me write. you read.

Did they get it right?

For most social media skeptics out there (see everybody not peddling social media like it’s the next incarnation of the television), there’s an enormously growing amount of speculation that Twitter isn’t the social tool that social media folks say it’s going to be. I would lump myself into said category, as well. And while the Brand Bowl 2010 is a really nice concept, both for a show of technology and agency prowess, I think it’s the wrong metric and the wrong thing to show expertise in.

Brand Bowl 2010

Let me explain. Everybody who’s anybody is angling for the next best thing in the ad business. Whether it be one of the various and sundry social applications on the web, say twitter, yelp, ning, digg, delicious, etc, etc, etc, brands can’t afford to be the farm on just one of these. Because, in truth, the social media application doesn’t matter if it doesn’t hit the target audience well. So, let’s use the “results” from Brand Bowl as an example. The Focus on the Family spot, which was quite possibly the most controversial and tame spot in Super Bowl memory, got lots of love in the Twittersphere. Why? It was both controversial AND it bore the exact subject matter that people oft tweet about: politics, religion and controversy. So, naturally, it would grade high on that scale. However, that does nothing to monitor effectiveness, strength of message or any other necessary metric to determine ROI on a Super Bowl spot.

All that’s really to say is that I truly believe anybody still putting Twitter in any sort of elevated status in the social media sphere has it all wrong. Most people who work in brand building in any sort don’t believe it has much longer of a shelf life in terms of the overall brand discussion. It faded quicker than MySpace and most younger consumers are onto something else. I wouldn’t have used it to measure effectiveness of anything. But that’s me.

Never abandon your post

Somebody recently tweeted a great list of Twitter applications that everybody should check out. There are a few of the obvious ones (Twistori, Twitterverse, etc) that are completely designed to destroy productivity in the work place, and then there are others that you can search people by their interest or description. So, after playing with Twellow for a while, I realized just how dangerous social media can be if you don’t stay engaged in the conversation.

There are lots of C-Level executives on Twitter from companies of all sizes, and there are a lot of them who have done nothing but show there ignorance toward social media. Type in CEO, and you get over 5300 people who list that in part of their description. Type in Chief Executive Officer, and the list is quite small. So what’s embarrassing for their companies is when they have no followers and no updates in 6 months. And it gets worse when that update is a mundane fact about their life at home or how then need to better engage with people online. That kind of malfeasance is dangerous on the web. It lets everybody know that you’re not serious about it.

Which really brings me to my point: the only thing that’s as important as transparency in social media is diligence. For people who get into Twitter and proudly display their title and company name in their profile, there is a real need for them to consistently get online and contribute to the conversation. Not talk about their dog’s shedding problem. Not talk about waiting at the doctor’s office. But adding value to the online conversation. A lot of people have been preaching that CEOs must be on Twitter. Your CMO must be on Twitter. Nonsense. That’s like saying every kid needs to play football at 6. No no. They need to engage when they are ready and can dedicate the necessary time to actively contribute and have a smart point of view on things that affect their industry. It’s way better for executives to wait until they understand what to say and how to say it, that it is for them to get on and not say anything of value for months.

Take my hero, Alex Bogusky, for example. He was on Twitter for only a few months, and while he was active, the dude dropped bombs. He had a great mix of Retweets, insight and personal stuff. He did a bang up job. Then, his final statement was a sign off. He said it wasn’t for him. Awesome. Let everybody know you’re not a Tweeter. And, it’s not like he doesn’t contribute content all over the web all the time, too. He engages everywhere, so for him, Twitter was just something else he didn’t have to take up.

For executives, you can’t take the plunge without dedicating serious time to keeping your profile intact. It hurts your credibility and your company’s when you simply abandon your post.