Despite the wholesale move to join the online word of mouth cacophony, many marketers are still approaching social media from a flawed mindset. Thinking in terms of exposure, and reach they seek out big names like getting featured on Tech Crunch,  End Gadget or being reviewed by high profile bloggers like Pim Techamuanvivit and Susie Lau.

While I’d be ecstatic to have my product receive a glowing mention from a rock star in my specific niche, it’s not something I strive for with a single minded focus, and neither should you. A-list bloggers are showered with gifts, and products from marketers hoping for a review. Odds are you won’t be one of them. The fact is, I’d rather reach 500 low and medium level influencers in my niche than 0 stars.

The reality of plugging into word of mouth in the physical world, and on the web is recognizing it’s not the number of connections that matter, but how enthusiastic a person is toward a product or service. People who have a genuine interest possess the greatest influence, fortunately social media makes it easy to find them.

Photo credit inju

Even so, I bet there’s a lot of nay sayers who doubt the value of this new media. For those of you who fall in this category, let me ask you two questions:

1. Are you looking for a better way to build relationships with your customers? Yes.
2. Is your personality an important ingredient in attracting and retaining customers? Yes.

Then consider social media. When you strip away the technological jargon it’s simply about putting yourself out there, with the goal of creating a meaningful, two way dialogue with your customers. You’re already doing this when you talk to a person over the phone or in person. Social media allows you to present your voice in the word of mouth conversations people are already having about your business online.

The real power of the medium is evident when it’s coupled with a clearly differentiated company, in an industry that has been slow to adopt the technology. Case in point, Greenwerks, a Chicago based contractor.

Greenwerks niche is green design, construction and retrofitting. To enhance their position as an eco-conscious the company website includes a blog providing examples of how the company minimizes their carbon footprint, in addition to presenting simple ways for you to lead an environmentally friendly life. The strategy is augmented with traditional avenues such as email marketing, attending green trade shows and events. Far from just presenting themselves as an environmentally conscious, the people at Greenwerks run their business true to that purpose. A crucial part of the mix, social media allows Greenwerks to lay bare their consistent actions, showing their authentic self and influencing the creation of a ‘green’ meme (association) tagged to their business.

Compared to other “green” contractors, Greenwerks has a well defined position that places it well ahead on the curve of eco-responsible companies.

I wonder if they drive bio-diesel trucks to work?

Update 5/24/08: I just learned that Greenwerks is going to be featured on Discovery Channel’s Renovation Nation. Filming began this month. Congradulations to Chris Campbell and everyone from Greenwerks! You can view their audition video here.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait…

Meatball Sundae Explained

photo courtesy of worth1000 If you’re familiar with Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae concept, then you understand by the title that this part of the project did not work out. I’ll delve into the why momentarily. First, let me explain the idea for those not familiar with it. Meatballs are your traditional businesses (in my case, plumbing wholesaler). Whereas your ice cream, hot fudge, and sprinkles are all the gooey, web 2.0 stuff, like Myspace, blogs, widgets, etc. Separately both are two great tasting ideas, however when you mix them without forethought you unfortunately end up with a Meatball Sundae.

While it’s easy to get enamored with the sweet whipped cream and cherries, they should only be used to enhance the products and services underneath. If hype is the driving motivator to use these tools then you’re doomed to failure. Like other mediums, social media should only be used to accomplish a clear goal.

Answering The Why

These are my ideas for why this experiment failed to meet my expectations.

• The platform I used is more suited for building member-centric communities, where the people in the community are the content creators. I set an unrealistic expectation that an older audience of construction contractors, who are busy running their businesses would have the time to generate content for a peripheral event in their lives.
• Being a year long promotion with an eventual end, there was no motivation for people to contribute. A network aimed at bringing together these professionals for trading ideas to improve their businesses would have faired better.

What To Do

What do I want to accomplish for the 2008 promotion? I need to keep our guests informed about the trip, and all the options available to them while being able to gather feedback from them over the course of the year. Since I’ve already established that the particular event combined with the lifestyles of my customers makes a member-centric community unsuitable, I will choose a content driven strategy for the social media part of the promotion.

The analytics data from the prior program supports my intent.  It’s apparent that those people using the old site relied more so on the forum and blog posts. They crave topical information to help them prepare for the trip, and learn about the activities available in the places they will be visiting.

The VP Supply Mayan Riviera blog is already putting the content driven strategy into practice.

Do you have any meatball sundae’s to share?