Too Much Facebook Lately? Let’s Talk About Twitter!

Three trends on Twitter, discourse, language and engagement that are worth taking a look at. Here goes:

Trend 1: Brand Hijacking of Trending Topics

When a topic is talked about by lots of people on Twitter, it is called a “Trending Topic.” Sometimes, this trend can be one word and have a “Hashtag” or pound sign in front of it.

Oftentimes, these Trending Topics can be rather risque. Sometimes, they can be in poor taste.

TODAY: the number one “un-sponsored” Trending Topic is this phrase:

Twitter.com, Sept 23, 2011

So, no matter where you stand on this particular topic – whether you think it’s promoting violence or you think it’s all in good fun – you can choose to ignore it if you would like.

You don’t have to be part of the conversation if you don’t want to. You can stay far, far away from it.

In fact, if you’re a brand marketer, we’re going to recommend that you stay away. You don’t want to be associated with the types of discussions that might be happening on Twitter right now around this topic.

Then there’s Radio Shack.

If you’re a brand with money to spend, you can pay to “promote” your tweet – so that anyone who clicks on the term and searches for the latest commentary on that topic can see your message.

Like this:

Radio Shack Says What?

What’s the Takeaway? The brand is out of your hands. So think twice before “hijacking” a sponsored topic that could get you in trouble.

Trend 2: Blue Language and Twitter

I like to point fingers at glass houses, so why not use myself as an example here?

Fact: When checking keywords during a recent Twitter session – search.twitter.com is HIGHLY recommended – I decided to say that the assertion that a certain site (Klout) sending gifts to people was not, contrary to a tweeter’s belief, evidence that “Social Media Works.” I used the word “bull—-” which may or may not fit your definition of “Blue Language.” However, I was admonished:

I started this

Rather than this becoming Twitter War Three, I was able to have some polite off-line discussions with the person offended, and, yes, I apologized for using that term. Then I started following her on Twitter.

What’s the takeaway? You’re not going to make everyone happy anywhere you go on the web. What’s okay to you is over the line to others. You can’t win every time.

BUT: Should You Clean It Up?

Here’s where authenticity is key. I would only use that sort of language in a public forum in rare occasions – giving a speech, it depends on the audience, and it’s not “part of my act.” Some writers, bloggers, consultants and speakers CAN get away with this: Danny Brown, Erika Napoletano and Jason Falls all come to mind.

The question you need to ask yourself is this: if you’re the kind of person for whom Blue Language is part of the fabric, great. For me, upon further review, it’s not, and I’m much better sticking to my “nice guy, no potty mouth” persona.

Trend 3: Being Okay with Automation

If you want to have a lively discussion about the use of Twitter, talk about “Automation.” In some worlds, it’s completely bogus. In other worlds, it’s completely necessary.

In my world, it’s (to borrow from above) part of the fabric. And it’s also tough to tell where it’s actually happening these days:

What is automated?

Looking at the above snapshot of  Shelly Kramer’s  Twitter stream from over the weekend – you can’t totally tell.  The “via”, the “twrt.me” links, any and all of it could be part of an automation program, or NONE of it could be part of an automation program.

These are four sample tweets – do these four mean she doesn’t engage with people? (NO, she DOES.)  Is she always engaging with people? Does she have a team of interns? Is she up at all hours?

What’s the Takeaway? There are uber-tweeters with 100,000-plus followers and absolutely no automation. There are others who automate some, and still others who can’t be bothered with tweeting themselves but have a team doing it for them.

You need to make your own decision, and you don’t have to make an absolute decision. It might make total sense, or no sense at all.

As long as you’re actually having conversations with people, you’re on your way to real engagement.

Coming Full Circle: Can You Still Be “Lively” on Twitter?

I’ll admit to falling a little off the wagon of late when it comes to Twitter: I used to spend all hours on the site, then I was down to a few minutes a day “checking in.” I’m back a little more because it is in line with my business objectives – and I’m in a “Relationship Business,” so building relationships on Twitter is of strategic importance.

You need to make the decisions based on what’s right for your business – and choose the style and tone that makes the most sense.

