Social Media Today: The Rise of the Planned Opportunists

Terry “Starbucker” St. Marie

www.terrystarbucker.com@starbucker

A Little About Me

Been on social media since 2005, promoting my business writing as “Terry Starbucker”

Recently rebranded under the “More Human Leadership” banner

The State of Social Media

But first, a little golf story……

So Let’s Be Careful Out There

My Social Media Mentor

“Decide you must how to serve them best. A social media Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.. and use the right hashtag”- Yoda

Then….and NOW

1910 2014

Social Media Today….

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Imagine a giant watercooler conversation that covers 180 topics during a 15 minute coffee break…………

The Watercooler Rules

You can’t “Market” at the water cooler

It’s where they want to talk to each other - brands are there by invitation

Brands have to be a great guest at the water cooler--otherwise they are going to be sent back to the office

Into the Watercooler Circle, Come The Planned Opportunists

Exhibit “A”

Planned Opportunism

Reacting to chance events and human questions based on a mission and a set of values that reflect the product/brand, and its relationship with its customers

Remembering what we’re really selling

Putting ourselves in a position to be comfortable taking risks and taking advantage of opportunities, without layers of authorization

Playing “conversational jazz” – it’s important to choose a productive key with which to improvise

A Rose by Any Other Name….

PRO: “Trendjacking” is one of social media’s most powerful but yet underused tools. Learning to “jab” with trends gives you tremendous power . You can tailor content to any situation or demographic,you can spark interest in your product, and you can scale your caring” – Gary Vaynerchuck

CON: “It is not about adding value of any kind. It is simply standing next to a news story, as Forrest Gump might, only with a placard with your name on it.”- Anthony Miles

Your product here

Jazz on The Page

Tony does Jazz……..

Pictures Can Take the Place of A Heck of a Lot of Words

The headliner of the Short Attention Span Theater that plays to the giant watercooler

A “must-do” tactic for the planned opportunist

Images are processed 60,000 times faster than text

About those Selfies, Though…

Visual Has To Be Part of the Mix

Hey, Original Content Still Matters!! “Fuel” for sharing and interaction

“Whether you want to borrow a drill from someone on your street using NeighborGoods or you're looking to book an awesome pup sitter on DogVacay, the success of Airbnb over the past few years has helped to drive home this fact: social networks are built for sharing” – Amber Mac

Thinking more like publishers“There are tons of platforms where your customers can get information from, but it’s most important that they get it first from you.” – Harsh Ajmera

Breaking New Ground“Nirvana caused a huge shift in popular music by combining hard rock and punk to make something fresh. All great content is an intersection” – Brian Clark

Good Content Makes Deep Connections & Leads The Way

“The maker of the sentence launches out into the infinite and builds a road into chaos and old night, and is followed by those who hear him with something of wild, creative delight” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

And Don’t Forget The Customers…..

If you don't support customers on social, they'll be less likely to support you with their voices or wallets.

Loyalty now matters more than ever Helping people is the best kind of marketing

“All business is based on solving problems and earning a value from that. Using online platforms and being strategic is wonderful.  But Twitter isn’t cool.  Helping people is cool.”– Chris Brogan

A Helping Hand From The Planned Opportunist

Hilton Suggests - 100 Hilton employees seek out folks on Twitter, customers or not, who need help with travel, local activities, and more.

Be More Human

“Look, I’m a consumer, you’re a consumer. When we talk about the brands we love, it’s very human and natural. But when we try to talk to people like us, we blank out and turn into ‘Marketing Man.’ We lose that human nature, that empathy. If you take a technology perspective, you are forever reacting. The minute you take a step back and say, “What’s the bigger mission?” you start to realize what you are trying to do is change behavior. This relationship between cause and effect is very human. Once you articulate that vision, technology becomes an enabler. It starts to work for you.”

Brian Solis

The Shared Journey

Go from……..

Marketing ToMarketing AtMarketing For

To Marketing With

- Joanna Lord

The Hero’s Journey(thanks Nancy Duarte)

Beginning – Paint the picture of the audience’s current world

Call to Adventure (Turning point 1) – creating an imbalance by stating what could be juxtaposed to what is

Middle- contrasting content, alternating between what is and what could be

Call to Action (Turning Point 2) – Articulate the finish line for the audience to cross

End – Create a higher plane than where the audience began, with everyone understanding the reward in the future

Cross The Threshold – Audience is committed to taking action

The Hero’s Journey

Resonate…and go deeper

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Maya Angelou

The Planned Opportunist: Understands the mission and values Can write 140 characters & 1,000 words

equally as well Is always looking for connections with the

trend line ,the Hero’s Journey, and the customer

Is allowed to take risks and improvise Can integrate sound & visual seamlessly Is a HUMAN (and gives a darn) Decides they must how to serve them best

(thanks Yoda…)