Facebook is Stupid

I haven't been a Facebook fan.

They keep changing, or as they say, improving the site.

But what really ticked me off was all the games people were playing like Mafia Wars and Farmville and it was really annoying.

However, I joined Facebook and learned how to set my privacy controls and filter out the stuff I don't want to see.

Nathan from Villing and Company has done the same:

Why I Stopped Resisting and Finally Joined Facebook

Jul. 6, 2011

Nathan DeSelm

Editor’s Note: While this post is a personal reflection and doesn’t focus directly on marketing, we think it has some indirect marketing relevance. As marketers trying to engage consumers online, it’s important that we keep in mind why people participate in social networks. Unlike traditional advertising, most social networks are, by definition, quite personal and relationship-driven. Companies that thrive in this new environment will be those that modify their messaging and style to match.

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I’m not a very social person. I dislike small talk, and much prefer meaningful one-on-one conversations over the shallow discussions that typify large group settings. I’m also not very good at maintaining long distance relationships, a fact that will be readily supported by any of my high school or college friends that happen to stumble across this article. Get a life, freaks! (just kidding)

“The conversations I find the most engaging are not held in front of an audience.”

Because of these basic personality traits, I was very uncomfortable with the core concept of Facebook. The Facebook ecosystem seems to encourage and thrive on the kinds of shallow, disinterested, even narcissistic conversations that I prefer to avoid in real life. The conversations I find the most engaging are not held in front of an audience. Often, the presence of an audience would destroy the transparency and honesty that I value in good conversations.

But it wasn’t only because I wasn’t interested in reading shallow, sanitized posts from everyone in my life that I didn’t join Facebook. I was also worried about how it might affect me. There’s an element of Facebook that reeks of a popularity contest: who can present the most interesting, witty and desirable version of their life online. I liked to think that I’d be able to rise above petty comparisons, judgmental voyeurism and vapid self-promotion if I did join. But isn’t considering my Facebook approach some sort of “high road” in comparison to the average Facebook user just another way of falling into the same comparison-based trap? “Look at me, I’m using Facebook responsibly.” Ugh! It just seemed like an unavoidable problem. The solution for me was simply not to play the game…or at least to play the game by not playing.

Several months ago, however, I finally caved, and set up an account. There were three primary motivating factors that forced my hand:

1. For the people I actually do care to know about, I was missing out on a lot of their lives in a way that started becoming more obvious to me. When my wife starts knowing more about my extended family than I do, it feels like I might be doing something wrong.
2. Like it or not, Facebook is going to be a significant marketing channel moving forward. As someone working in the technology side of marketing, it became less and less acceptable to opt out of the world’s largest social network. It began to feel a bit presumptive for me to try to talk knowledgeably about Facebook, while not using it myself.
3. Facebook integration with other sites and devices sometimes provides a better experience. I decided to take the plunge after purchasing a new phone which integrates contact information from Facebook. This was the final straw, since by not having a Facebook account, I was limiting the functionality of my phone.

All of these trends don’t seem likely to disappear anytime soon, so I decided it was time to climb aboard the Facebook bandwagon. Since joining, I’ve definitely taken it slow. All of my original concerns are still factors, so I’ve started off by limiting things to family and close friends who I see frequently. But so far, it’s been fun to at least be in the room where the conversation is happening.

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ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS. You can contact him here:

How to Kill Your Business with Facebook

A few days ago I was reading this story from Jay Baer, about a really, really stupid move by a national restaurant chain.

While I agree with Jay that it's good that more and more business are wanting to connect with consumers online, you really need to look at what you are considering from all angles. Not just the pros & cons, but a 360 degree point of view.

That's where a consultant can be invaluable. A consultant with experience in the arena that you are about to jump into.

And here's where I come in, with the backing of my company, Cirrus ABS.

But first, read on:

I’m glad that more and more companies are putting significant effort into their social media programs. Really, I am.

But, we can’t let enthusiasm obfuscate reality, and that seems to be occurring with alarming regularity these days in all corners of the social Web.

The most recent example to cross my inbox is from restaurant chain Buca di Beppo. I’m a fan of these eateries, and have spent many lovely evenings at various locations, gorging myself on meatballs with friends and family. But when it comes to their Facebook promotion, I’m feeling a little sick to my stomach.

We’re Crazy About Likes

I received two emailed press releases with no cover note and no personalization or explanation of any kind from Braintrust Marketing & Communications in Las Vegas (presumably the agency for Buca di Beppo).

They breathlessly tout the results of the restaurant’s Social Media Day promotion (did you miss social media day? It was on June 30. Send carnations next year). Evidently, this national restaurant chain (a division of Planet Hollywood) went from 66,000 Facebook “likes” to more than 100,000 in just one day.

To achieve this milestone, Buca used its email database of more than one million eClub subscribers, promising that if 100,000 total likes were tallied by June 30, all eClub members would receive a $10 gift certificate.

Not surprisingly, the company cracked the 100,000 barrier the same day the email was sent.

Ummm, okay.

A national restaurant chain sends one MILLION emails offering $10 worth of free food, and is overjoyed when 34,000 of those recipients clicks one button called “like” on the same day the email was received? Let’s look at the metrics of this program:

• Let’s assume that 73% of Buca di Beppo’s email club visits Facebook (matching the U.S. average, based on Comscore’s findings to that effect in May, 2011). Buca says their eClub is more than one million strong, but let’s use an even one million. Thus, we’ll stipulate that 730,000 eClub recipients are on Facebook.
• Let’s assume that 23.3% of Buca di Beppo’s subscribers open emails from the company. I have no idea what their open rate is, but 23.3% was reported by major email provider Epsilon in the first quarter of 2011 as the industry average. That would mean that 170,090 Facebook-using eClubbers opened and read the offer.
• At least 34,000 of that group acquiesced and agreed to “like” Buca di Beppo, which is a conversion rate of 3.4% of the total list, and 19.9% of the Facebook-using email openers.