Want to hear more “thinking” like this? Check out our Holistic Social Media Lesson – part of the 12 Minute Marketing series. It’s free to watch that, and four other sample lessons, using this link. And no “opt-in” necessary…ah, that’s a subject for another post.

Screen grab from New Twitter front page

Gotta admit, I for one welcome the new Twitter front page overlords.

In all honestly, this change may have slipped by a good many users. If you are set to auto-connect, or you use a client like HootSuite or TweetDeck, you may have missed this.

But it’s tough to miss something so striking, and simple, and cool.

Let’s break it down:

Follow your interests.

What greets you on Twitter

“Friends” – “Industry Experts” – “Favorite celebrities.” Tipping the hat to Twitter’s focus on celebrity and, frankly, broadcasting updates from important people and people who think they’re important. (And me.)

I, as a user, get it. But what’s in it for the newbie? The person who doesn’t get why they should “follow” anything at all?

Recognize anyone? A brand, maybe?

That's Pete Carroll up there

What’s brilliant about this new approach is that, among those random, rotating photos above – there’s bound to be someone or something that says to you “oh, I can connect with them!”

Love to hear if you have access to this – or if you’ve noticed it when you logged in.

Always evolving – that’s Twitter.

There’s a tool, available for free, that can maximize your time spent on Twitter. It’s called SocialOomph, we’ve used it off and on for the past couple years.

You’ll find features that will allow you to do things like manage multiple accounts, or queue up updates on things that can be sent at off hours.

There’s a dangerous feature, though, called “Autofollow.” And, even though we did use it with our Area 224 account, we have turned it off within the past month. Why?

Imagine 200 of these following you

It’s no joke: as we’re going through the list of followers – those who are receiving our updates in their stream – we found about 200 very similar accounts. All of them doing the same thing: “FirstnameLastnameYY.” Same type of bio.

You want to maximize your time spent, and you don’t want your stream clogged up with crap like this. Don’t autofollow.

Image courtesy bigsoccer.com

If you’re following Kenneth Cole’s “Brand Suicide”…

Hat Tip to our pal Shelly Kramer for her analysis of the Kenneth Cole Twitter Issue. You can read her take here: Kenneth Cole Brand Suicide.

Let’s take a look at another aspect of this situation: The Perils of the Personal Brand.

Or, maybe, more accurately, The Perils of the Eponymous Brand.

Kenneth Cole – person, shoe brand, both – may well weather this storm. Maybe they’ll sell some shoes. Maybe Kenneth himself will make a public apology, allow us to bask in the glow.

But when YOU are the brand – Kenneth Cole, Martha Stewart, John Smith Company – what do you do to get out of a situation like this?

If you’re running an Eponymous Brand – if the company is named after you – do your cohorts live the vision?

Can they say stuff on your behalf – like on Twitter – so that this sort of thing doesn’t happen? Can they talk you out of the really bad ideas – like borrowing from a real life-and-death crisis to try to sell your spring collection?

Have you come up with a strategy behind your communications? Or are you throwing proverbial spaghetti against the wall?

If you work for a Personal Brand – do you feel empowered?

Martha Stewart has survived numerous crises – probably because (like, say, Oprah) she’s got the right deputies everywhere – and she set out to build something larger than herself.

But are you in a position where you can tell the boss, “hey, this is a bad idea?”

What do you think? Is building a Personal Brand a bad idea – and an Eponymous Brand an even worse one?

At some point, you’ll start to figure out what exactly defines you. Then you become the target customer, and you want to discover more stuff like what defines you. Like this, from Constantines.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=30yEWwQEYIk

So this video got us thinking: why them? How did we “discover” them?

Well, it actually goes back to these guys: Arkells.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFrTZe-wQPI

Who we discovered when we saw them, in Chicago, opening for these guys: Tokyo Police Club.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1yS7Jnq7qw

Which leads us back to our Holistic Social Media concept.

Here’s that photo again -- my, this is a rather visual post, no?

(c) 2010, Area 224

See how “your business” is in the middle? Well, in the case of these three bands, replace the word “music” in the middle circle.

Then make it bigger, and tilt the other circles around…

Inbound Marketing FTW.

