This is certainly true of our latest campaign – for ourselves. Our “Fear of” campaign deals with maladies called “Blogophobia,” etc.,  and exhorts treatment by “the worlds only Licensed Social Media Therapists” – us! We hope our prospects find it clever, amusing and relevant, as we’ve directed it squarely at the critical pain-points we’ve worked to overcome for our clients; those pain-points being:

▪ improper use (or absence) of social media, including blogs, Facebook, Facebook Places, Foursquare, Twitter, etc.

▪ inappropriate treatment and use of video

▪ poor translation of sales materials from print to web and vice-versa

▪ ineffective or just plain dull websites, lacking a “you” focus or a sales funnel

Over the course of the next six weeks we’ll post companion pieces to the campaign, elaborating on these pain points with examples and advice that we hope might get you thinking about your own marketing strengths and weaknesses. And we promise, you won’t feel a thing…

Part One: Blogophobia & Facebookchondria

Is your social media marketing working? Is it on a horse? Old Spice, using “two new TV spots, and the online response videos, [sent sales] up a whooping 107%” (read the article here). Best Buy and Target use Twitter and Facebook for brand loyalty and coupon outlets.

But what if you’re not a Fortune 500 company or not in B2C? What if you’re a small retailer or Business-to-Business company? The trick is which social media? For whom? How does it tie in to your larger marketing plan?

For example, Twitter is an absolute no-brainer for every restaurant on earth that has regulars and specials. It’s certainly helped us track down the food carts that have premiered in downtown Minneapolis this summer.

And B2B? We are extremely proud of one of our own success stories: our work for Creative Water Solutions. We created a blog (which they maintain) that allows them to demonstrate their expertise in spa and pool water science at a level of detail that a traditional campaign could never reach. Combined with a multiple channel marketing push and excellent PR, “WaterBlogged” established CWS as the go-to experts for scientific information in their field (a field that’s sorely lacking in good science). The blog has been so successful that their competitors are trying to ape their jargon and keywords. Fortunately for CWS, it’s too late for the competition – they are well on their way to becoming North America’s most trusted source for accurate information in their category.

And so if you think you might have a Social Media Malady, please share them with us, After all, as “the world’s only Licensed Social Media Therapists” J, it is our duty to keep our public informed! So we’ll be examining several Media Maladies during our campaign, especially over the next few weeks. In the meantime, the comments section is open, and the doctor is in…

For more about the “Fear of” campaign, featuring Blogophobia, Facebookchondria and more (appearing weekly 9/27 – 11//10) go to www.sinard.com/treatment.

Worst Smithy Ever.

The best thing that business owners can do is be aware and, when possible, get involved. Google Alerts is an excellent way to monitor your reputation online. Sign up for the free service, and Google Alerts will scour the web for your company name and send you reports on where you’re popping up. Additionally, find out where your audience gathers online to talk. Track down the forums that cover your business, and join the discussion. And remember, this isn’t a place to sell, it’s a place to contribute. Show expertise in your field, be helpful, ask questions — this is how you build an online reputation that can gain you customers, and maybe, silence a few of the critics.

Restauranteur? Visit Chowhound.

Brewer? Try BeerAdvocate.

Blacksmith? Iforgeiron.

If it exists in this universe, there’s a forum about it, and someone’s finishing a Worst of 09 list.

Constant Vigilance… isn’t worth it

This doesn’t mean non-stop, white-knuckled, late-night web-surfing. Find a few top sites, and check them out once a week. Skim through your Google Alerts and take action if necessary. Participate in the discussion, but don’t obsess. Just understand that everyone’s a critic, some of them are jerks, and some battles just can’t be won.

Read the CP article

[Note: My thought process goes something like this: my friends at the Art Institute of Chicago and Circle Campus had fabric, roll-up keyboards attached to their Bally computers (with audio cassette drives (really)) in the 1970s. Why would I buy an ultra-modern computer unable to connect to peripherals in the 21st century? Sorry, not me.}

What Does This Mean for Your Marketing Efforts?

But reasons and specific features aside, what does this example mean to your product, your service, your marketing efforts? Well, soon to be out-of-date, tech example aside, this is an example of where AIDA, Adoption-Diffusion, Social Media, Marketing and Operations meet.

Obviously Apple spent the ad dollars to garner everyone's attention, and posted enough information for me to make a decision. AIDA is satisfied. But Adoption-Diffusion is different. Always a bell curve, Innovators, Early Adopters, Middle and Late Adopters and Laggards choose based on perceived needs. Until Operations makes changes to the product, I will be a laggard.

This is undoubtedly a deliberate decision by Apple. Someone at Apple decided: we have a good enough product for this launch; we don't need those people who require more; we'll get them later, if ever.

But what if they were wrong (and for serious salespeople and business professionals, they might be!)? What if the vast majority of us wanted the ability to hook up peripherals? The Palm Pre is planning it. Blackberry can do it now. How would you know how important a feature set might be to your prospects, ahead of time?

New Approaches to Market Research

Market research. Pure, fundamental focus groups, questionnaires and client/user-group input. But also, what if you were to use social media to research your product before launch? I'm not saying Apple would have given the iPhone peripheral connectivity if they had adopted Twitter. But what if you used your Facebook and Twitter accounts to build an international support group, and create a [the name of your developing product/service here] Wiki, especially in the early design and marketing development stages? What input would you get from various communities with interest in your product development?

Of course, your competitors would love to be part of your social media community as well. But there are ways to deal with that. The point is, there’s more to Twitter than Twits, more to Facebook than pretty Faces. Collaboration can be a powerful tool – if and when used judiciously. Doing so in 2008 would have been innovative. In 2009, using social media for product research is still ahead of the bell curve. By next year, it will be standard operating procedure.

Your Facebook fans – people who like your business enough to sign up as a “fan” – will be happy to tell others about your services. You probably won’t even need to ask for testimonials.

If you haven’t ventured into Facebook yet, set up a personal account, learn a little about how it works and then create a business page. Ask your friends and your current clients or customers to become fans of your business page. Satisfied customers will start referring their Facebook friends to your page.

The basics are that simple – word of mouth made (relatively) easy.

Is spending time and energy on Facebook worth it? Here’s Facebook’s latest stats*:

• More than 300 million active users
• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older

You decide.

Join us on Facebook

*[Source: http://www.new.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics]

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/dan-macsai/popwise/report-nine-scientifically-proven-ways-get-re-tweeted-twitter

Thanks to Dan Mascai at Fast Company