Social Media: Changing How We Connect and Communicate

by Ryan Paul Thompson, Dalton Social Media Strategist

My mom was a small business owner when I was growing up. She had a fashion design company that she really enjoyed and which was profitable. We would attend the big trade shows, hold small “Tupperware” parties within neighborhoods, host lunches and cocktail parties with other industry people and prospective buyers, the whole deal. Many of her peers and the buyers were surprised at how successful she was and would often remark how impressed they were with her ability to “predict” the next trend, and how well she was able to connect and understand her customer. They often thought that it was that because my mom WAS her own customer, and that’s what enabled her to be so dialed in. And that was partly true. She was her own customer in the sense that she was a part of her customer’s community. She understood her audience because she was in communication and was engaged with her audience, she was social with her audience.

And that brings us up to today.

There’s a stigma that Twitter is about people stating “what they had for lunch today”. But what if you thought about it as something else. What if you had the power of Google, but instead of being able to search web pages, you could search what people are saying and thinking. Now imagine having those small Tupperware parties where you would try to get to know people quickly and get the word out about your product in small circles and having a little bit of a good time while doing it.

Twitter can be your new venue to have those Tupperware parties. Instead of having enough people to fill a room or two from the local neighborhoods, your “circle” can have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people attend your Twitter party and tweet together. You can almost instantly see what the trends are in what they are talking about, discover what they’re true interests are, and opinions of your product. And when everyone is talking at your Twitter party, it only gets bigger, as the word spreads very quickly. Do you remember how quickly word spread on the Hudson River plane crash last year, where the first word of it was on Twitter?

There actually more tweets than there are people in the world, over 6.8 BILLION tweets. That’s a big Tupperware party, with a lot of people tweeting about topics that are relevant to YOU.

Trade shows are great for finding out what the rest of the industry is doing, and for meeting people whom are already looking for your product. Of course you could also go on LinkedIn, and do that exact same thing. Imagine automakers being able to be involved in industry discussions with auto dealers and the insight that would provide both parties. You have the change to  network outside and above your normal circles.

Let’s say you wanted to work with a particular advertising agency *AHEM* , but you wanted to check if you had any contacts at that agency first. Check the company’s LinkedIn profile and see if you have any friends or associates there. Did you know that all 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented on LinkedIn? Chances are you’re only one or two connections away from one of them.

Cocktail parties are great for connecting with peers, maintaining relationships, and starting new ones. But how would you like to be able to host a “cocktail party”, where afterward you could find out the demographics, interests, and hobbies of every person that attended? What if you could find out what drinks everybody liked, what was discussed, what the opinions were of the people who attended, and who got along with whom. You could do that with Facebook, and you’d have a potential audience of over 350 million people a day.

Looking back, we now realize what my mom was doing when she attended all of these events. She was listening to her community, she was talking to her community, and she was being a vital part of her community. And being a part of that community created long lasting relationships, and gave insight into the behavior and wishes of those communities, and the value of that hasn’t changed.

What’s changing is where these relationships and communities are happening. They are no longer happening solely at dinner, over drinks, and at conventions. They are happening online on these digital spaces everyday. What’s left now, is for us to change, and adapt to these new spaces, and to continue to venture forward and grow.

Take the first step and leave a comment below and tell me about your experiences meeting people, networking, and doing business via  social media. Or just leave your Twitter or Facebook address. I’d love to hear from you either way. Let’s be social. :)

  • What is your opinion on Fundraising and Social Media? Just as effective??
  • FSUtara
    Hi RP,

