Social Media – The Human Hunger

Note: This blog post was originally posted on Knoxsocial's blog on May 9, 2011.

Last month’s Social Slam was full of great insight and bright minds from around the nation. Social Media experts such as Jay Baer, Trey Pennington, and Christina Kerleygave keynote speeches that sparked the long round of incessant tweets (KnoxSocial = GUILTY).

But one teaching really stood out above the rest for me and that was Trey Pennington’s speech on the ” Three-Fold Hunger”.

Three-Fold Hunger

What’s this “Three-Fold Hunger”  you say? It’s the three most basic needs that all human beings have.

1. We all want to be heard.

2. We all want to be understood

3. We want to feel that our lives count.

Not only are these the most basic of human needs, but are also the most fundamental  levels of customers service. Luckily, social media serves as a fantastic arena to meet both of those needs: to listen to and to be heard. Most of us commonly use SM as a place to voice our opinions, crack jokes (hoping to get a couple “LOLs”), and to ask advice from fellow social medialites.

For business owners, it’s a way to really dig into the psyche of your fans and get to know them on an even more personal level. The one-to-one communication through social networks lets users know that they have been seen, heard, and of course, that their voice matters.

Measuring Success

Another statement from Trey that grabbed my attention was that, “If you are in social media for the profits, you are likely in it for wrong reason. And at best,  profits are trailing indicator. ”

ROI is the biggest obstacle that businesses face and is also the hardest to truly quantify.  According to a recent  Social Media Examiner survey of 1,356 businesses, how to measure  social media return on investment is the number one question that marketers are asking.

Although sales in the end does matter; as Trey said, it’s not the only indicator. Success can be seen through the conversations you’ve sparked, the debates others have had between each other, a fellow fan answering another fan’s question, or a big praise on your wall. It’s about creating a place that people can go to chat and form a community around your brand.

What Social Media Isn’t

So what is social media NOT? Social Media is not about selling or shoving your product in people’s faces.  The true key is genuine dialogue, deepening relationships with current customers (or new ones), and giving a human voice to the brand.

Your readers are smart. They can sense a schmoozer from a mile away. So long as you are providing interesting, quality content they’re bound to stick around.  Who knows, they may even BUY something from you! 

When it comes to it, put yourselves in the shoes of your fans. What interests you? Think of it as telling a story around your brand and products.

Where’s the $$$?

So where’s the actual sales piece in this? The sales aspect happens when you continue to keep your customers happy and keep them coming in. They are now brand loyal patrons who are guaranteed to bring in a friend (or two);  and, who knows, they may even refer a friend.

The Facts: Experience vs. Time

It’s important to remember that “success” doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to evolve and have your community grow with you. Social Media Examiner’s 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report found that there is a direct correlation between time spent and experience. Those with more years of social media experience spend more time each week conducting social media activities than those with less experience. For example, 63% of people with 3 or more years of experience spend more than 10 hours a week doing social media activities. Only 41% of those with 1 to 3 years experience spend that much time.*

Time commitment for social media marketing

(*Source: Social Media Examiner, “2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report”)

 

Another interesting find is that the number one advantage of social media marketing is generating more business exposure, as indicated by 88% of marketers.

So what does all of this mean?

It means that:

1. Approaching social media in a way that puts your customers’ wants and needs (listening, communicating, and appreciating) is absolutely necessary to drive success.

2. “Success” is a very loosely-based term and is one of the top questions that marketers have today. Do not solely measure success on numbers.

3. Social media has an extremely high level of time commitment. However, the more time spent and experience gained the bigger the pay out in the end. So don’t give up!

4. If there are any four things that get out of this blog post its: Be genuine. Be transparent. Listen. Communicate.

How do you measure success? Share your own thoughts in the comment box!

Top 5 Things to Know about Facebook Page Updates

Note: Originally posted on Knoxsocial's blog on March 3, 2011

Facebook never ceases to out-do itself. Mark Zuckerburg and his clad of troops know how to give us advertisers what we want (at least most of what we want). And this is evident in their launch of new updates to Facebook Business Pages.

Not only have they upgraded the “Start a Facebook Page” so that it is clearer and more user-friendly….

but they’ve also made some big changes to their page’s  functionality. And at Knoxsocial we’re here to dig into what exactly it is you need to know.

1. See Through the Eyes of  Your Business Page

The image above shows you the steps to toggle between your user Profile and the Page you admin. Once you get there you’ll notice several interesting things.

The first thing you’ll notice is your homepage. You will no longer see a news stream consisting of your friends’ most recent posts, but instead will see posts from other businesses that you have “liked”. And “likes” are another change in themselves – what was formerly known as “page favorites” (which we’ll get into later). In other words, you are now able to see and engage from a Page’s point of view.

Page's Home Feed

2. Page the Social Butterfly

The second thing you’ll notice, and this is probably my favorite feature of the new page upgrades, is the ability to comment and like other posts as your Page. Previously, Pages were limited to communicating with others strictly on their own Wall, but we now have the ability to venture off to other Pages and start a conversation there thus enhancing meaningful business relationships. Not to mention a brand’s visibility.

Another added bonus?  We now have the ability to choose whether we prefer to comment/like a post as our Business Page or as our own personal account  – whereas before this option didn’t exist. W00hoo! I l<3ve options!

Post Comments on Other Pages As Your Page

3. Alert Alert!

The third upgrade that will help busy business owners tremendously is the email notifications sent each time a user comments or posts on your page.  So no more excuses, owners, for neglecting to respond to your fans’ comments and questions because you’ll be getting an email EVERY TIME!

4. Show Your Page’s True Colors

The fourth,  possibly least enthusiastic, upgrade is the ability to give your page a tad bit of personality. These changes are very subtle. For instance, your “My Page Favorites” now become “Likes” and are shown on the lef- nav of your page. These are displayed every time you as Business  “Like” a page – just as you would as a fan.

Page "Likes"

You also have the ability to organize which order your “Likes” are seen so that you can show the most prominent and relative ones at all times. In addition to these changes, you now have theability to control which images appear on the photostrip (photos at the top of the Page) which consist of the most recent photos uploaded to the wall and tagged.

5. Relating to the Visitor

The fifth and final set of important upgrades that you need to know about has to do with the noninvasive environment for the Facebook user.  What I mean by this is that your friends will no longer be bombarded by a thousand notifications to join your page or accept your ear of corn from Farmville, but will instead see your Page suggestions in the right-hand-column as they navigate through Facebook. An additional  feature that enhances the user experience is that Facebookers visiting your page can now see what mutual friends and pages they have in common with your page.

So what does this all really mean for a businesses? Well..

• Additional opportunities for visibility
• Deepen relationships even more with both users and pages
• Ability to quickly respond to comments or posts in real-time
• Capability to personalize pages and express personality
• Allow users to have a more natural, unintrusive experience

So that’s everything you need to know! Well, not completely everything but you can get additional info here.

What has been your experience with the new Page Upgrades? What do you like or not  like about the new Page updates?