Social Media has Reached it’s Tipping Point in the World

December 1, 2009 by Steve Schultz @GeniusbyOsmosis · Leave a Comment
Filed under: News, Red Alert Dossier, Social Media

The other day an article came out from StrategyEye.com. In a recent survey half of all businesses in the sample said “they are not spending enough online and 86% say they plan to increase their social media budget in 2010.” While this article is in the context of business the concepts involved a very much the same for you politicians.

We said it was going to happen and it finally will begin full throttle (as though it wasn’t growing fast enough anyways). Social Media adoption among campaigns and organizations is vital, however many are unsure of how to get there. Whether it’s a lack of resources, lack of know-how or for many organizations, a lack of time.

The study went on to say “many firms are struggling to make the most of social media, with 54% saying a lack of resources is the biggest obstacle to better engagement. Less than a quarter of those surveyed say they can see a ‘tangible’ return on their investment. Just under two-thirds say they have gained ‘more benefit’ from their social media spend ‘but nothing concrete’.”

The hardest thing I’ve seen from marketing and social media consultants is that when they go into an organization to help develop a social media campaign it’s always about branding and rarely about selling. In a political context we are still selling. Branding gives you a position. Selling gives your target a “call to action” that is, TO RAISE MONEY!!! It seems it’s always about conversing with your consumers and less about SELLING. Both are in fact, necessary.

Even if you just entered a race, yes, branding is important, but if you don’t have enough cash to stay in the race your brand means nothing. If selling is not a part of your social media adoption than you will not reap tangible returns as mentioned above in the study.

People get really confused when I tell them I do social media change management. It’s because they are hell-bent on the idea that social media is something you “register” for and you’re off.

Before you have your next meeting with your political team or the consultants you work with ask yourself this question and then ask it to them:

“How will social media transform real work into real money?”

Simple as that. How is social media going to increase your fund raising ability? How is it going to get you that extra hundred, thousand or even ten-thousand dollars every week? How is it going to making your campaign stronger tomorrow? These are questions they should have answered the first time you entered the online arena and if they cannot answer them now, you need to look elsewhere for help.

If you don’t you’ll fall into this category of campaign or organization:

“‘While an increasing number of companies are embracing social media, many are struggling to effectively manage their engagement,’ says Phil Gripton, managing director of bigmouthmedia UK. ‘They are consequently failing to make the most of a potentially enormous opportunity.’”

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Tags: Advertising agency, Brand, Business, campaign, campaign development, campaign startegy, Company, Consumer, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, politics, Social Media

Just got my health insurance premium increase notice – 23%

October 30, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
Filed under: News

It’s like clock work right? No matter how little I use my high deductible HSA plan (I buy my own as I’m self-employed), I get a increase every year. This year it’s 23%. That’s an abomination but my gut reaction isn’t to vote for a public option or government intervention. My reaction was to begin finding creative solutions out there in the open market for health care.

Too bad I missed a FREE webinar put on yesterday by our Association of Business and Industry here in Iowa discussing this very topic. That was MY choice to miss due to other commitments. The point is that as we keep getting buried by health care costs, increased competition across borders will provide options that I can live with. And, at the end of the day…if health insurance does cost a bundle, that’s what I’ll have to pay to keep it. If no one an afford health care there will be no payers into the system and it will fail. Market forces must intervene if allowed at some point (remember how we were supposed to have $9/gallon gas by now because of the collusion, cheating, and market manipulation?)

Moving health care into the realm of the government will further exacerbate the issues we’re seeing now on the paper on which the increases come will change. Now it comes from an insurance company. Then it would come on your W-2 and 1040 forms.

Tags: Business, Government, health care, Health insurance, Insurance, Market

Doug Interviews Candidate for Iowa Governor Bob Vanderplaats at ABI Convention

June 10, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · 1 Comment
Filed under: News

It was great to finally meet Bob Vanderplaats and chat with him about Iowa Business at the ABI Convention. We streamed the interview live and here’s the recording.