A 3.4% overall conversion rate, and a 19.9% conversion rate among a very targeted group. Not bad, but this is not the stuff of which marketing legends are made. (In the interest of mathematical equanimity, both of these % are actually slightly higher because some portion of the email recipients were already fans of the brand on Facebook)

There’s No Such Thing as a Free Like

Now, let’s consider the cost side of the equation.

• Because the promotion was successful, one million eClub members will receive a $10 coupon. Not all of them will be redeemed, and certainly $10 is not enough to eat at Buca, so these reward certificates will no doubt drive incremental store visits (and I like that those rewards are theoretically trackable at the store level, so they can determine ultimate redemption rates). But, the potential cost of this promotion in top-line revenue is $10 million. (Further, the restaurant provides a free appetizer when signing up for eClub, a free brownie on your birthday, and a free dessert on your anniversary. They are definitely aggressive about their CRM program)
• Sending one million emails isn’t free, either. I don’t know who Buca uses for email, but I’m going to assume for our purposes here that they are paying an email provider .003 per sent email, a competitive rate for mid-volume senders. That would put the email sending cost at $6,000 for at least two emails (announcing the promotion, and then sending out the reward certificates).

• You also have costs for Facebook page creation (they have one of the best landing pages I’ve seen) and management, email design and management, and PR firm costs to create and distribute the release (although I’m assuming blast emails to bloggers are pretty cheap these days. In fairness, the PR firm was very good about getting back to me with answers to some follow up questions I had).

Buca di Beppo was able to drive consumer behavior quickly. But they had to outlay a lot of cash and effort to do so. And what now? You’ve bought some likes from people that ALREADY were fans of the brand because they were on the eClub list.

A worthy goal would be that EVERY member of the eClub on Facebook should be a fan of Buca. That would be something like 730,000 likes, not 100,000. And since they’ve already taken the effort to sign up for email, shouldn’t you be able to make that happen without giving them each $10 to click a button?

This quote from the Director of Interactive Marketing at Planet Hollywood encapsulates the danger of this type of “yea, we got likes!” thinking:

I’d argue that you at Buca di Beppo saw firsthand the power of “giving $10 each to people who already have said they like you” possesses, and continuing to embrace that is to snuggle up to the false prophet of fuzzy social media math.

I give Buca credit for putting so much weight behind their liking campaign. But I’m not sure the math matches the method. I would love to see a press release in 30 days from Buca that shows redemption rate and average check stemming from the $10 reward certificate program, so true ROI could be calculated.

Want some help creating not just a Facebook campaign but a social media strategy? That's one of our specialties at Cirrus ABS. Send me an email : SHoward@CirrusABS.com

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS. You can contact him here:

Social Media is Mainstream

Friday I posted a story about the Online Revolution extends beyond Social Media. Click here to read more.

But Social Media continues to explode as I'm sure you'll agree after watching this 4 minute video:

The Online Revolution

There is a very good reason why I made a career move this month.

The move to Net-Centered Marketing, one of the hallmarks of my new employer, Cirrus ABS, has become mainstream in the business world.

Led by the growth of Facebook to 600 Million users and a goal of 1,000,000,000 (A BILLION), Social Media is impossible for small and large businesses to ignore.

But interestingly, not only is social media, but other forms of internet communication are growing at a remarkable rate according to this survey from Mediapost:

Social, Mobile and QR Codes Coming On Strong As SMB Marketing Mix With EMail

According to a new survey by Pitney Bowes, 76% of small businesses agree their ideal marketing mix includes a combination of physical and digital communications. 72%, say they would do more of it if they had the right customer communications management tools.

68% say they are choosing new channels such as email, and 54% say social media, because they are found to be cost effective in communicating information to their current and potential customers as compared to all other options. 51% say they cannot get further engaged in multi-channel communications due to limited resources and time.

Though the most popular marketing tool used currently is email, during the last year the most popular new channel being added by small business owners is social media, with 20% of those surveyed just beginning to use it, while 12% added mobile marketing. The newest tool to enter the marketing mix is Quick Response (QR) codes, which have become increasingly visible. While some respondents acknowledge a lack of understanding and perceived complexity toward them, among those using them, almost half are using them on their business cards, 45%, and integrating them in direct mail, 44%.

New Marketing Tactics Used By US SMBs In The Past Year (% of Respondents; April 2011)
New Tactic	% of Respondents
Social media	20%
Advertising	12
Mobile marketing	12
Email	11
QR codes	9
Direct mail	8
Other	16
None	25
Source: Pitney Bowes, SMB Owners Report, May 2011

Debra Thompson-Van, Vice President, Marketing, Pitney Bowes, observes that "... small business owners are increasingly challenged to effectively communicate with their customers and prospects in ways they want to be reached.... discovering that a combination of marketing channels is most effective in reaching prospects and customers... (and) need tools that are easy to implement and more information on how to use them... "

The study found that, while 68% of respondents used email and 60% used advertising most often, social media, with 50%, and direct mail, with 44%, are a tight third place.

