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Posts Tagged ‘social media mistakes’

What Social Media Can Learn from One of Baseball’s Biggest Blunders

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
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Baseball fan or not, you have likely heard about the blown call heard ’round the world.

Another painful recap, in case you haven’t:  On June 2nd Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga pitched baseball’s 21st perfect game.  Almost.  Due to a blown call at first base, on the last batter of the game, he will never receive credit for it.

For those of you who care little about baseball, pitching a perfect game means no hits, no walks, no one on base. Since 1876 there have been 392,358 Major League Baseball games played, this would have been just the 21st game that was perfect. Think about that.

This may be  a reach (ok, it is), but I believe there are some parallels here for social media marketing. The events of the game and subsequent actions of those involved is a modern parable for anyone using social media and business.

The Setting
Galarraga had retired 26 batters in a row.  The 27th batter had hit a groundball to the gap between first and second base. Not quite routine, but not out of the everyday for a major league first-baseman. The throw, to Galarraga covering the base, beat the runner by a step. It was not a close play.

The Action
First-base umpire Jim Joyce, inexplicably called the runner safe. This split-second decision-making is a cornerstone of umpiring baseball. Watch a play, process it, quickly make a call. With no instant replay capability, like the NFL for example.  Outside of homeruns, the call stands. No amount of arguing or post-call reflection could change the call.

As is common in baseball, on questionable calls, players and coaches will argue with the umpire over the call. Oftentimes vehemently, oftentimes with the umpires giving nearly as much as they get. In this instance, Joyce aggressively defended his call, arguing and swearing just as much as Tigers manager Jim Leyland. You could tell Joyce felt he had made the correct call.

Meanwhile, Galarraga acted with complete class. Shaking off the nearly incomprehensible call to toe the rubber and retire the final batter of the game. He did not argue, he did not pout.

The jawing with umpire Joyce, Tigers coaches and players continued after the game. Again, it was obvious that Joyce felt he had made the correct call.

The Post-Game Review
Within minutes Joyce had watched a replay and determined he had blown the call. He immediately took full responsibility, and went as far as apologizing face-to-face to Galarrage outside the team clubhouse. Something unheard of being done by Major League Umpires.

“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” said Joyce, who became a full-time major league umpire in 1989 “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”

The Review from “Above”
Many immediately began clamoring for Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to overturn the call, and award Galarraga his perfect game. Going to the highest power in the game for a do-over of sorts, created a scenario for opening a HUGE can of worms. While it would not have set precedent, the infamous George Brett pine-tar incident was reversed, it would have added a twist of epic proportions.

What is the Parallel?
Despite all the training, experience and acquired knowledge, those participating in social media on behalf of their business are going to make mistakes.

It’s not so much the mistake that is made, but the subsequent actions that define the ultimate outcome. In some cases, effectively addressing a mistake can create positive feelings. Case-in-point, Joyce was voted as the game’s best umpire, less than two weeks after the infamous call.

When you make a mistake, own up to it. Acknowledge it.  Apologize if you need to. Don’t run and hide, don’t blame others, and don’t be afraid to show your emotions.

As a boss (in this case Selig), don’t make your team feel gun-shy about participating. Is every move going to be right? No, but by not micro-managing, you give them freedom to participate. Provide training, and set guidelines if necessary to work towards preventing a gaff and support your team.

How do you handle mistakes?

parallel

Quiet, Please

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
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I used to have a bad, bad problem with putting my foot in my mouth.

I mean really bad.  I’ve asked fat women if they’re pregnant, inquired about the status of dead spouses, and mocked the developmentally disabled for being drunk.

And I’m a nice guy.  I genuinely meant no ill will.  But due to circumstances that I wasn’t able to perceive, I was left looking like, for want of a better term, a total jackass.

Check that.  There is no better term for want of.

But, just so people understand, I’m not malicious, or stupid.  It’s just that, when your foot goes into your mouth, you look both malicious and stupid.

Now imagine reliving that one embarrassing moment when your toes pass your teeth and your foot lodges ankle deep in your primary speaking orifice forever, with thousands of people watching.  They share your horrible experience as an example to others on behavior and ettiquite.  Did I mention that this moment lives on forever?

Oh.  Yes I did.  Twice.  In italics.

So here’s a tip that my social inept brain learned to send my social media brain: be quiet.

Quiet solves so many problems, it’s amazing there isn’t more empty space on the internet.  But that’s a question for another post.

The gist here is that, just because you have a cursor, it doesn’t mean you have to curse.  Er, speak.  There are some rules of thumb to remember in social media concerning the sound of silence…

No One Looks Good In A Fight On The Internet Notice how movie villains always have the polite lines in the evil scenes?  There’s a reason for that.  The context around what they’re saying makes them darker.  Thing is, the internet rids speech of context.  There’s no inflection, and there isn’t enough text in social media to give context to speech (It’s why people use emoticons, BTW). That’s why, when arguments happen on the internet, it’s so easy for others to ridicule.  Avoid arguing online.

