Triathlons and Twitter: How One Small Business Is Using Social Media to Build Its Audience One Tweet at a Time

Around here we find our frequent conversations about social media ending with, "Hey, it's not rocket science." I know many people like to make it seem as though what we do is incredibly esoteric and that only the most experienced, knowledgeable person could even begin to think about undertaking it, but when it comes to social media, that's just not true. Yes, it's true that it takes a lot of work and that any brand needs a coherent strategy and that your company needs to be on board to make it happen, but do you really need a ton of expertise to master it? I'm not going to lie... No.

(Obviously, once companies get bigger and have more brand capital, social media interaction does become more complicated. They need nuanced strategies for different audiences, and they really do need an agency that has social media expertise to put it all together for them. It's simply not a wise use of resources to commit their internal team to figuring out social media when those people might not even be interested and there are agencies that do it better. Take us, for instance. :) )

When it comes to small businesses and start-ups, social media can be a really powerful tool, especially if it's undertaken by those at the center of the company. Sure, everyone talks about this, but I know from firsthand experience that smaller business owners often don't really believe that they could find a voice and an audience in blogging or on Facebook, Twitter or other online communities, which is just not the case.

The reality is that small businesses have two really key things going for them: 1. Their senior decision makers also tend to be the people doing a lot of the in-the-trenches work, so it's easy for them to decide on a strategy/voice and implement that. There's no bureaucracy, no approval process, no figuring out who's going to write updates or blog posts. 2. They've got passion. Who starts a business who doesn't have a love for or interest in some aspect of what they do and the community? That means they know their target audience really well, that they can offer specialized expertise and insights, and create content that is meaningful and effective. They also know who the influencers in the community are, what people are buzzing about, and all the other things that make it clear that they are members of the community too.

All of which brings me to Paul Bashforth (that's him looking all studly and triathlete-y during a real, live race), who, along with three friends, started a niche clothing brand for triathletes, True Motion. He and his partners currently hold regular jobs while they start their business, so they don't have a ton of time or money to commit to marketing and advertising. But from early on, Paul recognized that good content could set his company apart, and he's become a real convert to the power of social media. He also knows how important audience generation is (which inspired him to email Gretel's recent post on the topic to his partners. He's not sure if they've read it, but he's hoping it will get them all on the same page.)

After some free drinks (for me) and free consulting* (for him) the night before last, he has embarked on a campaign to really learn and use Twitter. He's retweeting, linking to relevant posts related to the trialthlete community, and referencing other Twitter users who are in the community. He's got his own handle (@truemotionpaul) and a company presence (@truemotiontri). On his personal account, he tweets about anything and everything (triathlons, yes, but also family, work, life and other normal stuff -- he is a normal human being after all), while on the company one, he's started carving out a niche with clothing/gear-related tweets, as well as general commentary on the goings on at True Motion. Literally, within days he's seen his followers increase and has started truly building his audience.

And why not? He's an obsessive athlete who loves triathlons. (Not to mention, he's the only man I know with whom I can swap stories about cleanly-shaved legs.) He and his brand are genuine community supporters and enthusiasts, and in joining the online conversation, he's steadily building brand awareness and loyalty.

*As much as I hate giving away free consulting, a promise of free drinks is usually enough to twist my arm. That is, as long as I get to choose the place!

Audience Generation 101: Why do I need to build AND own my audience?

 

The term "Audience Generation" has been gaining in popularity lately due to its direct relevance to social media. But what is often considered common vocabulary by marketers, is sometimes pretty confusing to lay people. And because one of my goals in life is to not be like other marketers, I thought I would explain the ins and outs of audience generation in terms the general public might actually understand.

