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How Not To Use Social Media To Promote Your Brand

Posted on January 4, 2012 // 14 Comments

It sucks that I am still able to write a blog post like this in 2012! Here’s some recent social media engagement from Vinos Finos Cafe in Raleigh, NC:

Vinos Finos Cafe

 

After @Nick314 brought this to my attention, we tweeted back and forth a bit about it, including a few others in our conversation. Scott Stratten (@Unmarketing) called it a train wreck and a perfect example of how not to tweet. After this discussion, in which Vinos Finos Cafe was included, and in which we were kind but direct as to how we felt about their inappropriate social media effort, I received this tweet from Vinos:

Vinos Finos Cafe

And you can see I responded. Will it ever end?

 

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My Presentation on Engagement in Social Media at Get Digital 2

Posted on December 29, 2011 // 1 Comment

I was pleased to present on the importance of engagement in social media at Get Digital 2, a seminar put on by the folks at Get Digital Seminars. I used the case study of Falk Harrison’s involvement with Pratzel’s Bakery to illustrate the importance of speedy, kind and complete engagement in the world of social media.

Thank you to Gorilla 76 and Evolve (co-owners of Get Digital Seminars) for having me. Special thanks to Derek Mabie for initially reaching out to me. Let’s do it again!

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New Falk Harrison Blog Post: The 5 Unforgettables of Our New Social World

Posted on December 28, 2011 // Leave a Comment

Just a quick note here to direct you over to my employer’s blog… I’ve written a post there called “The 5 Unforgettables of Our New Social World.”

The reason for the post: I am constantly asked about my social media following: how it got so big, how I keep up with it, how I come up with things to post about, etc. These are what I call the “what” and “how” questions, and they often lead me to believe that the questioner has not considered the “why” question first. Why do we do what we do, and how can I get you to care? That is a fundamental question that every company must answer.

So instead of instructing you on how often to post, what tools to use, where to post or what to post about (the “what” and “how” questions), I took a step back and considered some key principles to live by. These core principles are what I’m now calling “The 5 Unforgettables.” I believe that understanding these principles and taking them to heart will equip you to answer some of those “what” and “how” questions for yourself.

Let me know what you think.

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Never Treat Your Customers Like This

Posted on December 27, 2011 // 2 Comments

Some people never cease to amaze.

Just read:

http://penny-arcade.com/2011/12/26/just-wow1

and http://www.geekosystem.com/avenger-controller-pr-berates-penny-arcade/

I learned of this situation via @reverendfitty and this tweet.

Takeaways:

1. I think there is a misperception amongst some people (knuckleheads, we’ll call them) that any publicity is good publicity. No, bad PR is bad. A local restaurant made similar mistakes, saying whatever they wanted and then thinking that deleting the offending comments made it all better (that restaurant is now closed). Yes, you can say whatever you want anytime you want; it’s a free country. However, know that you’re going to get some blowback shrapnel coming your way. If receiving such negative publicity is part of your business plan, then have at it. Otherwise, you’re probably sullying your brand.

2. Also, I don’t think these same knuckleheads understand the multiplicative power of social media. You simply cannot treat people like crap, because it’s so damned easy to out such behavior. Why would you ever say things like this to people, either online or off? Slightly offtopic: I’ve always wondered about the legality of posting such emails. Do you need permission? And does that depend on what state you’re in? I’ll have to ask my friends @CraigGMoore and @JeffSchultzEsq about this.

3. Finally, this is not a social media problem. This is just a human relations problem. This is one person or set of people treating another human being like shit. Social media takes the shitty treatment and airs it out for all to see. I’d like to think we’d see less (or none) of this as time goes by and more such examples are made public. But we should be clear that this is not a social media issue. It’s just a company treating its customers poorly.

REALLY AWESOME POSTSCRIPT: Out of business?

REALLY AWESOME POSTSCRIPT 2 – Here’s a 2012 business goal for you: make sure people DON’T make movies like this about your business! (WARNING: this video is rated R – it contains foul language. Do not watch it if you don’t want to hear such words)

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Perhaps I Should Try Storify

Posted on October 5, 2011 // 4 Comments

Storify website

I have never tried Storify. People seem to both love it and use it to great effect. The service best describes itself by saying that it’s used “To make stories using social media.”

I have lived through two recent social media “controversies,” if you can call them that, and both have been “Storified.” The first was a few months ago when I wrote a blog post about an unfortunate tweet made by an Internet marketer. The second was just yesterday when a friend tweeted some dissatisfaction at a restaurant and got an earful back.

As is always the case, in both instances I’m sure there’s more than meets the eye. Each time I tried to offer sound, objective advice, without resorting to name calling or ad hominem attacks (I did use the word “despicable” in that one post.)

Mike and Erica did a great job pulling the unfolding social media sagas together with Storify. I’m thinking I need to give the service a try.