The findings say 58% of small businesses surveyed use multi-channel marketing, and that traditional and new digital marketing methods are co-existing to create effective campaigns. Though business owners are integrating various channels, there continue to be barriers to integration for many.

Please visit Pitney Bowes here for additional information.

Making the World a Little Smaller & Better

Last Monday I shared with you the story of how my humble experiment with social media became a passion and a career changer.

Click here if you missed it = http://www.sclohosocialmediaadventure.com/2011/06/power-of-social-media-in-my-life.html

Today, a story of how I saved at least $1200 Friday due to this thing called Social Media.

If you click on the names mentioned you will connect to each persons Twitter Profile. All Good People you should follow.

It was just after 11am and I was getting ready to meet a friend for lunch. I hoped in my car, drove out of the parking lot and stepped on the gas and heard a pop.

My car came to a coasting stop on the road. I turned on my flashers and had a sinking feeling in my gut.

I had some type of transmission problem. I tested all the options from Park to Reverse, Drive to the individual gears and nothing would engage. I got out, looked under the car, on the road and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

With the help of a police officer who stopped to help, we pushed my car into a driveway and he gave me a ride back to the radio stations where I still work, for about 5 more days.

I call my friend, he decides to come pick me up for lunch and I also call a well known transmission shop Russ Moore because I have met the owner at a social media breakfast.

Bad news. They don't work on Mercedes.

My car is nothing fancy, it's a 16 year old Benz that I paid cash for 6 years ago, so it is paid for, except for the repairs which are extremely expensive and sometimes it's hard to find someone who has the knowledge to do the work.

I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but I can make an educated guess that this is not the entire transmission taking a crap, but something minor. First guess is the transmission linkage snapped, which would be an easy fix. Minor fixes still equal Major dollars on this car.

I've been unhappy with the "Dreaded Dealership place" I've been taking my car so I decide to ask my friends on Twitter:

#FortWayne transmission repair for a 95 Mercedes? Recommendation? you have 5 min before I start calling around

I get a few responses but after 5 minutes I call the "Dreaded Dealership place".

By the way, the "Dreaded Dealership place" is a local VW dealer that I used to like, but they lost some of my trusted mechanics and service has gone downhill.

The "Dreaded Dealership place" tells me if I can get my car towed to their shop, they might be able to look at it...Tuesday...or Wednesday. And if it is a major repair they would have to ship it to another town 90 miles away.

Now this is Friday, and I need a car to drive every single day. "Dreaded Dealership place" has no loaners available, so I'm looking at several days of rental car bills before knowing if the car can be fixed locally or not.

Thoughts are running thru my head, like maybe I need to work my old job and my new job to be able to afford this nightmare. I call the towing company and wait for 30 minutes and check twitter again.

Friends on Twitter are offering suggestions, warnings, and talking between themselves.

A few of the selected Tweets:

from Rick:

@ScLoHo Co worker with Mercedes says only 2 places are Mercedes Benz FW and Vorderman. He likes Vorderman much better.

from Amber:

@scloho How about Mercedes Benz Fort Wayne?

@ScLoHo u could also try import docs. My former boss took his Acura there for everything and highly recommends.

My answer back to Amber:

@amrecker Import Docs only do Asian imports

Amber again replying to me and Rick:

@longsre @scloho I have had TERRIBLE experiences with Vorderman.

And I was waiting to see if either the "Dreaded Dealership place" or the local Mercedes dealer would join in the conversation.

Sure enough, they did.
@ScLoHo Yes Mercedes-Benz of Fort Wayne !! 260-432-7200 :) came from @mbfortwayne

I get on the phone and call. They can look at my car and tell my what's wrong if I can get it to them soon. I tell them I should be there within an hour or less.

My thought process is that what ever the problem is, they will be able to fix it and I'll know something, (what the problem is & cost) today, even if I don't get my car back right away.

There were many others on Twitter joining the conversation including: Joe, Carrie, Kit, Jim, & Tyler.

One of the comments from Jim who works for another dealership recommended the service manager I was working with!

I met the woman behind the @mbfortwayne tweets who said, "You tweet a lot!"

And along the way, I was given some inside information about how I could trim the $1700 estimate down by $1200. I can't say how publicly, but it pays to have friends who can direct you to legitimate ways to save and if you ask me privately, I can share the website that I was directed to for parts.

Before I wrap up this long story, there is a side story to share.

As I was standing in the parking lot when the tow truck arrived, the driver, Steve Hire said to me, "I know you, you're Scott Howard and you used to live across from Klug Park."

It turns out, this was someone I went to Elementary School with in the late 60's- early 70's who recently connected with me on Facebook but I have not seen face to face in 35 years.

And now, let me ask you... What has your Social Media Adventure been like?

How to Connect with Moms on Facebook

I finally figured out why I get so annoyed at most businesses on Facebook, they are trying to sell me stuff instead of just connecting with me.

Most of these principles apply to guys too:

(From Mediapost)

To Have And To Hold: How To Optimize Your Facebook Relationship With Her

One of the key tools in the social media tool box that companies are likely to utilize these days, Facebook can be a powerful instrument in developing and maintaining a rich and lasting relationship with Moms, translating into a strong ROI, if executed correctly. The key is creating ongoing engagement with your fans.

Before jumping into our strategic recommendations, it is important to understand that Facebook is not just another media outlet for your company, as many like to refer to it. It is a unique media outlet allowing you to achieve goals you cannot reach utilizing "traditional" media. Smart companies recognize that Facebook can supplement what their other marketing tactics are accomplishing (or not, as the case may be).

