| design58 | social media consultancy | huddersfield, west yorkshire, uk

Do you listen?

More than ever before there is an opportunity to be annoying and abusive by spamming, interrupting and broadcasting discounts deals and offers to people.  Don’t do it, you don’t like it when it happens to you so don’t expect your connected community to like it either.

Instead take time to listen to what they are doing and talking about online, understanding behavioral patterns is not scientific but logical human nature.  Talk to people online similar to offline don’t change to super sales person, change to genuine, authentic, helpful friend.

Listening may take time, but it’s worth it.  This isn’t a game it’s part of life so take it at your speed relevant to your business or organisation.

Someone who listens will find out far more than one who just talks online.

Are You comfortable?

Comfort zones are fantastic but they make people less creative and innovative in what they do whether at work or at home. More and more I am meeting people who seem unsure of The Internet [social media] and that has brought me to consider my thoughts and passions and experiences of the past 29 years.

As a performance artist I worked specifically as a ‘living sculpture’ [1986 - 2001]standing practically motionless up to 8 hours a day on a plinth, on the street, in corporate circles, galleries, shop windows, hotels, nightclubs wherever. What relevance has this to social media? Everything, as the whole performance is about engaging, creating interaction, reaction and participation but above all audience analysis. I didn’t just stand there I had to work out what to do with who and when and where to make the whole crowd work with and for me. Just like anything on the internet where people are involved they won’t just come to you through Google, better to specifically find those you want to talk to and save time and money. But as you know people don’t [some people] seem to like this and so become aggressive.

Back to performing I literally put myself on a pedestal to be knocked down the idea wasn’t for support and applause but to see what people did when confronted with something outside of their everyday life no make up no cistume just a 3 piece suit and skiing goggles. Most applaud and support those unsure turn gradually violent verbally and physically. Not all got to me as the self censorship of my audience overruled the minority who were negative again this can relate to online activity.

Recently I have seen and noticed more people worried about what to do online; usually it falls back to being out of their comfort zones and having to consider relearning skills. That is something I have constantly done since 1981 as everything changes and we should with it, the internet will never sit still. Linked In won’t sit still neither will Twitter or Facebook that’s why we need to be flexible and share information not be competitive hiding the crown jewels becasue someone else will be sharing them. Instead learn to collaborate and move forward.

So yes beware some people will be out to trip you up, simply because they are uncomfortable. Trust those that are around you and connected to you. The engaging relationships will last and won’t go away, what I have learned over the past 29 years does work simply because I have focused on people and understanding their needs not mine.

Offline social media……..

With social media being so popular are their logos and posters in bars, stores, club and other public places where you spend time?  I was in a Starbucks recently and absolutely no sign that they had any presence on Facebook yet we are all aware when we are online of how connected they are to their customers.

Why aren’t brands connecting offline and online, its an easy thing to do knowing virtually all the customers have some contact with Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and You Tube through any given 24 hour period.  All it needs is a logo or banner to signify and stimulate the connection in the customers mind.

Most people can connect, follow or like there and then on one of many hand held devices or via laptop. I find it intriguing why on and off line seem so far apart in many businesses plans.  Unlike Nordstrom in USA who have actively encouraged staff to casually make people aware of their Twitter profiles.  This post on Web Ink Now shows how logical, simple and personal it can be, as well as truly effective:

http://www.webinknow.com/2011/03/nordstrom-does-twitter-right.html

Another  reason for this post is to request your help too, if you’re out and about and do see a logo, icon, banner however creative or not.  Could you think of us and post it on our facebook wall? We want to get an idea and flavour of what people are doing around the world, or not doing.

http://www.facebook.com/design58

Thanks.

Just using facebook for personal contact?

I hear business people saying they use Linked In and Twitter for business, then Facebook for personal contact with friends and family. Is this really what they are doing or have they bypassed why Facebook is being used effectively to connect, network and share information by approximately 600 million people.

So you’re on Facebook just for personal contact with friends and family [no problem]you have all your privacy settings adjusted so only they can see what you do. What happens then when a friend posts a video by their favorite band, do you click ‘Like’ or add a ‘Comment’? I would say the answer to that is yes, but not all the time. Why not all the time, the same reason you don’t join in every conversation you hear from leaving the house, entering the office, buying a coffee and so on. The conversations you join depend on whether you have anything to say or on who is talking.

As we build up friends that we know and trust every now and then they will suggest to a ‘Facebook Page’ that they think you may ‘Like’. When you click through often there is more interesting insights into a celebrity, band, artist, organisation, charity, brand, business, service provider, friend who you are aware of and can now talk to. It would be a surprise if you click ‘Ignore’ rather than ‘Confirm’ all the time, why because there is content you like on these pages as someone has thought specifically about you when sharing their ‘Likes’. This personal approach is no mre than someone suggesting you buy and try a soap powder they use; once upon a time this could have been a conversation over a garden wall. All that’s changes is where the conversation happens.

Whether you talk about B2B or B2C I will suggest thinking about ‘People 2 People’, we buy from people not businesses and we buy from people who believe in what they are doing. As we go forward the online personal networks people have are becoming more valuable every day, through sharing information on platforms like Facebook businesses are able to connect with their customers, clients and communities.

By using Facebook personally it would be hard not to share information with your friends and family who also have friends and family and all of us like to share what we enjoy.  So are you really just using Facebook as a glorified email/message provider or to connect, share and learn more from the people you are connected with?

Sharing a little more conversation

We all want word of mouth referrals whether they come from online sources or offline, I personally ignore emails unless from known sources. It’s quite evident that many people have effective online networks [better than many businesses] and so these networks can share information a lot more effectively than previously.

As we move on less and less searching will happen specifically through Google [or other search engines at the front end]. Instead we will begin to have information fed on the keywords or alerts we request. How many people would even think of using the yellow pages to find a plumber but would ask friends, family, colleagues, contacts, followers? The list can be added to where relevant and with regard to whose opinion you trust and feel loyal to, trust and loyalty are very important factors in building the reputation of a business.

Whilst building reputations there is still the opportunity to link word of mouth to previous work and contacts, a recent client of mine found by being more active on Linked In he was back in contact with people he had known for 20 years. Conversations can start around familiarities, whether new or old businesses nobody should be selling products or services through any platform. Instead I would advise simply being informative about your knowledge, skills and experiences within your industry. By doing this contacts, followers or friends get to know you as a resource not a source of interruptions, discounts and deals.

There are many ways to search specifically for what we want, by building a connected community online we are able to spread the awareness of what we know and do globally. I have been doing this since 1982 simply promoting interaction, participation and viewing audience analysis based on engaging with people and developing long term relationships. By taking time to listen to those we want to connect to we are better placed to understand their needs, bringing this to conversation shows them that we respect their views too.

The important factor in everything linked to these thoughts is people not technology, by building the correct mind set to communicate effectively to the people important to your business those relationships will build whether online or offline. It is vital that it doesn’t become one or the other but working together strategically for the business to develop, always providing an approachable and personable opportunity for conversation.