The client is still right

Freedom is probably one of the reasons why Internet is so fascinating to all of us. We are free to search, access, share and generate content and information in an incredible variety of ways. When it comes to the Web, however, freedom has been constantly challenged by economic interests, legal norms, conventionalism, moral principles, and plain fear. From the music industry freaking out about Napster to the Iranian government freaking out about tweets, it seems that someone will always worry about the form freedom adopts in the cyberspace.

Online freedom has come in different flavors. The latest and tastiest one being social media. The Web 2.0 revolution has empowered people in such a way that individuals have now in their hands a perfect tool to make a significant impact on practically anything. Word of mouth has proven to be an effective instrument to generate action and companies are increasingly following online conversations to improve their business strategies.

Not everyone is happy about that in the corporate world though. For many CEOs and top level executives, reaching out to social media in order to promote their products and brands has been dominated by fear and skepticism. At the center of that attitude lives the perception that regular, normal people are unable to produce high-quality branding. For the first time in many years, the client apparently is not always right.

Fortunately, the last statement may be valid only for some businesses. More than ever before, the client is still right and social media is here to challenge corporate conventionalism. Visionary businesses will take advantage of the infinite possibilities that social media offers. Conventional ones, out of fear of losing control of "something," will keep doing business as usual. That, of course, does not mean that traditional businesses are doomed to fail and visionary businesses are supposed to make profits every time they venture into social media.

The truth is that social media, as an expression of online freedom, offers the potential to shape the world from the bottom. We, the people, are finally able to challenge everything and there is nothing conventionalism can do about it. A wise business should try to remember that the client is still right.

Friendly social media guide for small businesses

I don't know for how long this document has been running in the cyberspace but today I discovered Dell's Social Media for Small Businesses guide on Facebook. Apart from being an easy-to-read manual (you can actually download the whole thing), this guide is divided into different sections that provide real case scenarios of companies that have taken advantage of social media to promote their own businesses.

To take a look at the guide, click HERE.

Social media bubble?

Despite all the excitement about social media, some people think that social media offers the potential of a meltdown similar to the one experienced by the the dot.com industry eight years ago.

In an article published in Media Life, Paul Benjou writes the following:

"Social networking sites are about people communicating with one another and sharing information. It's not a format that's suited for ad messages. In that environment, advertising becomes social interference, in some ways akin to eavesdropping, and it has the potential to backfire".

To read the full article click HERE.

Should social media drive traffic to your site?

I came across two opinions about social media that are quite different.

The first one goes like this:

"The point of using social media as part of a marketing or PR strategy for a small business is to drive traffic and generate sales." Peter Shankman, founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, a boutique marketing and PR strategy firm in New York City. Read full article HERE.

The second one goes like this:

"Facebook marketing is not about driving traffic to your web site. Keep Facebook users on Facebook." Online Marketing blog. Read full article HERE.

So, my question is this: Should social media drive traffic to your site or not?

Twitter for businesses

The popular Twitter has become a very useful tool for companies to promote their ideas and products. Check out the Twitter 101 section of the site to have a look at best practices and case studies of the way Twitter is being used by companies.

Click HERE to visit Twitter 101.

Three useful and easy social media ideas

I read an interesting article by Alexandra Samuel that offers three useful suggestions for companies that are skeptical or afraid of getting deeply involved into a social media campaign. The three suggestions are:

1. Add a suggestion box into your website
"What is it: Invite your customers, supporters or employees to submit their ideas and suggestions for new products, services or improvements".

2. Create a widget for your company
"What is it: Create an interactive badge your customers or supporters can place on their Facebook pages or blogs".

3. Promote your company's special deals on the cyberspace
"What is it: Create an online presence that lets people know about a special, time-limited offer".

To read the full article click HERE.

A short social media business example

Today, I read a short but useful post written by Massimo Paolini from the Examiner.com. He provides a short scenario which exemplifies the way a small business can promote its activities using social media tools. Check it out:

"Let's say you have a hair salon in Willow Glen. First, you'll want to create your own fan page on Facebook. Post pictures of your store and staff there. On your Twitter account, you can send out "tweets" about specials and new stylists or products. Advertise on Craigslist, and make sure your website is bookmarked on del.icio.us. Add more pictures on Flickr especially if your stylists are creating unique styles--and ask customers to post reviews on Yelp."

Click HERE to read the full post.

Meassuring Twitter in Iran

I just read an interesting opinion about the whole Twitter phenomenon in the Iranian elections. Gaurav Mishra’s (co-founder of social media research and analytics company 20:20 Web Tech) said in a post the following:

"Calling what’s happening in Iran a ‘Twitter Revolution’ is not only distracting but also dangerous because it reduces a legitimate broad-based grassroots movement to what’s quickly becoming a cliche (see Moldova)". Click HERE to see full post.

Also, I read an article from The Guardian that talks about the importance of meassuring Twitter in the right way:

"Supporters of reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi are more likely to use Twitter and Facebook. Poorer, less-educated voters have flocked to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone acknowledged the limited group of users in Iran, who don't necessarily represent the mainstream. "Because Twitter is still a nascent service the sentiment is likely narrow," Stone said in an e-mail Monday to The Associated Press". Click HERE to read full article.

Building a social media strategy

Everyday, you can find lots of articles giving you suggestions about the things you must do with social media in order to improve your business, your blogs or your causes.

In order to get a better sense of what is going on, I decided to summarize some of the most repeated suggestions you can read whenever someone is writing about social media.

The first thing to keep in mind is that social media is aimed at improving your brand name throughout an efficient customer service. Because of this, the biggest turn off when opening your social media channels is trying to sell something.

Having said this, the first thing you have to do is listening to people. Yes, as simple as that. Go into the social media world and listen what kinds of things people are saying about your company, your field or your topic of interest.

After you do that, you should evaluate if what your heard is useful for you. Is it really important to venture into social media for your organization? If so, then it comes the biggest task: you have to define goals and strategies.

Once you are clear about that, get involved (without rush) into the social media world. Start talking to people, add value to the ongoing conversations, respond to people's questions in a friendly and helpful way and share your knowledge telling your own story in an honest manner.

Finally, make sure you do all of the above with a unique voice because that is going to be you best bet to nurture your brand name. Ah! and never forget that creativity will always be the best tool you can use to achieve all this.

A pretty cool Twitter application

I just discovered this new application that allows you to follow Twitter conversations and hot topics in a very easy way. The application is called twendz and this is how the folks at twendz describe it: "twendz is a Twitter mining Web application that utilizes the power of Twitter Search, highlighting conversation themes and sentiment of the tweets that talk about topics you are interested in. As the conversation changes, so does twendz by evaluating up to 70 tweets at a time. When new tweets are posted, they are dynamically updated, minute by minute." It's pretty cool, check it out by clicking on the image below.

Social Media World Map

The other day, I came across an article featuring a map of the most influential social sites around the world. According to that analysis, Facebook is the most popular social media site in the world. However, reading some of the comments people left in the post, it seems there are some inaccuracies in the results. Click the image below to read the post.