Of course, setting up a Facebook page with a couple of cute pictures and a lonely post here and there is not enough! To successfully connect with Moms, the most important overarching Facebook page strategy involves offering Mom something, continuously communicating with her, and leveraging the flexibility of the channel to compliment your other marketing efforts. The net result: creating ongoing engagement with Moms. Here are eight ideas on how to achieve this:

1. Provide her with relevant information, possibly that she cannot get anywhere else.
Moms are natural information gatherers. Moreover, they crave it! They use it not only to make purchase decisions and to help better themselves as Moms, but also to be in the know and to share their tips and wisdom with other Moms. Partially because they genuinely want to help their fellow Moms, partially because it makes them feel good that they are ahead of the curve.

2. Ask for her opinion.
Moms love to be helpful (it comes with the job description). If they "liked" you on Facebook, it means that you are somewhat special to them (Moms are super busy and they hate to clutter their mail boxes or news feed with things that are not relevant to them or they don't care about). They are rooting for you and your brand and genuinely want to see you succeed. So use their enthusiasm to gain free and valuable research and then put it to use to fine tune all of your consumer touch points.

3. Show her that you are listening to her.
It always saddens me when I see fan posts, sitting on a company's wall lonely, unanswered or at best, answered days, sometime weeks later. Not exactly a good way to show you care about your customers. It's a little bit like a hostess of a dinner party disappearing from the room, leaving her guests unattended. Make sure you provide timely responses to your fan questions (same day at the minimum) or, if they are providing a comment, comment back to them in some way, showing that you are listening and paying attention. Moms love being heard! I'd like to brag otherwise, but the reality is that our kids (not to mention spouses) often don't listen to us; so making us feel heard gets you instant brownie points.

4. Make it easy for her to meet and connect with other Moms.
Creating a sense of community on your page is very important. Companies who are good at this establish more than a two-way dialogue, they facilitate sharing and "group love." In connecting your Mom fans with each other, they will feel more connected to you, "the facilitator." Just look at this example from Target. We give them thumbs up for two reasons: (1) smart awareness building -- the piece came to my door as part of direct mail coupon booklet, (2) clever approach -- the copy, both in terms of content and tone, shows that they get the reality of mothering babies; it reeled me in instantly and I was ready to go and check out their page.

5. Entertain her.
Moms love humor! Several studies support the fact that humor is a key break-through factor when attempting to reach the Mom audience. Whether it's a funny ad you've developed, a clever promotion, contest or poll, even a "joke of the day" you've posted on your wall -- you will not only gain and retain her attention, but she will be more likely to forward your post to her friends with a quick note "You've got to see this. It's hilarious!" Here she is, performing viral marketing for you, with a personal endorsement and at no cost to you.

6. Make her feel like she is an insider, a part of a "special club."
The Mom audience loves special offers, incentives or simply "inside information" ... it makes them feel cared about. And as mentioned in #1, she loves "being ahead of the curve." We advise companies to create an offer "exclusively" for their Facebook fans (who are then, of course, encouraged to forward to as many friends they want to). At the very minimum, give them a heads-up on an upcoming promotion or give them that discount a day early when there is best selection available. Make them first to know about a new product or service you are offering, a new ad that you will start running. It can be incredibly simple to come up with a few strategies that will make your Mom audience feel special and valued.

7. Provide her with customized (and more convenient) customer service.
Smart companies recognize that their Facebook pages are becoming a customer service tool for their audience these days and they handle this appropriately. This element is particularly relevant to busy Mom customers, who instead of searching for the 800# and battling through way too many aggravating automated options, choose the simplicity of going to the company's fan page and typing: "Dear Tazo, where can I find your Ice Tea Lemonade in Chicago?" Providing her with a swift and satisfying answer will not only win you her admiration and loyalty, but will also impress the rest of your ever present audience.

8. Show her that you are real.
It is a well-known truth that today's consumers are looking for real ... real products, real companies with real people with whom they can develop a real connection. This is especially important to Moms, who are always on the lookout for authenticity. In building your relationship with her, it can be very beneficial to show people behind your brand -- the owners, designers, the cooks, baristas, the store clerks. If the owner/founder is a Mom, by all means, make sure you proudly tell her story. This tends to come more naturally to small to mid size companies (usually told via "about us" or "our story"). But showing a human component is not impossible for large corporations either. A great example of adding such a personal dimension is the British clothing manufacturer Boden. As a company, they use several different tools, but perhaps the most important one is by humanizing their founder Johnny Boden. In this era of transparency, exposing yourself ever so slightly, can serve you as a powerful bonding mechanism with your Mom customers.

I hope you found some inspiration. The more of these tips you employ, the better. Wishing you a happy and long lasting relationship with your Mom Facebook fans.

Vera Holroyd is a partner at MomFocus Marketing, a marketing consultancy providing services to clients seeking insights and answers about marketing to today's Mom audience.

Social Spam is Real..

Spam.

The junk mail of email has gone social.

I hope you are not falling victim to it,

But I really hope you are not contributing to it.

When the mail man delivers junk mail to your home or office, you probably glance at it and then throw it away.

Email can filter most of the spam that is sent to your inbox. I receive about 900 spam emails per week, which I glance at, (but don't open) and simply delete it. It's the price we are willing to pay for a free service.

But Social Spam is a little different.

With Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and all the other social channels, you get to select who to follow, friend, like and subscribe to.

