopped on board Facebook from pure instinct that they need to be there, few really understand Facebook well enough to be able to design a contact strategy that is effective.

What follows is a primer meant to help you to relate the old ways to the new.

Key #1: Think of Facebook as a public online environment for building your “house” lists.  In days past, we’ve referred to this process as acquiring names and addresses. We can thank Facebook for adding a human element by introducing the term “fan”.

Your fans will include:

• Current or past customers
• People who are becoming familiar with your company

Key #2: Think of Facebook as a public online environment for broadcasting messages to your fans and visitors to your page who are not fans.

These messages are:

• Broadcast on your page wall
• Streamed into your fans’ news feed

Key #3: Think of Facebook as a private online environment for sending messages to your fans.

• Messages are delivered to your fans’ inbox as status updates
• Updates can be sent to all fans
• Updates can be targeted

Questions? I’m happy to answer them.

“Holism is the idea that all the properties of a given system (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave” Holism-Wikipedia

In part 1 of our series “Becoming a Holistic Social Media Marketer” we will outline how to approach your marketing efforts with a top down, whole environment strategy. Although many people begin by integrating social networks into their marketing plans, they often ignore how the pieces relate and can be used together.

Holistic Social Media Strategy

The definition of the word holistic is a great example of how a social media marketer could begin to plan strategies: “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts. . . ”

3 Holistic Social Media Steps

Before you begin to plan and execute your social media marketing efforts, you must understand the whole playing field. Without an understanding of the “big picture”, you cannot effectively break down the parts and extract relevant analysis:

1. Choosing Social Networks: which social network(s) will be utilized in your plan? The answer to this question comes from the goals being set by your organization.
   • Is this a marketing campaign designed to change public perception?
   • Is it focused on new sales growth? Retention?
   • Is it meant to drive networking and new partnerships?
2. Social “Big Picture”: how do the social networks you have chosen to utilize fit together and collaborate in a “whole” strategy?
   • Widgets: interconnecting your social networks, so people know where to find you, by providing a “portal” aka widget that with one click can take them to your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn profiles or pages
   • Synergy: connecting your blog messaging to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn by embedding links to articles-messages on each social network you are utilizing
   • Uniformity: consistent articles-messages delivered to each social network providing your audience with a clear perception of your company
3. Identification: identify the role(s) each social network will play in the marketing plan.
   • Facebook: can function as the relationship builder, CRM mechanism, and customer service spot for your company
   • Twitter: often takes on the role as the prospect-lead generation tool feeding your Facebook profile, page, or company blog
   • Blog: this is the ultimate publishing platform for your company’s messages. It is the best hub and centerpiece from which to launch
   • LinkedIn: this is your networking portal and due diligence mechanism. If people want to know key  individuals running a company this is where they will land. This is also a fantastic place to create real time update messaging as well as demonstrate and establish company expertise within a niche

One of the best Twitter strategies is to participate in what is called #FollowFriday. Although there are a vast array of Twitter strategies, participating in #FollowFriday is one of the best methods to identify and attract new followers. Susan and I participate in #FollowFriday to identify and recognize followers for our innerarchitect, napavalleynews, susanhanshaw, and deansguide Twitter accounts.

#FollowFriday: A History

#FollowFriday is a hashtag group event that happens every Friday. It was created in January 2009 by Micah Baldwin as a means for Twitter users to find other users–a networking event beginning every Friday morning. Today, It is not only a social event but it is also a strategic tool with many benefits

#FollowFriday Benefits

• Testimonials: by asking people to follow your follower(s) you are providing them with a testimonial
• Value: you add value to your network by making people aware of valuable resources (other Twitterers)
• Networking: by providing #FollowFriday recognition for someone you are opening the lines of communication for others to thank you, contact you for information, or ask you a question
• Targeting: #FollowFriday allows you to target followers you wish to attract
• Differentiate & Stand Apart: by customizing your messages, using descriptive adjectives

#FollowFriday #1 Strategy

Tip #1: If you want to stand apart and differentiate yourself, provide the best value for your network, and create a new stream of followers for you then write very specific “recommendations” that describe the person recommended and their niche. Like minded people (often) want to follow others in the same niche with expertise. Below are two examples- what everyone does now and how to differentiate yourself.

