The Tendo View

Social media.

I’m back again, fresh off my last listing of four big social media blunders that served as helpful examples of what not to do when enterprise meets Internet. It’s not all doom and gloom in the YouTubes, Facebooks, and Twitters of the online world. But before we get to the success stories–which should give you a starting point to climb your own social media mountains–it’s important to reiterate the difficulty that lies in trying to take tangible lessons from these examples. Like snowflakes, no two social media campaigns are the same: What makes Dell millions could make you pennies. What makes David Hasselhoff so irresistibly popular will make your customized social network as ostracized as Bruno at… well… wherever he goes.

Consider these success stories building blocks for your own personalized social media initiative, one that combines a concrete understanding of your audience’s psychographic profile with a desire to look beyond the common ground.  Don’t be a copycat–or, as the rule goes here in Silicon Valley, if you’re going to copy someone’s idea you had best beat them to the market with a cheaper or faster way of doing so.  Now that we’ve agreed on the ground rules, here are four big names that have made a showing in social media:

Breaking News Online Breaks Conventional News Gathering

In an land where content is king, the world of online journalism has no shortage of news aggregators. Be they full-fledged news sites, Twitter feeds, blogs, journals, videos, RSS feeds–there are nearly as many ways to get your daily news as there is daily news to report. But one entity stands out: Breaking News Online.

Strictly harnessing the power of social media, Breaking News Online combines strong editorial judgment with a wide network of feeder news sources. Editors offer up the day’s top stories as they break–and here’s the catch–often faster than competing, professional news entities can push the topics out themselves. If you try to look for a homepage or landing site for Breaking News Online, you won’t find one. The service owes much of its popularity to its social networking presences, including a commanding Twitter base of more than 800,000 followers, as well as its friendfeed and email subscribers. The site will soon be launching its own iPhone application to push news elements out to its audiences, and plans to eventually transform into a full-fledged global wire service.

Not a bad ending for a simple concept: The most important news you need to know, delivered to you before you can find it anywhere else. Sometimes, simplicity speaks volumes. Instead of trying to innovate through length or snark, consider cutting to the core of what your audience wants. Deliver them that, minus the bells and whistles that everyone else tacks onto their efforts, and you might become a unique voice in a crowded playing field.

Don’t Change the Game: Change the Game-Changers

I took Ford to task in the sister edition of this article for its lack of perception and follow-through in trying to connect Internet user with its cars via Facebook. But just because one piece of Ford’s social networking pie has a fly on it doesn’t mean that we should toss the rest out. Ford’s social networking presence is a powerful, alternative approach toward generating interest in a brand, one that goes beyond generic pockets of promotion via the standard methods: a Twitter, a Facebook, et al.

Notably, the company’s Fiesta Movement is a wonderful example of how to leverage online popularity. Instead of going out to build popularity for the vehicles themselves, Ford partnered with 100 different “agents”–average people with their own stories, hobbies, interests, relationships, and influence–and gave them cars with the added task of achieving particular missions in a road trip-like environment. Rather than force these personalities to become generic Ford mouthpieces, however, it appears that Ford is allowing its agents to maintain their online lifestyles as they see fit. They can write and Tweet about what they want, and they can do whatever it is they normally do online. Ford will link to their exploits regardless.

Although some agents use their social networking status to chat up Ford’s Fiesta–go figure–a number of personalities go about their everyday lives as if the Fiesta deal was just one more link in the chain. This is an excellent example of one major facet of social networking done right: Using others to further your own goals in an unobtrusive fashion. Rather than connect with your potential audience by drumming up support on your own, leverage the support others have already created and shape it to your own objectives. It’s a scenario that’s been played out time and time again by new Web presences looking to make an impact on a greater scene, and the message is clear: Investing in the invested can be a lot easier than trying to build your own devoted following from absolutely nothing.

Reinvent the Wheel? Just Add Another Spoke

Do you shop at Home Depot? It’s okay to admit it. I’ll admit it. Sometimes, Home Depot is  just the most convenient place to find the one infinitesimal screw you need to finish the task you’ve been putting off for months. But anyone who’s been to Home Depot knows that the store can be overwhelming. Huge, sprawling aisles stuffed with every permutation of screw, every brand of table saw, every polished toilet seat… it’s a lot to take in, but not nearly as hard as it is to search through.

Perhaps the Home Depot shopping experience made me skeptical about the company’s push into social media, but as it turns out, my expectations–like Home Depot’s store layout–were much too complex for the eventual outcome.  Instead of reinventing itself using the same tired social media cliches, Home Depot decided to stick to a simple spin-off of its existing product. It goes like this: Home Depot sells hardware related to home improvements. What a person typically does before or after purchasing the parts for the a home improvement project is to look up directions on how to accomplish said task.  Thus enters Home Depot with a YouTube campaign, designed to teach you how to actually do the improvements based on the parts you’re buying from its stores.

Has it worked?  You betcha. As of this article’s writing, Home Depot’s YouTube account is ranked 54th on the site’s sponsor section for most user subscriptions, topped by no other companies in its competitive set. The company reinforces its expertise with home improvement while simultaneously offering legitimate value to its customers, not to mention unsaid connections between its audience and the specific products that Home Depot uses in its videos. Promotion, people, products–Home Depot has hit a winner without having to think that far outside of the box.

Appeal to a Common Denominator

Money. I like it. You like it. Dell likes it. Dell’s followers like it. Based on this single unifying principle–that money is a pretty great thing to have–Dell has woven not only social success into its Twitter offerings, but it’s managed to rake up more than $2 million in sales from the platform.

What?

The solution is as simple as any other. People are interested in what you’re doing because you offer some kind of incentive for them to stick around. Sometimes, the strength of your prose is enough to keep people coming back to what you have to say. But more often than not, you’ll want to dangle the carrot in front of your audience to keep them close to the fold. In Dell’s case, this carrot comes in the form of coupons and savings for the products it sells. Check out Dell’s “exclusive” Twitter feed and you can save yourself some money on your next Dell purchase. It’s a basic incentive that works wonderfully: Aspiring purchasers stay interested until a deal pushes them over the threshold to purchase. Super-fans of Dell sign on to save money on their continued purchases. Coupons and savings get passed around the social networks, giving Dell’s presence even more prominence. Rinse, wash, repeat.

“But David!” you interject.  “I don’t sell computers!  I have nothing to give away!”

Ahh. And we have now completed the Circle of Life for marketing. Remember the first example? Breaking News doesn’t have anything to offer, save for a faster and easier digest version of what everyone else offers. Perhaps you could set up your Twitter presence as a master link-library for other people who are using the service to deliver deals. Maybe you could create a “best of” site that catalogs the best daily interactions around your product or product sphere. You could even just eschew the notion of using the social space to market directly for your brand and just be a cool, hip, interesting person for others to listen to–with the added link to the equally cool, hip, and interesting company you work for. Social media doesn’t have to be complex, obtrusive, or self-serving. You’ll save a lot of money and migraines if you just stick to a simple theme: Make it interesting.