There are a few people that I used to follow on Facebook that I learned to ignore or unfriend because they were simply pushing stuff at me to buy, instead of engaging me.

If you are simply pushing your products or services without engaging or conversing you are not being social.

You are Spam.

How to Separate Business from Pleasure on Facebook

Interesting article from Blogworld.com:

How You Can Use Facebook Both Personally AND Professionally

By Nikki on May 9, 2011

I’ve heard it time and time again … people saying they ONLY use Facebook personally (for family photos and high school friends) or professionally (networking and articles). But, honestly, with a little extra time – you can use it in both ways without anyone ever knowing the difference.

It’s called Lists.

How to Make a List:

If you haven’t yet made a list, it’s pretty simple. Login to Facebook. Click on Account/Edit Friends. At the top you’ll see a link for “Create a List”. You’ll name the list and then start adding people to the group (you can edit this at any time).

It’s All About Exclusion:

Now here’s the key. This isn’t a list for people you want to INclude. It’s a list of people you want to EXclude. Facebook doesn’t allow you to post a picture and choose the list you want to share it with. Instead it lets you post a picture and choose the group you do NOT want to share it with. So I don’t have a List called “Family”. I have a list called “Others” (yes, not very thoughtful, but I’m the only one who sees it!). I also have a list called “Non-Gaming” for times I want to play a little Frontierville but don’t want to spam my wall with requests for food.

I started off by creating my lists and then going through and editing my Friends list – adding people into the groups they belonged in. And now, every time I accept a Friend request (or initiate one), I automatically assign them to the lists as part of the process.

Using Your Lists:

Now that you’ve got your lists set up, and people assigned, you can use them whenever you upload a photo, post an update, or even use a request for a game. Here’s how you do it:

• If you’re in a Photo Album, go into “Edit” and select “Privacy”. If you are creating a status update, click the little padlock and scroll down to “Customize”.
• This will open another pop-up.
• From there you’ll see a section called “Hide this from”.
• In that field, enter your list name.
• Click “Save Setting” and you’re good to go!

Yes, it’s an extra step (and something to remember) whenever you’re on Facebook. But it saves the hassle of figuring out how you want to use Facebook, or even setting up two accounts to maintain.

Note: If you use a mobile device you probably won’t have the ability to exclude lists. One option (especially with mobile uploads) is to log on via your browser and change the Mobile Uploads album to exclude the lists you choose. Then every time you upload another photo, it will be only available to those people you wish to see it.

The Facebook Video

Sunday I found this Facebook approved behind the scenes look at Facebook. To wrap up our Social Media Adventure this week, here it is...

Testing... testing, anyone there? (Arby's Part 1)

So you've decided to try out this social media thing.

You were told it was good for something, not sure what, but something.

One of the primary functions is two way communication.

Customer Service is a biggie.

If you are on Facebook or Twitter, we expect to be able to reach you and have you respond.

If you don't respond when we reach out to you, there are lot's of losers.

I lose because my issue is not resolved.

You lose because your name is diminished in my eyes due to your lack of response.

But here's where it gets really sticky.

Social Media gives everyone a voice.

And if I have a bad experience, I can share it on Twitter and Facebook and others can read and share and before you know it, your negligence and ignorance is spread to hundreds of others.

I'm going to walk you through an experience I had last week that inspired me to write this.

I visit Arby's at least once a week for breakfast.

I wrote about it briefly on my Collective Wisdom site:

Silly Pricing Games?

Is there any rhyme or reason to your prices?
Is confusion the best policy?
I swing by my neighborhood Arby's once a week for breakfast and the last two times I ordered their special offer which is advertised as $2.99 (plus tax).
When they tell me my total is 5 something, I drive around and correct them.
Even the front line employee screws up and I wonder how many of their customers are getting screwed by this one forgetful employee?

And the article continues....

I wrote that article a few days before it appeared online and sure enough, the day it appeared, I went to Arby's and had the same experience. Order was right, price was wrong.

So, I posted the following on Twitter:


ScLoHo: Dear @Arbys I like you but I wish your employees knew how to ring up my order http://bit.ly/g3VTpv Happened again today


I was expecting a response eventually, but after two hours I posted again on Twitter to see if they were monitoring:


ScLoHo: Feeling disappointed that @Arbys didn't respond to my earlier tweet http://bit.ly/hEV8uK


This time they wrote back, twice within 10 minutes:


arbys: @ScLoHo Sorry about that, we must have missed it.


And:


arbys: @ScLoHo We're sorry to hear about your experience today. Could you let us know more details here: http://bit.ly/dGboXi


I replied:


ScLoHo: @Arbys Ah, that's better, Thanks. I bet you were busy roasting more beef!


Let's stop a moment and see what we learned so far.

From a customer/consumer perspective, cut them some slack if they don't answer right away and give them another shout. Be Polite.

From a business perspective, listen & respond. Give your customers a way to communicate further. Be polite too.

When I clicked on the link they gave me I was at their customer feedback page which asked lots of questions, but that was okay because it was to help them focus on what department needed to follow up.


The next page asked for my contact info and details. Unlike the 140 character limit of Twitter, on their site I could use up to 2000 characters which was more than enough.

After I was done, I was given a follow up code both on the website and a few minutes later in an email:


This is how social media should work as a business. It is a tool to reach out to your customers, and for them to reach out to you.

You can move people to traditional communication methods the way Arby's provided me with a link to the proper page on their site.

But one of the worst things you can do is ignore your customers on social media.