For instance, yesterday I was talking with an incredibly talented chef we're working with.* He's a somewhat reluctant social media convert who exhibits all of the tell-tale signs of a novice: infrequent tweets, a blog without posts (although it does have a title!), and a general overall confusion as to the benefits of both. Basically, he's diving in because he knows he has to, but he doesn't know a whole lot more than that. As a chef who has been written up by every lauded food publication, approached by the appropriate food channels (although nothing has come to fruition to date), and cooked at the venerable James Beard House as well as the restaurants of many-a-noted chef, he never foresaw the need to market himself. His job until now has been to wake up every day, head into the kitchen, and prepare amazing food. Sounds like a reasonable recipe to me (clever pun totally intended). That said, you can imagine his surprise when he discovered that there's a bustling online "foodie" (I hate that word) community that he's not a part of, and that some of these seeming foodie posers are even getting plucked out of the ether and offered huge opportunities. And therein lies the point of this article: while in the old days (err, ten years ago), it was necessary that one had talent to gain recognition, nowadays it's pretty fair to say you just need to know how to play the game, and that means building an audience--a loyal one at that.

I explained all of this to him briefly and I think he really got it. But then again, maybe not. Just in case, I've set out to spell it out a bit more for him and anyone else out there who doesn't consume marketing jargon on a daily basis (in which case I envy you).

So, here's the lowdown on audience generation and a few ways you can put it to work for yourself, your company or your brand:

First of all, what is audience generation?
It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like: the generation of an audience. More specifically, an audience of people who find genuine value in what you have to say or offer. Audience generation is by no means unique to social media, but social media and user-generated content sites like YouTube have really elevated its usefulness to new levels.

In the world of traditional advertising and marketing, marketers would literally buy their desired audiences through media buyers who would identify the best publications, TV stations, billboards or websites on which to place their ads. The idea was that your brilliant artwork would grace the space next to content that your audience was interested in. And thus would be born a psychological association between your brand and that content. Clever, right? I guess, but only if it's your only option, which it's not. The alternative here is to skip the middle man and produce the interesting content yourself, rather than simply existing next to it.

Another endangered form of audience generation is list-buying, whereby you define your target audience to your favorite list broker (yes, this is a real job title) and he or she will identify the perfect list of unsuspecting victims to whom your unsolicited email or snail mail campaign will be sent. Sure, you can reach the masses with both of these methods but you're certainly not doing yourself any favors in terms of gaining their loyalty or "owning" them, which is really the goal here.

Okay, so how do I generate my audience?
This really deserves its own post (consider it noted-I'll write a follow-up post soon). For now, here are the basics:

• Identify the platforms where your audience congregates. In the case of our above-mentioned chef, it would be a huge mistake for him not to be on Twitter since all the food groupies (admittedly, me included) are there in droves. He'll also need to go ahead and get some posts up on his blog.
• "If you build it they will come" need not apply here. Simply having a Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn account, or a blog, will not bring your audience to you. You've got to produce interesting content. Ask yourself: Who is my audience and what kind of content do they want from me? From our chef, I'd want to hear about the inner workings of his restaurant, what new items he's putting on the menu, cooking tips, and what his life looks like outside of work. I want details that aren't available on his official site. After all, the reason people "follow" you is because they want to be led (through your life). Hey, there's nothing wrong with a healthy mix of voyeurism and vicarious living.
• Engage. This means listening to others and joining in on the conversation. You need to become the perfect online host. Leave comments for other people, share their interesting thoughts with your audiences, and offer them value at every step.

The good thing about audience generation is that it just takes a little common sense, which is sometimes also the bad thing about audience generation. Put it this way: if you're a fairly socially-adjusted person who knows what it means to capture your real life friends' loyalty, you should be fine.

We've covered the WHAT? and the HOW? Let's move on to the WHY?

Building and Owning your own loyal audience will allow you to bypass traditional channels.
Creating your own private media channels-meaning blogs, newsletters, social media profiles and others-will allow you to get the word out on whatever it is you're working on or doing without having to rely on traditional methods like press release-PR, advertising, and other such techniques that are falling by the wayside. It also gives you a lot more freedom to say or present your message however you like. But again, it's not enough to simply create the channels, you also have to make sure you are continually building your audience. And further, that your audience arrived organically (not via ads or trickery techniques that conned them into visiting you!). Audience generation can be achieved through organic search methods, too, but that will be included in the follow-up to this post. (See above for brief tips on generating your audience.)

