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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Social Media Means Being Social

You wouldn't believe how many people put together a social media strategy without considering how to be social. For some, social media simply means posting press releases on a Facebook page or sending out headlines via Twitter. But social media means that people are interacting, and to be truly effective in that area, we have to be interested in and want to get to know people -- whether they're our customers, our partners, or our peers.

In this day and age of media-oversaturation, then, it's fantastic to see a celebrity who's really doing it right: Vin Diesel.

Vin Diesel's Facebook page will soon be topping 20 million friends. He's currently at 19,919,374, and according to SocialBakers.com, he's getting approximately 9 thousand new friends a day. At that rate, in a couple of weeks, he will surpass the 20 million mark.

Of course, there are other people with larger pages than his. Lady Gaga has 25,872,337 friends, Eminem has 25,079,045 friends, and Megan Fox has 20,099,809 friends. So, it's great that Vin Diesel's come in 4th amongst not-dead (Michael Jackson), non-Facebook app (Texas Hold'em Poker) people, but so what?

The so what factor in all of this is that Vin Diesel is not, in and of himself, a top-tier celebrity, and yet he manages to be more popular than expected because he's doing something very, very right with his Facebook account. Vin Diesel is managing his own account.

Yes, that's right. The man behind the account is Mr. Vin Diesel himself. When he writes "Grateful for 2010... excited about 2011...", he means it. Contrast this with Eminem's Facebook, which refers to him by name, making it either a very awkward, self-referential 3rd person treatment or a very bland, very sanitized (but I'm sure well-meaning) online marketing presence.

Vin Diesel is also doing several other things right:
  • He posts candid pictures, lots of stills, and some digital art pieces.
  • He talks directly to the fans, is appreciative, and stays positive.
  • He talks about things that are important to him, like race relations, his work, and his outlook on life.
  • He posts videos.
  • He makes bi-lingual posts to continue to engage his many Hispanic fans.
So when Fast Five, his latest movie and the fifth in the "Fast and Furious" franchise, released their trailer, who do you think got to see it first? That's right. All of Vin Diesel's many, many Facebook friends. And with nearly 20 million of them, that's a marketer's dream come true.

Now, we can't all be a movie star, but there's something we can take from this and apply it to our own social media strategy. First, stop thinking so hard about making it a strategy. Second, genuinely want to socialize with others on the Internet. Third, start or join discussions. And finally, be real, be sincere, and be transparent.

Social media is breaking all the old rules, so consider taking a big jump and doing the same.
Posted by at 4:16 PM
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3 comments:

  1. This is a poignant example of the power of "whuffie". I recently read Tara Hunt's "The Whuffie Factor", and this concept of interactions--of give and take of information--is one of the keys in her social network marketing model. Even in my non-professional life, I've experienced how a personal interaction (like speaking directly to fans, rather than just promoting oneself) really cements an attachment to a celebrity or company. I had reason to contact Subaru customer service, and in the ensuing email chain, I had made a joke playing on the company's tag line of "Subaru is love." Even though my last email didn't warrant a response, the customer service representative replied back, saying that my little joke made him laugh, and he was appreciative. That personal interaction is heavily influential, enforces my connection to Subaru as a company, and means I'm that much more likely to give them $25,000 when it comes time to purchase my next vehicle. It also suggests that any social media strategy should stretch to encompass not only giants Facebook and Twitter, but all aspects of an organization's contacts with customers and potential customers.

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  2. Absolutely. Social media is only the online, technical implementation of what is actually a socio-cultural shift in communication styles. I understand that it takes awhile for that shift to make a dent on corporate culture, but I'm hopeful that as this concept becomes even more prevalent that companies will relax their traditional NDA-centric communications and begin to share and share alike. It's a big step, but there are many companies out there doing it right and reaping the benefits.

    And thanks for the recommendation of Tara Hunt's "The Whuffie Factor". I like her concept of creating social media marketing goals by saying "I want to create a culture of ... " I'll be sure to check it out.

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  3. social media New blog post! Social Media Silo's: Social Media should support networks within companies and o... http://bit.ly/qYFsoA (by @driessen)

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