Accidental Heroes

When it happens you are in a conversation with friends, or attending a seminar, or reading a random article. You’re unexpectedly introduced to someone whose perspective changes yours.  At that moment you know you won’t be able to see the world in the same way again.  I call these people Accidental Heroes or AH. Frankly AHA would be a better acronym since that’s what you say when this hero brings you to an enlightened view point.  You know, the natural reaction is to say “a ha!”.  You’ll see what I mean once I share a couple of personal examples.

On my top ten list is Wilbur Schramm.  Often called the “father of communication studies,” he continues to have a great influence on the development of communication research.  His famous model of “shared fields of experience” rocked my grad student world because in examining human interaction he diagrammed what happens when two people are talking to each other.

I’ve recreated it here and it may not look world transforming to you, but for me it was confirmation that the important action I can take in understanding another person is to find where there are common experiences and build the dialog on those “shared experiences”.

 

In fact, social networking services like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+, are based on this principal that shared experiences are necessary for understanding. (Where to you think the idea for those circles originated?) This is why it is so much easier to talk to a friend than with a stranger.  Your common experiences make it possible to comprehend each other.  The dialog with a stranger is more of an adventure as it starts with speaking the same language and then evolves as you discover you have similar interests, skills, or friends.

Another of my accidental heroes is Hugh MacLeod.  He is a cartoonist, who succinctly reveals our true nature in an Occum’s Razor kind of way.  His value to me is his daily work, where he offers up insights into human behavior and the psychology of marketing like this one for example (used with permission –gapingvoid.com).

Good stuff, sometimes funny but always forcing me to take a look beyond my normal parameters. In both AH examples, Hugh and Wilbur, their discoveries become part of my journey as I strive to solve my favorite riddle, the buying behavior puzzle.

Last thought is that you just never know where or when new folks with new ideas will surface.  You need to keep your eyes open, read things you don’t agree with and look in places that challenge your comfort zone. Your Accidental Heroes are waiting, do me a favor and let them in.

 

5 Ways the New Facebook Builds Brands

On March 30, brand pages on Facebook that have not made the change to the new Timeline format will automatically be converted. This means that if you haven’t updated your company’s page by Friday, Facebook will do it for you. The impetus behind the new format is that Facebook wants businesses to act and interact like people.  Steering away from a “buy now” approach, they’ve incorporated strong visuals, fan loyalty techniques, and storytelling to encourage brand interaction. They’re imposing some guidelines too.  Facebook’s design lead Sam Lessin explains: “The key with cover photos is storytelling and expression. We want to create a good experience for everyone, and we think these guidelines really help brands…They’re encouraging people to create engaging content that people want to come back to.”

When you start to examine the new format, you’ll quickly see that there are five major modifications in these Facebook brand pages. First, like a cover photo on a magazine, there’s a widescreen image at the top of the page. This is your brand’s first impression to attract your audience. And to ensure that you keep it inviting, Facebook has imposed image guidelines that exclude your using this space as a billboard for website addresses, contact information, or promotions.

Second, placed vertically on the right is the historical timeline. This is an opportunity to showcase your brand’s stories. Different from the old format, here companies are able to add past events that don’t necessarily tie into the date on which they joined Facebook, i.e. a company’s founding or other milestone. This is a great method for humanizing your brand and showcasing your credibility through strong engaging content.

Third, to help you drive traffic to key areas, Facebook has introduced the ability to make selected content “sticky” for seven days. The new Timeline format gives brands the option to “pin” key information to the top of the page so you can highlight important content like that hot promotional offer or the free white paper.

Fourth, there are also some handy new admin capabilities for page managers built into the Timeline so you’ll be able to view metrics about your page performance, edit content, and respond to messages from every day users. In addition, your consumers will be able to message your brand directly and you, in turn, will be able to provide tailored responses to specific questions or comments. Also, instead of deleting posts, you can curate your content, hiding comments that are out of date or inappropriate.

Finally, in addition to these aesthetic and functional changes, this new format will be an impetus for brands to develop their own custom apps that build on Facebook’s new social applications. It will promote the development of “Open Graph” apps, which have their data tapped for ad targeting, an area of business focus for Facebook. Timeline is a sophisticated evolution of the Facebook experience; it’s one that’s grown to gain a more comprehensive and detailed picture of the user’s interactions. It will influence the way companies deliver their Facebook strategies. These new capabilities will require more time and attention but are something your business will want to maximize. What are your thoughts on this new format? I’d love to read your comments.

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First Steps to Going Social

You know, corporate America is by nature, not social. Most corporations are still wedded to a traditional marketing approach, based on TV, radio and print ads, and aren’t sure how to integrate social media channels or where to start. There is also this sense of panic that comes from ignoring the profit potential of millions customers who are consuming media in new ways. Except for executives with their heads in the sand (like the folks that print checks for example), many fear that the new marketing train is leaving without them and that their missing out on revenues.

The solution? I start with the customer experience because it is, after all where the technology is taking us. Social media enables marketers to engage the customer through helpful and ethical dialog (not shouting out and hoping they’ll hear you). And it goes without saying, but I’m saying it anyway, customers are how you make your money. Your customers are the ticket.

First steps should include discovering best practices in your industry. Remember that social media hasn’t been around that long, 3-5 years at best. So keep in mind that your competitors’ efforts are still in “beta”. And when you’re compiling your list of new marketing tactics, focus on non-industry success stories too. Ask if those best practices fit with your customer segments.

To understand your own customers’ perceptions and proclivities, next on my to-do list is listening. What are they saying about you? Conduct that customer survey. Equally important is to team up with your customer service reps. Frankly these two items should be part of your marketing plan anyway. When you monitor calls don’t focus on the rep’s response time, focus on what your customers are saying.

Also on my list is finding out about customers’ attitudes in online chatter. Online discussions (groups, forums and complaints) will also help you form an understanding of what social channels your customers use. Not everyone has a home computer but what percentage of your customers use cell phones? Maybe your product isn’t a good fit on Facebook but it’s a great fit for a mobile strategy. Find out so you can “be” where your customers are.

With customer experience improvement as the goal, your marketing strategy will include your tried and true sales methods and now will be improved by offering up social media venues. My suggestion is to start small, in the form of an A/B test. Not only is it less daunting but can lead to some wonderful rollouts and subsequent long term success.

Business needs to understand, that social media is a tool and that waiting to employ it is not an option. However, this confusion over where to start isn’t surprising. The inherent benefits of social media and networks are so revolutionary that it will take time for the technology, the methods and the key players to solidify. But don’t make the mistake of waiting for that to happen. Today, market share belongs to early adopters.