These guys have a presence on the social networks, there are blogs from their record labels, and there is a tiny bit of concert-oriented geo-sharing going on.

And, since we link above to the Twitter accounts of all three, you can see that there’s SOME Twitter activity.

But the winner, here, is video. AND the keywords associated with the videos -- specifically on YouTube.

And the recommendations attached TO the videos -- of other songs to check out.

AND THE COMMENTS.

In-between the obligatory “Justin Bieber” comments (positive and negative), you can find other recommendations. “I heard these guys live, but you should also check out Constantines.”

So, is there a “Right Way” to do Holistic Social Media?

The Canadian Indie Rock acts we’ve mentioned today are there on all the platforms -- but the product seals the deal. There’s no right way -- but having something that people like as the core of your business -- That. Is. Vital.

That video was in Portuguese -- and, since that’s what Brazilians speak, and Brazilians love their Twitter. Well, as of Monday, there’s an English version. (250,000 views since then. Probably one Today Show or Mashable mention away from explosion.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA

While, IMHO, Portuguese looks so amazingly cool on the web, the group behind it scores serious points for whipping one up in English, too. They’re called Excentric and they’re in Lisbon.

Community. Welcome to the buzzword that won’t die. Are you building community? How are you nurturing your community? What kind of community do you have?

We think this word will take over for the word “engagement.”

BUT…Community will continue – and continue to make sense for marketers and communicators who have to sell this social stuff to the board room.

Want to engage your customers? Meh.

Turning your customers into a community, though, makes a heck of a lot more sense. Community is something you build. People want to join a community that makes them feel welcome. Look for this buzzword to have some meat to it in 2011.

Accountability. Marketers have struggled with this for ages – and, if you’re in the social media industry (there is one), you’re probably smack dab in-between ad people and PR people. And both sides have all the answers. And neither side wants to relinquish control. And…

The web, the social media revolution, internet marketing, holistic social media – all that stuff rolled into one gives marketers the ability to measure almost infinite amounts of stuff. Which means accountability moves to the forefront.

The key on this Accountability movement – getting internal silos to talk to each other. Analytics people – meet the PR team. Ad guys – here are the sales gals.

Spend $10,000 on social? Quantify it to $50,000 in sales. Or move on. Soft sciences – like “brand value” and “sentiment” – those will start to disappear.

Wikipedia QR Code

QR Madness. Last year, you probably could have said that “every brand will have a Twitter account” and been correct. This year, the prediction is that every brand will jump into the QR pool with both feet.

They have to – these little code thingies are becoming vital because so many people don’t use the web on their computer. They use it on their phone. (An estimated 40% of Facebook users are accessing Facebook from a mobile device.)

These codes will give rise to scavenger hunts, brand marketing pieces, interactive content, the list goes on.

TV goes live, again. Awesome article in the most recent issue of Fast Company that talks about TV’s use of Twitter. Here’s a link to it, we suggest you read it immediately.

Gist: Shared experiences are back.

If you think about Twitter as a real-time conversation engine, then you can see the potential. People start talking about Justin Beaver (what one of the #224lings calls him), then there’s a rush to see what is happening with the Biebs. Next, you find out that he’s on some show right now. It’s a shared experience.

Time-shifting Glee is okay. Watching Glee while millions of others watch Glee AND commenting with them on whether or not Gwyneth can actually sing: the water cooler isn’t waiting for you in the office the next morning, it is happening right now as you watch the program.

And Brand Marketers can glean lots from what is said.

Your turn: what are the trends you see coming down the 2011 pike?

That some communicators just, well, do it better?

Ever wanted to know the tricks – the ones that make you seem like you’re getting 80 hours of work done in 40? The ones that leave your boss scratching her head, saying “how did he DO that?”

Underground Strategies – Join us for the webinar on 12/9. Here’s the downlow:

Underground Strategies.

Oh, and the really cool thing is that tickets stay at $35 for this Webinar – virtual event, all you need is a phone and a computer – until Monday night (12/6), when they magically go up to $49.

AND – we’re going to randomly select TWO registrants to receive a copy of Holistic Social Media – the complete course – a $90 value.

