Posts Tagged ‘Mack Collier’

Back in April, Mack Collier and I had an interesting conversation about social media campaigns and how they are ineffective. I said that I was going to write a post called “Social Media Campaigns are like Crying Wolf” (but never got around to it until now…). In response to our conversation, Mack wrote a great post about how social media isn’t a one-night stand, but a relationship. 

Why are social media campaigns like crying wolf? We all know the famous fable about the little shepherd boy who entertained himself by crying wolf just to get the villagers attention. Well, eventually the villagers stopped coming when he cried wolf and when the shepherd boy really did encounter a real wolf he was left alone to battle while it ate his flock. 

I think if you replace the shepherd boy with “company,” the villagers with “community,” flock with “customers” and wolf with “competition” I think we might be able to draw a conclusion as to why social media campaigns aren’t effective. The moral of this new fable? It’s never wise to use the social community for attention seeking or self-serving needs. 

However, that said, after much thought I think some social media campaigns are less about crying wolf than they are about approaching social media as the last bastion of lead or buzz generation hope because all other marketing is failing…the social media miracle. And, unfortunately, it’s a miracle that often ends in failure. 

Social media isn’t a marketing miracle by any stretch. But a lot of marketers (client- and agency-side) look at social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogging, podcasting, etc.) as vehicles for self-promoting (or crying wolf) to be just that…a miracle that recreates the lead generation and buzz they once had. And social media just doesn’t work that way. For social media to be effective, a long-term commitment to community relationship building is required…as Todd Defren calls it, uncampaigning.   

Shel Holtz also has a great post on organic social media vs. marketing campaigns in which he states that ‘organic engagement in social media will have greater long-term payoff for an organization, and can even bolster shorter-term campaigns.’ That’s the key to social media campaigns being successful because they aren’t one-off, they are part of an on-going, organic relationship. 

For companies out there considering a social media campaign, ask these questions before you expect a miracle: 

• Do I have an established community that wants to hear from us?
• What does the community want from us?
• How does this social media campaign affect the long-term relationship with our community?
• Will this social media campaign be scrutinized by the community or others?
• Is this social media campaign a quick fix to combat competition?
• If I hold a mirror up to this campaign, will I like the reflection (i.e. are you engaging in social media in response to detractors)?
• Are we doing this social media campaign just because it’s cool or we think it’s buzz-worthy?
• Why is my agency pushing this social media campaign (or why is my client pushing this social media campaign)?
• How are we going to measure the success of the social media campaign? What are the objectives?
• Do we have a contingency (or crisis) plan in place for this social media campaign?

Your turn…do you think one-off social media campaigns work? What’s been effective (or ineffective)? What else would you add to this list of questions?

Yes indeed, I am about to hop on the bandwagon or beat a dead horse…whichever you prefer to see this as.  Recently interesting conversations have bubbled up over at Josh Hallett’s, Mack Collier’s and Lisa Hoffmann’s blogs on the topic of social media experts.

Josh’s take is that if, as a social media expert, if you can’t answer the following:

1. Do you have any recent examples of how you’ve executed a program for a client?
2. How are you measuring the output/outcomes of this program?

Why should anyone listen to what they have to say.

Mack’s take is that there are those who think they can implement social media & get paid because they have a client list but when it comes down to it; their social media campaigns well…aren’t very social. And then there are those who truly do understand social media, have proven their social media skills with their own blogs, networks, etc., but who are not overtly self-promotional or touting a large client list.

Lisa’s take is that it’s okay to call yourself an expert, because if you don’t the charlatans will take over.

I hope I understood their points correctly…as I agree with all three (correct me if I am wrong, thanks!).

Here’s my take as a new marketing & social media consultant…

Even with 15 years of deep marketing (all the 4Ps of marketing, not just communications) experience and over seven years of teaching as an adjunct marketing & PR professor, I am not expert. Why? Because in my mind if I become an expert I fear that I will have stopped learning. And that is something I never want to happen. Perhaps that just my own personal issue… I fear complacency like the plague.

As marketers, we look at Philip Kotler as a marketing expert, a title rightly deserved. He has worked for decades on analyzing and implementing highly strategic and complicated marketing programs. (BTW, if you just had to Google Kotler, don’t ever called yourself a “social media ‘marketing’ expert” in my presence, okay? Thanks in advance.) But now that social media is flipping marketing on its head…is he still an expert if he isn’t engaged in or examining the impacts of social media & marketing? (This is just meant to be an example, absolutely no disrespect to my superhero!) My point is this; we are in an evolving space. And social media is mainly a communications channel that doesn’t have to fit into marketing; it could work best in customer service or operations. That said, it takes someone with years of business and marketing acumen to understand that and to consult on strategic and tactical execution. Call them experts if you will.

But! If you want to put social media into the marketing bucket and call yourself a social media expert, you better understand how it fits into a marketing plan and how to write measureable plans around it. (But let’s not fool ourselves either. Most marketers don’t know how to write marketing plans and a lot of companies don’t have them either.)

