I was lucky. I started on Twitter when it was still new, and just being on Twitter was a reason to connect to someone else.

By some accounts, it’s a different story now. In many ways Twitter is a busy, crowded marketplace with people struggling to get attention.

But Twitter wasn’t designed as a marketplace; it was designed as a person-to-person social network. The problems seem to arrive when we have a message to get across, or something to sell.

In a recent workshop where we were getting people onto Twitter for the first time, I tweeted:

“New tweeters … would you say it’s hard work to break in to the ‘in crowd’ on Twitter?”

I got some fascinating responses.

“What in crowd?”

The vast majority of responses asked “there’s an in crowd?” This was a mixture of people new to twitter and seasoned tweeters, and some of the responses were pretty funny:

(er, ignore the “rooftop” message … another benefit of Twitter, multiple conversations at once!)

Only two or three people said it was a bit hard at first:

Great analogy. And yet one of the secrets of Twitter success is in the tweet above from @spdalton: “…everyone I’ve met has been super nice and friendly.” Twitter works best when it combines with real-life meetings, whether that’s a one-to-one coffee meeting, or a more festive atmosphere like a Tweetup.

That’s the beauty of social media. It’s part of an ecosystem where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You’ll likely end up knowing the same people on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and in real-world events. Social media just allows you to have more conversations in more different ways.

What if you live in Eketahuna or outside the country you want to reach? It’s harder but not impossible, and requires a bit more online time.

Rule 1: There are no rules. Just relationships. But here are a few tips:

• Find conversations where you have something of genuine value to add, that doesn’t involve selling your product. It’s counterintuitive, but you earn more trust when you just offer value and don’t stand to gain anything immediately.
• Click through to people’s profiles to learn more about them, including where they are, their bio and website link. Also make sure your profile gives people enough info about you – it really makes a difference because there are no other ways to get a fix on who you are.
• Take a long-term view. People buy from people they like, and how long does it take for someone to like you. Not five minutes. But not five years, either. Build relationships and look after people you connect with. As Zig Ziglar says, if you help other people get what they want, you’ll get what you want.
• Ask for help. (But get to know people first). If you’re just learning Twitter, and there’s something you don’t understand, ask your followers for help. Or, ask for opinion. That’s how this blog post came about; I asked my followers’ opinions.

So is there an in crowd on Twitter? Not if you follow the advice above.

How about you? How did you find your groove in Twitter – or are you still trying to? Or worse still, has Twitter not worked out for you? Love to hear your comments below.

(Photo from It’sGreg. Did you know ducks were inherently amusing?)

Too much information? Sign up for our fortnightly email newsletters and reduce the clutter.

In an unpredictable world, how can success be predictable? Les McKeown, author of Predictable Success, joins us for a candid chat about visionary leadership, and how Les uses social media to market his book. Interesting perspective from someone who’s by his own admission “very old”

Too much information? Sign up for our fortnightly email newsletters and reduce the clutter.

(This is part of the roots of the revolution series.)

Social media is not the be-all and end all of marketing. It’s one symptom among many of a revolution that is profoundly changing the way business is done. We’ve looked at the rise of virtual communities before; one of the other symptoms is Corporate Social Responsibility.

A nice idea in the 1970s, CSR is becoming a must-have. Global branding thinktank the Medinge Group puts it this way:

” …these are the sort of attributes we would expect of a nation-state, and increasingly we expect them of corporations.”

And Ernst & Young’s Global Megatrends 2009 report (PDF) speaks of the “rise of responsibility”. According to the report, businesses face “increasing expectations and obligations around how they act and the impacts they have on the world around them”. These expectations are coming from a growing body of stakeholders, who are no longer defined simply as “their consumers, employees, regulators and shareholders, but include far wider-ranging groups, including NGOs, the media and local communities”.

Social media is speeding up the pace of change, and amplifying the voice of individuals and lobby groups who want to hold large organisations to account.

Read more about corporate social responsibility:
Nicholas Ind, edited by, Beyond Branding
Gurnek Bains, edited by, Meaning Inc

WHAT THIS MEANS: Ask yourself, why does our company exist, other than to make money? Make that your cause.

Update: Thanks to Alex for telling us that “Communicative Stakeholder Relationship” better describes CSR these days, according to a recent PR Global Forum. Details here and here.

Too much information? Sign up for our fortnightly email newsletters and reduce the clutter.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make WordCamp Auckland this year – family commitments take higher priority. But if you can, you should be there. Here’s why.

