Use it or Lose it

After spending a few months reading the New Influencers I have finally reached the end of the book and what better way for author Paul Gillin to conclude than with a chapter called Next Steps where he describes his predictions for the future of social media and the impact it will have in changing traditional marketing and media. Now I don’t want to give it all away because I feel it is an important book to read if you are interested or involved in any form of marketing, but I will speak a little about it. He restates the importance of blogs for small business. The influence they could have by emerging themselves in social media could be astronomical. Also the fact that mainstream media is so dependent on social media gives a hint of which way the future is heading; which is in the opposite direction of traditional media.
My generation wants something different than traditional media. We don’t watch the news and rarely do we read a newspaper unless our favorite sports team won and we want to see the picture or we have to find an article for class. We expect all our information to come from the internet. I don’t look at the internet as some great invention that has changed my life because I have always had it around. It is my main source of information and I expect it to keep me updated in a way that traditional media cannot satisfy. Gillin touches on this point in his last chapter and I can only summarize it by stating this. I rely on the new influencers to tell me what is new and important, not traditional media. The bottom line is this, the internet is the new go to for everything from news and entertainment to products and services so as a marketer, you better be ready to adapt and change or else you will get left behind when my generation comes of age.

It’s 10 o’clock, do you know where your public’s at?

Ch 7 of The New Influencers talks about Putting the “Public” Back Into Public Relations. Many people feel disconnected from companies who never connect directly with their public. They send out press releases that editors and journalists can choose to write about or ignore, leaving the public unaware of what is new. The internet can change all that with social media press releases which are a way of getting out information that is accompanies by blogs, viral videos and podcasts and aimed directly at the internet using public. David Meerman Scott created the New Rules of PR which talks about how to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly. He talks about how the old form of public relations is dead and it is not time to connect directly with the public rather than going through some message carrying go-between. If you are interested in reading Scott’s writing they are linked above. Enjoy!

Where do you find your Influence?

Ch 4 Measures of Influence in The New Influencers helps its readers understand the importance the internet has for small marketers influence on their audience. There is a mindset in the marketing world that big markets are better even if they reach fewer people effectively. By effectively I mean that the content is related to the customer and fits into exactly what they are looking for. Small markets are more efficient because they are focused on niche marketing and while they might reach fewer customers they are more likely to effectively hit their target audience causing more influence than larger markets.
Social media takes small markets to a new level. It allows them to compete with the big markets in a fashion that was not possible 20 years ago. It is possible for small markets to have a website that if not only more effective than a larger one, but also is more personable. Most of these small markets have few staffers but generate immense traffic and therefore, lots of influence.
Paul Gillin states that linking is the blogosphere’s version of feedback. Being able to track how often blogs are linked to helps show the influence a blog creates. I know I personally link to other blogs and articles, not to show that I know how to link or that linking it fun, I do it out of respect for other peoples work. This is what Gillian says bloggers do; they direct traffic elsewhere as a expression of respect for other bloggers. They show where they are getting their influence from.
One thing that Gillin pointed out that I thought of a few weeks ago is the negative influence that blogs and other sources of conversational social media generate. For example, if I blog that I absolutely hate Product A, I might get many responses from people who also hate product A. Depending on the amount of people that link to my blog that stomps all over product A, it could make out the product to be worse than it is. It other words, because of the influence social media has on the public, one blog could ruin a brand.

Live On Top Of The Rock!

While I stated in my last blog why companies need to scan the internet for customer’s opinions of their products and services, I slightly mentioned that maybe a company should get a blog of their own. Well according to The New Influencers, “corporations shouldn’t blog unless they know why they’re doing it”(p84). Blogging requires a goal and drive. Having a poorly maintained, boring blog could only hurt a company. According to Paul Gillin (author of The New Influencers) blogging does not make a company hip. Microsoft and Wal-Mart are not considered “cool” yet they have blogs. Apple, which is just about as hip as you can get, (actually living in Austin you can’t really be what we call a “hipster” without having an Apple computer) does not even have a blog.
So if coolness is what you desire, a blog might not help you. Buuuut if you want to reach your customers in a more advanced way then sending a Hallmark card with a kitty on the front, then blogging might be the answer for you.
Here are some ways (complements of The New Influencers) that blogging can help a large company out.

Customer Relations – blogging, along with other social media aspects, is the most cost-effective customer feedback mechanism ever invented.
Media Relations – If you start a blog you will most likely automatically go on the reading list of every journalist who covers you. This is a better way to release news then through a press release, which probably just sees the inside of journalist’s recycle bins.
Tell Your Story – You are able to speak DIRECTLY to the customer.
Tackle an Issue – you can take a stand on controversial issues. This could get messy through traditional media when tends to bends words to make a “story”.
Feed a Frenzy – Having a blog is like adding lighter fluid to the fires of your passionate customers. Remember the 80/20 rule, which my dad likes to tell me about at least 9 times a year, 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers
Promote a Product – self explanatory.

So if you can hire someone to start a blog for your company and maintain it, I say go for it. Orrr you can ignore all the benefits and go back to living under a rock.