And to jump on an old soapbox, this expert conversation is specifically the reason I don’t like the term “social media marketing.” Lots of folks call themselves “social media marketing experts” without ever having taken a marketing class or a marketing job in their lives. Just because you “get” Twitter/Facebook doesn’t mean you understand how to implement either into strategic marketing goals/objectives…or corporate goals for that matter. And it surely doesn’t make you a marketing expert either. Okay, hopping off the soapbox.

And finally, I do want to address the client list issue that was kicked around. As a new consultant, I don’t have a large client list or any case studies…and I think that is realistic. That said, by the conversation recently had, you’d think doesn’t count for much even given my years of experience and education (or anyone else’s for that matter).

The funny thing is…I haven’t come across one case study of a social media consultant or agency that has fundamentally turned a company around (i.e. from a corporate, marketing or customer communications perspective) utilizing their ‘expert’ skills. Most of the social media experts who are turning companies around are usually employed by those companies (thinking about Dell, Comcast, Zappos, etc.). And most of the campaigns have been just that…campaigns. If there are case studies of sustainable, on-going, game changing social media efforts, please share them with us. I for one would like to know about them.

Another thought to ponder is this…

As a client-side marketer for many moons, I have never once asked a vendor for a case study (we all know they are mostly pumped up bunk anyway). I have though asked for examples, samples, references, and walk-throughs (as in ‘walk me through this campaign’), etc. Mainly it’s because I understand marketing and can smell agency BS a mile away, which becomes totally apparent when they can’t detail a campaign.

Part of me wonders if this need for all these case studies is so that social media “experts” can learn from those who walked before them in an effort to repeat the same. And that, my friends, does not make an expert it makes a copycat.

What do you think about this whole social media expert conversation? Am I missing the point? Do corporations require large, well-known client lists and lots of case studies to hire consultants? Or do they want to just work with people who are passionate about helping them meet their goals/objectives/solve a challenge? What’s your experience (either corporate or agency)?

How can we legitimize who really understands social media? Or can’t we?

[Image: Daily Waste]

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Added 3/6: And because people don’t read…here’s a video to make the process a little bit easier to understand. ‘Cause, really, they are pretty straightforward.

Being fairly new to the social media scene from a business perspective (i.e. implementing social media for business), I hesitated about writing this post. Then I decided that I needed to… if only to, perhaps, offer a different perspective to a recent social media campaign.

This week the team at Edelman selected 25 bloggers to debut Pepsi’s new can design. Very exciting, right? Since I read Mack Collier’s, Chris Brogan’s, Shannon Paul’s and Valeria Maltoni’s blogs daily, I saw each one post their experience and perceptions day-by-day (in that order, which was interesting to me in and of itself). I am not sure who the other 21 bloggers are, but if I find out I’ll be sure to add on to this post with their experiences. (Apologies in advance to the other 21, but I haven’t had the time to sort through everything on Twitter.)

Mack didn’t reveal who the company was; he just mentioned that it was one we all knew. Chris missed a few key components of the ‘analog’ campaign, Shannon did a video unveiling with her friends Ken Burbary and Craig Daitch, which was totally cool because we as viewers could experience it firsthand. Valeria took pictures of the packages she was sent and added some brand thought leadership.

Here’s the thing. While it’s cool to share this kind of excitement with fellow bloggers (and I give credit to Edelman and Pepsi for that, who wouldn’t want kudos and word of mouth buzz from colleagues in this space?), wouldn’t have been better to engage Pepsi evangelists?

In just one Google search I found:

• The Pepsi Fan Club
• Pepsi Collector’s Club (They have local chapters in Chicago and Southern California!)
• Mike and Joanne at the Pepsi Collector (they have had over 67,000 views!)

Evangelists LOVE your company and your products…hence the name, right?! As Mack Collier put it so eloquently: “Evangelists for this company would have gone absolutely apeshit over the packages!” Just think of how explosive this could have been if Edelman/Pepsi reached out to any of the above social networking sites that they built themselves based on the love of Pepsi. WOW!

If I was doing social media for Pepsi (a dream, I know), here are 10 steps that I might have thrown on the table:

1. Join the above forums/groups and listen to what the Pepsi evangelists are saying.
2. After a bit, join the conversation. Let them know that they are loved in return.
3. Share some exclusive Pepsi goodies with them.
4. Ask the groups how they feel about the current packaging.
5. Share some ideas about some new branding concepts.
6. Get their feedback.
7. If, and only if, feedback is positive about a new brand, select 25 members and ask their permission to mail them a surprise package.
8. Get their reaction to the packaging.
9. Utilize their excitement (with their permission, of course) for exposure outside their community (i.e. traditional marketing)
10. Continue the conversation…daily, on-going, as long as the community exists. (i.e. DO NOT use the community for your branding efforts!)

These are just my ideas. What are your thoughts? Do you like the campaign? How would you have handled it? Does social media work within the chamber? Am I missing something?

If you are Edelman or Pepsi and see this post, please stop by! Inquiring minds would love to know how the campaign came about and your objectives for blogger outreach! Thank you in advance.

[Image: istock]

Added 10/30/08: Darryl Parker has been tracking the Pepsi 25 and his conversation with Edelman’s Pepsi’s B. Bonin Bough over on his blog, Employ the Web!. Check it out for more insights on this campaign.

Added 10/31/08: David Armano’s post on his experience: Classically Un-Classic.