With a big audience can come big opportunities...
So while our extraordinarily talented chef is slaving away over hot veal cheeks at his restaurant each night, people who could only dream of having a portion of his talent are sitting online talking about it...and they're reaping the benefits as a result (that is, the benefits of a growing audience of people who want to hear about veal cheeks). What kind of benefits are we talking about here? A couple of my favorite early examples of opportunities that came about due purely to having a big audience (but certainly not due to having a remarkable amount of talent) are the Chocolate Rain guy on YouTube and good ol' Tila Tequila.

If you're not familiar with them, the basics are this: A couple years ago, Tay Zonday, a.k.a. "The Chocolate Rain Guy," released a basic video of him singing "Chocolate Rain" in an amusing voice on YouTube. For some reason that I'll never understand, people liked it and it was viewed millions of times. (To date the original video has been viewed 39,386,940 times.) Dr. Pepper saw this video as the perfect basis for its Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper campaign and paid Zonday a rumored $200K for the rights (and to appear in the resulting commercials). Not bad for a kid with a funny voice and a webcam.

As for Tila Tequila, she's famous for having a ton of friends on MySpace. Yep, that's it. But as this story goes, friends + engagement = loyal audience = opportunity. Tila signed with VH1 to produce one of the worst reality shows in history (which is saying a lot): "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila." Basically the producers weren't after her talent, they were after her audience. They just needed something to pull that audience in so they made up a show for her and the rest is history. (She's had numerous other opportunities beyond this as well.)

Of course, opportunities resulting from having a large audience aren't limited to pop culture; they're prevalent across industries-businesses are generating never-before-achieved visibility, leads, and hugely lucrative opportunities as a result of building and tending to their audiences. This is further why there are so many fake experts out there trying to cash in by collecting followers. (Not to worry, I'm working on a post about them, too.)

Sorry, it's not you; it's them.
In other words, the reason that the likes of Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton can get book deals, and so-and-so can get her own show when you can't even get an infomercial, is not because they've been secretly harboring the Great American Novel (or are particularly camera friendly); it's because they have large, dedicated audiences. Mystery solved, right? Uh, right. (Knowing this dirty little secret will either make you feel a lot better or a lot worse about society depending on how hard you're willing to work.) My advice is to play the game. And have some fun while you're at it. Generate audiences by engaging in things you're interested in. There are worse ways to get your name out there, ya know?

You can market to your audience in the future.
So it's true that not everyone is going to become an instant Internet-phenom. The worst case scenario-which is actually not so shabby-is that you will build a database of people who are interested in what you have to say. That means that when you do have something to announce or promote, they'll be there listening, and you won't have to pay for space or bribe a third party to get the word out for you. In the case of our chef, this could be a cookbook, a new restaurant, or, hey, the announcement of his new show (should he get one). Whoever's involved with him will certainly appreciate the exposure.

How is Audience Generation different than public relations? Can't I just ask my publicist to help me build an audience?
I think I've written enough here, but just know that audience generation and public relations are related but not at all the same. And yes, your publicist can help you build your audience but this should be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. Authenticity and transparency are key. If your publicist can't maintain those two things, go it alone.

And to think I set out to write a short post...

The End.

* If you follow me on Twitter, you know that food is one of my great passions and, thus, one of my personal new business initiatives.

The Continental Divide: How Clever Marketing and Careful Brand Management Have Allowed New York City to Stay on Top

Warning: this blog post may incite some very strong opinions. This is part one of a three-part series on coastal supremacy.

In our office, there are two kinds of people: those who love California (me) and those who hate it (Kate and Gretel). The three of us could bicker endlessly about why California is or isn't immensely better than New York City (email me for my list) but since we're in New York City, I guess they win. For now. And because I just returned teary-eyed from my LA trip and Gretel is begrudgingly boarding a flight to San Diego this week, I thought now would be a good time to examine why the east coast/west coast rivalry may be even bigger than Suge Knight said it was.

