Twitter-free Tuesdays

Many organizations have e-mail free Fridays that are designed to encourage face-to-face communication among employees. I suspect, too, that they are also encouraging productivity; managing e-mail can be a challenge depending upon where you are in the food chain.

To that end, I have decided to impose upon myself Twitter-free Tuesdays. Even though I only follow 20-odd folks, and while TweetDeck is an excellent tool to manage tweets, I can sometimes become distracted by the tool. Following links, reading articles, responding to questions--they're all great ways for me to grow professionally. But a better way is for me to focus on the work of the day and help out my clients.

Now what day should I put off Facebook...

How Do I Hate Lists? Let Me Count The Ways

Here are some blog titles I’ve encountered in the past few weeks:

• 7 Deadly Sins of E-mail Marketing
• 5 Tips for Evolving Your Digital Presence
• 7 Tips for the Perfect Twitter Profile
• 4 Secrets to Making the Perfect Digital Hire
• 10 Ways to Drive Consumer Action with Video
• 7 Ways to Get More Out of Your Creative
• 8 Ways to SEO Your Personal Brand
• 7 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid on Twitter
• 49 Creative Ways You Can Profit from Content Marketing
• 50 Trigger Words and Phrases for Powerful Multimedia Content
• 7 Useful Links for Weekend Reading

What is it with marcomm bloggers and lists? I find few blogs more annoying—and more ineffective and damaging—than those that take this approach. Why? Because they presume that the work we do as marketing communicators can consistently be boiled down to a handful of bullet points that can be applied to every situation. They often promise unmitigated success if they are followed. And they ultimately ruin our credibility as communication professionals by presuming there is some recipe to be followed that can substitute for talent.

As much as it pains me to say this, marketing communications is far from a science. Yes, there are best practices, but adhering to those practices makes us better practitioners over time—they don’t necessarily result in better immediate outcomes. Our long-term success depends upon our ability to think strategically and choose tactics that best support our strategies. Those tactics can’t be boiled down to a handful of “things to do” that will ensure success. And if such a list does exist, we certainly shouldn’t be giving it away for free.

As I write this, I am mindful of the time I spent in marketing communications for the pharmaceutical industry. Never before have I worked with so many Ph.D’s. When they wrote papers or held symposia on scientific topics, they were always in-depth discussions of the science, the data, and the outcomes. I never saw topics like, “5 Tips for Developing Effective LC/MS/MS Methods”, or “10 Mistakes to Avoid when Developing Aerosols for Inhalation Toxicology Studies”. They didn’t approach topics this way because they understood that their science could not be applied to applications so broadly, and because they realized that what they were selling was their expertise in applying their science to specific applications for their clients. They wouldn’t dream of positioning themselves in a way that would make them look ignorant or would give away valuable information for free.

But that’s what we do every day. We do it because we are so hungry to be recognized as experts in the eyes of our peers and our clients. We each want so much to be believed, and we use the freedom of blogs and social media to vie with one another for that coveted “thought leadership” spot.

I say the proof of our expertise is in the pudding. Be successful for your clients, and let them do the talking. When you do share information, make it in the form of a case study, with a discussion of the strategy, your metrics (data) and the outcomes. And for heaven’s sake don’t just share it because you need something to post on your blog. Make folks pay for it, whether they are clients or colleagues. We all know the story of free milk and a cow. Let’s make sure we let the world know that we bring value, and that value has a price tag associated with it.

Stop Flashing Me Already

I’m getting ready to redesign our own website, and I’ve been exploring a lot of competitive agency websites for inspiration. Is it just me, or is almost every agency website built in Flash, with a fancy front end that plays like a TV commercial before getting me to the site itself?

I know there are some who disagree with me—even among my own colleagues—but I think these sites sacrifice the steak for the sizzle. I’ve already issued an edict to my team that when we build our site it will not be in Flash and will not have the fancy front end. Why? It seems self-serving, like t-shirts with our company logo on them. They make us feel good about ourselves, but don’t really help our customers.