What happened next? I'll tell you tomorrow at noon.

Your thoughts and comments are always welcome!

Keeping track of the important

and ignoring the rest....

Last month I was one of four panelists on the Social Media Breakfast Fort Wayne event.

The general topic was Managing It All.

And I noticed each of the four of us, do it a little differently, which is great.

But I'm not sure if I clearly stated how I do it.

My Twitter followers is in the 1700+ range. Over 95% of Twitter users have less than 500. I follow back about 2/3 of them.

Facebook and LinkedIn I use too but my connections there are under 1000.

I rely on two tools to filter out the noise and stay on top of what needs my attention.

Email and a setting on my smart phone.

Good old fashioned email. I get email alerts for Facebook, LinkedIn and Direct Messages from Twitter.

I also use a Twitter application on my droid that chirps when I get a mention or Direct Message, which alerts me to something that I should respond to.

It's that simple.

What do you do?

Multiple Personalities in Social Media?

Last week I was asked about creating separate Twitter accounts based on the subject matter being discussed.

Here's the question:


@lifeasclouds: @ScLoHo should I use different twitter handles if I want to tweet about more than one topic (i.e. Personal stuff, Govt mngmnt and religion)?

I answered back in a couple of tweets, but want to explain my answer in more than 140 characters.

My opinion:

Social Media Identities should be Brands.

This applies to Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, and other Social Media platforms.

I am on Social Media as ScLoHo which is a personal brand. I do not speak on behalf of the radio stations I work for, however I will update my Facebook Wall, Tweet, and write on blogs about them on occasion.

In other words, I am me, not my employer when I write as ScLoHo.

I do have administrator privileges with a couple of Facebook accounts that represent other organizations. Anything that I post on those accounts are appropriate for that organization.

I pulled a couple others into the conversation I was having with Chris @LifeAsClouds.

Amber:


@arecker1704: @scloho @lifeasclouds- good question. I have 4 twitter accts- 1 for me, @fwderbygirls @fiveonfivemag @cancersvcsni. But those are all orgs.


and...


@arecker1704: @scloho @lifeasclouds if it's just various aspects of u, I'd say let them shine through as u :) But if you rep a company, set up a sep acct.


Heather:


@HSchoegler: @arecker1704 @ScLoHo @lifeasclouds Just be you & talk about all that's important to you. Add disclaimer on your bio that they're your words.


And then Andy asked:


@awelfle: @hschoegler @arecker1704 @ScLoHo @lifeasclouds Is a disclaimer rly necessary? It seems superfluous & jst clogs up ur profile. Y do u use it?


I believe I know the answer to that one. Heather is a public figure who is the communication director for a local non-profit, and she has been the president of a local leadership organization, plus her husband is a television sportscaster. She does it to cover her butt.

My Social Media activities are all branded ScLoHo. I started doing this after a couple of years and a couple of blogs. I added ScLoHo to the name of all my blogs along with Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and nearly everything I do online that is mine.

I do have separate blogs because each has a different theme. That is to create consistency for the readers of each blogsite so they know what to expect when they visit.

But this is different from what Chris asked regarding Twitter.

Here are the links to many of the places that you will find me online:

My home page is ScLoHo.net. Click Here.

My personal blog is ScLoHo's Really? Click Here.

One of my Advertising, Marketing, Media & Sales blogs is ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom. Collective Wisdom because it features wisdom I've collected from others. Click Here.

The other Advertising, Marketing, Media & Sales blog only features stuff that I write. The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo. Click Here.

You are reading my newest blog, ScLoHo's Social Media Adventure. Click Here to go to the home page.

I mentioned LinkedIn. Click here.

My Facebook page. Click here.

And besides the blogs, I am most active on Twitter. Click here.

What are your thoughts on all of this?

Deliver Daily

Yesterday I touched on the Magic Secret of Success in Social Media.

Today I'm laying in on the line.

Do you want to be a player or an also-ran?

Most bloggers quit after a few months.

Same with Twitters.

Why?

Impatience, unrealistic expectations, and a lack of commitment are the top 3 reasons.

So to overcome those three reasons, you need to understand that there is a direct correlation between your level of activity with social media and the growth of your brand.

There is also a "natural timeline" where you can't rush things.

Face it, everyone of us filled our 24 hours a day before social media was around. And each of us have limited time to spend with social media every day and every week.

So, if you write and post 7 new blog posts on one day and do that once a week, odds are the results will be less than if you were to post one time each day, 7 days a week.

The 4 blogs that I own and update regularly are a living example of this.

Collective Wisdom is updated 3 to 4 times a day and last month received over 7,200 visits.

Really? is updated twice a day and last month received over 3,400 visits.

The site you are reading now, ScLoHo's Social Media Adventure is updated at noon, 5 days a week. 574 visits in the first 4 weeks.

The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo is updated every Tuesday and last month had 272 views.

This is why I recommend you post every day, at least 5 days a week.

By the way, I am also updating my Facebook and LinkedIn status at least once a day too, with a link to one of the blog posts.

Want some hints on how to manage this and still have a life? There are still a few openings for the Social Media Breakfast Fort Wayne gathering on February 22nd. Click here for details and to reserve your spot.

The Magic Secret is...

Hard Work.

No, let's turn that around, work hard.

A couple of summers ago my wife and I ventured to Grand Lake in St. Marys, Ohio.

We were looking for an adventure and discovered the worlds largest man made lake that was dug out with hand tools, in the 1800's.

