Page 283 - Social Media Marketing

of relationships like identity, reputation, trust, and participation. Do not underestimate 261
this, as it strongly suggests the norms for your own online social conduct and it suggests
how powerful the relationships you ultimately build online can actually become. ■ ╇ B uild on E xisting S ocial O bjects

As a quick insight, when I first started working in India, I was immediately
struck by the realization that I had two distinct sets of “physical”—or “3D friends”
as my colleague Beth Harte would say—in the United States and India. As I traveled
back and forth, I would simply switch between these two groups of friends and off I’d
go. But I also had a third community, one that was always present, and one that never
moved: Twitter. It surprised me the degree to which the “real” aspect of my Twitter
community had snuck up on me, as my tweets had moved from pure business to a mix
of business and personal. It seems so obvious, yet until I actually experienced it this
had escaped me. If you haven’t already, take the time to internalize the importance of
the connections that people are making with each other through social technologies
and especially through social networks. They’re real.

The connection back to social objects is this: When you set out to build an audi-
ence around something that ultimately connects to your brand, product, or service, it’s
got to be something that connects people in the same way and for the same reasons
as any other competing social activity when viewed from their perspective. Fish aren’t
interested in lures: fish are interested in eating. The online communities that people
join and build relationships inside of are as real as any other social interaction: Their
rationale for joining and their evaluation of accrued personal benefits associated with
membership and participation will be made in that same context. It sets a tough stan-
dard for your involvement, but meeting that standard is equally rewarding.

The combination of the increasingly “real world” aspect of social computing—
participation in social networks and the engagement in personal and professional life
in collaborative, online tasks—along with the emergence of meaningful social objects
in that same context creates a social space where real interest flourishes. Creating these
experiences and then connecting them to a business objective is an important factor in
building a strong and durable social presence online.

Build on Existing Social Objects

When you begin formulating the plan for your use of social technology in your busi-
ness, the perspective shifts to that of your customers and stakeholders (or employees,
for internal social platforms). What are they interested in? What are the things that
they are passionate about, or want to know more about? This will almost always raise
the question of using an existing social object—something your customers are already
collecting around—as a starting point in your own program. And well it should:
Creating a social presence is more about participation in something larger than your
own brand, and less about building yet another website and then expecting your cus-
tomers to come to you.