Social Objections 2 Sex on Facebook

Social objects are content or media (blogs, newsletter, pics, podcasts, videos, etc.) that induce a response in the forms of likes, shares, follows, retweets, diggs and comments in the various social networks and communities online. Social objects orbit the web like homing beacons driving traffic to their site of origin, increasing search engine optimization and raising a brand’s presence across the Social Web.

We all know that content is king and you want to incorporate a value proposition into the objects you create, thereby increasing the likelihood that others will engage with it and share it on their social graphs.

Establishing a syndication network for your social objects is key and you do this by setting up profiles on Flickr, Youtube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other communities of value to your brand. When distributing a social object, employ the different platforms in concert to announce its release with an understanding of the inherent culture of each social network or community.

Blogs for example should generally be published very early in the morning, around 2 am and earn the greatest number of links between 6 am – 7 am. They typically earn comments between 8 am – 9 am and ReTweets in the late afternoon.

Based on this information a successful announcement strategy would be to publish your blog at 2 am, post and share it on Facebook at 7:30 am and Tweet about it between 1 pm – 4 pm.

Titles play a significant role in the shareability of a social object and the culture of each social network influences the way you title and describe it.

For instance knowing Facebook is like the Jersey Shore in that ‘sex’ is the biggest linguistic content shared on the platform should influence the titles you choose for objects distributed on that network. On Facebook, sex and positivity sells.

Half of SEO is due to inbound links so, create remarkable content, get it to the linkerati and get them to link to you. In the immortal words of Brian Solis, “Engage or Die!”

Community Management 3.0 is the Nu Sex

The roll of Community Manager albeit relatively new to the corporate realm, is amongst the most valuable in a company’s social media program. They are the front line of engagement for the brands they represent. However, all too often companies assign an intern or entry-level employee the position and this is a mistake.

Underestimating the influential and public nature of social media inevitably yields grievous errors, often in 140 characters or less. A prime example is Kenneth Cole’s recent Twitter Gaffe:

“Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo -KC.

KC’s tweets are now run through a filter before hitting the social web. Some lessons only need to be learned once!

A great community manager is worth their weight in gold and possess a specific set of characteristics:

1. They truly love people.
2. They are genuinely empathic with those with whom they engage.
3. They can establish a natural rapport with just about anyone.
4. They are emotionally intelligent.

Not to be sexist, but women tend to have a higher level of efficacy in this role over their male counter parts. And with good reason; the softer female communication style is often more effective on social networks as they have a tendency to engage rather than instruct which is a major asset. Plus, they can talk about just about anything and love to do so.

Competent community managers, engage consumers with a voice that is indicative of the brands they represent while simultaneously aligning their communication style with the culture of the social network they are using at any given time. They simultaneously keep track of myriad conversations on multiple networks and are personable, consistent and helpful.

They do not engage trolls or fall into conversational traps and know when to “join in” or “bud out”. Not every discussion requires their presence and like every relationship, sometimes people just need some time with other friends.

Successful community managers can repair damaged relations with consumers caused by poor service or dissatisfaction with a product often times earning loyal customers in the process. They can build a fan base of targeted followers and inject a brand’s marketing message into their conversations in a transparent and meaningful way that resonates with their audience.

As social media continues to evolve and its perceived value to companies along with it community manager version 3.0 will be recognized as a linchpin in the marketing machine and beyond. Nu Sex here but it does make for a catchy title.

7 Steps to Establishing Your Band with Social Media

Social Media provides unprecedented marketing opportunities for artists/bands. We have entered an era where the labels have neither the budgets nor personnel for artist development. Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, arguably two of the greatest and most successful artists of all time, would not survive their first release in today’s market because their initial commercial efforts failed.

In the 70s, boutique labels like A&M records would sign artists with the understanding that artist development takes time. Today, not so much.

The brand is the band. You want your brand to resonate with the essence of your music, image, persona, characteristics, style, intensity and passion.

Ask and answer the following questions:

1.Who: Who are you?

Pick your 3 favorite bands and check out their logos. Describe the first thing that pops into your head when you see each one. That image or thought connects you to and symbolizes the personality of that band. Design your brand to represent you, your core values, personality, voice and presence.

2. What: What are people saying about your brand?

Assessing how fans and critics perceive your brand allows you to determine whether their perception is in line with the image you’re trying to project. Use Google Search, Google Blog Search and Analytic.ly to actively listen to what people are saying and use this information to create a benchmark that represents current perceptions tied to your brand.

3. When: The aforementioned tools alert you when your keywords appear in online communities in real-time. By monitoring the daily level of activity you can identify conversations that present opportunities for positive interactions as well as identify those that lead to negative impressions. It’s worth noting that negative comments are an opportunity to engage individ

uals with positive experiences that may turn them into fans.

4. Where: Identify the communities where your presence will be of the most value to your brand.

Myspace, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and genre specific music blogs are the most prevalent social networks for artists/bands in current social media. Use the tools mentioned above to identify communities where fans and critics are talking about music and bands in your genre and develop a strategy to develop and exercise a voice within those communities.

5. How: Become an active part of the community.

Every social network has its own culture, your voice must resonate your brand’s persona in a language/style indicative of their specific culture. By observing the way people interact within the social networks that are of value to you, you will develop an understanding of how to engage without being disruptive/offensive and by monitoring the feedback of each engagement you can hone your approach to be more effective. This will allow you to build relationships and cultivate loyal fans who will likely become advocates of your brand.

6. Why: Discover reasons to engage.

Through observation you will find recurring themes and topics that allow you to engage in conversations within communities that allow you to establish a voice and build rapport with its members. The more positive interactions you have the stronger your voice and presence becomes.

7. Influencers: The power of influence.

There are members within communities whose sphere of influence is expansive and powerful. Identifying and connecting with ‘influencers’ is pivotal in word of mouth campaigns. Employ steps 1 though 6 to identify and engage influencers in the communities that are of greatest value to the expansion of your brand.