(We think there are THOUSANDS of dollars of tricks and strategies in the complete course…but that’s a subject for another day.)

Here’s that Underground Strategies link again.

5 Categories. Holistic Social Media.

Not too too difficult if you think about it. There are new sites, new tools, new ways of looking at the same old stuff launching seemingly every day. But, as we shared – and learned – during BOOM Camp 2010, big charts and graphs are great if you’re knee-deep in analytics all day. Most people aren’t.

So, to borrow from Lloyd Bridges’ Admiral Benson character in Hot Shots:

“Give it to me straight, Ted. Dot every comma.”

(c) 2010, Area 224

So, behold. The 5 Categories of Holistic Social Media.

You can argue with the categories if you’d like – for instance, we expect to have a few darts thrown our way when we talk about “Microblogging,” as that category also includes “Sharing” and “Bookmarking.”

Oh, and we think that Geo-Sharing – the Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Facebook Places landgrab that’s going on – well, it deserves a category of its own.

A couple other things to let y’all know about before we begin our javelin-catching exercise:

1. YOUR BUSINESS is at the center. Duh.

That does mean, though, that the whole thing may not make sense for you – maybe you’re B2B and Geo-Sharing seems like a wasted exercise. Fine. You don’t need to do it. Because…

2. It sorta kinda resembles a body for a reason.

Blogging is the head, the nerve center. Your business is the heart.

If the Video leg or Micro-blogging hand don’t add up to that much for you – well, these are not the most critical components.

Happy to take any darts or comments from the peanut gallery.

Thanks, simplesbm.com

It is that simple. Right?

Love to think back to that time two years ago when Area 224 was just getting rolling as a marketing consultancy. Back when we were having tons of meetings with tons of businesses and trying to find out what was on everyone’s minds.

The everyone we met with on this particular day was the Chief of Sales for a B2B Concern. (Again, protecting the innocent here.)

This particular person (may have been a man, may have been a woman; protecting the innocent) wanted to buy a “solution.” “Viral marketing,” said s/he, “will solve our problems.”

And…what are those particular problems?

The long silence was deafening.

Seems the CEO had seen a video on YouTube and thought “we should do that.”

Seriously.

The knee-jerk response, two years later, from the C-suite, seems to be “Social Media will solve our problems.”

This possibly brings about the opportunity for us to help you – or for another top-notch marketing consultancy to help you. BUT not before you figure out what the problems are.

What business problem are you attempting to solve?

Dave from Area 224 used to work for a very smart guy who abhorred busy work. And, in the “pre-social media epoch” (right before the YouTube era), he’d ask the above question all the time. Saved us a lot of busy work, but also saved the organization a lot of wasted effort on things that just didn’t make strategic sense.

Your job – as a marketing executive, as a C-suite aspirant, as the guy or gal who needs to translate all this stuff for the bosses (or for yourselves if you’re one of the bosses) – is to ask these questions first. And here’s a little how-to guide.

Why are we doing this? Doesn’t quite matter what the “this” is – could be a video campaign, could be getting the boss on Twitter, could be blogging. The objectives for each could be radically different. You want a video so the CEO can show how passionate s/he is about the business so that your startup can raise its next round of capital. You need to Tweet because it’s the most laser-focused way to reach the 15 influencers you have targeted for relationship building. Your blog has to be launched because you have a network of people who can write insanely well and you want to be the centerpiece of a budding community.

What will happen if we don’t do this? Seriously – you need to think about the alternatives. You may even have to negotiate with your bosses.

Roger Fisher and William Ury wrote a best-seller called “Getting to Yes,” and they coined the term “Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement,” or “BATNA.” Consider the BATNA in your social media planning.

If we don’t get social with our marketing – will our competitors do that? If our competitors do that, will they be able to effectively tell the story that we can tell better? Will they win market share if they beat us to the market?

It might be likely that your competitors are NOT in the position to win lots of eyeballs and market share. It might even be likely that, while they focus on “social,” your focus on product excellence, or distribution channels, or fine-tuning your message could be the best thing for your business.

Upshot: Insert Social Media Here at your own peril – and not without some serious thinking and planning first.