Selected pages from: The Art of Conversation

An e-book available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Introduction (excerpt from the Introduction to The Art of Conversation)

"Social media is not a fad, but a paradigm-shifting toolset - Deborah Hymes The old ways of marketing are dead and being safe is now too risky -Seth Godin A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter - and getting smarter faster than most companies . - The ClueTrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual - Locke, Levine, Searls,& Weinberger By creating compelling content, you can become a celebrity. -Paul Gillin The difference between PR and social media is that PR is about positioning, and social media is about becoming, being and improving. Chris Brogan Social Media is about the people! Not about your business. Provide for the people and the people will provide for you. - Matt Goulart Think like a publisher, not a marketer. David Meerman Scott Social media isnt the end-all-be-all, but it offers marketers unparalleled opportunity to participate in relevant ways. It also provides a launchpad for other marketing tactics. Social media is not an island. Its a high-power engine on the larger marketing ship. Matt Dickman, technomarketer.typepad.com You will make mistakes. If you are sincere about helping the community, the authenticity will show and your mistakes will be forgiven. Zia Yusuf, executive vice president for SAPs global ecosystem and partner group Whether something brings them joy or pain, when people share and engage in communities, they form bonds and relationships with others who acknowledge their situation. Liana Evans, from post on Search Engine Watch Businesses used to have a small suggestion box near the door that mostly housed dust bunnies and an occasional piece of gum. Rarely would someone get back to you. But people can now make a post from an iPhone or a BlackBerry while theyre sitting in your restaurant. Charles Nelson, President of Sprinkles Cupcakes president More companies are discovering that an ber-connected workplace is not just about implementing a new set of tools it is also about embracing a cultural shift to create an open environment where employees are encouraged to share, innovate and collaborate virtually. Karie Willyerd & Jeanne C. Meister, HarvardBusiness.org Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations. Seth Godin Those who ignore the party/conversation/network when they are content and decide to drop in when they need the network may not succeed. Its pretty easy to spot those that are just joining the network purely to take not to give. Therefore, be part of the party/conversation/network before you need anything from anyone. Jeremiah Owyang, Web-Strategist.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

The secret isnt growing a huge fan base. We have 100,000 Facebook fans, but those fans have all come to us organically. We believe the more organic the growth, the more loyal the fans, the more likely they will be repeat customers. Cam Balzer, vice president of marketing at Threadless Social media is like a snowball rolling down the hill. Its picking up speed. Five years from now, its going to be the standard. Jeff Antaya, chief marketing officer of Plante Moran Once you can understand where the conversation is, who leads, the type of voices and the best place for you to add your voice, you can then start becoming a more active participant. Mitch Joel, president of Twist Image

Theres a growing twitchiness within many businesses that something is going on out there that we possibly/probably need to be part of. We need to check it out (so that we dont miss out) but we dont want to waste time and budget unnecessarily. We know that there are plenty of people out there making money from Twitter, Facebook, blogging and the like but we dont really feel that we know enough about it to really assess whether it is worth us jumping in at this early stage. Traditional marketing methods are just about still working OK, so lets wait and try it a bit later, when it all seems a bit safer. Were either scared of a repeat of the dot bomb. Or we dismiss the whole industry as a load of student types chatting online about what they ate for breakfast. Being on Facebook is one thing (I keep up with my friends there) but actually harnessing social media for business, well thats only for the big well known brands to do. But the later you leave it, the further youll have to run to catch up. And its no good waiting until you get your head around all this new technology, because next month therell be more technology, a new app, another platform that your competition are harnessing. As Matt Shobe, co-founder of Feedburner says "The web keeps changing! The damn thing won't sit still for five minutes." (Questions and Answers with Matt Shobe, Net Magazine April 2007) This book is for you if you want to know more about social media and how to practically use it in a business setting. It will help you consider which uses of social media are right for your business and give you the knowhow to start using them right away without it costing you a small fortune in agency fees. And if you're wondering whether its worth the time to read further, take a quick look at this video clip: http://www.youtube.com/v/lFZ0z5Fm-Ng I've tried to write this book in a similar style to that I use when teaching - friendly, conversational and, hopefully, full of practical advice. In true blogging style I've incorporated plenty of fantastic infographics that I've found online plus a few I have created myself - click through to the links for the originals and I've also added a smattering of blog-style lists as well as the odd video clip. Its as near as I can get right now to the classroom experience on paper (or perhaps onscreen) and my intention is to continue to add and update the content in new editions as time, and technology, move on. I've addressed many of the key issues that my CIM and CAM students are concerned with. I therefore hope that as well as being helpful for small and medium businesses in particular, this book will serve as a practical supportive text for those taking CIM and CAM qualifications. I do hope you find the content helpful and worth the time you spend reading it. Please feel free to give me feedback, corrections, advice and other input via the blog usingconversationalmedia.com

