Why Twitter is the blind disco of social

Well, i survived a night out on Friday 13th with no hockey-masked psycho in sight. Job done. To celebrate still being alive, I thought i'd blog today having read some inspirational stuff from Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO and embracer of all things Twitter.

So, what has Tony's insight taught me? That social media is relevant, you just have to work out how and why before you embrace it.

I'll use a blind disco analogy (ooh we do love a good analogy at e-inbusiness!). There are thousands of people in a room, all with the same goal - have a great night, (hopefully) meet someone they like. They are all listening to music via headphones but get to choose what to listen to. The room itself is silent. From time to time people look up from the maelstrom, take the phones off and talk to each other. Sometimes that spreads and conversations start. The room suddenly has a buzz, the reverberation of conversation amplified by many voices. The individuals then gradually return to their own music and indulge in their own little world. The room falls silent again.

Social media is like the blind disco. On an infinitely larger scale. There are millions of individuals absorbing communication every minute of every day, from friends, celebrities and companies. Frequently they take time out and share information with other people, personal associations or simply people in a network they use. The ripple effect starts and one conversation strand suddenly embraces hundreds, thousands of people. Then the moment passes, the hubbub calms and they go back to doing what they want on their own until the next buzz descends. A bit like watching an episode of Bagpuss...

This happens. I know it, I am regularly involved. I love the buzz of getting something relevant sent to me. The challenge for brands is to work out who wants to hear from them and then put a program in place to give them the information where and when they want it. Then give the support needed to help them use & share it. And most of all to listen to what people are saying and act when needed. No, it is not easy. Yes, you need to think carefully. Yes it can be relevant to you.

To put this in context, I highly recommend you read Tony's blog about how Twitter can enact positive change, both for the individual and the company. You can read his thoughts here.

Hope you enjoy!

What will 2009 bring for social retail in the UK?

I've been lazy and skipped a week in this blog but I had a good reason. I've been busy. First recovering from new year indulgence, second getting my thoughts together on where we are all going with social retail in the UK. I've been banging the drum at e-inbusiness for the last 12 months about the value of social media and how its application to retail is evolving quickly. Nurture and nature. Nurture from the brands and the social evangelists, nature from the communities it is engaging. 

So this week's blog is about the potential, not the application. My current horizons are limited on purpose to focus on key social sites: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, WAYN, Flickr, Technorati etc. This is the tip of the iceberg - there are so many social avenues online, it is like naming all the stars in the galaxy. Microsoft has now launched its Windows Live community....could this be the new Facebook? It is early days and the application is rather basic but Microsoft has the reach with its hotmail base and I’ve already seen invites from friends outside the UK to join up to their Live network. It will be interesting to see which social networks stand the test of time and which satisfy the typical shelf life of a fad.

So back to my point this week. 2009 is the time for retail to take social media more seriously. 2008 was a time for experimentation and some people got it spot on, others were lazy in their attempts to leverage the social vibe.

I think some brands took the sinful approach of banging up a profile on Facebook and thinking “job done”. There are also some companies whose employees have gone and set up their own groups with some seriously damaging content for the brand. Check out the Currys offering and read entry 9 in the news section. I’m not sure the Marketing Director would embrace it! There are currently 1,324 members, many of whom are disgruntled and have the claws out. My shining example of delivering a positive engagement via Facebook is Wiggly Wigglers and it was good to see them hailed in this month’s Catlaogue & e-Business magazine (pp18-19 if you have it).

Twitter continues to excite me and social buzz has to be a key element in a social model. I have frequently used the example of Starbucks (with over 30,000 followers) to highlight how brands can give short and sweet updates to their fans. Now I’ve been shown the perfect Twitter blog that contain a list of brands currently tweeting away, I highly recommend you check it out here. One of the interesting players is Delicious, so we have a social media site using a buzz channel to spread the message. Tidy.

So how do retailers need to sharpen up to get social in the right way? The key word is community. A community is not built overnight and is not created in one place. A community is far reaching, has diverse members and a will of its own. A community also needs leadership and the belief that what is wants and says is important to those leaders.

