What You Talkin’ Bout Willis?

Nah, I’m not gonna talk about Gary Coleman and his recent arrest. Although, that would make for some interesting…um…commentary. (He’s so un-Ninja.)

Oh no, he DIDN'T!
Oh no, he DIDN’T!

Instead, I want to talk to our Ninja-followers about Social Media strategies and the importance of Social Media in your marketing campaign. No, I am not talking about tweeting and facebooking about what you drank last night, how you love the show “The Bachelor” (although, who doesn’t?), or what car you are trying to sell by starting a Facebook Event (REALLY???). I’m talking about real life strategies.

Recently, Mari Smith published an interesting read about how to engage Facebook “fans”. And, she made some excellent points. Jam-packed with relevant info, Smith talks about linking your Twitter page to Facebook, incorporating video strategies, and how to make your posts interesting to your fans. (C’mon, you know you want your fans to love you…) I devoured her blog post and found myself constantly shaking my head in agreement about the ridiculous things I see people do in the realm of Social Media when they don’t understand how to properly convey what they are trying to say and managing their brand.

Mari SmithSo, is Social Media really THAT effective? Is it REALLY important to understand how to effectively manage it? The answer is simple. YES.

This week I read a compelling quote from Erik Qualman of the highly touted book Socialnomics. Qualman said, “Is Social Media a fad, or the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?” This simple quote got my blood rushing, my head spinning.

My company has long been in front of the Social Media curve, incorporating Social Media campaigns for most of our clients – with dazzling successful results. I know firsthand the power of Social Media, and was on board before you could type “LOL”. BUT…the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? Indeed?

Indeed.

Social Media has become the way that we manage our brand – from large corporations like Apple and Zappos to the smaller family owned business like Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library which grew from $4M to $45M in a 5 year time period and brought about the advent of Wine Library TV.

Gary VaynerchukIn growing his family-owned business, Vaynerchuck saw some interesting shifts. He found that $15,000 spent in direct mail resulted in 200 new customers, $7,500 spent on billboard advertising garnered 300 new customers, and ZERO dollars spent on Twitter resulted in 1,800 customers. Really?

Really.

But, Social Media isn’t all Facebook and Twitter. It includes things like LinkedIn (Did you know 80% of all employers use LinkedIn as their primary way to find employees?), YouTube (the 2nd largest search engine), Digg, Yelp, Orkut, Bebo, Flickr, iPhone apps and so many more. The list gets longer every day. And this doesn’t even include blogs and the 54% of bloggers that post daily.

What does that mean for you?

It means with all the information that is out there on the Internet, you better make sure you are current with what’s happening in cyberspace. That you are ahead of the curve, that you are making smart investments with your time and money, that you are relevant, that YOU are controlling your brand via Social Media and not letting others do it for you through negative reviews, negative comments, or negative blogging.

Here’s a startling statistic I learned thanks to Qualman: 80% of all Twitter usage is on mobile devices. Can you imagine what that could mean to your brand if someone has a negative experience and you aren’t out there to control it? Frightening.

So, what’s the take away? You need to be current. Savvy. Hip. Relevant. You’d better be a Social Media Ninja.

And, if you’re not, I know where you can find some. . .