This post is being published in Marketing Magazine’s 2009 Media Guide. I’m not sure when or if MM are publishing it online.
Over the years, I’ve probably dedicated somewhere in the low-mid six figures in words to the subjects that interest me:
- user experience
- social media
- web strategy
- knowledge work and the people that do it
Most of that writing has pointed to or discussed aspects of these things and how I believe they can work together to increase the potential for any business to be more successful. As I’ve done so, it seems a number of people have chosen to take notice, even when I’ve railed against the apparent obsession in the marketing industry with using social media, in particular, to try to sell stuff. I stand by my words, even in the face of some well-argued counter opinion.
So, what am I talking about then?
What I’m talking about, is really caring about an investment in your strategic approach to all of those factors – user experience, social media, web strategy and knowledge work – over at least 12 months, and preferably longer, anything up to five years (and occasionally more). I’m talking about embedding these things into your business culture and taking a long bet on their value as a success factor over time.
Too often, and increasingly, I’m seeing those new (where new is less than several years) to the game get all hot and bothered over the “faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death” approach many, including much of the marketing industry, are taking to social media. It’s all about selling, and Twitter Boot Camps, and short term, non-strategic approaches.
Breathe in… And out… Pause for a moment and look out to the horizon. Try to (metaphorically speaking) peer over it. There. Doesn’t that feel better?
If this, do it now, do it fast approach is your model for getting clients involved in social media it is doomed to failure. Sure, it might work for this campaign, or that one. But over time? Not a hope.
Sure, the world moves fast these days. We all know that. But businesses still require strategy over time, and measurement of the inputs and outcomes of that strategy. You can’t measure that success based on three month campaigns.
So, what do I propose? Here’s a short list to start chewing on. Some of it consists of things to do, others are about my view of the world.
- Social media isn’t new, but you’re probably new to social media – Make an effort to understand some history. Learn about how the things you’re doing now on social networks have existed in society, and inside the walls of organisations long before you ever knew about them – knowledge work, collaboration, communities, sharing, mentoring, nurturing.
- Strategy is a multi-part thing combining business, technology and community – All of these things must be in balance before they will work together properly. An imbalance will hurt your business, your client, your technology or your community.
- Don’t try to sell as the first thing you do – That community part of your strategy, the people you used to be able to call users, or customers? They don’t like it. And they will let others know. As much as we slam the door on salesmen on the street, we will slam the door in your online face too if what you bring to the table is pressure to sell to us.
- What happens to your campaign and its community in a year? – If the campaign you’re about to launch is successful, someone (perhaps many someones) are going to get emotionally invested in it. What plans do you have for them? How are you going to support that emotional investment over time?
- Users aren’t – Nor are they customers, or eyeballs, or click throughs, or viewers, or whatever other term you choose to try to tack onto them. They are human beings. They are excitable, fallible, ingenious, dumb, clever, and everything else all at once. Treat them like humans and they’ll respect you for it. Treat them like a demographic or a metric and they won’t.
- Who else might benefit from your strategy? – Have a think about this. What if another business unit, or another business altogether, or a friend, or someone on the other side of the world could benefit from what you’re building? What additional benefit in terms of social capital, in whuffie, might you get if you shared your ideas rather than sticking them like Rapunzel in some impenetrable tower?
- It’s not about you – As much as you, your employer and your mates might consider you a genius, you’re probably not. Somebody has in all likelihood pitched your idea to their boss or client already. If you’re putting together a strategy, take a look around to see who’s succeeded and failed before you. Pick over the bones, gather the best ideas and mash them up to build something of real value for your client or business, not something to highlight your CV (if the idea is good, it’ll end up there anyway).
But how is this about long bets?
Well, it’s this. While I’ve misappropriated the term, “long bet” for this piece (long bets are actually about much longer term thinking and outcomes than one to five years – they’re worth reading about), I want you to consider the possibilities if you took the four things I mentioned at the start of this piece – user experience, social media, web strategy and knowledge work – and built your strategy for the work you’re doing, whether it’s for a client or your own business, with them in mind, over at least a year. What benefits could you realise? Who could get involved? What additional opportunities for innovation or ideation (is that really a word?) might arise?
Caring about the people who are going to experience your campaign, or strategy, or product, or whatever, counts for a lot. It wins you points. People will talk about you. Treat them well and that will talk about you more. Treat them well over a long time and they will talk about you a lot more.
Everyone reading this is probably a member of a social network of some description. It’s in social networks, whether they are real life at the football or the pub or online on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or the internal social network in your business, that they’ll do that talking. And those places are their turf. You need to play by their rules. Page takeovers, intrusive ads and shouty salesmen just annoy people. And sooner or later, they’ll shut you out or invoke Gilmore’s Law on you.
Karma can be great, or it can suck. Depends on the flavor. Share some of the knowledge you build and the things you’ve learned around and you’ll get less of the sucky kind.
And please, whatever you do, think strategically. Think about the long view.