The Internet Is A Great Place To Have An Opinion And it’s a terrible place to tell someone that they’re wrong.  Part of it, again, is context.  The other part of it is space.  People have social media space, just as they have personal space.  You wouldn’t get all up in someone’s grill, as the common parlance has it.  So don’t do it online.

Better To Remain Quiet And Be Thought A Jackass than to start typing and remove all doubt.  It’s an old saying right?  Well, how do you think sayings get old?  They’re true.  And online, it goes back to that whole forever thing.  If you say something inappropriate, it eventually gets forgotten (usually. certain restrictions apply).  But if you post something inappropriate, it’s out there for as long as you’re online.  Longer.

The echo chamber of the internet sounds the loudest when it says this one word:  Listen.

Confessions Of A SXSW Noob: 5 Ways For A Yokel To Network

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
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The South By Southwest Conference in Austin.  Me.  A love story.  Kind of.

If you know me, you know that I live in a town of less than 1000 people in the New River Gorge, West Virginia.  There’s a national park about 100 yards from my house.  I’m happy there.

So coming to Austin is a little bit of a culture shock.  It’s an uber-hip place where a lot of the locals do everything they possibly can to “keep Austin weird”, as the now-somewhat-unhip-and-touristy motto goes.

For me, it’s like walking off the set of Hee-Haw and onto the set of Star Trek.  If Star Trek had a spring break episode.

Here’s what I mean:  there are thousands and thousands and thousands of geeks here.  But very few of them are geeks in the traditional sense.  They’re the creators behind tech in media, so yes, a lot of them wear glasses and funny shirts.  But it’s geek chic.  The social skills here are razor sharp.

My social skills?  Eh.  You get comfy in a small town.  Even though I spent most of my adult life as a guide, and met thousands and thousands of people, unfortunately, a lot of that just doesn’t translate.  I’m out of practice.

The difference:  Those people I guided?  They were in my house.  I could tell jokes and they pretty much had to laugh.  I could threaten people with bodily harm and they would actually believe me.

Here, not so much.  I’m the littlest fish in the biggest pond.  I’ve been meeting people from NYC, SF, and SYD pretty regularly.  But when I say I’m from the NRG, I get (deservedly) blank stares.

But that’s not to say that the people aren’t friendly.  They are.  Very, super, amazingly friendly.  Everyone, everywhere, even the weirdest person on sixth street (see pic).

So, if you’re anything like me, you need some help. Here are 5 tips to help get your network on at a big conference, esp. if you’re from a little place…

1. Be Absolutely, 100%, Completely Transparent Meaning, don’t pretend that you’re anything other than what you are:  A beautiful sunfish among some pretty large sharks.  That’s cool, and interesting, and can also be used as a conversation starter.  If you’re not, then you’re a remora.

2. Put The Damn Phone Away If you stand there checking your email as thousands of people walk by, the people in your inbox will really appreciative,  I’m sure.  But damn, dude!  You came all the way to Austin to do that?  Move outside your comfort zone and talk.  The worst people will do is ignore you, and guess what?  There are a bunch of other people who won’t.

3. Go Eat Yes, you can have a burrito where ever you live.  But Austin is a food town.  And people, no matter who they are, love food.  LOVE IT!  You know what makes them love it even more?  An invitation.  Go to Champions on 4th and talk to Jason the bartender.  He’ll tell you where the best BBQ in the state is (hint:  it’s Salt Lick).

4. Share A Table Space is limited.  Everywhere.  No one cares if you invite yourself to sit down, and if you’re polite, and friendly, and cool, and not a “heavy typer” that makes the whole table shake, don’t hesitate to ask for a seat.  It’s a great way to meet people- I had the best conversation of the conference  that way (thanks, Mark!)

5. Say Please and Thanks I was at Gary Vaynerchuck’s presentation today (have a pretty funny story about that, actually- tune in tomorrow).  Here’s what Gary had to say, among other things: “I believe in the Thank You Economy.  You can’t scale caring.”  If you go out of your way to individually do something for the people around you, they’ll notice.  It’s not just fluff, no matter what you think of Gary -and he’s the most genuinely friendly and helpful speaker on the circuit, BTW.  It works.

You’re small town self deserves to share ideas as much as anyone else at SXSW.  But you have to make sure to speak up to be heard.  Because everything’s bigger in Texas.

Why Are You Making Easy So Hard?

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
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Communication isn’t what it once was.

