Social Media Content Marketing

In Alfred Hitchcock's classic horror film The Birds , a town is paralyzed when birds viciously attack unsuspecting citizens. A remake of sorts is being done online and it's called The Tweets. Designed to give the common man a voice to be heard, Twitter has now become a loaded gun for politicians and celebrities with which to shoot their feet. Everyday, bad tweets seem be pecking their way into the media creating more havoc and ill-will than promotion. Certainly some are bigger offenders than others, but it's not just the orange-crested loons making bad tweets. It's companies too. So what's a bad tweet and how do you rebound from them? Think of Twitter as a ticker tape to the world. It's a great way to quickly communicate with customers, vendors, fans, etc. Recently a well known marketing automation company released a tweet with "four-letter" words. It was trying to stand out with a catchy play on words, maybe appeal to a younger crowd I suppos...

Social media lessons we can all learn from the most outspoken, opinionated, yet fascinating Presidential candidate. If you were slapped by a stranger, would you turn and run, restrain them, or hit back?  For many of us raised in and around New York City, a slap is returned with a closed fist to the jaw. Not fighting fair? The attitude is, if you make an unprovoked or unfair hit we will hit you much harder. This transcends socioeconomic class. Perhaps it's why one time New York City Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt would speak softly and carry that big stick. The same applies to verbal slapping which has moved for the most part from the streets to the Web. Twitter seems to be the arena of choice where tweets fly quickly with stinging jabs.  A football player disses a rival team; a rapper calls out another for not having street creds. The retorts that are often crude, inflammatory, libelous even - but good fodder for our reality-obsessed public that relishes these...

New England. Seattle. What a game that was! Yes I said was . No, this article wasn't posted a week early. It's in fact timed perfectly because it's not about the big game, it's about the social media game around scheduled events. Good luck getting your post noticed nonetheless your message received next Monday morning. The Web will be overflowing with Facebook posts, Tweets, Instagrams, blogs, and commentary on the successes, failures, bad calls, and great plays of Super Bowl 49 ( Sorry. English Major here. I don't do Roman Numerals ). But today, rather than my words getting lost in a sea of Monday morning social media mayhem, you're reading this Super Bowl themed article. I've got your attention and you'll listen to what I've got to offer. Touchdown, and the extra point is good. First rule in social media event strategy is say it first . You can run the risk of saying the wrong thing, but that can be avoided if you've got t...

As I pointed out in Part One , social media marketing is still figuring itself out, so finding the right person to be your social media manager is no easy task. Simply charging the youngest person in the company to handle such an increasingly vital and visual role just does not make sense. Just consider how today I walked into my local Verizon store to ask some questions for my elderly parents. "Hi. Do you have phones designed specifically for senior citizens?," I asked the young Verizon employee. "Is this for you?," she replied. I paused for a few moments until the Frankenstein veins on the side of my head stopped throbbing, then replied: "What's your cancellation policy?" What we've all learned very quickly is that social media is akin to preparing blow fish, or the Japanese sushi known as "fugu". Prepared correctly and you'll be treated to one of the most delicious meals you have ever had. Prepar...

One of the challenges all organizations face today concerning its social media campaign is not so much how to to do it, but selecting the right manager to run it? Tapping the right person, persons, or company to lead the social media charge is unlike filling spots in other departments. So some of the tried and true processes you've used for years are about to backfire and can do damage quickly. At this point, whether you run your own business or are the CEO of a multinational, you know a little about social media. Maybe even a lot. And if you're like most leaders, you really don't want to know more about it, but you know it makes good business sense that you do . Your job is to make sure the person in charge knows it inside and out. The problem is that the medium, its tools and its best practices, changes pretty much daily. Keep in mind that social media employees are not only doing their job, they are schooling themselves on how to do their job. The changes are con...