    I thought your article really hit the nail on the head. There are those who look at sites like twitter with the “what they had for lunch today” perspective (which I agree- this perspective would get quite obnoxious) or you can look at it as a business tool to see what prospective customers are eating for lunch these days. The heated debate below is interesting to me- not because of a certain bloggers contradictory nature, false claims, and hollow complaints- but because she is acting as the spokesperson of what she calls “most people”. So I guess it’s safe to say that this “most people” group isn’t contributing to the 6.8 billion tweets, or the 96% of the largest generation today who is on a social network, or the 100 million users that created a Facebook in 9 months, or the 15 thousand tweeters who follow Miley Cyrus. With that being said, when it comes to social media WHY NOT use them? Why limit yourself, your campaign, your company, when you could be leveraging all of the free social media available online? There is this “most people” demographic that is afraid of change- but business models are evolving, and the “most people” are losing their jobs to people like you and me. She wants you to predict the future of social media- does she want you to predict the winning lottery numbers too? I can tell you this, there IS a future for Social Media, it is the semantic web. Krissy: YouTube “semantic web”- wait, first Google “how to use YouTube”- actually go to the public library and check out Google for dummies. Or you can just consult RP here.

    On a lighter note, Stuart has a valid point. A lot of people feel that online interaction loses a sense of emotion. This is so true, you lose the nonverbal cues, the fluctuations in tone, and all of those other factors that help read the person better during conversation. I find it intriguing though, that tone is slowly but surely creeping its way into typed conversations. For example, in the conversation below you can feel the lightheartedness of RP’s words with the added “emoticons”. Even the little acronyms help too. If I were to say “you spilled your drink on me lol”, you would interpret my tone differently than if I said “you spilled your drink on me WTF”. The “lol” adds a smile to the conversation. The use of emoticons, acronyms and caps changes everything! It’s amazing how text communication- language in general- changes the way we view the world, the way we communicate with the world, and the way we change the world. Definitely a topic due for further debate…

    Once again- bravo RP. I’m interested in reading your future posts. As a recent college grad of both marketing and technology majors, posts like these really get my wheels turning- so keep ‘em coming! On that note, do you have any perspective to offer on the job market for social media enthusiasts? It’s one of two questions I’ve been asking everyone I meet. Shoot me an email at taramariea1@gmail.com if you care to discuss more social media madness!
  • Stuart
    Great post. Everyone that posted had a great point, but sometimes the emotion and tone is lost on the screen. I could feel Krissy and RP starting a good conversation, but I would have liked it more if I could have heard it in person.

    Great example for how social media marketing is a spring board for face-to-face interaction.... we talk about buying Tupperware, but if your selling it in front of me and I hear the freshness when you open it, and the Doritto's bag was put in the Tupperware a month ago and it's still fresh...YES, I need Tupperware.

    So, how do you make money on social media marketing...you send your enthusiastic street team out with Tupperware in hand to make the sale. So, you're both right, RP saved us a lot of time in locating our customer, but Krissy used classic selling techniques to close the deal.

    So, in the words of a great artist..."It takes two to make a thing go right...it takes two to make it out of sight."
  • Jasmine
    I think some people need to read this article again. Obviously the strategy is not just using Twitter but using Twitter to gain insight on what consumers need and want, in order to better market products or services to fulfill those needs.

    In addition to being a useful marketing research tool, Twitter users also share information and news with one another. For example, in 2008, Twitter users were the first to break the news and provide real-time, accurate accounts of the Mumbai hotel bombings to the rest of the world.

    To dismiss Twitter as something that you and “most” the people you know find obnoxious is ludicrous. And for businesses, irresponsible. Just because you think it is obnoxious and unimportant does not negate the fact that millions of people use Twitter and are communicating with smart business and others. People are going to talk about business (as well as everything else) whether you listen or not. It is wise to listen to what your consumers have to say and engage in the conversation so you have the opportunity to influence their opinion.
  • Ryan Paul Thompson
    Krissy,
    I think we're getting a little too caught up and personal. I was just teasing you a little. I took your insults from the first time you posted as an invitation to be a little light hearted with you. If you would like to continue to debate these topics, I'd like to keep this where we're actually debating relevant topics and having arguments that are relevant to those topics.

    To bring this back to a conversation and a debate, your points in your first comment was that Salesmen need to control their messaging and convince people to purchase their product and your second point was questioning my competence in this field.

    The article above never stated that you don't have to sell, it stated that the places where are audiences communicate are different now, and we should be aware and a part of those spaces.

