Social Media as a Small Town

Speaker C.C. Champman on how Social Media is much like a small town

Online everyone knows everyone. Social media is about who you know and how you treat people. It's about your neighbors and your reputation. It is not like old media where people are forced to pay attention. Facebook, Twitter and the like are not the old-media flashy billboards.

According to C.C. Chapman the first step to using social media is not, in fact, going directly to the tools. The first step should always be to set goals. Ask yourself What am I trying to do? What do I want to accomplish? Then, move to the tools but remember, social media is not a magic cure for poor business practices. If your product or customer service isn't good then social media is not going to help you, it will make it worse.

Another piece of advice from C.C. -- don't go for the shiny new toy. Everyone get's too hyped up over the latest social media trend. Business shouldn't waste their time on new technologies until they've been tested by connoisseurs and professionals like C.C. and Todd Defren. Not everyone needs a blog just because News Week says so.

On the internet it's about who you know. When using social media for your business, focus on the people first.-Talk to them like they're humans, have real conversations, address their concerns. Don't try to force products.

Don't be afraid of what people might say about your company. People love to talk online and they're probably doing so right now. There are always trouble makers who are going to complain but there are also the loyalists who will rave about your brand and product. Do not be afraid of bad conversation it gives you a chance to step in and be a part of the conversation and find out what could be improved.

Online your personal and brand reputations are everything. People don't always buy from a place because it's cheap, they buy from the place that provides a good customer experience. Consumers trust each other more than they will trust any advertisement. Customer reviews and personal recommendations can be very effective.

Social media isn't easy. It takes a lot of work. You have to pay attention to it and constantly be involved in it. It is not a passive medium. Social media is an opportunity to have real conversations. People have the chance to talk to everyone else more openly. The conversations should be candid. C.C. advises us to keep the PR people away, as responses to critical questions shouldn't sound like press releases but genuine, non cookie-cutter feedback. It is important to know how to respond to blogs, tweets and podcasts. Social media must be there all the time, it must be current, we need to pay attention. There are opportunities to get in there and get new customers and if people are not in social media all the time then they're missing out on potential business opportunities.

C.C. Chapman's last piece of advice was don't forget to have fun. It's a fun medium, take advantage of it. Give people a reason to talk about your brand. Find customers who love your brand and ask them to talk about it. Share the love of the product.

Now for a presentation from Todd Defren
-Amanda

Stay tuned for more from the Social Media Breakfast