Author Archives: Randy Thio

About Randy Thio

Randy Thio is Partner at ideabloke. He collaborates with businesses in leveraging their social media presence to capitalize on what really drives business: Relationships. His specialty lies in creating social marketing strategies to optimize the new ROI, Relationships on Investment.

The Value Of Social Media

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“These days man knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing.” ~Oscar Wilde

 

I will be the first to admit, I’m a pretty lucky guy.  My interest in social media has allowed me to be surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the industry and as a result, inspires me to keep pace in this rapidly evolving industry.  One of the thoughts I obsess over is understanding the true value of social media.

Not so much in a numbers & statistical sense, but in a much deeper level.  After all, how does one accurately come to determine the ROI of inspiration?  Try as I might, I find it nearly impossible to attribute a meaningful statistic to the amounts of inspiration I’ve gained throughout the years.  Add to that the value of the relationships that were borne out of these interactions.  As MasterCard would say: Priceless.

In no way am I trying to devalue measurable analytics or statistics, those bits of information are valuable and necessary, too. But focusing on numbers alone, we lose sight of the multidimensional nature of social media and reap only a portion of the benefits.  It’s similar to buying the latest and greatest smartphone on the market and only using it for texting.  There’s so much more that remains untapped and the full potential of the tool is unrealized.

A situation arose last week in which I was one of many unwitting recipients of a bogus limited quantity offer from Southwest Airlines for 2 free tickets.  Upon clicking on the offer on Facebook, it was clear that the offer was not legitimate.  I noticed that shortly after clicking on the link, it automatically sent out the same offer to everyone on my Facebook friends list.  It goes without saying that this raised more than just a few red flags.  After profusely explaining & apologizing to my friends for the inadvertent status update, I reached out to Southwest to let them know of what I had just experienced.  Within less than 5 minutes, I received a tweet from them acknowledging what just happened and what actions they were taking.  It was simple, yet impactful.  This is not rocket science.

The Value Of Social Media

Brands adopting social media successfully understand that it is a tool allowing them to really get to know their consumers.  These are brands who have figured out that the best use of social media is to give consumers a highly responsive channel to interact with their favorite brand.  The imaginative use of social media to build relationships and reach consumers as they like to be reached is at the heart of a successful brand’s new media marketing strategy.

Companies will focus less on promoting products & services, and more on how to best inspire & empower consumers.

The question of valuation is a personal one, as much of it is determined based on individual perception.  When I think of my personal choices and why I gravitate towards certain brands, I find myself looking at the intrinsic value that the brand offers.  How do they come across?  Is their main social activity pitching and promoting or are they more concerned with opening up lines of communication?  Are they talking more about the company or their consumers?

Whether we admit to it or not, we still base many of our decisions emotionally.  All else being equal, we’d still rather do business with people we like and trust.  To me, that is the value businesses should be focusing on when adopting social media.  And when it comes to quantifying emotions and perceptions, good luck with that.

What value do you place on social media?

 

 

The Lather-Rinse-Repeat Approach To Being A Master Engager

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People who are charismatic, personable, and are able to effortlessly draw people to them usually have one thing in common: They understand what it takes to be engaging, and they have it set to automatic.  When we think of these people, we typically think of celebrities, politicians, and others in the public eye.  These folks are successful at cultivating their persona through their appearance, speech, and engagement skills.  You just know when you run into these folks.  They make a strong impact and they’re unforgettable.

So how can the rest of us engage at the same level and be able to do so consistently?

Learn how to properly ask questions.  


Sounds simple enough, but first I want to list a few reasons why proper use of questions are important for engagement:

The Lather Rinse Repeat Approach To Being A Master Engager

  • It demonstrates genuine interest in who you’re speaking with.
  • It puts you in a better position to understand.
  • It facilitates conversation, which encourages discussion.
  • It promotes the exchange of new ideas.
  • It aids in diagnosing a problem.
  • It allows you to control the direction of the conversation.
  • It positions you as a brilliant conversationalist.

The list does go on, but the above should be enough to encourage you to incorporate questions into even your most everyday interactions.  So then, how best to use questions to maximize engagement?


Be genuine.  Don’t ask questions just for the sake of asking a question.  Authenticity in your questions stems from a genuine interest in the person you’re speaking with.  Just remember that no person is 100% uninteresting.  There should be at least 1 thing about each person you interact with that is worthy of further questioning.  If finding something interesting with someone you’re talking to is a chronic issue, you might want to check out an earlier post about curiosity and the value of nurturing a curious mindset.

The goal within the goal here is to be observant and receptive to your audience.

Keep questions open-ended.  Make it easy for people to open up and talk about themselves.  Remember, everyone has an opinion and most are only too happy to share.  Initially, it’s a good idea to focus on questons that solicit opinions instead of facts.  Questions eliciting facts tend to be more limiting due to the right/wrong component that’s built in to it (and also comes across as interrogatory).  Questions on opinions keeps the responses subjective and will tend to shed more light about the person you’re talking to.  Some great questions to use typically begin with:

  • What do you think of…?
  • What are your thoughts on…?
  • How do you feel about…?
  • How do you see yourself…?
  • What’s your opinion on…?

The goal within the goal here is to seek to understand.


Listen actively.  Maintain your focus on their response to your question.  If done correctly, this should uncover further questions, which will only render the conversation more effortless.  Unfortunately, most people tend to worry about what they’re going to say next that they miss a lot of what is being said.  Closed-ended questions are great to use here to confirm understanding or to help clarify a point.

The goal within the goal here is to identify areas where you can be most valuable to your audience.

Technology, in and of itself, doesn’t make you more personable, interesting, or likeable.  Being genuinely interested in people, even if you don’t always see eye-to-eye, does.  Facebook, Twitter, etc, only amplifies your personality (or lack thereof) to other people.

I’d love to hear some of your favorite techniques to build audience engagement.  Please share in the comments below!

Also read: How Are You Engaging Your Customers?