Brands need to think big and join the dots. Set-up a commanding profile on a site like Facebook, have a Twitter feed, post videos to YouTube, photos to Flickr, get busy on Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious, start your blog, link it to sites like Technorati, find your brand ambassadors and reward them for spreading the love. Make sure all of these elements work to a shared vision and the content is co-ordinated. Most of all, don’t launch and then sit back. Social media demands daily attention, it needs to be prioritised and should be driven by someone who is passionate about it. If you don’t live it, you can’t love it. I was recently sent a blog by Kevin Gibbons that gives an example of a brand doing it the right way.

Building a community starts with a vision and a message. You must know what you want to say and what value you can provide. Then you need to give your prospective members the tools they need to interact with you on their terms. You need nurture and nature. Nurture to encourage, to participate and share information, to answer questions and make people feel involved. Nature to give people the free will to contribute, to post content and receive content where they want, when they want.

Perhaps this is a form of social regeneration, building ties between people to feel a sense of belonging. Perhaps this can help break down cultural barriers. You may laugh and think I’ve gone overboard but why not? More and more people interact online, from the furthest corners of the world. Why shouldn’t social media be a means to bring people closer together?

Danger for the brand that treats its community like a traditional marketing channel.

Tweeters Anonymous

I now tweet. No, I don’t need to see a doctor and yes I meant to say that. Whilst I’ve been banging on about the potential of social media for what seems like eons, it is only very recently that I’ve embraced the joy of tweeting. I’d known of Twitter for a while but I never really got it. Then I decided I should get it because if I’m going to get you excited by the social melting pot online, I’ve got to embrace everything and find out how it really works.

So, I put myself on Twitter, absorbed the language [tweet, twittersphere etc] and went to work. Initially I found a few friends lurking around who it turns out don’t actually have much to say, which is a surprise as I’ve found they never really shut up. Then I realised that I see them at least once a month, so why Tweet with them? So that got me thinking, why would anyone use Twitter and how can you get excited by it?

That’s when I discovered Twittervision. If you don’t know what this is, get online now and the strange addiction will grow! Twittervision is as basic as it gets as an opiate for the masses but I love it; it gives you a world map and overlays the latest tweets from around the world. I have no idea what Muki in Japan was saying but I want to know. Perhaps this is bringing out my more voyeuristic impulses but it’s strangely compelling. I’m sure there will be concerns about internet security and the potential for cyber stalking but there are no personal details on this site, simply a name (that you choose)and a link to a map of your geographic location (we’re talking general here, not a zoom into your bedroom). You can upload a personal photo or use something generic, or even arty if you feel that way inclined. Spend long enough on Twitter and you’ll find all sorts of weird and wonderful profile pics. There is also the obligatory link to Facebook with a Twittervision application to enable you to tweet from your Facebook account.

I like the fact that Twitter is unashamedly basic. It is not Facebook, or MySpace, or Bebo. It isn’t about turning yourself into a vampire, throwing sheep or inviting people to virtual reality happy hours. I’m not knocking these networking sites, they have a place and they are successful and I’ve been known to chirp away (see what I did there) on Facebook walls of a winter’s eve. However, I crave simplicity in life. I have an attention deficit and the brouhaha of Facebook gives me cold shivers. Twitter is allowing me to satiate my desire for playing with the rest of the world without having to think too hard about it.

What really excites me though is the commercial potential. I don’t mean that cynically because I love the fact that the ethos of social media is about community, sharing and engagement on your terms. However, there is a real opportunity for the more enlightened brand darlings to be smart and build a thriving community. People buy, people respond to marketing, people like to talk about their experiences, people like to belong. So why can’t you leverage these drivers via social media to create dialogue and build lasting relationships?

 

If you want some proof, take a look at the meteoric rise of the Stephen Fry tweet which has seen his website become the #1 visited site. Blogs have been spawned over the Fry phenomenon, including Mark Higginson, a well know social purveyor. I’m also currently following Starbucks, not because I have an affinity to or like of the company, but because I’m fascinated by what they are tweeting and seeing how a global brand can engage people via Twitter. They recently posted a cute tweet about their charity link up with the Seattle Space Needle for World AIDS Day. Twitter is not a direct sales channel, it is a communication opportunity to share interesting information with the wider world and let people get to know you better. And, I’m not embarrassed to admit, it is quite enjoyable.

To put my money where my mouth is, I am planning an e-inbusiness twitter feed and will be launching this to the world at large. The great thing is that only interested people will follow, so there will be a qualified audience to talk to. Finally, my voice will be heard……