Simple Thoughts

Hold the hype for a moment. The notion that this is all new ground and only “experts” can do it. That you have to communicate in totally different ways. That you have to do something big or splashy or in teenage slang, or wild-and-crazy. You can still be yourself. In fact, you’ll get further being authentic. (Ask any mom who’s tried to talk cool like her teen kid.) But you do have to transition to thinking in terms of conversation rather than broadcasting (the old model of mass communications).

Case in point: Question arrived from a major shopping center. They had been advised to do all sorts of specials and contests to get people to interact with them via social media. After initial excitement, they discovered there weren’t that many people following them on Facebook or Twitter. They wanted to know how they could better phrase their tweets so people would follow them. To get people to share their tweets and get others to visit their property. How they could build more fans on Facebook. How do we get them to talk about us?

Curious, I went to Twitter… just the home page and searched on the center’s name. It appeared in page after page after page. But not from what the center had tweeted. Instead, people who were using the center were tweeting to their friends about what they were doing…

1. I can never find the Starbucks here. What floor?
2. Are any stores here having specials on women’s jeans?
3. Know the best parking for the theaters? I’m going to late show. Don’t want to walk.

What they were looking to accomplish already existed. People were talking about them all over the place. But they weren’t using the center’s tweets. Might be that they weren’t aware of them. But more likely was that what they really didn’t look to a shopping center’s management as a source of conversation. The conversation here is different. You don’t lead it. But—if you respect it and learn to add constructively to it—you can earn the right to participate.

I’m a big fan of baby steps. Yes, get in there and do some things, but also crawl, then walk. No big “proclamations”. No giant campaigns. Learn to leverage the medium. It's different from what you've organized in the past.

Start by asking a couple questions:

Question One: How are we listening? Do we make a regular effort to pay attention to what people are saying about us? What are the most common things people say when they include our name? How can we assist with something useful in their conversation?

I was privileged enough to advise two different blood banks last year (different cities). One of them was eager to tweet all about their blood drives in hopes that it would get more people in the door. Extensive discussions about who would be in charge and how they would word and schedule the tweets in hopes people would forward (retweet, or RT) them. Lots of “how do we manage this conversation?” discussion.

Then we looked up their name… again, just from the Twitter home page. Someone had tweeted they were donating blood from their donation center WHILE we were holding this discussion. Someone else answered them, asking where the donation center was so they could join them…

Eureka moment: You don’t have to run the conversation. But you CAN contribute to it in a meaningful way. Solution: In their donation centers and buses, we put up a sign offering an extra cookie to anyone who tweeted that they were donating. The sign also included a short link to a Google map of the center’s location. Staff and volunteers were also taught to mention this to all of the donors.

Simple. Several additional people per day were stopping in to donate because friends had mentioned it. All it cost us were some posters and a few cookies.

Question Two: What can we add to the conversation?

Being useful is the simplest.

To the shopping center example…

1. With that simple Twitter search, we can see that people are mentioning us.
2. There are several options for being alerted whenever your chosen keywords appear on Twitter.
3. People constantly look to see if their Twitter handle (i.e. @getspine) is mentioned.

Experiment: assign someone in the office to monitor to see when your center’s name is mentioned. In most cases, you don’t have to be following or followed by the person to see what they’re saying. If the mention includes something you can contribute to, do so BY NAME. Thus, if you see that @getspine is asking about parking for the movie theater, you can immediately respond:

@getspine For best parking option, follow this map [include a link to a Google map with your garage’s entrance clearly marked and any notes about one-way streets]

They’ll very likely see it. If not immediately, you’re likely to add another dedicated follower when they do.

Case in point: Comcast—who got bashed repeatedly on Twitter for poor customer service response time (i.e. STILL sitting here four hours later and Comcast hasn’t shown up.)—turned monitoring Twitter into a science. There are now stories of Twitterers knocking Comcast (by name) and receiving a call within the next 20 minutes from Comcast customer service asking how they could correct the problem. Talk about turning something bad around.

You can even develop a list of FAQs that can be immediately answered. Just ask your receptionist for a list of the most common questions he answers by phone. I’ll bet they’ll include:

1. Hours.
2. Location.
3. Specials.
4. Parking options.
5. Nearby attractions.
6. Special events.
7. How to apply for a job.
8. If your facility has special bathrooms for diaper changing.
9. If you are pet-friendly.
10. Your store directory.

Answer those quickly and you’ll earn fans. In many cases, you’ll just send a link to the right page on your web site.

No, it’s not a fancy campaign. No viral video here. But you are getting to people right when it counts. And earning that right to be part of their conversation.

Then you build from that foundation. Marketing is, of course, an iterative process. Meaning, you put forth a strategy, implement its tactics, and see how it worked. Then you adjust. (My favorite version: Do it. Screw up. Adjust.)