Sorry. Did you believe that headline?  It's called clickbait. Don't feel bad if you were misled. Unfortunately, we have all fallen prey to these social media bear traps. Several of these fallacious posts bombard us each day on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the like. So suffice it to say, there won't be any panaceas in here to change your life, no earth shaking news, no online marketing solution that will make you gobs and gobs of money utilizing social media. There won't even be a No. 3. These kinds of sensationalist posts are the latest trend to hit the Inter-webs and what I've dubbed tabloid social media. The subject is usually about some amazing act of kindness or feat, by a dog, baby, or an elderly or physically impaired person. It's really no different from what the media has done for years. They promise something that will tug at your heart strings, give you belly laughs, or change your life.  All high claims that rarely deliver.  And fewer ironi...

Like most of you, my resolutions this year involve healthy self-improvements. Starting with food: I will try to eat less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff. I don't believe in cutting things out cold turkey (even if it is leftover with plenty of stuffing) but rather, cutting down. I seem to work better that way.  By the way, that's a photo of my breakfast this morning, pancakes, syrup, biscuits, bacon. Sorry, I forgot to mention, unlike you, my resolution begins tomorrow. It's the one advantage of having a birthday today. (Please remain seated as envy green is not a becoming color on you.) In short, I get to procrastinate my diet one more day. Even as it applies to social media. What? You don't do resolutions? Don't need a diet? Great! But everyone needs a social media diet for healthier communications. And like me, you get the extra day or four as it were and can start Monday. That's because no one's around. A mid-week start of the New Year is...

With a Twitter IPO expected in mid-November, Twitter wants to position itself as indispensable to consumers. Like many Internet companies, investors and analysts contend a huge pool is key to the company's ability to attract advertisers and generate a profit. But according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 36% of 1,067 people who have joined Twitter say they do not use it, while 7% say they have closed their account. You have to expect that drop off though with any new product. For instance, I haven't washed my Shamwow since I ran out of OxiClean after I dropped my George Foreman grill.   Twitter is a bit like a late night infomercial to be honest. It's got the cool factor, fun to use, but really offers more sizzle than steak. I don't tweet much for myself, but I get why people might want a virtual soap box. Say what you feel regardless if it's meant to entertain, notify, or provoke thought. But chances are few will read it. And if you're a regular pers...

"It's true. I didn't read this. I didn't even bother to read the title before I shared it. In fact, you've already read more of the article than I ever will. That's because many Twitter retweets are done digitally through robots.  Or maybe a service found the phrase "social media" and it "Liked" it under my Facebook profile. I wonder if the author named the article what he did to prove a point?" He did.  Last week, I was checking statistics to see who had retweeted my last article on wanting social media to be less narcissistic . (The irony of that last statement is not lost on me, but I digress.) The great thing about Facebook, Twitter and other social networks is that nearly everything can be tracked and traced. I was pleased to see marketers, other business professionals, as well as plain ol' regular folks, had liked the article enough to share it with others.  But as I continued perusing the list, I spotted a ton of ph...

  What is Zen and the Art of Social Media Sushi? Patience, grasshopper.  Put down your Facebook and Twitter posting software for a moment and I will explain. Famous, recognizable people can be seen all over Los Angeles. In the neighborhood I live, I recognize one every day. But when I walk into my favorite Japanese restaurant for a quick bite, you would think Elvis had entered the building -- when he was alive, I mean.  Few writers are so recognizable that they fall into celebrity status -- and I am certainly not one of those. Nor are writers often big spenders -- not exactly the highest paying profession in the world. But tonight the chef came out of the kitchen just to shake my hand. The new hostess and server introduced themselves. The manager bowed. And last night I just walked by and the owner waived wildly when he saw me. There seems to be are as many Japanese restaurants in L.A. as there are celebrities, but to my Japanese restaurant, I am royalty. A true c...

Facebook has made another move into mobile with its Facebook Home app. Use it and the default start page for your Android cell phone provides instant access to photos, comments and chats. Talk about in your face, book. As a rule, the easier to access it is to access, the more people want to use it. Meanwhile, LinkedIn introduced “mentions" making it more like business Facebook, Google added new Google+ tweaks, and Twitter has released Vine video. No longer clearly defined, a Forbes article speculates on social media's colliding worlds, while its technology article this week questions some social media big wigs for their predictions for Facebook Home's and its potential influence. The objective seems to be to turn us all into Faceborgs. But in my world, Facebook has peaked and everyone I know uses it less and less. Easier access will not help that. Indeed, the lines between social networks are more than starting to blur. But more notable is how Wor...