• What everyone does now- “.@deansguide .@susanhanshaw .@innerarchitect #Followfriday.” This  does not provide a reason to follow these people, it does not describe them, it does not identify their business niche
• How to differentiate yourself: “If u want great soc media info #Followfriday .@deansguide .@susanhanshaw .@innerarchitect” This short description identifies the niche as social media and describes these people as valuable sources of information. The added benefit is the fact that people can see you are providing custom “copy” and truly taking the time to give a valuable recommendation

#FollowFriday Example for One: you can create messages for multiple people but with very important resources, write something like this:

Erick Qualman, author of Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business, is behind this eye-opening video that details how social media has changed the world. This kind of development reminds me of the music and cultural revolution of the 1960’s—a transformation that will likely have a long-term impact. Are you ready now to take social media seriously?

I think we all pretty much agree

1. Approach social media as you would a small child with much potential. Invest in its care and feeding and don’t expect it to support itself until it has a chance to grow up.
2. Shift the focus from the concept of influence to the idea of propensity. Look towards building connections with people who have proven to take the action you want rather than rely on their friends to influence them.
3. Invest in developing methods to identify and reach out to your target customers. Don’t allow your social networks to evolve on their own. Manage your networks from the perspective of building the most valuable list you can. Don’t skimp on the time to do some digging as that is where you will discover your gold.

If people and companies are looking for case studies, ROI proof, and written in stone results for Twitter’s impact on sales and marketing they can begin by researching Dell, Target, or Starbucks. If they want a large sample sized study on messaging, they should investigate the following information.

In a recent Penn State study “Tweeting is more than just self expression” Associate professor of information science and technology Jim Jansen and Abdur Chowdhury Twitter chief scientist examined 500,000 tweets to determine the messaging content. The results are very encouraging for businesses willing to view Twitter as a new marketing and sales channel in its infancy. The most important point in the study? Twitter strategies, Twitter planning, and Twitter etiquette must be formulated before a company launches their Twitter efforts.

5 Reasons Twitter Connects People to Brands, Companies, Products, Services

• Requests: 20% of the 500,000 tweets “contain requests for product information or responses to the requests” about companies and their products and service
• Self Expression: “People are using tweets to express their reaction, both positive and negative, as they engage with these products and services”
• Point of Purchase: “Tweets are about as close as one can get to the customer point of purchase for products and services.”
• Connections: “. . . people were using tweets to connect with the products”
• Positivity: Many of the brand comments were positive and not negative as many companies initially anticipated

Wine marketing is the number one challenge for wineries in today’s economy. The importance of social media for wine marketing can be directly related to the acronym “DTC.” Direct to consumer sales provide opportunities for  higher profit margins, increased special event sales, and to sell  important wine club memberships. Yet with all that is riding on direct to consumer sales and marketing, the awareness of the power of social media marketing as a sales channel remains underappreciated and underutilized.

Case in point, the Winebusiness.com “Direct to Consumer: 2009 Tasting Room Report.” Most interesting in this report are the “barriers” to maximizing DTC potential for all wineries. The reported challenges as well as  the opportunities to overcome the challenges may surprise you.

Direct to Consumer Challenges

1. Compliance and Shipping: (39 percent) believe issues of compliance and shipping “still outweigh all other barriers“
2. Lack of Resources: (17 percent)  people, time and money
3. Effective Technology and Systems: (13 percent)
4. Acquiring Customers: (13 percent) aka lead generation
5. Marketing Tools: (13 percent) believe a lack of DTC marketing tools like customer relationship marketing (CRM) and Web analytics

Direct to Consumer Opportunities

1. Tasting Room Software: according to the report there are many online systems available to greatly reduce the challenges of shipping and compliance
2. Lack of Resources: the three resources  are people, time, and money. The answers should include social media marketing training that enables key employees to become more efficient in their social media tasks. Another solution is to hire a social media marketing agency to run your marketing program
3. Effective Technology and Systems: technologies that could improve DTC sales would be a blog and a strategic social media marketing plan to engage with consumers on Facebook and Twitter. Placing laptops in the tasting rooms so consumers can directly fan your Facebook winery page or follow your Twitter account(s) creates a bridge from real world to online world.
4. “Acquiring Customers”: this challenge (lead generation) could be addressed with a DTC Twitter strategy in concert with a Facebook company page for customer relationship management
5. Marketing Tools: customer relationship management would be the role of a strategically implemented Facebook company page that engaged consumers and created “Call to Action” messaging.  Web analytic measurement tools could be implemented to measure each message delivered in specific channels including the blogosphere, Facebook, and Twitter for the messages relevance or effectiveness