Do you remember when people would cut phone calls short because it was “long distance”?  My dad still does it, BTW.  Now that that’s not a factor, here’s a bigger question for you:  Why are there still people who are reluctant to go digital?socialisbetter- rotary iphone

Think about it in terms of history- the pony express was replaced by the telegraph.  The rotary phone was replaced by the touch tone.  They were replaced because the newer technology made things better.  Of course, that concept rings true no matter how far you go back.

There’s more computing power in your phone than there was in the first space shuttle.  And all the things you can do with it make your world better, easier.  Sure, better and easier get exploited by people all the time.  Spam was around before it was called spam.  But we don’t have to fall into that trap- spammers prey on the uninformed.

And this is the information age.  There’s no reason to be scared of your computer.  That’s because the more you know about working in the digital space, the more you can do.  If you go the other way, you’re stuck with, “Well, this is a long distance call…”

Learning is easier than ever.  The tools are easier to use than ever.  Communication with thousands and thousands of people is easier than ever.  The only thing that makes it hard… is thinking that it is.

Marketing Failure

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
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I read the word “transparency” what I would quantify as a lot of times each day.  I see examples of it less than that.  Here’s a good one that explains what transparency doesn’t mean.fail444456-thumb

I think that what good marketers mean when they talk transparency is different than a  warts and all approach.  In other words, don’t put everything you do online.

Making your entire process available digitally isn’t transparency.  Let’s face it- that information is going to be edited and selected and weeded.  That’s behind-the-scenes.  Interesting maybe, but not transparent.

Instead, deal with mistakes. Talking openly about that kind of thing is attention grabbing and sticky.

I’ve written before about how much I like the Heath brothers’ Made To Stick, because it breaks marketing ideas down into their essential components. In a way, it turns language to math.  It works great for understanding mistakes.

-Businesses that openly dissect mistakes are doing something unexpected, because not many businesses are doing it.

-They’re using a concrete idea -a mistake- that everyone can identify with, one that hooks into people’s memories.

-They’re credible; what’s more honest than admitting you were wrong?

-They’re emotional, because mistakes are ultimately linked to the people that make them.

-Mistakes tell stories, which are memorable.  Comedy, for instance, is all about failure and mistakes.

Everyone makes them.  It’s unavoidable.  Sooner or later, process of elimination, it has to happen.  It will happen.  Here’s an example of what I’m talking about…

Michael Jordan Failure

Marketing a mistake is mental tai chi, I think.  It uses the audience’s natural resistance to marketing against them.  It’s winning people over through honesty.  To me, that’s really appealing.

Recent mistakes? I’m going to work on letting fewer typos slip  (I know- Me?  Typos?  It’s true.)    You?

3 Reasons Why Your Social Media Marketing Will Fail

Saturday, June 20th, 2009
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Using social media marketing for the wrong reasons always fails.  Unfortunately, businesses that try to channel it to “shout” at prospective customers are becoming more and more common.

People get fixated on shiny objects (“ooooo another place to advertise!”).  That mindset need not apply.  And yet they do, over and over again.

Here are three reasons why that will fail…

Misunderstanding the Purpose
Yes, Dell is selling their product, primarily through Twitter, to the tune of more than $3million since 2007.  A lot of money right?

Did you know that Dell realized 12.3 billion U.S. dollars in revenue for the first quarter of 2009?  Dell Outlet, Woot!, and others are “successful” in using social media, particularly Twitter, to sell – examine their business models and it starts to make sense.

They make money through social media – albeit a fraction of their total gross.

Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford Motor Company, stated recently at Blog Potomac, “I am not online to sell”.

Take a lesson from this: Educate, build trust, and the sales will come.  But you can’t be there just to sell.  It doesn’t work that way.

Unwillingness to Participate
So you would like to incorporate social media, but you don’t want to participate? Seriously?

Implementing a social media component is not a “set it up and let it work” strategy. It takes time. It takes effort (this is an operative word). It requires participation.

Are you actively monitoring the social landscape? How does it relate to your company, products, services and competitors?  Are you inviting input, asking open-ended questions, engaging (yes, cliche. I know) those that are discussing relevant topics?  That’s participating.

Unrealistic Expected Outcome
If you’re expecting social media to create a tidal wave of business, you are mistaken.  It should be a part of your marketing plan, not a replacement.

  • Social media is not a panacea.
  • Social media is not going to fix the economy.
  • Social media is not going to make up for poor unique value proposition, poor customer service, or sub-par products.

Business owners that complain when social “isn’t working” likely don’t care about how it works to begin with.  What they’re trying to accomplish is something different from social engagement.  Unfortunately, they’re probably not willing to figure it out.

Social media is a powerful tool, yet clearly is not for everyone. If it’s not for you, the sooner you realize it, the better.