Archive for April, 2009

If you have been holding back from creating a Facebook presence for your business because your product or service lacks excitement, think again.  The folks at H&R Block have approached what most would consider a mundane service to create a Facebook Page that has made them like rock stars to their 1,744 fans. And while that number may not seem particularly impressive on the surface, consider their standing amongst others offering national personal financial services. H&R Block has earned a greater Facebook following than Bank of America with  1,291 fans and Wells Fargo, with 534.

Having launched their Facebook Page in January of 2008, H&R Block clearly understands how to deliver value and engage their fans. Their strategy includes:

• Free one-on-one tax advice on the Page
• Articles with general tax and financial information
• Regional H&R Block community building events
• Contests offering free giveaways
• Free tax tools
• Engaging personally with their fans

What H&R Block’s fans are saying:

• They appreciate the free advice
• They enjoy the videos
• The contests offering free giveaways converted them as fans
• They appreciate H&R Block not spamming their fans

There is much to be learned here for any business offering professional services.  Good job, H&R Block.

LinkedIn.com in my opinion is the most vital Web 2.0 social network for business networking today. With over 39 million registered users, applications that stream blog content right to your profile, the most robust internal search engine of any social network, and the ability find prominent difference makers in the business world, LinkedIn provides great value. Yet with all of their expertise, killer content, strategy filled blog, and continued excellence one thing puzzles me: Linkedin’s twitter strategy for their account @Linkedin .

Relationships Matter

On LinkedIn’s About Us page the following statement describes Linkedin’s Mission:

“Our mission is to connect the world’s professionals to accelerate their success. We believe that in a global connected economy, your success as a professional and your competitiveness as a company depends upon faster access to insight and resources you can trust”

One of the leading mantras “LinkedIn makes professional connections visible” does not seem to hold true in the Twitterverse.

No Follow Strategy

One of the most powerful methods to connect with your audience, especially if you have a awesome brand like Linkedin, is to follow everyone who follows you. By following your followers, companies open up DM aka direct messages and help to recognize their followers by giving them a voice. Here is a screenshot of @Linkedin’s Twitter Strategy: 

6,943 followers yet Linkedin only follows back 7 people. Who are those lucky 7 they follow? They are all major cogs in Linkedin from CEO to bloggers.

Ironic but Understandable?

Although the goal behind this Twitter account is not engagement, it is difficult for a company that makes it’s very fortune on connecting individuals and companies, to not see the irony in this Twitter strategy.

Conclusion

If Linkedin supports multiple Twitter accounts which communicate and engage directly with their audience then why did they not chose to use the most powerful name brand, @Linkedin, for just such a purpose?

There’s a revolution going on right now and most companies don’t yet understand the shift. Web 2.0, the second generation of web development that facilitates communication, collaboration and the sharing of information, is changing the landscape and tone of business communications. The hard sell, in-your-face self promotion is no longer accepted by this generation. Instead, this world operates by an unwritten policy that says:

1.    Create relationships first.
2.    Give value to your relationships and invest in them.
3.    Your business initiatives will succeed as a result of the investments you’ve made in your relationships.

Makes sense, right? But how does your business give value? And where?

What value should you give? That answer is an easy one. Provide information that aligns with what you want to be known for.

Where do you deliver your value? Everywhere you connect with your customers. But most importantly, deliver value on the home page of your website. Put your blog content on your landing page.

A home page with valuable content demonstrates that you have value.
A home page that is a sales brochure says you have value.

Which do you think is the more effective practice? A demonstration or a statement?

photo credit: JMS2

A former colleague shared something with me the other day that I believe is true for most marketing professionals today. He told me that he didn’t understand how to best use social media for marketing purposes. The understanding comes when you recognize that social media tools are products of a second generation web that has impacted how the internet is used to communicate. This generation is about two-way connecting and engaging. It’s about building relationships. If you are not looking at Facebook as a vehicle for building and maintaining customer relationships, think again.

Consider that Facebook is a place where your customers and potential customers commune with their friends and family. They let into their Facebook world those they trust and you have the opportunity to gain entrance.

Here’s how to approach your customers via Facebook:

1. Create a Facebook Page (not Group or Profile) for your business.
2. Stream your blog, which should present content aligned with the mission of your business, into the Notes application on your Page to keep content flowing.
3. Determine what other value you can deliver from your Page and develop a schedule for providing it.
4. Make your customers aware of your Page and give them reasons why they should visit and become a fan.
5. Acknowledge and engage with your fans on an ongoing basis.
6. Keep adding to and updating your content strategy and stay disciplined with your schedule.

Photo credit: Jacob Cotter

“A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.” –Wise man of the villiage to the boy who cried wolf

Many companies have no Twitter strategy nor an idea of the damage they do to their brand on a daily basis on Twitter. They spam and fill their Tweets with noise in a manner reminiscent of the old fable “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. In that fable, a boy tasked with guarding a flock of sheep decided to amuse himself by crying out “Wolf-Wolf” so that the villagers would come running to his rescue.

After falsely crying wolf a number of times, the boy did encounter a real wolf. When he cried out for help he was ignored by the villagers and his flock of customers er sheep ran away.

Where is the Strategy?

A vast majority of companies utilizing Twitter have no strategy and are simply wading into the network without a clue. Some of the most common mistakes:

• Name Holder: Companies that simply establish an account to hold their name so url squatters will not steal it. This is a lazy and simple excuse for doing absolutely nothing
• Mixed Signals: Companies that claim on their Bio their purpose for being on Twitter is to engage, communicate, and connect with their audience–then the company never does engage, communicate or connect with their audience
• About Us: Companies make everything from their tweets to their responses, if they get any, all about their products, services, and proclaimed greatness

Signal to Noise Ratio

Here are some simple steps to fix the problem of tone and noise in a company’s Twitter strategy:

• Signal: For every 10 tweets, 7 tweets should be valuable information (with links) that will help your audience & information that is not about your company
• Noise: For every 10 tweets, 3 should be about your company, they should give value, and they should be informative in nature

• No Hard Sell: NEVER tweet the hard sell, act desperate to sell, or attempt to create (old school) urgency for your audience to buy anything
• Mix: After repeating the formula of 7 signal to 3 noise, your next 10 tweets should be about recognition
• Connect: In this set of 10 tweets, 5 tweets use @company-individual to recognize their work, engage, network, or ask to collaborate
• Recognize: In this second set of 10 tweets, 5 tweets use RT (Retweet) to recognize someone’s writing, open lines of communication, and network to meet companies or individuals