Like most things in our media-driven culture, it boils down to image, some of it true to life, and some of it not. Ask anyone what they think of when you say "Los Angeles," and they'll probably responded with things like, "blonde," "palm trees," and "Clueless" (you're not helping my cause, Amy Heckerling). Say "New York" and you'll get things like, "real," "big city," and "Annie Hall." Don't get me wrong. I understand that since the time of the Dutch, New York has been crucial to the country's development in commerce, culture and character. But as the urine-soaked garbage piles up on the streets in the summer heat (can you say, "yum"?) I kind of feel like we're all just running on "I HEART NY" fumes. So how does New York City keep the dream alive? With a few elements that any successful brand campaign should take to heart: Clear messaging, clever design, (some) substance, and a lot of concrete.

In today's blog post, we'll examine how New York has used the power of its messaging (both old and new) to bring people into the City, and keep them there (sometimes against their will).

The Messages
New York City
Because of its location, New York has always held a unique place in the hearts and minds of immigrants. Birthplace (I make no claim of historical accuracy) of the American dream, this port-of-entry became the first place to put down roots, sell your wares, and make it big. So the lore and the lure grew. To paraphrase Ol' Blue Eyes, if you could make it here, you could make it anywhere. Much of this message's propagation was thanks to a catchy tune-an accidental PR campaign, so to speak. The City's hardscrabble reputation made it a challenge for any American looking to better his or her situation, and as Tom Brokaw reminded us, the Greatest Generation was certainly up to the task.

Now in the era of brand strategy, careful PR, and good old-fashioned cleaning up the streets, the Mayor's Office has tapped in to the already magnetic power of the city to draw in those who would have moved to the suburbs in the past, to the point where there is no space left in the kindergarten classes in some choice areas. Oops. The new messaging is not just for those who are trying to make it, but for those who already have and who want the city life without too much of the "real" life of the city. The rough-and-tumble City has transformed, and least in messaging, into a family-friendly place, complete with patio furniture in Times Square. This softer crowd can more readily support the City's economy, is off the streets by 11 PM, and is pro at carrying baby strollers up and down subway stairs. One thing is clear in the shift-the Mayor's Office has figured out its new plan, and is sticking to it.

Los Angeles
Unlike New York, Los Angeles has never been able to latch on to a single message for its city, and the horrid reality shows that glorify the superficiality of life in the sun have not helped the city's image. Founded by a Spanish governor in 1781 as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Rio de Poriuncula, LA (and California) was part of Mexico before being purchased by the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. The population grew steadily, but the city was really no different than others across the country until the Biograph Company sent director D.W. Griffith and his troupe of actors to the area in 1910. The combination of good weather, ample space, and willing talent made LA the ideal place to make movies. By 1915, the majority of American films were being produced in the area, and LA has been inextricably linked to "the industry" ever since.

While the industry has been a boon to the city's (and state's) economy, this connection leaves many wondering what LA would be like (or if it would even exist) without it. Forgotten are the spectacular attributes like hikes, wildlife, great produce, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and mountains that run right up along the Pacific. A new California Board of Tourism commercial attempts to spread the good word about the state, but only the surfing can be most directly connected to LA. The city, for all its glorious sprawl, is most known for its smog, traffic, and a great deal of plastic. And while New York prides itself on being "real," LA only exists in many minds as the polar opposite: fake. Los Angeles needs to streamline its message and capitalize on its natural wonders as well as its creative endeavors if it can hope to stand a chance against the behemoth of New York.

Today's winner? It hurts me to say it, but New York City. The City has figured out its (new) ideal audience-not just who they are, but what they want out of their city/brand experience, and is giving it to them.

What do you associate with the "brand" of LA? (BTW, if you say anything close to The Hills, I may have to travel to where you are and nicely knock some sense into you.)

Next up: I HEART NY vs. the Hollywood sign.