Blog about what you talk about

Bill Gates may be the most obvious public face of Microsoft, but Robert Scoble is giving him a run for his money. Scoble is a tech evangelist at Microsoft who has played a big part in helping the company win at ‘the new PR’ of the blogosphere. And here he is, giving some free advice to Southwest Airlines on the content with which they should be filling their blog:

Some other things I’d love to know? Is there free WiFi near their counters anywhere? What’s the best restaurant in each airport? Who makes the most reliable luggage? Some craft definitely have funnier crews than others. Any way to know whether you’ll be on one of those flights? ...What are their favorite online travel resources? (Flight trackers, etc). Where do they go when they want to have fun on a layover?

When I talk to groups or individuals about blogging, I often hear the same statement from at least a few people: “I don’t know what our company could actually say on a blog that would get us millions of hits.”

Scoble poses only a few questions here, but they shine a light on the kind of value that a company’s employees can give through blogging. He has had quite a lot of practice doing just that for Microsoft. But if you start by asking yourself what people tend to ask you when they find out who you work for/what your company does/what your role entails, the ideas for what you could possibly say on a blog start to roll thick and fast.

As for the ‘millions of hits’...Well, do you really want to appeal to as many people as possible, or just the people who are most likely to be your customers, potential customers, and industry peers? Most smart businesses have a niche (or a few) that they attempt to cultivate offline; online is no different. Social media just allows for much more rich and far-reaching cultivation and conversation. More on that in future posts.

Hi Jackie and all here at Engagement Alliance

(first, Jackie, I know you know this, so this is more for the other readers, obviously)

Excellent posting! And very VERY good point about contacts. It doesn’t matter whether we can discuss directly with “all” prospective customers, IF we can talk honestly - and deeply - with the “influencers” ie the Alpha Users that we talk about in our book with Alan Moore (Communities Dominate Brands).

A customer analytics specialist firm, using social networking analysis of very complex nature, Xtract Ltd of Finland, has measured actual numbers of influencers in any community - and found a staggering number. 2% of the total community is so intensely connected, that they know personally over half of the total community !!

So if you have a group of Audi car drivers, or Brittney Spears fans or part-time students at the local community college, any such community will have a very tight, closely connected group, of only 2% of the total. THESE are the super-influencers, and they will essentially decide what of the marketing options are the “acceptable” ones that they can endorse, and then the community will adopt.

If you are a true mass-market product or service, and you really want a million users to find out about this new product you have. Then you don’t need to connect (via a blog or in any other way) with one million of them. No. You need to identify the true influencers, and then you need only establish contact with 20,000 of them !!!

This totally turns traditional mass market advertising, branding and marketing communications up on its head. Rather than buy the ad time on the Sopranos or Desperate Housewives or Big Brother, you can actually put your marketing dollars into more direct contacts with these Alpha Users, and engage THEM. Personally, honestly, deeply, interactively…

VERY GOOD POINT !!!

Tomi Ahonen :-)
four-time bestselling author and consultant
latest book Communities Dominate Brands
website http://www.tomiahonen.com
blogsite http://www.communities-dominate.blogs.com

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