It’s a mixture of set speakers and unconference-style bits, with lots of creative people sharing their secrets, and sparking discussion. That’s what I love about BarCamps and the like; they actually put into practice the promise of social media – dialogue, not just speeches.

There are the speakers I know – people like Courtney Lambert (who’s talking about markcomms), Rachel Cunliffe (who’s talking about design and, hopefully, community), Michael Brandon (who’s been on iJumpTV, talking about SEO), Jayson Bryant from The Wine Vault (talking about online video), Suzanne Kendrick (who’s also been on iJumpTV) talking about community management, Bill Bennett (who’s talking about online writing – a topic dear to my heart!) and of course Jason Kemp, who’s one of the key organisers and advocates of WordCamp.

There are of course other people who I know through social media and will have to meet in real life another time – I could list them all but check them out on the speakers page.

In a phone conversation earlier, Jason told me WordCamp has become about more than just WordPress. It’s attracting an ever more diverse and creative group of people, who are all using WordPress as part of what they do. The “part” part is important – although it’s a cliche to many, social media really is all about having an ecosystem, where the whole is more powerful than the sum of the parts.

If you do head along to WordCamp NZ, please write a blog post about it for me – it’ll be almost as good as being there. Register here.

Too much information? Sign up for our fortnightly email newsletters and reduce the clutter.

Who represents your brand on social media? It’s a question that excites and agitates marketers all over the place. Some would prefer not to have to think about it at all.

And then you have companies like Coke, who recruit customers to be their ambassadors.

Expedition 206 is a year-long tour of three “happiness ambassadors” who are discovering what makes people happy in Coke’s 206 markets around the world.

I asked Coke’s digital marketing senior manager Anne Carelli how they came up with the idea, and how it’s working for them. You’ll be able to read more analysis on this in my online marketing column in the next NZ Marketing Magazine.

SY.        What are your marketing and comms objectives for Expedition 206?
Coke:   Our goal for this program is to unite people around the theme of happiness and bring our global “Open Happiness” campaign to life. Coca-Cola has been inviting people around the globe to enjoy the simple things in life for more than 120 years, and that spirit of positivity and optimism is at the heart of Expedition 206.  Our objectives include creating the opportunity for engagement both off-line and online in social media in all the countries where we operate as well as increasing the positive chatter in the digital space related to our Company and brands.

SY.        Where did the idea come from?
Coke:   The idea originated from our desire to create a program which would increase positive mentions / discussions of our Company and brands in social media, create new presences on Social Network sites and in social communities as well as create a group of brand ambassadors around the world. We also wanted to research happiness and determine what are the similarities and differences in what makes people happy around the world.

SY.        What challenges did you face getting it up and running?
Coke:   Looking back on the planning of the program, we didn’t have any major obstacles.  One particular challenge was selecting the finalists for the experience.  We had so many incredible candidates that we had to work very hard to narrow the selection down to the three final teams.  Candidates from all over the world submitted applications and audition videos, and we brought 18 people to Atlanta for a rigorous interview and audition process. We were looking for specific candidates with the right mix of personality, technical skill, health and mindset to complete this unprecedented journey. The final teams were presented to the online community for voting and it was a very close race!

SY.        What has been the best thing about it so far?
Coke:  One of the best elements of this program has been learning about the truly amazing people the Happiness Ambassadors have connected with in over 100 countries so far on their journey.  By utilizing social media platforms we are able to share these stories with the world and create spaces where consumers are able to engage with the Ambassadors and their stories.

SY.        What have you been able to do through social media that you couldn’t do with anything else?
Coke:  Through sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and blog updates, Ambassadors have been able to maintain constant communication with the social media sphere and share their amazing stories.  And vice-versa; fans can track and participate in the journey online and on the platform they chose.  Additionally  through crowdsourcing opportunities, fans participate in the journey by sending the Ambassadors messages, sharing their personal stories of happiness and giving the Ambassadors recommendations on how to find happiness when visiting their country.

SY.        For a huge brand like Coke, having your customers represent the brand seems like a really smart idea. Any plans to continue this into the future with other, similar expeditions/campaigns?
Coke:  This is a big part of how we do things at Coke. It’s not a gimmick; it’s a different way of operating. As for future programs building off of this expedition, you’ll just have to stay tuned!

Too much information? Sign up for our fortnightly email newsletters and reduce the clutter.