Musings on Social Media

“I have a cold—feeling blah.”

Is this true? Yes. Do you care? Probably not. And it is posts like these that have made me a social media cynic on the personal level. Like everyone, I consume social media content. Devour, really. I love looking at pictures of friends’ kids, reading their latest vacation stories, and more. On the one hand, it is a great way to keep up with folks. On the other, it is a strangely voyeuristic phenomenon. And I wonder what it is doing to our sense of selves. Is it mortifying if you only have a few friends? Is it embarrassing if no one likes your posts? On the other hand, if something really funny happened to you and you shared it online and got hundreds of “likes” and comments, do you feel better that day, that hour? Since the social media revolution, has our collective self-esteem, on average, experienced an increase or decline? I don’t have an answer, but it is interesting to think about.

My professional self recognizes the inherent benefits of having a presence on social media. And, while I still think that it is an avenue most profitable for B2C companies, there is some genuine networking and credibility value gained for the B2B organizations. Yesterday, two things happened that prompted this blog.

1. A Facebook friend and person whom I respect (and who used to babysit my brother and me millions of years ago, coincidentally) said something to the effect of…”Not going to look into Pinterest. How many ways do I really need to make all of you fine people aware of the things that interest me? REALLY?”

I, the social media content consumer that I am, immediately laughed. If I was so inclined, I would have “liked” her comment and added my own. But I didn’t (see above).

2. I attended a webinar hosted by Kipp Bodnar and Jeffrey Cohen, co-authors of the book The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by generating leads with blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and More.

As the owner of a marketing company with clients that almost exclusively fall into the B2B category, I thought this was a good idea. It was, and I’m tempted to read the book. During the discussion, they made a very good case, revealed poignant case studies, and provided some startling facts. Below are my notes:

• 60% of the sales cycle is over—before a buyer talks to your salesperson (due to the immediacy of information available on the web).

• Social reach and connection is the new word of mouth referral engine (Don’t agree)

• 73% of CEO’s don’t believe marketers drive revenue—social media involvement and integration is easily track-able

• Shelf life of a social media link is three hours

• Social media amplifies the effectiveness of offline marketing. It doesn’t replace it.

• 10-4-1 rule of posting—a ratio of content for better prospect engagement

The most valuable piece of information I took away for both my own business and those of my clients was the last one. For every 10 posts with links to articles from third party sources, post four times with company news or blog posts, and post one time with a link to company landing pages. Good stuff, right? Makes sense…

That’s it. I don’t have a really great ending to pull it all together (maybe because I have a cold and feel blah), but it makes you think about what content ratio you are using in your personal and professional spheres and how you could adjust for greater engagement.