TreyPennington

12 Personas to show you who’s online and how they feel about being online

If you want to use social media to build relationships with your customers and prospects, you’ll want to have a very good idea of exactly who they are. ExactTarget and CoTweet have done the heavy-lifting to develop 12 online personas to help you understand customer expectations and behavior on social media.

Their report examines both user-generated content and user-content consumption and charts the results. Here is a quick list of the 12 social media profiles.

  1. Inner Circle: more interested in keeping and enhancing existing relationships than making new ones. Facebook is the tool of choice. Marketers will have a tough time reaching them.
  2. Cautious: very selective about what they share online. If they “Like” a company Facebook Page, it’s only because their friend owns the company. Facebook is their daily tool, but they attempt to keep their social footprint small.
  3. Info Seeker: they’re in search of information and consume it when they find it. They don’t create much content. They’ll “Like” a Facebook Page so they can share, not receive.
  4. Enthusiasts: their offline interests and hobbies drive them online. They intentionally use Facebook to show their support for favorite brands. Enthusiasts rely on each other, not companies, for information.
  5. Deal Seekers: they’re hungry for promotional content everywhere they can get it. Believe it or not, their median income is actually above the national media income.
  6. Shoppers: these folks are more interested in talking about shopping than actually buying something online. Instead, they scour the Internet researching upcoming purchases. Quality, not savings, drives their quest for content.
  7. News Junkie: you know this one—they spend a lot of time searching for late-breaking news. The contribute a ton of content, too, especially as comments on news sites. Surprisingly, they’re even “more likely to read product reviews than Shoppers, Enthusiasts, and Deal Seekers.”
  8. Gamer: the Internet exists to connect these folks with both games and other gamers.
  9. Social Butterfly: you also know this one—”making and maintaining a lot of online friendships” is top priority for them. [hey, stop staring at me. I’m not a social butterfly. I could stop at any time, if I wanted to. Really, I could.] They both create and consume massive amounts of content. Folks fitting this persona make up a relatively small portion (13%) of online users.
  10. Business First: heavy content creators but focused on using everything for business purposes. Also a small group (8%). Though they’re not likely to follow brands on Twitter, “they are the most active on Twitter.” Facebook is NOT the tool of choice. [see, I told you I’m not a Social Butterfly. I’m a Business First guy, right? Oh, wait, maybe not: this is the “most affluent” persona. Guess I’m back to Social Butterfly.]
  11. Megaphone: another one you’re probably quite familiar with. They’re aggressive online, receive more email than anyone else, but see Facebook and Twitter as preferred avenues of interaction with brands. While they’re The Influencers, they are also easily influenced and are “more likely to become a subscriber, fan or follower at the recommendation of others.”
  12. Open Book: they lay it all out on the table. Though they don’t follow brands on Twitter, they are very active on Twitter. If you want to reach them, you’ll have to be very open in encouraging and responding to candid feedback.

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How to “win” with social media

Wherever I go to speak, entrepreneurs and corporate marketing professionals come up to me afterward and ask, “But what do we DO with social media?”

So, forget all the fancy plans; forget the ever-unsatisfying pursuit of ROI. Please just let this video sink in. Let this one thought permeate all that you do on social media. If you will, I guarantee you that you will discover exactly what you should DO on social media.

Here’s the foundational principle at work on social media:

  • everyone wants to be heard
  • everyone wants to be understood
  • everyone wants to know his or her life matters.

You START that process by paying attention. On Twitter that starts by following the people who are following you. Period. It is just that simple. The next step is making social media about them, not you. And that starts by acknowledging their presence.

[Whenever I say something like this, someone with 250 followers will try to tell me they follow only people who add value to their own social media experience. I won’t tackle the challenges with that argument in this post, but I would encourage you to seriously think through the value system that would produce such a conclusion.]

Please watch T.J. Thyne’s famous video and then notice the people around you: acknowledge & affirm—it’s how to win with social media and in real life, too.

Trey Pennington

PS. You are AWESOME!

How to be a media maven

Want to accumulate influence? Here’s the really, really cool thing about it: all you have to do is really pay a lot of attention to others. Boom. There you go. That’s it. When that attention comes from a heart overflowing with a genuine interest and care for others, you’re well on your way to becoming a media maven. To give you a solid role model to watch/study, here’s an interview with the Boston Media Maven, CC Chapman.

It’s a long interview and it showcases my still-developing audio-editing skills (or lack thereof), so there are a couple of times where I cut out stuff I didn’t mean to. Still, there’s plenty of gold in CC’s conversation. Love his philosophy, “Now there are no boundaries on who you can help.”