Marie Page September 2010 usingconversationalmedia.com @marie_page

Source http://www.pamorama.net/2010/03/03/35-great-social-media-infographics/

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

(Excerpts from the chapter introducing social media)

The new conversational platforms
Social media spans a wide range of media. We're probably most familiar with Facebook but perhaps use other platforms without even realising that they are part of the social media phenomenon (for instance probably half my blog readers have no clue that they regularly read a blog - they access it as an emailed online newsletter) and that each can be harnessed for business, not by shouting at customers, but by engaging in conversation with them. "The old brand language of 'we're the greatest, look at me, follow me' has a hard time making connections in social media. It's not that the language isn't understood, its just that it is rejected because it doesn't appear to deliver value. Marketers, and businesses in general, need to develop a light-touch if they want to use social media, a touch that offers choice and value." (Perks & Sedley, Winners & Losers in a Troubled Economy p 54) Today's consumers demand more interaction, more communication and more dialogue with business. And they expect that dialogue to be increasingly personalised, tailored to their preferences and needs. If we are going to truly engage with customers, we are going to need to provide a place for them not only to have their voices heard, but to take part in an on-going dialogue. The diagram below gives a helpful overview of the full range of current social media opportunities. We're not going to look at all of them, just those that make the most sense for the majority of businesses. Perks and Sedley go onto warn that "Social media will become faster, cheaper and easier. As our customers use these social tools, their expectations of what experiences can be delivered will be raised. Very quickly those expectations will be applied to customer/brand interactions and relationships. If we can't deliver simplicity, fulfilment, speed and value on a par with the new social tools, we won't create the engaged relationships we desire." (Perks & Sedley. p54) http://www.pamorama.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/artoflistening.jpg

What's all the fuss about?

Nigel Jones in reviewing the academic literature on social media says "Tsia (2009, p37) stated that Social media as just another communications channel tool. What differentiates this tool is that its consumer driven. However, when social media is associated with phrases such as phenomenon (LI & Berhoff, 2008), revolution (Qualman, 2009), Viral (Fattah, 2000), Interaction (Hill, 2010) "Hot" (Stelzner, 2010) and Engagement (Fisher 2009), also in less than three years becoming the most popular activity on the internet (Qualman, 2009), the author would suggest that this is far more than a communications channel tool." So what is this revolution and why has it come about?

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Shift happens
This is a great clip introducing the reality of social media. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

Some 70% of companies are planning to increase their marketing budgets for off-site social media (e.g. networking sites, Facebook and Twitter) More than half of companies surveyed (55%) use Facebook to improve brand awareness and reputation. Just under half are using Facebook as a marketing channel (47%) or for publicizing new content (46%) The most common uses of Twitter are for improving brand awareness and reputation (50%), publicizing new content (49%) and as a marketing channel (47%) 34% of companies have increased their social media budget in the last 12 months

Heres what Mark Stuart says in his CIM research paper on the shape of digital marketing: People tend to stick to the same five or six sites that they know and trust. Within these small villages the marketer is replacing the shopkeeper offering the customer things they might not spot themselves. With people self-selecting the villages they inhabit, marketers need to ensure they have a presence in those places, rather than trying to drive customers to their own sites, which is increasingly a much harder proposition. Taken from CIMs Shape The Agenda paper What hasnt happened yet. The shape of digital to come March 2010 What this basically means is that we have to seriously rethink our SEO fuelled come visit my website strategies and instead think long and hard about how we can go out to where our people are, where they feel comfortable in a community of trust. Ashley Friedlein, CEO of E-consultancy reinforces this notion. He says "If your customers spend 99% of their online time on sites other than your own perhaps you should focus on trying to be present where they are rather than paying a fortune to drag them to your site?." (Friedlein, A, Publishers face the challenge of atomisation, E-consultancy, 14 December 2007. www.econsultancy.com) Econsultancy released a report in June 2010 on Social Media and Online Brand Monitoring Trends. Key findings include: Social media is a great tool for listening to customers and improving products and service based on feedback Whilst nearly two-thirds of companies (61%) say that social media provides tremendous opportunities for their business, 59% of companies do not have any social media policies in place Who owns a companys social media presence is an important issue and must be addressed to avoid problems when employees leave and to ensure proper branding and messaging Reaching a small number of highly influential individuals (who are likely to purchase your product) is often more effective than a high volume, low influence approach, where the end audience is less likely to make a purchase Increased brand awareness was seen as major benefit of social media by 73% of companies The most important benefits of social media for companies are: increased customer engagement (71%), better brand reputation (66%) and increased communication with key influencers (62%) The most successful companies immerse themselves in the social media channel and take a strategic approach, as only 1% of companies who are heavily involved in social media say that they have gained no real value from the channel A third of companies (35%) manage their social activity through their digital marketing team, compared to a just over a fifth (21%) whose social media activity is managed by their PR or communications team The biggest barrier to better social media engagement for companies is lack of resources (54%) Two-thirds of marketers are planning to increase investment in social media even though less than one-fifth can effectively measure ROI Friedlein is referring to the concept of atomisation where your communications and offering is broken down into smaller sizes and spread across multiple locations and channels. Nick Evans, consultant with digital marketing firm Jaywing, says "Dialogue marketing needs to focus on making sure the customer can "pull" information and messages where they want, when they want, through the channels they want." (Evans, N. From monologue to dialogue: changing the marketing approach, What's new in marketing, Issue 66, February 2008)

