Remember Your Social Media Mission

It's called social media, and what we do on it is called networking, but don't believe that for a second. If you are using social media networks like Twitter and Facebook to market your business, you can't get caught up in the social nature of the platforms or you risk losing sight of your mission.

Declare Your Mission

When you first begin using Twitter and Facebook as marketing tools for your business, sit down and write out a mission statement: just a sentence or two describing your ultimate goal.

Your mission is probably similar to that of most other businesses: to eventually increase sales through the increase of positive perception of your brand.

One of my clients is a specialty retail food shop with a strong philosophy and practice of sustainability. I do their Twittering for them, although the owner occasionally logs on to watch the conversation.

Dig the Dialogue

Recently I saw a controversial statement about sustainability tweeted by a peer in my client's industry, and I replied from an oppositional standpoint but in such a way as to open a dialogue.

My purpose was to create an interesting conversation, increasing both of our followers and showing my client's followers what my client truly stands for and believes.

The other guy didn't take the bait in the way I wanted, though. He responded, but via direct message, with a barrage of "you don't know what you're talking about" -type posts and worse.

I salvaged this, bringing it back to the public forum where it would have value to us, by continuing to reply in regular tweets and making comments like "re: your DM" and "let's keep this public so people can learn." He eventually began responding via reply instead of direct message, and I watched our follower count rise.

Don't Be Baited

The damage was done, however. In his direct messages, this Twerp was inflammatory, rude, and condescending. He stooped to name-calling, and this was where my client lost it.

"What's the Twitter code? How do I tweet?" he demanded on the phone.

"Why?" I asked cautiously.

"That guy called me a tool in front of the whole world! I can't let that stand! And besides, he doesn't know the actual issue at all!"
I asked what he wanted to say and wasn't surprised to hear that it was a response to the personal attack. He had been hooked.

"No way," I told him firmly. "We are not actually talking to him."

Take the High Road

My client, of course, wanted to know just what I meant by that. I explained that the purpose of the dialogue I'd begun with the Twerp was solely a means of speaking indirectly to our followers, both customers and potential customers.

"It doesn't matter a bit what he said in private. What matters is what we say in public. We're having this conversation so people can listen, like talking a bit too loudly in a restaurant."

Slowly my client began to cool down as he understood what I was saying. "He's not the point, then," he submitted.

"Exactly," I said. "Now, what is our mission here? We want to talk about the issues. Let's go back to what he said and challenge him there. Let's show your knowledge of the situation in a way that fosters debate but doesn't set him off personally, so we can sustain the dialogue."

"OK, you're right."

Stick To Your Skill Set

"Do you want to write the next post?" I asked.

I could practically see him shrink back through the phone. "No way. You know what you're doing. You do it."

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. The Declaration of Independence; Pissarro's "Conversation"; Line art drawing of a fish hook and its barb, Pearson Scott Foresman; Fechtende adelige Studenten.

Social Media Success Story

You never know who's reading your tweets!

About two weeks ago I was tweeting for my sustainable butcher / charcuterie client, @SwineryMeats, about the bacon chocolate chip cookie dough they were testing. Unbeknownst to me at the time, New York Times columnist Charlotte Druckman was just then scanning The Swinery's Twitter feed.

Ms. Druckman had just found The Swinery through an online search for merguez (lamb sausage) with the thought of writing a column about the stuff. Some initial poking around on The Swinery's site led her to their Twitter feed, whereupon she saw my post about the mouthwateringly delicious, above-mentioned cookies.

The next day, The Swinery's owner got a call from Ms. Druckman. She explained that she'd been intruiged with the company upon reading about their merguez, but simply had to know more when she learned they were making such things as those cookies. Naturally, the Head Swine Guy immediately sent her some samples, including the merguez which had originally piqued her interest, some cookies, and also a taste of something new he was working on: smoked bresaola.

The bresaola was the undisputed show-stopper, and Ms. Druckman called to say she'd like to write about it. After the interview, the piece was ready to go, with one hold-up the evening before press time: there was no photo to accompany it. The author had some bresaola left to shoot, but couldn't find her camera. The Swinery had a camera on hand, but over the weekend had completely sold out of bresaola, which takes about two months to make.

The deadline was that day, and The Swinery really wanted the story to run that week because they were just about to reopen from a two-month remodeling closure. So the Swine Guy got on the phone to his marketing consultant--me.

"Can you help?" he begged.

"I don't know what I can do...I don't have any bresaola either!" I said. "Are you sure you sold it all?"

"It flew out the door over the weekend. People loved it."

"I'll try to think of something," I promised. It was already nearly 5 pm on the East Coast; I assumed that it was a lost cause.

But something struck me in what he had said. The entire batch had sold out over the past weekend? It was only Tuesday. Maybe someone who'd bought it still had some. Maybe they'd be willing to take a picture for us.

So I went into the Swinery's Facebook page and posted an emergency call to action. "HELP! If you bought any of our smoked bresaola recently, and still have any, and you could take a high-res photo of it today, please let us know ASAP! The NYT wants to run a story on it but they want a pic... and meanwhile we've sold it all!"

I admit I did not expect this to work. But I underestimated the power of social media. In one hour I got a response from a loyal customer who said she still had some bresaola and would be happy to photograph it for us. But we had to wait until she got off work... in a couple of hours.

Unbelievably, though, it happened. I received the photos and sent them on to Ms. Druckman and, miraculously, she was still up. The next morning, thanks to not one but two miracles of social media, The Swinery was in The New York Times.

Next time, I've gotta get my name in there!