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Despicable You

Posted on May 25, 2011 // 29 Comments

Need I point out that the tweet you see below is not only a social media worst practice, but a really reprehensible way to conduct new biz lead generation?

dotjenna tweet

 

This tweet is not being taken out of context. It does not matter which storm DotJenna was referencing. Take your pick: Joplin, MO (over 120 dead), Oklahoma City (9 dead), Dallas TX (one possible death so far), and so on. Reports have over 1,500 people missing. We could give this tweeter the benefit of the doubt and say that “capitalize” was a poor choice of words. But what do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

I can really appreciate this cat’s take on the situation:

[blackbirdpie id=”73358728589619200″]

Thanks to Michael Tomko for pointing the tweet out to me.

POSTSCRIPT: @MikeZiegler gives a thorough summary of the online “discussion” that occurred after I published this post. Have a read here.

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20 Things You Must Stop Doing Online

Posted on May 2, 2011 // 60 Comments

Stop sign

Dear People of the Internet,

Please stop. I do love you more than bacon. But for the love of crumb cake, please heed the following:

1. Stop inviting me to your mafia family. I mean, how many families can I possibly join before I’m killed in the crossfire?

2. Stop sending me messages on LinkedIn, inviting me to invite you to connect on LinkedIn. You arrogant, jammy bastard! Just send me a real connection request. And if you’re truly out of connection requests, as so many claim to be, ask LinkedIn for more. They have the option to grant you more. (Thanks for the info @LewisHowes)

3. Similar to #2, stop sending me messages on LinkedIn, or any platform, inviting me to follow you on Twitter. That’s just so weird, and there is a much easier way to attract a following.

4. Stop sending me Direct Messages on Twitter that say “I’m looking forward to reading your tweets.” Well, what is taking you so long? Stop looking forward to your new life with me and get to it! It’s not like I don’t offer you a daily serving. (perhaps just an issue of semantics)

5. In fact, please stop sending the worst Twitter Auto-DM’s in Human History. Or, if you’re feeling sporting, stop sending all Twitter auto-DMs. (yes, I used to send them. I’ve learned. You can learn too.)

6. Stop calling yourself a social media expert if you’ve tweeted 14 times. Practice makes perfect. REPEAT: you cannot claim to be a social media strategist if you barely use social media. Please feel free to refute this in the comments below.

7. Stop using the TrueTwit validation service on Twitter. You are not eliminating spam. You ARE spam.

8. Stop pretending people’s time is free. It is not. Asking for advice is one thing. Asking for an entire business plan on a silver platter is another (yes, it has happened).

9. Stop asking someone to lunch to pick their brain and then not picking up the tab. Common courtesy. Luckily, this happened to me only once.

10. Stop promising me 5,000 followers in 30 days. What are you racing towards? It’s not success.

11. Don’t do a #FollowFriday on Twitter if you’re not following the person. It boggles the mind.

12. Stop curating a tweetstream that is clearly automated. There is one exception to this rule – a local guy that created an awesome tweetbot – you know who you are. You get special dispensation from #12.

13. Similar to #12, stop tweeting links in every tweet. This is not what social media is for. (thanks @cynthiakahn!)

14. Stop creating Twitter usernames that are impossible to communicate to someone in person. “Hi, I work in social media. I’m @SocilMediSaintLou! Yes, that’s S-O-C-I-L, no there’s no “A” in it. M-E-D-I, now skip the “A” again…” I’m lost. (thanks @Tojosan)

15. Stop saying you don’t have time to use social media. Make time. Evenings are good.

16. Employers, stop restricting the social media usage of your employees. Studies have shown that occasional wandering of the brain is actually good for overall productivity. And you allow people to take smoke breaks, which is slowly killing them and raising your health insurance premiums. Oh wait, you don’t allow smoking on your company’s campus, which means employees have to go out and practically stand in traffic in order to smoke. Yeah, Twitter and Facebook… it’s not so bad.

17. Stop looking for a job with no LinkedIn presence. Learn how to use this tool, and do not dismiss it as a tool merely for job seekers. That will keep you, the gainfully employed, from creating a complete, informative profile until that unfortunate moment when you lose your job. At that point in time, you will not be mentally capable of doing your very best thinking, which will keep you from pulling together your very best resume and LinkedIn profile. Treat your LinkedIn profile like a living, breathing organism.

18. Stop saying you don’t have anything to blog about. You’re a business? That is interesting to me. You can blog about it. Chris Brogan runs a newsletter that will send you ten blog post ideas every Monday morning.

19. Stop taking it so personally. An unfollow is just an unfollow. It’s not you. Maybe it is you. You don’t have time to care, and reacting to the criticism of one person is a knee-jerk reaction. And whatever a “knee-jerk reaction” is, it doesn’t sound good.

20. Stop being afraid to be yourself. Tweet. Do a podcast. Go on video. Public speak. You’re not that bad, and 75% of people are more fearful of this stuff than you are. Trust me.

BONUS – apparently blog posts like this are a pet peeve of some. In response to my tweet asking for ideas for this blog post in exchange for full attribution, I received the tweet below. 🙂 Point well taken.

[blackbirdpie id=”65184259253612544″]

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