Creating a social media brand or persona, or business is much like digging that lake.

There are some automation tools available, but most of them are scams if you really check them out and I doubt they will produce worthwhile, lasting value.

Most of what you need to do is going to be done by hand, using legitimate tools, like scheduling blog updates, or scheduling updates to Twitter or Facebook.

And the most magic of all the secrets is: Be Real. There are enough scammers and spammers out there that if you start acting like one, you lose.

Seth Godin is a very successful marketing expert who grew to fame and fortune as an author and then via his online presence.

Seth has a blog that is updated at least once a day. I know that he writes ahead and schedules his blog posts. He does the work.

Seth announced last year that he was going to stop writing and publishing traditional books.

He wrote about doing the work recently on his blog:

No knight, no shining armor

"Sure, Seth can do that, because he has a popular blog."

Some people responded to my decision to forgo traditional publishers (not traditional books, btw) by pointing out that I can do that because I have a way of reaching readers electronically.

What they missed is that this asset is a choice, not an accident.

Does your project depend on a miracle, a bolt of lightning, on being chosen by some arbiter of who will succeed? I think your work is too important for you to depend on a lottery ticket. In some ways, this is the work of the Resistance, an insurance policy that gives you deniability if the project doesn't succeed. "Oh, it didn't work because we didn't get featured on that blog, didn't get distribution in the right store, didn't get the right endorsement..."

There's nothing wrong with leverage, no problem at all with an unexpected lift that changes everything. But why would you build that as the foundation of your plan?

The magic of the tribe is that you can build it incrementally, that day by day you can earn the asset that will allow you to bring your work to people who want it. Or you can skip that and wait to get picked. Picked to be on Oprah or American Idol or at the cash register at Borders.

Getting picked is great. Building a tribe is reliable, it's hard work and it's worth doing.

Fixing Facebook?

On Facebook?

Worried about security?

You should be. MakeUseOf.com has this tip:

If you’re an avid Facebook user then there’s one new feature you’ll probably want to enable straight away – the option to login, browse and do all your social networking worry-free, using a secure HTTPS connection to the server.

Facebook previously used HTTPS to handle logins, but from then on the site reverted to a non-secure version. Using the new setting found in the Account Security area under Account Settings (look for Secure Browsing) the whole session will be encrypted and less vulnerable to hijacking.

Users considered to be most at risk are those who regularly login from public access computers and unsecured wireless hot spots. If you do regularly use Facebook from any public places then we’d recommend changing to the HTTPS option as soon as you can.

As a consequence of the secure connection, pages may take longer to load than usual. There are also a large number of applications that are not yet compatible with the HTTPS.

In a blog post, Facebook’s Alex Rice said: “Some Facebook features, including many third-party applications, are not currently supported in HTTPS.

“We’ll be working hard to resolve these remaining issues. We are rolling this out slowly over the next few weeks, but you will be able to turn this feature on in your Account Settings soon. We hope to offer HTTPS as a default whenever you are using Facebook sometime in the future.”

How Often? (Part 2)

Yesterday, I began answering the question How Often should you update your Facebook Status, Tweet, or post on your blog and I omitted why?

Why should you update on a regular basis? Easy answer: It shows that you are really using Social Media as a communication tool, not just experimenting with it. If you are sporadic and unreliable, then I am less likely to pay attention to you.

Facebook is still the most popular Social Media site and last year I started updating my personal Facebook page daily. The results are the more I communicate, the more conversations and feedback I receive.

Oh, and I don't mean updates on Mafia Wars, Farmville, or any of the other silly games.

Let's talk about updating your blog.

This blog was launched a month ago and has been visited over 700 times in the first 30 days. It is updated at the same time, 12 noon, weekdays.

I also have a blog that is updated once a week on Tuesdays and it gets around 300 visits per month. I'm comfortable with this number and it is the minimum I recommend to clients as they are learning and starting out.

On the other extreme, my most popular blog is updated 25 times a week and gets over 6000 visits per month.

So, the more often you update with content that people want to read, odds are in your favor that your blog will attract more readers.

Coming up Friday, a guest post for those of you who are still wondering about this whole social media thing.

How Often Should I Update my Twitter account?

The biggest investment you are going to make in social media will probably be time.

If you're like me, it is your time you are investing.

Some companies actually pay people to update, post, and tweet, but most of the activity is done as an added responsibility, not as a dedicated, full time position.

So, how often?

Depends on what you are wanting to accomplish.

Social Media is best used as a two way communication tool. On Facebook and Twitter, the length of time an update or tweet appears on your recipients Facebook or Twitter stream depends on how many friends they have or people they are following.

Let's talk about Twitter:

Follow a lot of people and those tweets will go zipping by. So it is helpful to know how many people your followers are following.

Taking a glance at the my followers, they follow as few as 17 people to as many as 138,000. Most are between 200 and 2000.

95% of the people on Twitter have less than 500 Twitter friends. And not everyone is going to see your tweet when you send it. You may have to send it more than once over a period of time.

Instead of over-tweeting, the problem I see more often is under-tweeting.

Anything less than once a day is definitely under-tweeting. My average is between 25 and 30 tweets per day which includes retweets, conversations, and links.

If you have a limited time to tweet, my suggestion would be to do it at the same time each day. Perhaps every morning between 7 and 7:30 is your Twitter time. Be consistent and your friends and followers will know what to expect from you.

With more and more of us carrying smartphones, we have more access to Twitter during the day, so if someone mentions me I can see that within a few hours as I go about my other daily duties and can respond.