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

This clip shows the scope of social media in Europe and Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxWahcXfwCg

Typical best practice guide - more in the book

Social media etiquette
Jess3 & Chernov, J's excellent Social Media Playbook: Everything Your Company Needs to Know to Succeed on the Social Web (2009) lists 10 basic principles that should guide participation on the social web: 1 Do Listen The most important first step you can take in social media is to listen before you speak. Social media offers a unique window into the lives of colleagues, customers, and influentials, but only if you dont talk over the opportunity. Adhering to a listen-first mantra will help you can gain valuable insights that inform how or even if you want to engage. 2 Do be authentic The era of online anonymity is over (if, in fact, it ever really existed). Social media demands honest, transparent, and authentic participation. Social networks are human networks so dont be afraid to share about your hobbies, travels, and even weekend adventures (to the extent that sharing this information is comfortable with you personally and doesnt run counter to the companys culture and values.) 3 Do be consistent When cultivating your social media presence, be consistent about the information contained in your profile and the content you share. If possible, establish brand guidelines for individual and group participation within your company so that you can build trust with and recognition from others whether you are on Twitter, Facebook or blog comment sections.

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

4 Do be gracious Applauding the good work of others and thanking others for their support are the cornerstones of any good community on or offline. Whether it is citing a source with a link in a blog post, retweeting or giving a shout out, be sure to credit and thank the original creator. 5 Do disclose Letting your online audiences know that you work for your company is essential if you are tweeting, blogging or posting favorably about your company online. A great way to do this is filling out your Twitter bio with a brief line about your company affiliation, as well as including your companys name as an employer on your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. Additionally, if you are supporting the efforts of a client, make sure to disclose your interest in the matter. For more on disclosure best practices, visit the Word of Mouth Marketing Associations ethics / disclosure page: http://womma.org/ethics/disclosure/ 66 Dont share confidential information about your company, clients, colleagues,partners, or competitors. 7 Dont criticize your company, clients, colleagues, partners, or competitors. 88 Dont spread rumours or false information about your company, clients, colleagues, partners, or competitors. 99 Dont reveal personal information about any of your colleagues. Examples include tweeting side conversations or posting personal photos to Facebook or Flickr without their explicit permission.

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

1010 Dont misrepresent yourself or your company. Every action online is, at some level, traceable, so make sure the content that you are creating and impressions you are leaving, no matter how big or how small, are accurate and honest.

Blogging (excerpts from the chapter on Blogging)

I was recently at a digital marketing conference where an expert panel including no less than e-marketing guru Dave Chaffey was taking questions & answers. The one area they seemed to all agree on is that the blog (in the UK at least) is one of the best, and yet one of the most underutilised social media tools. Yes there are hundreds of thousands of blogs out there but relatively few organisations have really started using them effectively. Where they have, however, they have found a tool that delivers on multiple fronts. Your blog is a place for you to develop newsletter content, integrate with Facebook pages, play with i 2deas, research a topic or customer views and it will also yield dividends in terms of SEO as other sites will pick up your content giving you invaluable back links, and customers will get on with the job of tweeting and liking your work.