Unlike the Ten Commandments, social media postings should not be carved in stone. Speaking of tablets, (the stone ones, not the "electronic babysitter" ones that retail for $399) we social media marketers need to think of ourselves as bricklayers when posting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like using randomness as our guide. You see, good bricklayers naturally "mix it up" to avoid unwanted patterns.  And they best work when we do it in house. Case in point. I never eat the same breakfast two days in a row, or take the same route to work, have regular scheduled meetings, or exercise times at the gym on the same day at the same time. Whatever the opposite of a creature of habit is, is who I am. Granted, this "charming" trait has driven any and all the highly-structured, organized women in my personal life out the door faster than common sense and logic runs from Florida politics. Yet, being consistently inconsistent serves ...

It seems everyone I've spoken with this season has experienced a mega cold this New Year. If you haven't gotten yours, don't worry it probably got lost in the holiday mail but I'm sure it's on its way. I haven't had a cold in a few years but I wasn't so lucky a few weeks ago as I'm just getting over one that lasted a whopping three weeks — lasting this long mostly because of my air travel from New York to Florida which the airlines might as well rename the Influenza Express. Having a Holiday cold isn't usually worrisome but it is almost always rather annoying. Like the visiting in-laws, you know it's going to leave soon but that doesn't make it less miserable or easier to put up with. But when a cold lasts weeks instead of days it can bring down both your defenses and your spirit. It's times like these that you can use words of encouragement and I found mine in the most unlikely of places: wrapped around my cough drops....

There's a new list out this week that ranks the most popular celebrities on social media based on fans and followers on the largest social networks with Justin Bieber edging out Lady Gaga for the top spot.  And we're talking about millions of followers and billions of page views. (Insert your own Mayan Calendar joke here.) The real lesson here for those of us over the age of 13 is that if you're promoting a company or brand on Facebook and Twitter you're probably envious, frustrated and wasting your time on the wrong things. Pop stars in fact dominate social media holding eight of the Top 10 spots most with 30 million plus Facebook fans and Twitter followers. And that's because they are using the medium the way it was designed.  Though I am the father of a teenager who has hundreds of teenage friends, I have yet to meet a Justin Bieber fan — but he seems like a nice kid and see no reason to begrudge him. His handlers know who his targ...

The precise moment I pulled up to the gas pump this morning, my car chimed and the "Need Fuel" icon light came on. I thought about how great it would be if I could achieve similar perfect timing with my social media to maximize results and reach. To have posts, emails, texts, them appear precisely at the moment they are needed or desired. One of the first things I learned about being a social media professional was that before you spend time on the metrics of perfect timing, it's better to spend more time tweeting and Facebook posting more often. The number one reason social media campaigns fail in my opinion is because businesses get discouraged by a lack of results and stop posting. Or they run out of ideas. Or they just don't keep up with a regular schedule. Instead, first think about your intent. Why do you want your posts to be read? What are your expected results? Is it just to be retweeted or reposted? That's good for the ego but doesn't much hel...

Social media and relationships: that's what the new Facebook couples pages is all about. Listing yourself as "In a relationship" is so traumatic that it's probably ended more relationships than Vegas trips and Victoria's Secrets catalogs combined. But now, a page to illustrate the relationship?  ( For more information on this please see "Kiss of Death" .)  Instead let's discuss the business/customer social media "marriage." First, if you believe the adage "Marriage is a two-way street" then I might have due cause to suspend your relationship license.  Or maybe you've never walked down the plank, er I mean, aisle. Marriages — even the most successful ones  — are more often than not comprised of a giver and a taker. And the social media business relationship is no different except the business is always the giver and your customer is always the taker. As the reader/follower/customer, I want, want, want. I don...