As a customer, I personally hate having to wait for the Flash movie to get over before getting to the site, so I usually try to find the “skip it” link. Sometimes that link is easier to find than others, and for sites that make it difficult to find I end up getting annoyed. Then when I do get to the site, everything I click on is usually animated. Everything I mouse over usually deploys a hidden message. And when I’m not clicking on anything there’s usually something moving somewhere on the screen trying to grab my attention. It just annoys me, like a little dog that’s constantly yapping and nipping at your heels for attention.

What does such a site say for promoting your company as a communication partner? “We don’t really know how to grab your attention, so we’ll throw everything we have at you”? “Look at how awesomely creative we are”? “We bet you can’t use Flash as well as we can use Flash”?

Websites are communication tools that should be designed to deliver the right message to the right audience in the right way. It shouldn’t be the Speed Racer movie of websites—no plot but more than its share of really bright special effects. Before pulling Flash out of your toolbox, make sure you’ve given thought to your audience and what you want them to do when they come to your site. If Flash will help them do what you want, then use it. Otherwise think of something else that will be effective.

Please Read this Effing Post

I was reading a blog recently written by an account planner at a European agency. The author is young; his photo and list of his interests puts him in his late twenties in my forty-something mind. I like what he has to say, though, and I like the fact that he’s not senior management at his agency.

But…the other day he dropped the f-bomb in his blog.

Don’t get me wrong—I wasn’t offended. I tend to use the f-bomb rather liberally within the confines of my own office, especially when I’m writing purchase orders or doing other paperwork. It got me to thinking, though—what role does (or should) profanity play in an ostensibly professional blog post? And can (or does) it do you any damage?

I realize there are a lot of variables that need to be addressed before answering that question, like what your brand represents in the first place and to whom you are speaking with your blog. Generally speaking, however, what does what does the casual dropping of the f-bomb mean in a blog?

On the one hand, it could impress upon your audience that you are having a conversation with them. That you feel comfortable enough with them to let your guard down a little bit and use the occasional “colorful metaphor.” This might actually foster the conversation, and get folks to open up more candidly with their thoughts—and colorful metaphors.

On the other hand you could make your readers believe that you really aren’t serious about the topic, or your job, or your life. After all, you started off all nice and professional, and then you said THAT. How immature, Mr. Longshoreman (apologies in advance to longshoremen everywhere for the sweeping generalization).

On another hand (?) there may be those who say that you’re pushing the envelope, and being edgy, and that's what the industry needs--fresh thinking! But yet another hand might slap you down for using the lazy person’s choice of words instead of thinking of something more appropriate.

Bottom line (and regardless of how many hands you have)—I don’t know what it means. I will say that blogs probably are viewed as more informal than actual printed media because they are more democratized and everyone can publish one. And because we are ostensibly having conversations with our audience via blogs the language will likely become more casual. However, I do think it’s always important to be mindful of your audience when writing anything professional—a blog, a press release, a website, what have you. Before turning that salty phrase you might want to just be sure that your audience will be receptive to it.

And that’s all I have to effing say about that. What the eff do you think?

A Bit of Fun on a Sunday Night

I've only been blogging for a very short time, but I already have a pretty interesting "word cloud" for this blog, courtesy of http://www.wordle.net/.

Hiding Your Twitter Habit from the Boss?

Hot on the heels of Oprah's triumphant entry into the Twitterverse (my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek as I say that), the New York Times published a piece on Spreadtweet, a Twitter client that looks just like an Excel spreadsheet. Why? Because you can use it at work and the boss will never suspect you're Twittering!

Given my post yesterday about why those in the trenches seem relatively absent in the blogosphere, I'm torn between being amazed at the cleverness of the concept and annoyed at the need for it. It's really unfortunate that there are companies that still prohibit the use of social media tools among employees. They provide valuable means for staying connected with colleagues and trends in one's industry. While I applaud the developers of Spreadtweet for finding a need and filling it, I am more inclined to encourage those working for employers that limit social media access to instead be honest about your desire to connect with colleagues and ask your management for permission to use the tools.

