June 10, 2009
Social Networking Demystified
If you think digging involves a shovel and “tweet” is the sound of a bird, then you should’ve been at the May meeting for a crash course on social networking. APALA welcomed Liz Heller, CEO of Buzztone, an agent of popular culture, and Andrew Sorcini (aka Mr. Baby Man), an interactive marketer and professional blogger.
What felt like a private screening at the Independent Theater, we watched live streaming of some of today’s most popular social networking sites on the big screen and interacted with our panelists as they sat in directors’ chairs, led by our moderator, Hal Hefner (a creative recruiter with BLT Recruiting by day and founder of catmonkee – a creator and curator of culture – by night).
What is it?
Social networking takes place within online communities by connecting people who share interests. It’s a new way to communicate and share information, whether with family, friends or business associates. First came sites like MySpace, followed by Facebook – which is no longer just for kids – and countless others.
Other sites like Digg are considered social news networks. Members post content (stories, videos, images) they’ve seen elsewhere on the web. Fellow members either “digg” it or bury it, and share comments. The most popular stories get pushed to the front page, where it can have more views than even the NY Times. Andrew is considered the most powerful user on Digg having “dugg” 106,266 stories, gained 11,095 fans and had his profile viewed 262,813 times.
Get socially involved
To be in the print and graphics industries in the 21st century, we must have a social media presence, whether representing ourselves individually or on behalf of our company. Participate wholeheartedly in the site. Connect to that community to build a following. Allow others to connect to you on a personal level. Bring value and drive traffic back to your site. Let others understand why you’re there, who you are and what you stand for.
For example, if you’re a single mother, participate in those sites and share in their everyday stories. When appropriate, you can offer advice about the printing or graphics industry, and you’ll be associated with that industry when needed by someone in that community.
Learn from success stories
There are countless social networking success stories. Korean taco truck phenomena used Twitter to spread the word of KogiBBQ virally and within months, they had over 8,000 followers who check online daily for the trucks’ location and stand in line for hours to satisfy this newfound craving for kim chee tacos.
When Comcast needed to overcome a negative perception about their service, they created “Comcast Cares” on Twitter and other social networks, where they personally responded to complaints. Their reputation has since improved.
Hal shared his recent success story, based on the 3-D holographic poster for the new Terminator Salvation movie. It started with a video of the display at the ArcLight Theater on YouTube. Within a few days, it generated over 80,000 views. The video was linked to an interview on another site (scifibabez.com), which contained production notes, credits and links to the related sites. The article and video was then picked up by other sites, incrementally increasing its coverage.
Establish a marketing plan
Once you decide to dive into the social networking pool, be strategic about your online presence. Even President Obama understood the importance of a strong social network strategy, with 13 million online followers during his campaign.
Understand your competition and what keywords they’re associated with. See what happens when you search yourself. What problems can you solve? Be aware of your search engine optimization, so you can be found when others conduct a search. Create lists of the most important feeds (sources of information you subscribe to) and the most popular sites. Test various offers or messages. Be “in the feed.” When there’s a buzz going on, jump in and talk about it.
Understand your environment. If you want to talk business or network professionally, perhaps your Facebook friends aren’t the right audience. Other sites, such as LinkedIn, might be more appropriate. Most importantly, be patient. Results don’t happen overnight.
APALA would like to thank Hal Hefner and Johanna Leovey for organizing this program. To get started on your social networking journey, join the APALA group on LinkedIn.