The Boston Media Maven, CC Chapman. He tells you how easy it is to be a media maven, too.
In the interview, Professor Chapman (he’s an adjunct prof), gives us some predictions about the future (“location-based everything is going to gangbusters,” and “tablet computing might just come of age, and not just because of Apple”), and shares stories of others who shine the spotlight on others (sadly, neither one of us could come up with a politician who was good at using social media, or ANY media, to shine the spotlight on others; maybe there’s one out there).

He also gave some beautiful advice for developing an effective online presence: “say ‘hi’ to everyone.”

Trey Pennington

[direct link to podcast with CC Chapman MP3 file in case the player gives you trouble]

Audio from the small group meeting with Seth Godin in Manhattan

This is an incredible age of opportunity. We have the power and tools to make and connect with friends around the world who can truly make stuff happen. It would take a long time to catalog all the good stuff flowing my way just THIS month (London, Paris, New York, Orlando, etc.)…one highlight was a day spent in a private session with Seth Godin on his home turf in Manhattan.

About 60 of us gathered to listen. Imagine our wonder and awe when we realized SETH was there to listen, too! Officially, no video cameras were allowed. Unofficially, he allowed me to video tape him, with the proviso that I not publish it. Later during our time together, I questioned him on his “don’t share” policy, but that’s a long post for another time. (To get you primed for THAT post, please check out 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Search for “abundance mentality” and ponder the implications of Covey’s registered trademark of the phrase.)

Even though I can’t share the video with you, I CAN share this audio file of the event. I have Seth’s explicit permission to host and share the MP3 file. I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy it.

Confessions of a world traveler

magritte

Eric Fletcher posted a tweet saying, “World traveller @treypennington…” At first, I was a tad embarrassed, then I embraced his reference. This IS an incredible time and I am grateful for the amazing adventure life is. I’m even more thankful for the fuel powering this adventure.

tweet

No doubt most of us think of places when we hear “world traveler,” as in Big Ben or the London Eye in London or the Eiffel Tower, River Senn, or Notre Dame in Paris. All are fantastic places and places I’ve been able to see this year. Still, there’s something else that makes those places so memorable…

London is a romantic, history-rich place with ample venues for catching up with Gemma, Caroline, Luke, Dickie, Eric, Drew, Gabrielle and many other friends. Paris is home to Loic, Thibault, Maxim, and Michelle. Devon is home territory for Scott, Andrew, John, and a whole host of people who are friends.

My journeys abroad take me face-to-face with friends—friends I met and got to know first on social media (primarily Twitter). The fuel for my “world travels” is the people of social media.

magritte-golconde

Social media opens doors to new friends all over the place. To experience the true hidden treasure in social media, it’s vital to take advantage of opportunities to get face-to-face. Social media can fuel the initial connections and the ongoing connections; face-to-face adds immeasurable richness to the experience.

Social media not only opens the doors to new friends, it also paves the road to opportunities usually limited to folks called celebrities. For instance, because of connections and interactions facilitated by social media, I’ll spend time with Seth Godin in New York and with Zig Ziglar in Orlando…all this month and then again with Chris Brogan in Memphis next month.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because I’m a celebrity or an important person? Hardly. The point is, I’m an average person who’s having an extraordinary experience because of new friends all around the world. The tools that connected me with those friends are readily available to you. That means you have what you need to discover the open doors to whatever adventure you want.

Those of us who enjoy what can be accomplished through social media often spend a lot of time actually talking about the media. The media is fascinating. The adventure begins, though, not with the media, but with people it connects you with.

My adventure, and joy in life, is finding new friends, being with them long enough to catch a vision of their hidden treasure, help them see it and then encourage them and help them grasp it to do something.

Your adventure is probably something entirely different. You, for instance, may want to get people to consume resources with minimal impact on the environment: there are brilliant people doing unbelievably cool things around your adventure…they just probably aren’t hanging out at your local coffee shop or pub. They probably are hanging out online…and sharing what they’re learning (check out what Norway is doing about storing the CO2 deep under the sea, for instance).

Whatever your dream adventure is, there are probably whole communities of people already gathering online to talk about it. Why not jump in online and watch for your opportunity to get face-to-face with them?

Trey Pennington

How to make sure your stuff POPS!

“Help! I’m drowning!”

