Net-Tech Report with Chris Kauza I recently had a conversation with a leading Social Media expert, Brett Borders.
He helps companies organically build traffic to their websites using search engine optimization and social media sites. He also helps companies manage any online reputation issues and new media public relations.
I asked Brett to help me better understand some of the different aspects of Social Media, some of the tools he uses and what our readers could do or should be thinking about when using various social media tools. What follows are excerpts of our conversation.
Brett, how do you define “social media”, and what do you see as its purpose?
"Social media encompasses the tools and technologies that let us connect with other people online and share our ideas, opinions and perspectives. Old media usually had a more one-sided direction, but the web makes it possible for people to communicate back and forth with ease. Just like the printing press had the effect of making information available to the masses and transferable between generations, I believe social media is sparking an evolution in human consciousness and business culture. It's challenging us to be more open, more interconnected and better communicators. It also allows everyone to become producers of information (of blogs, videos, editorials, etc) rather than just passive consumers."
So, you really see Social Media as an online extension of offline relationship building, except that in the Social Media world, there are tools that can help you scale your message, reach and connecting abilities much more easily?
"That's right."
In your line of work, what kinds of reasons or business justifications do you give to businesses who are considering entering into or scaling up their Social Media efforts?
"If you're not participating in Social Media and talking about your business, it's safe to assume that at least some of your customers are. Social media is exploding in growth and uptake. Senators and celebrities are on Twitter. Newspapers are getting killed and replaced by blogs. Talented filmmakers dream of a major hit on YouTube rather than just on the Big Screen.
I don't believe Social media is a fad that is going to fizzle out anytime soon, so you better get plugged in sooner rather than later. If people are talking about you or your company, wouldn't you want to know about it and speak with them? At the very least, you should register your company / brand names on the major social sites so you own them, and and can participate more in the future."
That makes sense, but can you help me understand how Social Media can create or strengthen relationships? And is there a difference here between "online" and "offline" networking?
"Social media allows you to inexpensively amplify your own voice and connect with as many people as are interested in what you have to say. It give you a potential reach that would have required celebrity status or a multi-million dollar budget just a decade ago. You have to put in time, though. Just like with offline networking, building relationships online takes sincere interest and effort, good communication, reciprocation, and thoughtfulness. A key difference, though, is that you have a digital structure that can re-enforce your relationships and prevent people from forgetting about you easily.
Social media allows people to stay connected with brands they honestly like and care about. For instance, I love Boxee and Songbird - superior open-source media players that compete with iTunes. I would say that I have a social media relationship with them: I follow their blogs and Twitter profiles, get the latest news on them direct from them - and I have a perfect medium to share my enthusiasm and re-broadcast their news to my friends."
Brett, there are a lot of sites and tools out there. It can really get confusing, whether you are new to Social Media, or even if you are more experienced and trying to stay on top of emerging tools and participate in growing communities. What is your decision making process when it comes to testing and implementing social media efforts?
"I am a web traffic developer - which means I specialize in using social media and SEO to send visitors to websites. Success (or lack of) is pretty easy to measure with a web analytics package like Google Analytics or Indextools. We can see how many people visited and which social sites sent them, and what visitors did after they arrive.
It's more difficult to measure how effective social media is for things like branding or influencing people's decisions.
There are a plethora of different sites and communities, and they all have their own type of community and culture. You have to really participate on a social media site to know what kind of content or approach works best in that community. No one is an expert at all social media sites, so most social media professionals tend to specialize in a couple of communities. I would recommend that people start with their interests (personal, professional, etc.) and spend time on those sites that make sense for them."
Brett, as we wrap up today, would you please share 3 - 4 resources that you find useful to stay on top of information and relationships related to your business?
"My favorite marketing and social media blog is DoshDosh (http://doshdosh.com). Maku is really cutting edge and he's a great guy to follow on Twitter (@doshdosh). So is Muhammad Saleem (@msaleem) - he's really on top of the trends and new products. I like to Read Mashable and Read Write Web, particularly the articles by Marshall Kirkpatrick (@marshallk).
I search for social media stuff on Delicious.com. In many cases, it Delicious returns better filtered results than Google. And I use Twitter search (search.twitter.com) to get real-time updates about what people are talking about."
Thanks for your time today, Brett.
"Thank you, Chris."
Brett is someone who readily answers questions and gives assistance to anyone who asks. If you found anything in this month's article of interest. I highly recommend his blog "Social Media Rockstar" for further reading. He provides tutorials, examples, tips, interviews etc. for a wide range of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media related topics.
You can contact or connect with Brett on Twitter (@brettborders), or through one of his websites
http://socialmediarockstar.com , http://copybrighter.com
As always, feel free to connect with me on Twitter (@ChrisKauza) or via email at ckauza (at) soltusgroup.com.
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