Do you want to know how blogging can help you sell?
Are you sceptical if it will work in your business niche/sector/industry?
Are you trying to figure out if you should start a blog?
Then read on…..
While on holiday in Thailand I saw this article pop up in my Flipboard.
Do you want to know what social business is?
Do you want to know how it will change business in the future?
I believe there is no such thing as “Social Media”. It is just a phrase to describe the current state of the internet.
I believe social business is the future of business. Social business will be the way business is done in the future and eventually what we know currently as social business will just become “business”.
I have come up with my definition of Social Business.
Restoring the equilibrium of power, to make the values, interests and beliefs of the customer/employee equal to those of the company Continue reading
Have you ever wanted to embed a tweet button into your blog post?
Rather than tweet a link to the whole article, have you ever wanted to tweet just a quote or snippet?
In a previous post I explained how to get people to share your content through social networks. This article will help you to make it easier to get people to share parts of your content rather than just the traditional way and sharing the whole article.
Below is an example of a tweet button that I embedded into a previous post. This tweet button was designed to give readers a chance to tweet the quote that I had listed in the post.
Example of a tweetable quote with tweet button embedded into the post
(Until you read this post)
If my last post on why I wish social was NOT in my job title didn’t stir up enough controversy – then this one might!
In this post I will explain the harsh question you need to ask yourself before you decide to spend a pound, euro or dollar on any social media related software. And while you’re at it, hold the head count for any staff to work on social media as well.
Social is a not about the technology, it is about a cultural shift to create a more honest, open, transparent way of doing business.
To clarify my definition of software in relation to this post I am talking about a company trying to sell you a tool do something with social: monitoring, responses, collaboration tools etc. I am not including free software such as WordPress, Hoot suite etc.
You can achieve so much without spending a penny. If you have a plan which builds a strategy for using free social tools closely aligned to your core business objectives, then you could achieve more than any other “social strategy” which could easily cost hundreds of thousands or more.
So what if you have 100,000 likes on Facebook. Who cares if you’ve got 100,000 followers on Twitter. Neither of these translate into anything your CEO cares about.
I have spent the past week sunning myself around a pool, high in the Italian hills of Giaole in Chainti, Tuscany.
For the last 30 years I have been convinced that I cannot hold my breath under water with out holding my nose. During the first day around the pool I was embarrassingly trying to explain to my friends why I can’t hold my breath. Someone said just give it ago. So I did. After two attempts, surprise surprise, I managed to do it. The best thing was, I didn’t drown! Seeing how happy I was at my new found skill, my friends jokingly said that I should blog about it! So here I am.
I have continued on with the social collaboration themed summary posts due to popularity of the last two ( #SBSS12 & #SBS2012) . Thanks to everyone who contributed to the conversation using the event hashtag #CMSB2B.
The European Social Media Marketing Summit was held in London at the Regents Park Marriott Hotel on 25-26th June 2012. The event was organised by Useful Social Media and sponsored by Lithium.
I was lucky enough to be asked to chair a panel discussion around “How to unlock the potential of your social media strategy” with Kerry Bridge from Dell and Conor McKechnie from General Electric Healthcare. I controversially started by declaring my position against the session title and said:
“You dont need a social media strategy you need to align social to you business strategy”
Luckily this view point was shared by my fellow panelists! The discussion followed.
The event featured presentations from some of the worlds biggest brands. The line up included:-
For the benefit of anyone who couldn’t attend or for anyone who would like a recap, I have compiled this article featuring what were, in my opinion, the key tweets and quotes from the day. It features a compilation of some of the things that were said on the day by the speakers and the opinions of those in the audience. I narrowed down the many hundred of tweets into just 42. Too much good stuff to get into a shorter list!
Hopefully it should give you an idea of the summit and some of the ideas discussed.
I have also added some photos of the event onto my Facebook page
Due to the popularity of my last crowd sourced summary I thought I would continue on with the social collaboration. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the conversation using the event hashtag #SBS2012.
The Social Business Summit 2012 was held in London on June 21st 2012. The event was organised by Dachis Group and sponsored by IBM.
The event featured keynotes from some of the most influential thought leaders from the world of social business. The line up included:-
For the benefit of anyone who couldn’t attend or for anyone who would like a recap, I have compiled this article featuring what were, in my opinion, the key tweets and quotes from the day. It features a compilation of some of the things that were said on the day by the speakers and the opinions of those in the audience. I narrowed down the many hundred of tweets into just 63. Too much good stuff to get into a shorter list sorry!
Hopefully it should give you an idea of the summit and some of the ideas discussed.
I have also added some photos of the event onto my Facebook page
https://twitter.com/nilofer/status/215884336791171074 https://twitter.com/nilofer/status/215834722075541504 https://twitter.com/nilofer/status/215827931254095872 https://twitter.com/nilofer/status/215804686907879425 https://twitter.com/nilofer/status/215798768677818369 https://twitter.com/PhilipBD/status/215797121176174592 https://twitter.com/nilofer/status/215796290607517696 https://twitter.com/alanghamilton/status/215717060527919104
In the true spirit of social collaboration I thought I should crowd source the content for this summary. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the conversation using the event hashtag #SBSS12.