You probably felt that way about information overload BEFORE you added social media to your daily routine. Now you, me and everyone else are drowning in a swirling sea of data, appeals, ads, options, opt-ins, opt-outs and so many pop-up screens we’re all pooped-out. The problem is, as business owners and leaders, we still have to communicate and connect.

On my radio show, Social Media Professor, I spoke with someone who can help: Sam Horn. Sam is someone who knows how to make product names, taglines and headlines POP! She assures us we “don’t have to have an MBA or a multimillion-dollar budget to create one-of-a-kind ideas, products, and messages. All you need is the POP! Process: a fun, fascinating, and strategic approach for making your message purposeful, original, and pithy—to generate instant intrigue and word-of-mouth buzz.”

POP book cover
POP book cover

Hear the Social Media Professor interview with Sam Horn on BlogTalkRadio.

Subscribe to the Social Media Professor Podcast on iTunes.

Sam Horn: Twitter | Web

Jumpstart your naming brainstorm with a prefix, suffix and root chart.

How to be un-boring: interview with Scott Stratten, Mr. Unmarketing

Talk about cutting through the clutter! Want to make a point about pointless wall posts? Check out the Unmarketing hit song and video. Makes the point, yes? If you want to do something even more memorable, check out Scott’s contrarian marketing philosophy and tactics on his blog and Twitter stream (but please don’t post teddy bears, hearts, or even blessings on his wall).

Scott took a few minutes with me to talk about his upcoming book, Unmarketing, the tour to support it (how ’bout that “un-book tour”?), and the un-usual method he employed to git-er-dun. Time with Scott is like happy hour at an oxygen bar: you’ll leave refreshed and pumped for a grand adventure.

Guest Scott Stratten: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Scott Stratten: Twitter | Website
Subscribe to the Social Media Professor Podcast on iTunes.

[link to the Social Media Professor with Scott Stratten podcast file because Google Buzz drops the embed]

Are you ready for the temporal rift in marketing?

In the opening episode of sci-fi blockbuster Torchwood, Captain Jack says, “It’s the 21st century; that’s when everything changes.” Though we’re not experiencing a temporal rift in the space-time continuum, we are undergoing a seismic shift in the locus of power in commercial communication—a marketing temporal rift. Branding legend Tom Asacker, in A Little Less Conversation, describes five major trends painting the edges of this shift:

  1. Today’s consumer is supersaturated with choice
  2. Today’s consumer is bombarded with overwhelming amounts of information thrust upon them from an endless array of media
  3. The marketplace is influenced by radical transparency and message amplification
  4. Not only are consumers well informed and savvy, they want to participate in marketing (in the past, consumers were content merely to consume marketing with no expectation of co-creating it)
  5. Customers do not trust businesses or the people who run them

What do these trends mean for marketers? For starters, it means that marketers are not in charge. Public relations pros of yesteryear admonished corporations and political candidates to “control the message.” Even if that ever was possible, it’s impossible today. There are too many people creating their own messaging on too many platforms for anyone to control the message.

Secondly, it means marketers simply must focus on the people in the marketplace. Getting the message IN is a first step toward overcoming the pervasive skepticism in consumer’s minds. Could be that what you HEAR is far more valuable than anything you might possibly SAY.

Third, old notions such as economy-of-scale just don’t matter any more. The marketplace IS a level playing field for anyone willing to forget old habits, humbly engage with human beings person-to-person, and give people an opportunity to co-create the experiences they seek.

Chief Marketing Officers have their work cut out for them. The marketing temporal rift changes everything. The world “out there” has already changed radically. The question is, can CMOs handle the change required “in here” to even survive?

It’s NOT about the money!

What is the goal of business? As one classically trained in American business, I can confidently quote to you the textbook answer:

The goal of business is to increase shareholder wealth.

While one might think “shareholder wealth” would be open to interpretation, I’ll put your mind at rest by letting you know the almost universal understanding of the term is MONEY.

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Empathy: The first step in creating value

The first step in creating something valuable for your audience is to think and feel what your audience is feeling. Tom Asacker in A Little Less Conversation, p. 61

Empathy: getting really close to folks so you can almost see it from their eyes and feel it as they do

empathy

There’s never been a better time for small businesses and independents to leverage technology and excel! Asacker says you’ll need to “go deep” in your relationship with your marketplace. Deep enough, in fact, to be close enough to them during those precise times when they’re exposed to your types of products and services, evaluating options, receptive to messages, and making decisions, so that you can make informed predictions about how to stimulate their desire, have them care about and relate to you and your offering and, subsequently, make them happy (p. 61).

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