    I never flat out disagreed with you on your first point, but the tactics you're discussing are better suited for other forms of media, such as broadcast and print. This article is about Social. The tactics are different. I think we can both agree on that.

    To your second point from your first post, I think this continued conversation and my work history validates my capabilities. Furthermore, you stated fallacies in regards to the character count in Twitter, and then went on to mention that you do not use Twitter, to cover up the fallacy of the first post. We've had several profitable Social based campaigns (with trackable ROI) at the Dalton Agency with McDonalds, Bealls, and Touchdown Jacksonville, to name a few. Several of those success stories used Twitter as a strong component. I don't think I need to counter your second point any further.

    Now if you'd like to go forward and continue to debate and discuss in an adult and professional manner, I'm all for it. If not, have a good day, and I'm sure we'll talk again in another article.
  • Krissy
    Sorry, I don't use twitter, and most people I know find it obnoxious as well. If you use your mother as an analogy to illustrate your point, then expect your rebuttle to as well so as to further emphasize my point. And, I guess my point is that yes, we should be using these revolutionary new platforms. But, that's not strategy, this article is just talking about websites that are already immensely popular and familiar to most average americans. So maybe this article would have been more interesting 2 years ago. I didn't mean to insult your profession, but as a Social Media Strategist, I would think you'd have more to say about the future of Social Media, not the present or the past.
    And, don't be too concerned about the time i put into this, I type quite fast.
  • Ryan Paul Thompson
    Ben, I promise I'll respond to you soon, your last comment was really good. I really think we're on the same page. It's funny how the discussions after a post is written end up being worth even more than the post itself.
  • Ryan Paul Thompson
    Krissy,

    Hmmm... I think you might be a little passionate about this, am I wrong? jk

    You're right, people obviously don't want heart disease. And I guess in the past we were able to just bombard with messaging and media to convince them to buy it. But the world was different then. The problem is that if we sell somebody something they don't want, or that they may not purchase over and over again, I have to measure what the return on investment is with that customer, and if the money is better spent with somebody who has a higher propensity to use it, or actually needs it.

    The main point I was trying to get across is that we should be using these new opportunities and technologies to evolve our practices. The world is not the same place it was twenty years ago.

    But maybe you're right about everything. Maybe I'm not a knowledgeable social media strategist. It's not like I'm trying to capture your attention and create an opportunity for readers to become involved with this blog, to create a deeper conversation for others to take part in....wait a minute.... you spent a good bit of time writing that comment to us! What do you know, that strategy seemed to work pretty good on you. ;)

    By the way, Twitter's character limit is 140 (not 160), and don't talk about my mom.;)
  • Ryan Paul Thompson
    Thanks, Kenny. Long time no "talk". :)

    I agree with you completely. A lot of the walls that previously were there seem to have been lowered. Hopefully that will continue to provide opportunities not just for us as marketers, designers, etc., but also for us all when we where our consumer hats.

    We need to meet up and talk some time!
  • Krissy
    Successful salesmen don't ask you what you want to buy. You determine what your consumers buy. No one wants heart disease, obesity, chemicals, or trans fats, but how many billions have been served by mcdonalds? Your mother probably didn't ask anyone if they wanted tupperware, she probably hooked them into coming to her party so she could have the opportunity to TELL THEM WHY THEY WANT IT. Not that i agree that twitter is the best form of advertising (160 characters and sharing a platform with what miley cyrus watched on tv), but as Ben LaMothe said previously, building a network takes dedication. And it means adding people to your network who may not necessarily be interested in what you have to say. So you make what you say interesting! You're the social media strategist??? Give that Ben guy your job, he seems to be more knowledgable on social media.
  • Ryan, your knowledge and experience in this field is always insightful and impressive. Good post and comment conversation!

    I think one of the interesting things about social media is how easy it is to participate in. It is challenging to find super success but it can be found with a good strategy and perseverance.

    Working in this new media I've also seen how easy it is to provoke a dialog and start a conversation... sometimes this is good sometimes not so good.

    Keep it coming!
  • Hi Ryan:

    Right, here's a long reply!