Instead of going underground, why not draft a proposal for your superiors that demonstrates the value of interacting with colleagues via Twitter and blogs? Offer to report to your colleagues on a regular basis the things you learn as a result of this interaction. Tie measureable social media interaction to your annual performance goals. In short, become visible embassadors of media that we all know is not just a passing fancy and not just a way to stay in touch with friends and family. Prove to your employers the value of social media; not only will it benefit you in your career but it will ultimately benefit all of us as we try to connect with ever more professionals across a variety of industries.

Desperately Seeking Smaller Fish

I’m learning a great deal lately just by finding talented, insightful people to follow on Twitter and within the blogosphere. For instance, I’ve been following Steve “Repman” Cody for at least two years now as he blogs about reputation management; his business partner Ed Moed also blogs. I just started to routinely read Beth Harte’s blog about marketing communications. Brian Clark at Copyblogger offers really great insight into how to craft content for social media—or any media, for that matter. And I was recently led to an excellent blog by Drew McLellan at McLellan Marketing Group.

Really good stuff from all of these folks, and others like them; I endorse all of them if you’re interested in staying abreast of trends in advertising, PR and strategic communications. But I find it interesting that all of them have one thing in common—they are company leaders, top of the food chain. Steve Cody and Ed Moed are each managing partners and co-founders at Peppercom, a NYC strategic communications firm with offices around the world. Beth Harte is principal at Harte Marketing Communications outside Philadelphia. Brian Clark is an entrepreneur. And Drew McLellan spells it out best on his blog by describing himself as “top dog at McLellan Marketing Group.”

Nothing wrong with any of this; I’m glad to have access to people of this caliber. But it seems that the big fish in marketing and communications are so much more likely to be the ones who are blogging. Why don’t I see as many smaller fish sharing their insights?

One reason could be that I’m just not looking hard enough. It could very well be that there are account execs, creatives, PR professionals and project managers out there blogging or tweeting about what they are learning in their day-to-day experiences in the trenches. If they are out there, and you know of them, please let me know—I’d love to read their stuff.

Another reason may be that the blogosphere has become somewhat top heavy. While social media invites all of us to the conversation, it is still so new that many of us carry with us the baggage of traditional media rules of engagement. For instance, traditional media rules dictate that only certain individuals, called “spokespersons,” have the right to say anything on behalf of their company. Now it may be that the smaller fish working in the trenches aren’t actually speaking on behalf of their companies, but may feel as if their voices and opinions will somehow reflect upon their employers, and their employers may not appreciate that. Especially in this economic environment nobody wants to lose his or her jobs because of an innocent faux pas.

Maybe, too, we as leaders (yes, I must admit that I’m near the top of the food chain in my organization, as well) are not doing as much to encourage those working for us to put their opinions out there. Again, the old corporate mindset, while touting teamwork, is really about hunkering down and doing your job. Speak when spoken to. And above all, don’t waste time. If you’re blogging, then you’re not working for me. I’ve experienced it personally in my career. If that’s still the case, then we as leaders must encourage our teams to offer their opinions, whether in our own meeting rooms or within the larger venue that is social media.

For example, I was recently at a meeting of RAMA—the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, which is an arm of the National Retail Federation. It was a good meeting, but again the speakers were all big fish—chief marketing officers, published authors and company leaders. At one point I turned to my graphic artist and said, “You know, I really would like to hear from someone like you next year.” Why? After a while the stories all start to sound the same, when they are coming from people working at the same level. We need to hear from those subordinate to us in order to keep the ideas fresh and real.

Finally, it may be that the smaller fish in the trenches don’t feel as if they are making a difference—or if they even can. The fact of the matter is that they can and do make a difference. Their work is our bread and butter. But they may feel as if they are underappreciated, in which case why bother telling anybody what’s on my mind. We may never know if this is true, but we can all work to recognize their hard work and invite them to share their work with others.

In summary: big fish—keep on blogging. Your opinions are valuable. But small fish—start blogging, and tweeting, and texting and sharing your opinions. As marketing communications continues to change, it is your experience and insight and we all really need to hear.