Three Rules of Social Media Marketing for Businesses Large and Small

By Maurice A. Ramirez

Social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have put the power of the media in hands of the average citizen.  Entrepreneurs, information marketers, and college students have learned that they can be the media for audiences both large and small.  They have also learned that the nightly news and traditional print media will share their stories. This shift in the “power of the press” carries with it three rules of social media marketing for businesses large and small. These three rules are:

•    Silence is not golden…it’s guilty.
•    The first story told is the story most retold…and the story most believed.
•    Buzz is the bomb…it can propel you to the top, or blow up in your face.

Silence is Not Golden…It’s Guilty

In high school science, we learn that nature abhors a vacuum.  Nowhere is this more evident than on the Internet.  If a business fails to comment on an event, good or bad, then the social media will rush in to fill the void around the corporate brand.  It’s very simple.  The construction of search engines and social media is such that there will never be silence associated with any brand.  

Whether the brand is the iPhone, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Disney, or a roof coatings contractor located in Smalltown, USA, if something happens, someone will feel compelled to comment.  That is the nature of the Internet and the social media in the 21st century.  With the advent of internet-enabled cell phones, YouTube-enabled smart phones, text messaging and location-enabled Twitter, everyone is not just a news reporter; everyone has the ability to be a video historian. Watch the evening news in any market, anywhere in the world, and you will see a YouTube video broadcast about a news event that has happened that day. Nothing is more powerful than eyewitness testimony, both in a court of law and now on the six o’clock news.  

It is important to remember that it is not the occasional user of the social media who is making these reports; it is the regular blogger, the regular Twitter broadcaster, and the regular YouTube poster.  They have followers and their followers have followers.  The average reach of these individuals is over 20,000 other social media users, and their audience is reliable.  This means that corporations – from Disney on down to that roof coatings contractor -- cannot just broadcast a message in the social media. When something happens, corporations must have a presence 24/7. The social media presence of a corporation must be part of an ongoing plan and deliberate social media optimization process that ensures that the corporation has an audience, and that the corporate audience is larger than that of any client or customer who may come through their door. You need to get your message out there – on the Web, on Twitter and on Facebook. Videos of your crew at work should be regularly posted to let clients know the type of exceptional work that you do. Is your silence in the social media world speaking volumes?

The First Story Told is the Story Most Retold and the Story Most Believed

Social media is a cultural phenomenon based on a conglomerate of social norms and behaviors that span age groups and demographics.  As a result, the rules are difficult for many entrepreneurs and executives to negotiate.  But one of the rules that is constant across all social media platforms is that the first story told is the first story believed. Further, in the social media, the first story about a major event -- positive or negative -- will be retold, retransmitted and shared among social media users. Say the unthinkable happened and there was an accident at the job site. How would you handle it?  The first story told in the social media will be converted to email and resent. The first story told is also the most likely story to make the transition to traditional media: in other words, it will become news.  Because of this, it is not enough to respond when a message appears on one of the popular social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter.  Instead, when an event occurs a business must have a prepared statement ready to transmit immediately through an established social media optimization program to ensure that the corporate message is the first story told. Ideally, this corporate message will even precede those messages, blogs, tweets, and YouTube postings that may be coming from those customers actually involved as participants in the event.  

And don’t believe for a second that blocking cell phone communications, disconnecting Wi-Fi, shutting down Internet or in some other fashion, disrupting access to the social media will delay negative social media messages.  This has been tried by major governments around the world and in every instance not only has it in fact accelerated the rate at which these messages have been transmitted, it has also increased the negative sentiment attached to the event. Ironically such attempts to block social media messages actually expanded the reach of every message that the perpetrators attempted to block.  

The great Vince Lombardi once said, “The best defense is a strong offense.”   In the social media, nothing could be more true.  The only way to counter a negative message is to send your positive message, if possible before the first negative message can be transmitted.  

Buzz is the Bomb…It Can Propel You to the Top, or Blow Up in Your Face

W.C. Fields once said, “I don’t care what you say about me, so long as you spell my name correctly.”  In the social media, W.C. Fields’ advice would be disastrous.  What is said absolutely matters.  The sentiment surrounding the brand – in this case your coatings contracting company -- determines the degree of influence that a message has and determines the action taken by those who receive the message.  The goal of all marketing is to influence potential clients and potential customers to make a purchase.  In the world of social media, that means that they must be influenced to reach for the mouse, reach for the credit card, reach for their wallet and make the purchase.  

Buzz is the bomb.  A positive buzz means that there is positive message activity around your brand.  There is positive buzz when people are sending your message to their friends, their friends are sending your message to other friends and it all influences someone to make that positive “buy decision.”  

But it is important to note that if the sentiment surrounding your message is negative, buzz can blow up in your face.  Research shows that a negative message will be sent on four times more frequently than a positive message, thus doing four times the damage, influencing four times as many people not to buy.  

W.C. Fields was wrong; it is not good enough that your name is spelled correctly, something good must be said as well.  The easiest way to ensure that something good is said is to influence those who influence others to say something good about you.  Again, this is done by having a constant positive presence in the social media, even before anything noteworthy happens at your company, at your place of business or in your brand.  

There are three rules of social media marketing for businesses large and small. Turn on the news any night and you will see businesses that have failed to follow these three simple rules, whether it is a cruise ship with a passenger falling overboard and 124,000 tweets telling the story of how they left him behind, or a major amusement park with the most anticipated themed ride in a decade breaking down, trapping riders for 45 minutes and generating 50 YouTube uploads.  

To succeed in the world of social media remember: silence is not golden. Businesses must be in the social media early, regularly, and constantly.  The first story told is the first story retold.  To be the one telling your story and influencing others to retell your story, you must take ownership of your message. If you don’t, someone else will fill the void and tell your story for you from their perspective.  And that is a perspective you may not want to see. Generate your own virtual buzz and watch your actual business grow.

Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is founder of the consulting firm High Alert, LLC. He is a renowned speaker on the importance of social networking and has presented to national organizations.  As a consultant, Dr. Ramirez assists companies to align business continuity plans with personnel and customer behavior during adversity. Dr. Ramirez is founding chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer.
Please visit www.high-alert.com

 

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