    You touch on an interesting topic that is ranging (and will continue to rage) within the social media marketing, community management and ad industries:

    "I’d rather sell Tupperware to the people who want or need Tupperware, than spend time selling it to somebody who just wants a Slap Chop"

    On Twitter we see this manifest through keyword search initiated automated messaging. If I write an update that involves the word "cheese", then there's a good chance I will end up being followed by someone who sells cheese. I might even be directly contacted via @ message with an offer for cheese.

    Is that OK? Hard to say. Some people are OK with such a direct form of marketing/advertising in a social space.

    That being said, Foursquare does this in a way that is unintrusive yet effective. I'd love to see their click-thru numbers.

    Story time:

    Nearby where I work, there's a pizza shop that sells really great 10" pizza for just £3.50. That day, however, I went next-door for a burrito. I decided to check-in on Foursquare that I was at the burrito shop. Once I did that, the next screen had a box telling me that the pizza place does great pizza for just £3.50.

    Since I indicated that I am checking in at a place that sells food, Foursquare assumes two things: That I'm local, and that I like the food options that are nearby. Right on both accounts. Based on where I checked in, the Foursquare algorhythm assumes that I'd be interested in knowing about a pizza place, too.

    The point I'm trying to make is it is quite difficult to know who wants what you're trying to sell, even when social media offers so many interaction platforms.

    That's why your Tupperware quote is something every social media marketer wants. But it's so very, very hard to achieve.

    If you're interested in that sort of technology, I highly recommend reading the new book by Ken Auletta called "Googled". There's a section toward the end about advertisers using geo-location technology to serve ads based on location, interests, and other metrics.

    Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Googled-End-World-As-Know/dp/1594202354

    The more information that can be gathered, the better the pitch. And with this information you can then sell Tupperware to the people who want it, and sell Slap Chop to the other guys.

    I'll drop you an e-mail, too, about the discussion post. Sounds fun.

    -Ben
  • Ben,

    First, thanks for commenting. It's always great to see such a well though out comment.:)

    Secondly, I agree with you! It takes time and commitment to build any community, whether it be on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or even a message board. I didn't want to get too involved into that and topics such as community management in this article, but I think you've made it clear that I need to.;)

    Lastly, great link. That article had some great points, although I think most of us tend to say that "Social media marketing is about the conversation and listening", because that's what differentiates it from the old methods of marketing. All marketing/advertising is about getting people to do what you want them to do. Social media marketing by default inherits that quality, but what makes it more effective (in my opinion) is the conversation, the listening, and engagement with your audience.

    I'd rather sell Tupperware to the people who want or need Tupperware, than spend time selling it to somebody who just wants a Slap Chop. ;)

    Email me, maybe we can do a discussion post in the future? rthompon {at} daltonagency {.} com.
  • I agree, in principle. One point that needs to be made, though, is that building a community on Twitter takes time and effort that a lot of people aren't willing to spend. That's part of the reason why Twitter's account drop-off rate is so high.

    Hash tags are good for bundling tweets and conversations into a single stream. But for it to be meaningful, the conversation will need to have many contributors. There have been many successful chats launched on Twitter, and it's great for broadcasting opinions at events.

    Online events (like Twitter chats) can facilitate off-line events. This happens often (large-scale Tweet-Ups?) and serves to enrich everyone in the community and great more long-lasting bonds for everyone involved.

    If you're trying to sell something and are using a channel such as Twitter, it's great for listening, engaging and learning. But there's a more subversive element to it. Sure, you want friends and business partners.

    Here's a great pull-quote from a great blog post I read today:

    "Social media marketing is not about conversation, it’s about getting people to do what you want them to do."

    http://www.cornwallseo.com/search/2010/01/26/social-media-myth-no-1-its-about-the-conversation/

    Tweet-ups and community building facilitate the final goal of getting everyone on board to do something that you'd like them to do.

    If you're trying to sell Tupperware, you leverage your social media channel of choice to learn about what people want and what their interests are. Then you take this use it to get them to do something that you want them to do — buy your Tupperware.
blog comments powered by Disqus