Tomorrow, we'll continue the How Often subject with some thoughts on blogs and touch on Facebook a bit more too.

Your comments are always welcome.

Merging Your Brand with Your Name on Facebook

A quick tip today.

Facebook has over 500 million users. Yesterday I mentioned how you get to choose your own Social Media identity, mine is ScLoHo.

But Facebook wants you to use your own name.

So how do you merge the two?

Here's what I did:

Facebook lets you set up your own personalized url for your Facebook page.

Mine is http://www.facebook.com/ScLoHo.Scott.Howard

If you haven't done this yet, check out these instructions from Facebook's blog: http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=90316352130

Twitter? Get Real! (Part 5)

Wrapping up this week of Twitter indoctrination with some of my tips and tricks.

When I was writing this post Monday evening, I had 1332 followers and was following 856 people.

I find following 856 people impossible.

So here's what I do:

Most of my social media activity is done on my computer, a 3 year old laptop. At home we also have a desktop computer, but my wife is the only person who uses it.

Last summer I upgraded my old cell phone to a Droid, but if my laptop is available, it is still my computer of choice.

Twitter has a way for you to organize the people you follow that I started using once I started following a couple hundred folks. They call it Lists.

Everyone I decided to follow, I put on a list. Currently I have 4 main lists:

1. Newsmakers
2. Marketing-Advertising
3. Fort Wayne Area
4. On The Edge

I also have a temporary list: JTerm11 which includes the students I spoke to yesterday at Huntington University. JTerm11 is the HashTag they are using to identify themselves as they are just starting out using Twitter since it is a class requirement. I'll keep tabs on the students to see if they continue using Twitter, or quit.

There is one more list that I created that I usually don't tell people about. It is the RF list.

RF is my own shorthand for Really Follow. I'll get back to this in a moment.

Like I said, everyone I follow goes on one of the 4 lists. Some folks are on a 2 of the 4 lists. Twitter limits a List to 500 people. So as I increase the number of followers, I may need to add some more lists.

Instead of using the Twitter.com website (Twitter.com) I use one of the various Twitter applications on my laptop. There are several available, free of course and the two that I have used most are Tweetdeck and Seesmic.

I currently prefer Tweetdeck but both are fine depending on what your own personal preferences. Another Twitter application that is popular is Hootsuite. I tried it, it doesn't have all the features I want.

So, I'm going to help you set up Tweetdeck. Here's what you see when you go to Tweetdeck.com.

(Click on the pictures to make them bigger, if you want).




Click on the Desktop button at the top and you'll see this:





In the lower right side of your screen is the download button. Click on it and install on your computer.

As you go through the installation and set up of Tweetdeck, you'll see all kinds of options.

One of my favorite is the ability to update my Twitter account, my Facebook account and my LinkedIn account all from Tweetdeck. Play around with the options and in the weeks ahead I'll point out some of my favorites.

But for now, I have one more Tweetdeck tip and it involves columns and lists.

Tweetdeck allows you to set up multiple columns and you can decide what each column will contain. Take a look at mine:



4 Columns fit the screen on my laptop. My usual 4 columns:

1. My RF list
2. Mentions
3. Direct Messages
4. Facebook Status Updates

Remember Twitter lists are limited to 500 people. My RF list currently has 450 people on it of the 850+ that I am following.

My RF list is fluid. I'll put people on this list for awhile and then if I'm not really interested in keeping up with their tweets all the time, I may drop them from my RF list. Some people come and go on my RF list and come back again.

About once a week, I'll look at some of the tweets from folks who are not on my RF list and decide to add them to the RF list. If you are not currently on that list, don't worry about it, you probably will be in the future.

The Mention column shows tweets that include @ScLoHo.
The Direct Message column shows private messages sent to or from me.

I have the Facebook status update column so I can be aware of what my Facebook Friends are up to.

(By the way, I am currently using Tweetcaster on my Droid.)

Starting next week, Fridays will be a guest post day. I have a few lined up, but if you want to write something for me to consider as a guest post, let me know.

Next week, I'll introduce you to LinkedIn and we'll see where else this Social Media Adventure takes us.

Your comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome.

Beyond Facebook

Facebook has its place, but don't believe that Facebook is everything you need to be involved with Social Media.

There are two additional Social Media sites I believe you should be on:

Twitter

and

LinkedIn.

In the days ahead, I'll give you some tips and pointers on these two social media platforms, but first here's why I believe you should be involved with these two platforms.

They are not Facebook.

For the opposite reason that I am on Facebook, I am also on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Why am I on Facebook? Because "everyone" else it on Facebook.

It's where the masses of people are. I can find nearly anyone, from my 80 year old Uncle Bill to my wife's 12 year old grandson.

Facebook is not exclusive, it is inclusive. I use Facebook to find others and to be found.

Twitter and LinkedIn, are much more exclusive. Not because they have certain requirements that keeps people from joining. They have different purposes which people don't always understand.

But like I said, I'll dig into those more in the future.

My primary online presence, my first venture into the social media world, was none of these.

In 2004, I started my first Blog. And it was my blogging that gathered attention. Google loves Blogs. Start a blog and do it right, and you can turn up in search results with Google, Yahoo and Bing.

So, Blogging is another path I'll take you on with this adventure.

And I encourage you to ask questions, make comments, agree, disagree, it's up to you. All I request is that you keep it clean and if you spam, you will be blocked.

Also depending on the time of day, it may be a few hours before I can respond.