My participation this weekend in New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday provided a strong reminder of what social media really is. Among the many interesting discussions, one theme kept coming back up: the importance of the conversation.
As social media has emerged into the marketing world over the last year or two, I’ve watched many toys become tools. Unfortunately, many of the users have become tools as well. And not in a good way. The tool that I see most misunderstood and abused is Twitter. Ironically, it’s also the one I’ve personally witnessed the most growth in.
As a Mad Scientist, I am generally an early adopter. Twitter caught my eye while in beta and I had my first account in early 2007. At first, I looked for people I knew, then branched out and started tweeting friends of friends. It was like a vast cocktail party. Everyone was nice, most people were a little shy and unsure how to behave, but we were all quietly having a good time.
The the party crashers started arriving: the guy who did nothing but talk about his product, the guy who had nothing original to say, but merely repeated what other people were saying ad infinitum. (Possibly the worst folks were the party police: those who felt it was their business to offer up an unsolicited 140 character lecture on why I should stop tweeting about my dogs, my dinner, my hobby, etc. My response to them was always the same: Unfollow me.)
I’ll admit that my own use of Twitter has evolved. I think of it less as a party and more as a networking event. A networking event with #beerfriday. I no longer tweet about my burrito unless it’s a really remarkable burrito. But i do try to keep a conversation going, rather than soapboxing to a captive audience.
Thinking over the dichotomy, I’ve come to the conclusion that the major issue lies in the translation of traditional marketing skills to the new media world. In traditional marketing you are soapboxing to some degree. You identify your key audience, set up a nice Ivory Flakes crate, and say what you have to say. Hopefully, you’ve delivered your message in the right place at the right time in the right way, and a large portion of your target will absorb the message and act on it. One way communication. Simple.
In new media marketing, it is key to identify your key community, and discover the conversation facilitators in that community, and develop relationships. Listen to what the community is saying already, react to it, and initiate new community conversations. It’s fine to introduce your product or service into the mix, and great to share a meaningful comment that someone else came up with, but mix it up! Let the conversation move and flow. Learn from it.
If you are using Twitter (or Facebook or MySpace or YouTube or…or…) as a one-way communication medium for marketing, you might be missing the point. Try to think of it like a party (or a networking event, if you tend to get a bit too rowdy at parties. Mad Science parties can get a little outta control with all the beakers and such.) and try to interact much like you would in that environment. you’ll find it keeps your followers around longer, and garners more response than the simple one-way flurry of “buy my stuff at http://bit.ly.xxxx”.