Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much!
Social Marketing is the ultimate in Permission Marketing, and therefore it carries the ultimate marketing danger with it: taking away the permission is totally in the consumers’ control. Brands be(a)ware!
Permission Marketing puts the power in the consumer’s hands, by requiring that the marketers send promotional messages only to consumers who have given marketers permission to do so, whether explicitly (opt-in email list, for example) or implicitly (internet search).
What do “butts,” “ChapStick,” and “social” have in common? They are all part of a recent huge—and very public – series of poor choices that have seriously impacted the reputation of a major brand. I actually pulled those three words from the categories assigned to Tim Nudd’s recent AdWeek article, ChapStick Gets Itself in A Social Media Death Spiral.
So what happened? Long story short (read the article for full details), ChapStick posted an ad that was offensive to some people, and when those people voiced their opinions on ChapStick’s Facebook Fan Page, ChapStick deleted those comments… and kept deleting them as they were posted.
I recently spent three days in LA at Blog World (Blog World and New Media Expo #bwela), with some of my favorite people (bloggers and those connected to them), saturating myself with information while starting new and building on old relationships. As you probably know by now, I love connecting with people online, but I love even more connecting the old-fashioned way – face-to-face!
Other than stronger connections and new relationships, the most important takeaway from the conference, IMHO, is that we all need to stop worrying about “where it’s going” in Social and start concentrating on “where it is.”
Thanksgiving, the time when we give thanks not just FOR, but TO those who have been an important part of our lives: our friends and family, our customers, shoppers, advocates, and critics. Yes, I give thanks for ALL of them because they all provide a possibility for a relationship, which is really what it is all about.
This year, I propose we all try a Social Thanksgiving – one where we focus on the true meaning and value of relationships, and take the time to pay attention to others first (and ourselves next).
Let’s make this Social Thanksgiving a time to make sure everyone remembers two of the most important rules of a relationship:
#1: More important than finding your own light, help others to find theirs.
When we help others find their lights, we enter into a relationship with them – collaborating with them, giving of ourselves, and experiencing the gift of seeing life for a while through their eyes. We can always use a chance to and a fresh perspective on our own lives (and who knows, that could be the way that we end up finding our own light!).
#2: Build people up, don’t tear them down.
This is one of my rules and it should be one of yours too… no matter who you are interacting with. When we tear others down, it is only because we feel small and inadequate and are taking it out on someone else. Take that energy and put it into BUILDING the relationship and supporting others instead of trying to make them small enough that you seem more powerful, wise, or successful.
All people deserve your respect and genuine caring, and what really makes you shine is when you accept them, and build them up so they can see their own light and shine it on the path for others.
Why not take this Social Thanksgiving idea one step further, and going forward, use those two rules of relationship to inspire campaigns and consumer outreach that leads to deeper emotional connections with customers/shoppers? I have tried it – it is the way I do business – and I can tell you, IT WORKS.
So this Thanksgiving, I thank each of you for building me up and helping me shine my light, and I hope I have the chance to do the same for you! May you and your loved ones have a Happy and Social Thanksgiving!
Ted Rubin
Originally posted at TedRubin.com
One of my LinkedIn connections (Phil Masiello) recently asked me an important question – one that, in my opinion, everyone should be asking themselves if they haven’t already. Following is his question, with my response and a few additional thoughts:
Phil: Ted, I have my Twitter linked to my LinkedIn account. One of my contacts is complaining to me that I shouldn’t do that. Linked in is for business and Facebook is for other. My twitter is mostly related to business, business travel, etc. What is your thought? Should I take twitter off LinkedIn?
My response went something like this:
I connect my Twitter activity to my Linkedin account because I do very little daily LinkedIn interaction and this way my LinkedIn presence still has a life. I DO NOT connect Twitter to Facebook since those posts do fill up peoples pages and cause issues, and the language I use for Twitter and Facebook differs so greatly.
I have had a few LinkedIn complaints as well (about showing my Twitter activity there), but those complaints are HUGELY outweighed by the positive feedback and interaction it creates for me in a medium that lacks that easy functionality. I explain this to those who complain, and they all understand my reasoning. That being said, if they are unhappy, they can simply unlink from me, with no harm done.
I DO pay attention to these things and if the negative begins to outweigh the positive, I will change my practice.
The key things to ask before linking any social media streams are:
Although each social media tool has several shared attributes, each tool also has different functionality and different purpose – which draws a different audience and content for each.
Bottom line? Pay attention to your audience and make sure your links between tools are of value to each audience involved, and not just an easy (but useless) way for you to spray your content far and wide. Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
On the other hand, when done intentionally and appropriately, linking content feeds from one social media tool to another can be a highly effective and valuable way to extend your online presence to more than one relevant audience in more than one way.
Bottom line? It’s your choice… just choose wisely, for the sake of all involved.
Ted Rubin
PS. Notice how Phil used social media to request information from a trusted source. LOVE it!
Originally posted at Zemoga’s FromBogotaWithLove.com