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Blog central - a formula for success

I use blogging, e-newsletters and other social media in an integrated manner (see diagram above). For the purpose of this section my business is irrelevant really, but if the context helps you, I sell training DVDs online to church based musicians. I blog most days and every week or so collect the posts together to create a newsletter which is then e-mailed. My more tech-savvy customers get the blogs as they happen via RSS feed but most still prefer a less frequent summary newsletter by email. And how do I know this? Well having been blogging and emailing for a fair time I then asked my customers what they thought of the frequency and content using a wonderful free online survey tool called www.surveymonkey.com. In case you are interested my survey is here. The results were informative, confirming a lot of our assumptions and gratifyingly showed an extraordinarily high satisfaction rate (you can see the summary responses here).

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

And of course each blog post is tweeted and from there my LinkedIn profile picks up the latest tweets. And the Notes function on our company Facebook page picks up the new blog and posts it there (actually, I've found Notes to be a bit problematic - it frequently refuses to pick up the blog as it goes live but instead randomly posts it a number of days later. You may find it works for you but if not simply do it manually - its a couple of minutes work). You can set many of your social network updates to automatically update on others (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook etc) so that updating on one will trigger a cascade of updates on the others. All this (as can be seen from the diagram) produces lots of interactions with people. A lot of these are customers - and its important to maintain and enhance the relationship with them. It also brings in lots of potential customers many of whom will return again over the weeks learning more about us before considering a purchase. There is a helpful animated graphic showing the lifecycle of a blog post here: http://www.wired.com/special_multimedia/2008/ff_secretlife_1602

What should I blog about?

When I teach on blogging I normally get the audience to split into groups and brainstorm blog post ideas. Its not difficult to fill several flip charts with possibilities. I'd suggest you try to do the same with your marketing or blog team. I suspect that most marketers working in a business are perfectly capable of writing an endless stream of interesting and engaging blog or newsletter articles. This quote from an old book on e-newsletters remains true for blogging: I have never come across anybody who knew enough about a particular industry or topic to start a business in it, who didnt also have a nearly endless supply of content to choose from (Michael Katz E-Newsletters That Work) You spend at least 35 hours every week immersed in a company within a marketplace - of course you know plenty about it. There are things so second nature to you that you probably don't consider them interesting or useful enough to blog about. Lets see what you already have inside your head that you could write about. Now Im a teacher. Im not going to give you the answers (at least not right now) but in true active learning methodology, Im going to facilitate you to find them yourself. So sharpen your pencil and get ready for a one person brainstorming session. Write a list of all the questions you are asked about your business on a regular basis: How do I? Should I? What do you think about? How do I know if? Is it worth spending money on? Do you know where? What would you recommend for? What do you predict will happen to? Can I have an expert opinion on? Whats happening with? How did you manage to achieve.?

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

You should by now have a long list of ideas for your blog/newsletter. These arent boring company profiles, new product reviews, interviews with the CEO. They answer the genuine questions that your customers and others in your industry are interested in hearing the answers to. You may not have all the answers, but I bet you know someone who does. I've rarely met someone who loves their work that hasn't got something interesting to say about it. Often people can go on for hours if given a range of topics to talk about and a little gentle questioning. What you need to remember is that you are the expert on your industry, your products, your company, your sector, your topic of interest. Think about what questions people ask you about those things. Can you turn those questions into a blog post? Actually, one of the reasons I wrote this book in the first place was that I was fed up with people at parties discovering that I "know about social media" and expecting me to download all that knowledge in a few minutes. And if you are still struggling, here are some practical ideas: Humour - wittily written articles, video clips/posts etc funny but relevant to your market

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Repost other blogs (more about this later) YouTube/Video clips Virals - show some classics (willitblend.com, Cadburys Gorilla or this fabulous sequence from Ameriquest), think about how you could create something similar for your industry Podcasts/vodcasts Polls/surveys Industry news More in the book........

Facebook (excerpts from the chapter on Facebook)