The Social Business Strategy Summit was held in London on May 31st 2012. The event was organised by MyCustomer.com in association with BPT partners.
The event featured 25 of the most influential thought leaders and leading analysts from the world of social business. The line up included:-
For the benefit of anyone who couldn’t attend or for anyone who wants a recap I have compiled this article featuring what were in my opinion the key tweets and quotes from the day. It features a compilation of some of the things that were said on the day by the speakers and the opinions of those in the audience. I narrowed down the many hundred of tweets into just 60. Too much good stuff to get into a shorter list sorry!
Hopefully it should give you an idea of the summit and some of the ideas discussed.
I have also added some photos of the event onto my Facebook page.
@sandy_carter describing study: If You Don’t Have a Social CEO, You’re Going to be Less Competitive #sbss12 forbes.com/sites/markfide…
— Laurence Buchanan (@buchanla) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says 15% of the community drive the mindset of the rest #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says 82% of people will trust a leader if they are active on social #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
#sbss12 @sandy_carter how do you get employees and clients engaged in what you do. Moving someone from being spectator to participant
— Paul Greenberg (@pgreenbe) May 31, 2012
Ceos will be selected according to social footprint in 5yrs #sbss12
— MarthadM (@MarthadM) May 31, 2012
IBM more leads come via games than any other channel. 82% of CEOs play online games #sbss12
— karen manley (@karenmanley) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says 82% of people who play @IBM game are c level execs #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says gamification is defining what behaviour you want and what do you want to do to reward them for doing it#sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
IBM ask their online community to vote on their new products, making them feel part of the process @sandy_carter #sbss12
— SocBizStrategySummit (@socbizstrategy) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says have a client blog where they can say what they want products to do, then let them vote on which ideas get used #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says IBM increase r and d time time market speed by 20% with social#sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says its too risky not to be involved in social #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
My visual of a CEO “opting out” of social is a 6yo with fingers in his ears and eyes closed real tight, humming #sbss12
— Mitch Lieberman (@mjayliebs) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says use social analytics to predict what might happen #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says do not under estimate the power of culture and leadership #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@sandy_carter says embed social into process or you will fail #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
Value of social business: 20% increase in customer satisfaction by offering customer service via social #SBSS12
— Intuit UK (@IntuitUK) May 31, 2012
#SBSS12 Quote from Paul Greenberg – “Social is not a business revolution, it is a communication revolution!” Do not under-sell it.
— Simon Quinton (@simon_quinton) May 31, 2012
@pgreenbe social customers will take the discounts and run – all they really want is to feel loved by you #sbss12
— Mark Walton-Hayfield (@MarkW_H) May 31, 2012
Younger CRM practitioners literally don’t know social channels weren’t part of traditional CRM already #scrm #sbss12
— Emanuele Quintarelli (@absolutesubzero) May 31, 2012
Self interest is not selfish. It’s human nature, it’s about value to the individual. What’s in it for me? @pgreenbe #sbss12 agree
— Jamie Anderson (@collsdad) May 31, 2012
88% CEOs want to get closer to customers. 78% of all customers want to co-create products with companies #sCRM @pgreenbe #sbss12
— Agah (@byAgah) May 31, 2012
@SameerPatel says even if you don’t use social media people are still talking about you #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@SameerPatel says if 5% of your customers use social the other 95% will find out what they say through google #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
“The country is run by spreadsheets”. #myfavouritequoteoftheday #sbss12 #socbiz
— Del Green (@digi_DEL) May 31, 2012
@briankling says It’s all about business objectives, social is just one of the tools #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
Never seen so many iPads in one room. I feel so old with my pen and notebook. #sbss12
— rosschestney (@rosschestney) May 31, 2012
“social is happening out of synch with many core business processes” @SameerPatel very true #SBSS12
— Jamie Anderson (@collsdad) May 31, 2012
There are no telephone managers, social just another channel #rip social media managers. #sbss12
— karen manley (@karenmanley) May 31, 2012
@SameerPatel says sales people typical touch CRM twice once to get a forecast and once to close the deal #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
The point around social business is how to enable how work really gets done rather than how it is recorded in systems #sbss12
— Mike Grafham (@mgrafham) May 31, 2012
@sameerpatel: We want software to mimic how you work. We want salespeople to stay in the CRM software all day but they don’t today. #sbss12
— Hoi Lam (@hcl21) May 31, 2012
@pgreenbe says provide a customer the right information to make an intelligent decision#sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@pgreenbe is praising #sap listening to customers and co-create products with customers. #sbss12
— Hoi Lam (@hcl21) May 31, 2012
@mgrafham says Social should be a way of doing business #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@meganmurray Think about why your CEO will sign the cheque to fund social software #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@buchanla says #Marketing is not usually the best place to have responsibility for #social #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
