Ever since I’ve been participating in the Twitter arena, I’ve seen numerous questions (tweets) from corporate marketing teams, agencies, and business owners about how to leverage Twitter for your business.

So I’m reading through my news headlines today and I see 20+ stories about Dell (@DellOutlet) offering exclusive deals to their Twitter followers. Here is a story on CNET today entitled, “Dell cozies up to its Twitter followers.”

I think this is a great example showing how B2C companies can really benefit and leverage Twitter for actual sales and customer interaction. My only slam on Dell is they aren’t following customers back which means they are stuck in a one-way dialog…which isn’t ideal for the customer. Nonetheless, they see value in this channel if for no other reason but to offer great deals to consumers.

Other great examples of companies using Twitter for the good include:

Zappos – @Zappos - This is actually Zappos CEO…great move!

Comcast – @ComcastCares - Frank responds to upset customers faster than their customer service line…

Whole Foods – @WholeFoods – Very active and following almost 42K on Twitter…

I would love to hear other great examples of companies effectively using Twitter & to get your feedback and thoughts on this subject.  Thanks!

I’m not sure how you are, but whenever I’m traveling to a new market, representing a new industry or even curious about a new technique, I typically read up on the subject at hand as much as possible. After sticking my toe into the social media pool several times over the past 2-3 years, I finally hurled myself into a cannonball and I’m now immersed in this pool!

As I’m sure to do with most things new and based on a number of recommendations, last night I started reading “The New Rules of Marketing & PR” by David Meerman Scott (2007). Although I started reading late in the night, I immediately began to realize this was going to be complimentary to my instincts about social media & PR as David says, “In PR, it’s not about clip books. It’s about reaching our buyers…Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars per month on a media relations program that tries to convince a handful of reporters at select magazines, newspapers, and TV stations to cover us, we should be targeting the plugged-in bloggers, online news sites, micro-publications, public speakers, analysts and consultants that reach the targeted audiences that are looking for what we have to offer. Better yet, we no longer even need to wait for someone with a media voice to write about us at all.”

Just to caveat David’s thoughts on these “New Rules”, he does clearly point out throughout the book that there is still value in traditional media relations.

Although I haven’t yet finished this book, I thought I’d provide you with David’s “New Rules of Marketing & PR” as I would love to hear your thoughts and to learn about what YOU are doing to address this new channel:

• Marketing is more than just advertising;
• PR is for more than just a mainstream media audience;
• You are what you publish;
• People want authenticity, not spin;
• People want participation, not propaganda;
• Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the precise moment your audience needs it;
• Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of undeserved audiences via the Web;
• PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It’s about your buyers seeing your company on the Web;
• Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. It’s about your organization winning business;
• The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on the media;
• Companies must drive people into the purchasing process with great online content;
• Blogs, podcasts, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organizations communicate directly buyers in a form they appreciate;
• On the Web, the lines between marketing and PR have blurred.

These were all great reminders to me that the way we do media relations, PR or marketing in general have all changed and are currently changing as I write this post. In fact, this book was published in 2007 and I’m sure as I get into the tactical recommendations, they will have already been replaced by something better. Regardless of this evolution, I think these “rules” are still very true today.

Please let me know what you are doing different today and if your answer is “more of the same” I would LOVE to hear why these rules aren’t applicable to your practice of marketing & PR today.  Have a great Monday!

Admittedly I have to credit the U.O phrase to David Armano who I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing his presentation on Thursday at the Chicago Social Media Club meeting (thank you Kelly Olexa for this video link):

As marketers we are so often charged at the opportunity to leverage new mediums for our clients. I can remember when direct mail was all the rage yet folks were seeing an average return rate of 2-3% (according to the Direct Marketing Association). Yet we continue to seek out new avenues for our clients to receive a leg up on their competitors.

Along comes “social media” and yet a new medium to stoke the marketing ambers we so desperately want to turn into a raging fire. To continue rolling with such an analogy…my word of caution to marketers is to ease into the social media space or watch your clients go down in flames.

The advice I’ve learned from the very best in this social media space are to walk before you run and crawl before you walk…but do it immediately and consistently. In addition to David Armano, I’ve been reading Chris Brogan’s blog and following him on Twitter for some time. Chris has numerous blog posts on the subject of “personal branding”or as David Armano puts it – U.O.

Quite simply, before you start running with various social media strategies (if even relevant for your business or clients), work on creating a brand for your self, an experience that you can then share with your client in this space. Otherwise you’re sure to misstep in a space where there are no do-over’s.

For example here are the 5 tips I’m following as I plunge into social media & U.O:

1. Get professional guidance – I was fortunate enough to have met Kelly Olexa early on in my social media learning process. I immediately knew that Kelly would serve as a terrific advisor as she was savvy and versed in social media but also had a strong business foundation. In other words, she was “geeky” enough to know her stuff but professional enough to know how to advise business owners or executives on its value for self and business.

2. Set your personal goals – Why are you participating in social media? What are you looking to achieve? How are you going to accomplish such goals?

3. Let down your guard - As you begin dipping your toes into social media such as Twitter, blogging, Facebook, etc., you will instinctively have some resistance or hesitation interacting with strangers. You must remember that people know people and even if someone doesn’t “appear” to be an ideal connection…they might know others who are. You have to let down your guard if making the switch to social media.

4. Be yourself & be transparent – This might seem logical, yet so many people jump into social media and become something so much different than themselves. Here is a great blog post from Ignite Social Media on “5 ways to be yourself online.”

5. Build some credibility for yourself – It’s really easy to think that you’ve got social media down and you’re ready to do anything in this space. Take the time (several months) to build credibility for yourself through conversations, blog posts, blog comments, etc.

I’m certainly not an expert but I believe in sharing what I’ve learned from others who are true thought leaders, influencers, and experts in this space. I’d love to hear about any advice or tips you’d like to share about entering the social media space and/or creating U.O. Looking forward to our conversations!