Want to learn from one of the best social media marketers and business leaders?
Today, best-selling author Seth Godin shared his thoughts on social media marketing, creativity, and business relationships. Godin was the guest on a webinar organized by Vocus, a provider of cloud marketing software.
Godin says the Energy, Industrial, and Mass Media revolutions have given way to the “revolution of our time, the revolution of connection.”
Here are 12 takeaways on the human connection in digital marketing:
- “The only asset you can build on the Internet is the connection to people. Connection, the idea that someone knows you, trusts you, and works with you, is not new. It’s 1,000 years old, but it’s new because the people marketing Burger King and Procter and Gamble in 1980 didn’t have this ability to hear back from customers.”
- “Highlight and cater to small groups of people who care desperately.”
- “Marketing and advertising are not the same things. Marketing is making a product or service that’s worth talking about it. Marketing is about telling a story that spreads and resonates with people. We need to think deeply about feelings.”
- “The essence of marketing today is to tell a story to people who want to hear it, in a way that resonates with them so they are likely to either respond or connect to you, or tell their friends.”
- “Don’t yell to the masses; whisper to a few. People will choose to talk about it. Give away your ideas. When your ideas are widespread and you are trusted, you don’t have trouble making a living.”
- “If you’re not ranked first, second, or third on search pages, you’re invisible.”
- “What products are you going to make that are worth talking about?”
- “Permission marketing is real permission—the privilege, not the right but the privilege—of delivering personal, anticipated, and relevant stories to people who want to get them. Not to everyone, not by spam or exploiting your company’s privacy policies. But instead by earning one person at a time; it’s the privilege of showing up. Here’s the measure: If the recipient thinks it’s spam, then it’s spam…Here’s how you know if you have the privilege: ‘Would we miss you if you were gone?’”
- “The Internet takes word-of-mouth and leverages it by a factor of 1,000…every single day.”
- “Remarkable means worth making a remark about. Not you making a remark because you work for the company. It’s about people making a remark because they choose to, they want to, because they can.”
- “We can’t sell everything to everyone. The market has fractured. Instead of radically shifting the way the media has, most companies and charities have only shifted a little. The fast-growing public or private companies who have made a huge impact in the last five years (e-Bay, Instagram, Facebook, and Amazon), are built around connecting tribes. Connecting people who share a passion and interest. All human beings want to feel like we are a part of something.”
- “If we expect to build connections, we have to expect to be generous. There are no secrets or shortcuts. No one wants to connect to the selfish person.”
Nos. 5 and 8 are among my favorites.
Which points can you relate to? Which ones do you need to improve?
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Focus on being more open, more collaborative and more transparent. This will lead to more accountability and better conditions for the less fortunate of us. Let’s focus on the global workforce by letting them have their say…and be heard. We’ll all be better off if we do. That’s what social is all about.
Social media is still thoroughly in social beta. It’s still not entirely clear what it is all about and where it is going, which is why smart people are enthusiastic and disparaging and everything in between. But we are beginning to recognize the power of Twitter and other networks for scouting. Here’s how we find and test ideas, seek out people, explore frontiers. The real power lies in the virtual/real life connection; when VR meets IRL, digital meets analog. I love my friend 
Just like the major television networks that lost market share to the multitude of niche cable networks, today’s major social networks will be fragmented into specialized functions and areas of interest. This will be accelerated in 2012 by brands looking to support platforms that can best target their customers and include them in the social media conversation.
Consider what role visual content will play in your content marketing and social media. The rise of Pinterest and Instagram and infographics and other visual platforms and tools means that organizations and individuals need to broaden their view of what kind of content they share, and how they share it. Why? Because generating and using interesting visual images is another way to tell your story. In this age of social sharing, an image is worth a thousand slogans. (Ann is co-author of 
Social media can bring a company not only closer to its customers and end-users, but also its employees. I foresee more companies leveraging this and adopting practices that will enable better listening and engagement with employees as well as customers. The advantage would be greater transparency and trust between the company, the employee and the community. The result could be not only heightened customer and employee experience but also the delivery of more stellar services and products.
People should work to get a little bit more savvy about vetting information they get via social media. Working in news, I’m obviously very sensitive to the spreading of misinformation online. While journalists are and should be verifying news online, we could use help from the non-journalists out there. I think everyday users of social media are more sophisticated about spreading rumors than they get credit for – they want more and better ways to know that what they’re spreading is real. Some of that can be done with clear, widely shared resources on trying to find original sources or spot rumors. It just comes down to people asking themselves, “Who is behind this account? How do they know what they claim to know?” And thinking for a moment before hitting retweet or share.
Genuine connections never go out of style. Social media extends our reach. We exchange links, relevant pieces of information, we click ‘like’ buttons and heart-shaped icons. Great! We also worry about tools and buzzwords way too much. On #smday, do we want to celebrate the machines that connect us or the connections themselves? The ultimate purpose of the network is “to feel and be felt” as Ze Frank puts it in his jaw dropping 
When using social media, we sometimes get the feeling that a) they are evolving so fast we lose track, b) there are too many of them, so we can’t choose, and c) they are, ultimately, just a popular and trendy way to waste one’s time. So consider how social media can help you in your life. Then find the one that fits you best and learn how to take advantage of it, personally and/or professionally.
The fast growth of Generation C has created a new social power that is changing the way we act and interact as a modern society. Enterprises and organizations can’t control their brand and their image as before. Now, with the convergence of mobile technologies and social media, users have learned how to benefit from their new power. The influencees are becoming the real influencers, forcing professionals and businesses to adopt new attitudes.
Social media is a success story because it allows everyone to take part in public media. It is pure democracy, with all the opportunities and risks that entails. Among the risks are the widespread belief that “the more followers I have, the more ‘likes’, ‘shares’ etc, the more ‘successful’ in social media I am. But at least a lot of people believe it.
Understanding the ‘accessibility factor’ that social media provides to each of us is something I believe is sorely overlooked. Social channels have given us access to business leaders, decision-makers, thought leaders, and prospects that we have never experienced before. For example, on #Follow Friday (Twitter), it’s fine to mention the people in your circles, but be sure to include people whose attention you are trying to get. Retweet one of their tweets. On LinkedIn, join groups where your ideal clients hang around. The days of trying to score an appointment with a decision maker, only to be turned away by the snarky “rejectionist” aka receptionist, are waning. Our point of entry now is social media. Are you using it effectively?
For me social media has been a friendly, welcoming place so far. People have helped me get set up, said thank you for very small things and generally been nice all round. It’s not always like that, and I’d like the good guys to find ways to stop the bad ones ruining it for others. I never want to read about another young person who is distraught because they were bullied on a social network. I don’t know how it can be done, but I hope we can all try.
)), !!!!, OMG, and . Do you want to try and jump into these conversations and inside jokes with the Best Friends Forever? It could be awkward. Note to self: There are cliques of people everywhere. Enter at your own risk.