“In future CMO will have as much tech budget as CIO” – @leebryant #sbss12
— Jamie Kenny (@JAKenny) May 31, 2012
@ekolsky says if you want best practise for #social come back in 2-3 years #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
When Gen Y get an iPad at work, they just use it. When Gen X get one, they buy a keyboard. #sbss12
— Hoi Lam (@hcl21) May 31, 2012
Start will business goal and tie it to a measure @meganmurray #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
#sbss12 @buchanla – asking if you need a social strategy is like asking if u need a telephone strategy, u need a CUSTOMER strategy
— Jamie Anderson (@collsdad) May 31, 2012
@buchanla says twitter #CustomerService fails when you rely on 121 communication. It doesn’t scale. #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
“the old days was like two weeks ago” – @ekolsky #sbss12
— Jamie Kenny (@JAKenny) May 31, 2012
If you want your audience’s opinion on a product or service, engage them during the process-not after, says @benjamin_kay #sbss12
— SocBizStrategySummit (@socbizstrategy) May 31, 2012
@ekolsky says social media use is like joining the mafia, once you join there is no going back #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
Cross channel is very different from Multi channel – one maintains context, the other does not #sbss12
— Mitch Lieberman (@mjayliebs) May 31, 2012
@ekolsky says focus on effectiveness and not efficiency #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
Communities are the future of customer service says @ekolsky – your customers need to work with your customers (each other) #sbss12
— Prelini Chiechi (@prelini) May 31, 2012
@ekolsky says limits on scalability of twitter customer service 100 per hour and 1000 per day #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@ekolsky don’t segment customers based on spend, look for trends in the customer behaviours and deal with people in those groups #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
If you wants be a successful evangelist help others be sucessful and they will be the carriers of your message @elsua #sbss12
— Chris Heffer (@theotherhef) May 31, 2012
@elsua Treat employee as people. Happier employees mean happier customers. #sbss12
— Hoi Lam (@hcl21) May 31, 2012
@elsua When I stopped using email, people thought I was mad. Now more people are joining in. 10% of people can change the tide. #sbss12
— Hoi Lam (@hcl21) May 31, 2012
Thanks to all the presenters at #sbss12 (even though I wasn’t there) and all the twitterers for an excellent virtual conference
— Graham Hill (@GrahamHill) May 31, 2012
Top 5 Tweeters at #sbss12 from @nextprinciples tool >Congrats @theotherhef @grahamhill @elsua @mjayliebs @karenmanley twitter.com/nextprinciples…
— NextPrinciples Inc (@nextprinciples) June 1, 2012
All TweetsCollection of Social Business Summit London 2012 #SBSS12 ow.ly/1N6nlGvia @edocr – nice find
— Jamie Anderson (@collsdad) June 1, 2012
This post discusses whose responsibility it is to look after social media within an organisation.
So who does it lie with?
Traditionally, you would say marketing. It is their role to build awareness of a companies products and to build the company brand. These are the experts at creating and carrying out a marketing campaign. Are the marketers the people who know the in’s and out’s of why their customers are actually buying their products?
These guys are the captains steering the ship. This group needs to communicate the vision for the organisation. Do you think the captain knows how to fix the engine?
These are the people at the cutting edge of the buying process and are on the front line talking to customers about problems in their business. But hang on, shouldn’t a sales person be out there selling and not just sitting around on Facebook and Twitter all day?
This department spends the most time talking to customers. They get to see it from the front line: what it is that the customers say and feel about your company and its products/service.
The PR department are responsible for how the company’s image is portrayed to the outside world. If people are talking about your company/brand, perhaps it should fall into their laps?
If you haven’t guessed where this is going, the project needs to be a collaboration. All parties are as important as each other.
In an ideal world the organisation/department would have at least one member of staff whose role it to create, manage and monitor the social media within the organisation.
The role of this person would be to manage the process and gain input from all departments. They would be accountable for getting the job done. The CEO can communicate the company strategy and values, marketing can advise how social media sits within the overall marketing strategy and the sales force can refine the message to reflect the customers buying reasons. Customer service can provide solutions to customer issues and PR can ensure the company image and reputation are upheld.
This is not a job for an 20-year-old intern, even if they may have some of the social networking skills already. This a role for a project manager who can align themselves and communicate across the organisation. They need to be creative, ambitious, motivated and have a good grasp on why people actually buy the products. They have an appreciation for all things social.
Sound like you? Maybe you just need to be in the right place at the right time. If they haven’t done it, already the company may not create a new role. If they do, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be an entry level role on £20k or so a year. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys!
Whether your B2B or B2C, you need to get involved. Social media is not going to disappear, it is only going to grow. Start early and avoid having to try to catch up later.
You need to get everyone in your organisation involved from the bottom to the top. You need to invest in social across your business.
Have you any experience in a role like this? Did you help create the role from within a company? How did you get buy in from all the different departments?
Why complain using social media?
Understanding Social Business with Chris Heffer 