JEFF THOMAS COBB

Leading with Learning

Social Media

The Dangerous Middle

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The Dangerous Middle

I’ve been thinking about “the middle” lately. Not the TV show – though I do enjoy that on the occasions I am able to watch it – but rather that average space in which too many organizations tend to find themselves. A place where it is very difficult to truly stand out and have an impact.

I often make the point when talking about the Value Ramp that too many organizations have a lot of “stuff” in the middle of the ramp and don’t do nearly enough on either end. And they are feeling it in the attrition of sales and members.

In any case, with this type of thinking bouncing around in my mind I stumbled across a piece from one of my old newsletters and – even after a gap of a few years – it still resonated with me. I decided to replay it here in the hopes that it will resonate with you as well. Here you go:

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The Content Marketing Danger Zone – and How to Manage It

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Danger Zone SignConcepts like “content marketing” and “curation” are finally going mainstream – which means it’s time to beware.

In this post, I explore why content marketing should be a key part of your marketing mix, but also how it can lead you down the road to mediocrity and under-performance if you aren’t careful. Then I discuss what you can do to manage this danger zone.

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Cognitive Surplus in the Shallows of the iPad

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Two books that I consider must-reads for anyone concerned about the social and economic impact of new technologies are  The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr, and Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, by Clay Shirky.

I read both, I should add, as eBooks downloaded to my iPad.
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6 Online Community Platforms Reviewed in Free Report

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Online community platforms coverSocialFish has recently released its much-anticipated white paper Six Online Community Vendors for Associations: An Analysis. I’m in the midst of a very busy couple of weeks, so have not had the chance to fully digest it yet, but it looks like the usual great work from Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer. In it, Maddie and Lindy take a look at “six fabulous vendors who are committed to the association community–Higher Logic, NFi Studios, The Port, The Social Collective, Socious, and SusQtech.”

Even if you are not necessarily an association, you will find much of this report helpful. You can download it, scroll through it, and generally find out more at: http://www.socialfish.org/whitepaper.

Jeff

P.S. – I also send out links to great resources like this over Twitter – Follow me!

Social Media – You’re Soaking In It

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Madge Soaking In ItRemember those old Palmolive commercials with Madge the Manicurist? If you are old enough, you almost certainly do. They were probably one of Palmolive’s more memorable campaigns. The gist is that Palmolive is such a mild dishwashing soap that it not only doesn’t cause “dishpan hands” it actually helps prevent them. “You’re soaking in it,” Madge says to a customer, who is surprised to find that her fingers are indeed soaking in a bowl of green liquid. (Scroll down if you want to see the video)

I’ve had Madge in mind ever since a few months ago when I was involved in a discussion with an organization about its social media strategy. It was a short discussion that was essentially over when one of the executives asserted, “Our audience doesn’t read blogs or visit YouTube.” That, I thought at the time, is wrong. Many of your customers and potential customers do these things even if they do not realize they are doing them. But at the time, the battle was lost, and I simply tucked this thought away to pull out later.

The thought popped back up recently as I was reading a posting on ReadWriteWeb in which blogger Josh Catone, writes:

While most “regular” people might not be avid blog readers, they still read them passively when encountering blog content via links from mainstream sources, links in emails, or search results.

My thoughts exactly. The fact is, there is an awful lot of blog reading going on out there in one way or another. Recent studies indicate that roughly 4 in 10 people read blogs, but mind you, these are statistics for people who realize they are reading blogs. Funny, too, I’ve now seen the CEO of the company referenced above circulate numerous Web videos via e-mail. How else do you think it is that things like “Sneezing Panda” or “Will it Blend” go viral? It’s not because people are spending their days surfing YouTube. This CEO certainly isn’t.

The ReadWriteWeb posting was not really about social media adoption. At least not directly. It was about a new search service from the blog search engine Technorati. But search, of course, is a large part of what makes social media so powerful. Day after day, people are typing terms into Google and ending up on blogs, wikis, video sites, and any range of other social media destinations without necessarily knowing that is what they are doing. If they are searching for you and your products and services, they are going to find out about you in these places whether you like it or not.

It’s an old point, I know. But it seems to be one that merits being made again and again, at least at this stage in the Web’s evolution. The message for organizations that are avoiding social media is simply this: Don’t think that just because you are not aware of it social media is not impacting your organization. The fact is, you – and your customers – are soaking in it.

JTC

P.S. – Never saw that old Palmolive commercial, or want to see it again? Here it is (from YouTube, of course):