How to set up a Facebook Page
Go to www.facebook.com/pages/create.php (you will need to be logged in). Youll find a simple wizard which will help you create the page. If for some reason (like me) you cant access anything on the Facebook Ads pages then try switching off your Firewall/Malware protection. I was using Kaspersky and found that it was blocking access to these pages for some reason. Choose a category carefully it will help you rank in relevant searches. The name of your page should ideally be your company name. You can now start to fill your page with interesting information. You can use the Notes function like a blog, add in Youtube video links, photos, start discussions, publicise events, link to other Facebook pages and all sorts of other activities. Take a look around at some other pages. Heres a really simple one that I have created http://www.facebook.com/musicademy The Wall tab is for dynamic content, the Info tab has static information, the Photos tab contains photos albums and Fan photos, etc. Facebook has made several of its core Facebook Profile Page applications available for tabs, including Events, Reviews and Discussions. If the functionality you want for your Facebook Page isnt yet available via an existing application, you can build your own. Third party developers can also use tabs. Since each tab has its own URL, you can choose any of them as the landing Page for your Facebook Ads and off-site promotion. You can also choose which tab to set as the default when users who arent yet Fans organically navigate to your Facebook Page from within Facebook. There are thousands of Facebook Platform applications built by 3rd party developers available for use on your Facebook Page. Do a bit of research and find out what works for you. DONT fill your page with loads of tedious stuff about your products. Make it fun, intriguing and with lots of industry relevant stuff too. Think about what your customers are likely to want to click through. And make sure you have plenty of content before sharing it. Once you have some fans (people that have clicked like on your page) then any updates you post to the page will feature on their own Facebook wall. How brilliant is that? Once you have at least 25 fans, you can register your Facebook username which gives you a friendly url featuring your brand name (a vanity url). Ive got www.facebook.com/musicademy for my Facebook fan page and www.facebook.com/mariemusicademy for my personal profile. @mariemusicademy is also my Twitter name and the login I normally use when I comment on blogs I shouldnt need to tell you why that all makes sense. To select a vanity url for your page go to http://www.facebook.com/username/ and follow the instructions there.

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

How to promote your Facebook Page

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Twitter (excerpts from the chapter on Twitter)

Promoting your Twitter name
We cover some of the applications that will help you with promotion later. In the meantime consider the following: Add your twitter name to your "signature" on your outgoing emails Add your twitter name to your business card Write about your tweetfeed on your blog, your website, in your newsletters and other communications Use a Twitter name badge on your website http://twittercounter.com/pages/settings/new Use a Twitstamp on your blog - this will show your most recent tweet http://twitstamp.com/ There are all sorts of other widgets that you can use on a blog to encourage retweeting and following

Advice from social media practitioners (excerpt from longer chapter)

Its always really helpful to read lessons learnt from more experienced practitioners and what follows are some y recommendations from a survey on social media that a friend of mine (Nigel Jones) carried out as part of an ( es) Masters dissertation. They make for fascinating, and I hope, helpful reading. Many of them contradict each reading. other, but that's fine - its all part of the conversation: conversation

Recommentations for Using Social Media

20.0% 18.0% 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%
5.3% 5.3% 5.3% 4.0% 2.7% 2.7% 2.7% 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 9.3% 9.3% 17.3% 16.0% 14.7%

Finding Twitter lists to follow

You can see what lists people have created by looking at their profile page. Looking at these lists is a good way of finding lists to follow. (For the nosey/researcher types, it also gives you some interesting additional insight into the individual and their interests.) Once you find a list you like, click "Follow this list". Unfollowing works the same way. Listorious is a directory of Twitter lists by category. You can select 6 tags to describe what you tweet about and also search Listorious for people either by tag or by list topic. From there you can either follow the list or follow the creators of the list (not a bad idea as they may well add you to their list later - another great example of the Twitter virus at work). TweetMeme Lists shows the most popular Twitter Lists (as well as the most tweeted links).

Let conversations develop before jumping in and defending a company position, it is far better to let defending non company people support you. Keep your 'pub personality' in the pub! It's not the answer to everything, more of an additional resource to be used. Keep blogging, use Facebook. Make regular updates but don't bombard people. Make postings acebook. relevant. In all cases keywords are King. Watch other people and learn before diving in. A well thought out strategy is essential in order to demonstrate credibility. Be organised, set yourself a time to do it as it is so easy to run away with it and do more social media stuff than your actual job. Do your homework, read up on terms and conditions of the sites, ensure that you take time to set up your profile in the way that you would like the world to read about you. Essentially, know and Essentially, understand the controls associated with the chosen media.

Friendfeed.com
Friendfeed is a way of amalgamating all your feeds from Facebook, blogs and social networks in one place and allows you and others to comment on them. Theres a helpful explanation of how it works here http://www.squidoo.com/friend-feed Friendfeed enables you to create rooms for select groups of people. You can join rooms to research a subject, or to keep up with a topic of interest. Its also a very helpful way of finding the top bloggers in your industry

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com

Its too easy just to promote (yes I do this too) but Engagement is key - ask questions, share event details etc. Create and pay attention to your infrastructure. Be very clear about what you are trying to achieve and set aside sufficient time - be realistic about the time involved and potential outcomes.

You are reading a selection of pages from Marie Page's e-book The Art of Conversation available from www.usingconversationalmedia.com

If you like what you have read here there are 109 pages in the actual book - its packed with need-to-know stuff about social media.

Sample of content from The Art of Conversation available at www.usingconversationalmedia.com