Tags: Bob Vanderplaats, Business, Iowa

Four MORE Steps to your Political Campaign’s Social Media Strategy

March 3, 2009 by Steve Schultz @GeniusbyOsmosis · Leave a Comment
Filed under: News

I really feel like I’m beating a dead horse here but I couldn’t not blog about this article I just read that simplifies the social media process. At CMS Wire there was an article covering four steps to managing a successful media campaign. The political application, being obvious as it is, really hits on a couple more points I have yet to discuss.

Keep in mind these steps were created for customer relationship mangers, or CRMs as they’re called. These steps come down to the overarching premise that if you enable your customer base (constituents) the opportunity to share their opinions/experiences you will have a much more successful social media strategy. Pay close attention to these four things:

Defining Purpose
Give up Some Control
Reward your Participants
Ensure Skilled Staff is at the Core

According to Gartner Research “60% of Fortune 1000 companies will be using social media in some fashion by 2010 as a way to manage customer relations. Gartner also predicts that by 2010 over half of companies using social media for CRM will do it incorrectly — thus, devaluing customer relationships.”

So 600 of the Fortune 1000 will be implementing social media in their CRM strategy but only 300 of them will do it right. I would say, that means only 300 of the thousand are doing it right because that other 40%, by not using social media, are also doing it wrong. Lets go over these four steps so you can do it better than 700 Fortune 1000 companies.

Defining Purpose

When I discuss having an objective it’s always about keeping your use of social media from veering off course. Having an objective shows your constituents that you have a plan. Especially in politics, it’s blatantly obvious to everyone when you’ve drifted from the plan. Just think of every debate you’ve ever watched and how difficult it is for politicians to articulate their ideas. It’s the same on Twitter, Technorati, Diigo, and every other network out there. Stick to your objectives, be sure everything is helping you progress to accomplishing your ultimate goals. Stay on course!

Give Up Some Control

Social media isn’t just about interaction, it’s about contribution. Everyone wants to contribute whether it’s to something/one they love or hate. If you do it right, they’ll be touting your name because they like what you have to offer. Let them contribute posts to your blog. President Obama let individuals in his campaign staff contribute with their own Twitter handles. You can do the same, they don’t even have to be your staff just find “missionaries” that are adamant about what you have to say. As a customer you would much rather hear from other customers, that’s why every website out there has “customer reviews.” They know you want to know what other people have experience with their product. If your a Mayor running for State Senator, let those that you worked with contribute to your blog, update a Twitter handle that represents you, create videos on your YouTube channel. Remember, interaction AND contribution are key.

Reward Your Participants

There are two facets that need to be considered when rewarding those that contribute. CMS Wire mentions that first, there are different levels of reward that contributors will want. Recognize and classify those. Some will just want recognition, some will want to be able to share content, others may not want any recognition. If YOU don’t recognize their different needs your contributed content will lack quality, personality, and it will not keep you on course towards your objectives.

Second, give viewers/visitors the opportunity to rate the content. You don’t need to decide which contributors are the best and frankly, you probably wouldn’t do a good job if you did. Let them rate content on a 5-star scale, thumb-up/thumb-down, or however you want to do it but it will enable you to build a hierarchy of contributors separating the best from the good from the bad.

Ensure Skilled Staff is at the Core

DO NOT ASSUME YOU CAN GET IT RIGHT BY YOURSELF!!! There is nothing wrong with executing your strategy in-house but you need to either hire someone experienced in social media web strategy to join your team or at the very least, bring in outside training/consulting. There is too much at stake to jump in without knowing what to do. On the flip side, taking too much time to learn it on your own is just as dangerous. When it comes down to it, just like any project, you need the right people in the right place.

Keep in mind what Adam Sarner, research director at Gartner, said regarding social media.

“Social networking has changed the way a critical mass of individuals behaves, including how they act as customers and prospects. Customers, not just digital natives, can no longer be adequately described by demographic information — the usual target for corporate CRM efforts.”

For more directly from Gartner Research read here. Otherwise, let us know what questions arise, we’re happy to help!