Awesome all the times
02/04/2012 – UPDATE: Thought I would see if Cody Decker had changed his Twitter profile recently. Answer is yes. Slightly. No improvements, though!
Anti-Hero baseball player in the San Diego Padres Organization. Rarely wrong, often a jerk, always adorable… Burning bridges since 1987…….
Note to Cody: Anti-heroes and jerks are never adorable. Ever.
…….
10/30/2011 – UPDATE: I just saw a Cody Decker tweet and was pleased to see his bio had been changed. That turned to confusion though. Here’s the latest version:
Baseball player in the San Diego Padres Organization. Rarely wrong, often a jerk, always adorable… Burning bridges since 1987…….
Not quite the direction you should be going, dear Cody. Now you identify yourself as a Padre and tell your fans that you are a jerk. Good plan! I’m sure the Padres would be pleased. Oh how I would love to consult this guy on his social media strategy.
…….
Recently, a favorite Tweep recommended to all that we follow @Decker6. The Twitter handle belongs to Cody Decker, a Minor League Baseball player for the parent team, San Diego Padres. I looked at the account and read the profile:
I play baseball sometimes….. I’m awesome all the times…… Burning bridges since 1987
My initial reaction was to correct this young man’s grammar and so I tweeted, “I’m awesome all the TIMES?” He needs twitter coaching! RT @friarhood Make sure u r following #Padres hot prospect Cody Decker – @Decker6
I noticed though, as I looked more through his profile and scanned his tweets, that this up and coming athlete really could use social coaching. It is essential that any athlete, personality or celebrity have a polished approach to their social media strategies. Once you gain that notoriety, and especially when it’s through an organization like the Padres or the UCLA Bruins before that, there is a code of ethics and greater responsibility to be appropriate. With a manner like Cody Decker here, he’s more likely to turn potential fans away then gain any decent number of followers with his “I’m so cool and I don’t care what you think” approach (Time of post he’s at a whopping 243 followers). Who wants to follow someone who thinks they are soooo awesome and who admits to burning bridges his whole life? It sets the stage for lack of conversation, lack of engagement, a lack of the foundation that makes social media successful. One could never expect to have a meaningful exchange with @Decker6 because it’s all about him.
Not only is this approach to the Twitterverse bad for him, but it reflects poorly on the Padres that they would employ such a brazen young player who sports a seriously bad attitude. That’s what makes @Decker6 and other sports figures ripe for social coaching. I’d love to provide the Padres a social media seminar to help them understand how best to harness the power of social media for good causes, to raise awareness for their sport, their community and favorite charities. I’d love to teach them how to engage their fans, solidify their following and gain new loyal fans. Sure, personal posts can showcase an individual’s personality, but with a positive spin. I’m amazed that the Padres wouldn’t put a short leash on this guy and tell him to change his Twitter game.
Beaming Bohemian is happy to sit down with you one-on-one and provide social coaching to help you better understand how to maximize your social media accounts. There is more out there than just Twitter and Facebook, plenty of other platforms which are just as handy, mobile-friendly and gaining in popularity. Contact me to set up your social coaching session. In the meantime, I’m knocking on the Padres door to see if we can’t arrange a coaching session of a different kind!
Wow. Impressive numbers.
In the aftermath of the news last night that US Forces killed Osama Bin Laden, Facebook and Twitter nearly caught on fire. Here’s an article that sums it up:
A Twitter Record That Has Nothing to do with Justin Bieber
I watched in amazement as the Facebook page: Osama being Dead climbed to over 10,000 followers in less than an hour. At the time of this post, roughly 24 hours later, over 31,000 fans have liked the page. A humorous Twitter user created an account GhostOsama and just 93 tweets later, has well over 40,000 followers. The ghost happens to follow just three others. An interesting list in order of follow: Charlie Sheen, Bill Maher and Mike Tyson.
If you had any doubts before how may people are online, how many people are logged in to their favorite social media platform, monitoring news, tweeting, posting and sharing…this article and this news event should provide good proof just how integrated these mediums have become. Even the facts stated in the article amazed me – topping 5100 TPS! I thought the Royal Wedding numbers were impressive! Ha!
Facebook Deals
Today Facebook announced that San Diego was one of just five cities chosen to help launch the new DEALS ON FACEBOOK program.
Facebook says, “A few months ago we launched Check-In Deals, to help you get special offers when you check in at local businesses from your mobile. Today we’re going a step further and testing a new feature to help you find fun experiences to share with your favorite people: Deals on Facebook.
Initially, Deals will be available to people in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego, and San Francisco and we hope to expand this test to other cities in the future.”
To acces deals, scroll down the left menu bar on your profile page. Clicking “Deals” will show you a page with all that’s on offer, including messages letting you know which friends have liked that deal.
Facebook is counting on the popularity of the LIKE button and word-of-mouth advertising to promote what deals available and for users to see what their friends are liking. I’ve already subscribed because I am interested to see what offers pop up and admire Facebook’s strategy. It’s convenient, too because I don’t have to go to another website like GroupOn or LivingSocial to see what offers are available in my community.
What I don’t like about the deals program on the Facebook platform is that it gives Facebook just that much more information about me. For small businesses hoping to gain better exposure and not go broke on traditional advertising methods, participating in the Facebook Deals should prove a huge advantage.
Have you subscribed yet? Will you use the deals offered or are you leery of FB knowing too much about you? Will you promote your small business through Facebook?
Social Media Report
Some people just don’t get social media. And that’s ok, because the format is constantly evolving and changing and those of us who are enthusiastic participants like to try new ideas and see what sticks. But when you are attempting to make an authoritative report on the effectiveness of social media and purchase power, you probably better have a faint clue how social media works, and perhaps an inkling of how much power the medium has when used effectively.
THE PURCHASE PATH OF ONLINE BUYERS For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals was released today by Forrester Research in cooperation with GSI Commerce. The report comes to the conclusion that “The truth is that social tactics were largely ineffective in driving sales.”
I’m surprised that this report is receiving the attention that it is, given how flawed the reporting methods are. A few missed details with this report.
1. Social Media
The report fails to answer some key questions. Namely: What social media outlets were engaged? What messages were posted? How often were sites updated? Did retailers respond to mentions or did they ignore customer contacts? Did all 15 of the retailers use social media in the same exact manner, or was there a vast difference in tactics?
2. Timing
The report says, “Data was captured from November 12, 2010 to December 20, 2010. Thanksgiving weekend data was captured from 12 a.m. on November 25, 2010, through 11:59 p.m. on November 28, 2010. Cyber Monday data was captured on November 29, 2010. ”
So on November 12th, 18th, December 3rd and 13th for example, what time was the data captured? Was the data not being captured 24/7 between 11/12/2010 and 12/20/2010? What reasoning was behind the choice of that time period (other than measuring effect on holidays sales)? Is this a sufficient time period to determine effectiveness? Were social media updates being posted between working hours only or throughout a 24 hour period? Were messages posted every day?
3. Collection
The report offers measurement as “social media alone” as a touchpoint prior to purchase and focuses on the ineffectiveness of social media. If Forrester actually understood social media, they would understand that a well planned online marketing strategy would never consider social media alone, but a smart combination of online tactics. I don’t think any of us who are in the habit of helping businesses use social media would ever recommend a social media alone strategy, but would certainly insist that a no social media policy would in fact negatively impact sales as well as brand image and customer retention.
Clearly this report raises more questions than it provides answers. And the few findings that are stated are so far off the mark, it’s laughable. In fact, I would call it ineffective in driving social media strategies.
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