The Paradigm Shift by Phil Nieman

Don’t bury your social media signups

Phil Nieman — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:35:19 +0000

I’m always astounded when I visit a campaign website and the first thing you see is a big “CONTRIBUTE NOW” button in all red at the top right hand corner. Often it’s followed by a “Volunteer” or “Take Action” button and then maybe something like “Tell a Friend.” By contrast, however, usually you need to do some scrolling to find their social media section (if there is any at all).

If I’m visiting your site for the first time, I’m not about to jump in and donate money or volunteer for your campaign. I want to learn something about who you are as a candidate. I want to read through your issues, watch some YouTube videos of you, and check out your Facebook page.

Your candidate wouldn’t start a conversation with a new voter by asking for money…just as you don’t do TV commercials or send out direct mail campaigns (to non-supporters) asking for money… So why would that be the first thing you do on your site?

Giving people the ability to “connect” with you should be your first priority. Maybe they will start following you on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. If you’re doing a good job of utilizing those social sites to build an emotional connection, then (and only then) people will come back to donate and/or volunteer.

Make it really easy to Tell a Friend

Phil Nieman — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:22:32 +0000

I came across Livestrong’s campaign for health reform because a Facebook friend of mine had posted it to his status. I was intrigued enough to go and sign the petition myself. While I do believe it’s a very good cause and hope that people do sign the petition, that’s not what I’m writing about.

What impressed me the most about the petition was what a fantastic job the people at Livestrong did to follow one of the pillars of word of mouth marketing. They made it really easy to share the petition with friends…not just on the website but in the thank you email as well.

Here is a screen shot of the thank you page after you sign the petition. It clearly asks you to tell your friends and gives you a super easy way to do it. I also like that it includes the message in the form so that you know exactly what the email will say and you can personalize it as you see fit.

The second part that I really liked is that they included a tell a friend in the thank you email as well. Again, they put in a very clear trigger to send this information to your friends. They also make it extremely easy to forward the information, with the entire tell a friend email already written out below. Nothing is easier for your supporters, fans, clients, customers to do than delete the top portion of a thank you letter and forward on the rest of the email.

Big takeaways

Make it extremely easy for people to share your information
Don’t waste an email. People are most likely to share something when it’s on top of their mind, so give them the opportunity. It’s easy to think of a thank you email as passive, but it’s so easy to turn it around and add a trigger for action.

Does your campaign have a crisis communication plan?

Phil Nieman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:44:59 +0000

Congressman Joe Wilson’s “You Lie” outburst, Sen. George Allen’s “Macaca” video, Howard Dean’s scream…not every campaign crisis is this extreme, but almost every major campaign will have one. With the viral effect that social media has brought to communications, even the most minor issues can become big ones very quickly. So the question is, do you have a plan? When an issue does occur will your team be able to jump on it and resolve it quickly? If the answer is no, you are taking a very big risk, one that could easily cost you an election.

First step, get involved

The first step that any campaign (or business) can take, is to get involved in the online community (note: I’m focusing on the online communities here, but it’s important not to neglect your offline community).

Social Networks

Have an active Facebook group and be engaged on Twitter (see last week’s blog post). If you have a strong presence before a crisis, you will have built in community support when you need it. If you’re only getting on when you’re having the crisis, you will be forced to build support and explain your story at the same time. An army of Facebook fans and Twitter followers helping spread your message is much more powerful than your team going at it alone.

Blogs

Establish relationships with local/national bloggers (comment on their posts, link to their stories, and treat them like members of the press). Just like your social communities, you need to reach out to bloggers before you need their help. Figure out what bloggers are on your side, which bloggers will give a balanced opinion, and which bloggers don’t support you. Establish a strong relationship with the first two, and know how to avoid the third. For your die-hard supporters ask them to be on your crisis response team and have a special distribution list for them. Even blogs with small readership will help keep your story on the front page of google and will help get it out to other active social media users. For the blogs that you know will take a balance approach to reporting a story, treat them just like press. Give them the story, give them quotes, and if possible access to a spokesperson.

Email Lists

Establish a strong, engaged email distribution list. You have a list of people who want to support you, and a lot of them have already invested time, money, or both. They have a huge investment is seeing you succeed, so let them help. Stats show that over 60% of the entire online population are involved in social communities. That means that you have a list of people who can spread the word faster and wider than you can alone. Cultivate that list, educate them, share information, and ask them to share it with others. When you need them most, provide them with the whole story and let them know how they can share it.

Step two, have a plan in place

The last thing you want is to have a crisis hit on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving when all your staff has left town and have no plan in place. Plans let you respond in a fast and organized manner so that you’re entire campaign isn’t taken over by the crisis. A couple of things to keep in mind when making a plan:

Map out several of the most likely scenarios. It’s unlikely that any of them will be exactly the same as the crisis you experience, but it will give your team confidence and a good platform to work from.
Figure out who owns what communication outlet during a crisis and make sure they are trained. The same person can’t be on Twitter, writing a press release, talking to bloggers, emailing supporters, and answering questions from your major donors. You’ve (hopefully) built a strong team, it’s important to give them ownership and trust them. Establish the expectations and the parameters for their communication ahead of time.
Write it all down, discuss it, and it keep it simply. If you end up with a 50 page document, no one will read it come emergency time.

One last thing, have an attack plan too…

Just as it’s likely your campaign will likely have a crisis at some point, it’s likely your opponents campaign will too. So make sure you have a plan to attack them when it happens. You can follow the same points as above, but reverse the situation. It’s just as important to have a plan to attack, so that you can get your entire campaign on message and owning the conversation before the other side can respond.

Two Final thoughts

Think outside the social media/online/traditional media box when planning… Get your finance team on the phone to raise money and calm big donors. Get your field team on the phone and email to reach out to your prominent supporters to spread your message. A crisis is no time to disappear, if your supporters aren’t hearing the message from you…they are hearing it from someone else.

Once the crisis does hit you, explain yourself truthfully and fully. Let your supporters know everything and let them know how to help. If you have a good candidate and are truthful with them, they will continue to support you. If they sense even an ounce of b/s in your story, you will lose all credibility.

Memo to politicians: Twitter and Facebook aren’t mass media

Phil Nieman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:35:42 +0000

Dear Political Candidate,

It’s great that you’ve signed yourself up for Twitter and Facebook, I could not be more supportive. However, please stop treating these new technologies as something you can just check off your list. Just being on Facebook and Twitter is not enough.

Social media is NOT mass media!

But don’t worry, this is a good thing. Campaigns (like most businesses actually) have very few forms of communication available where you’re given permission by the consumer to send them something. Until these new technologies became available we really only had the newsletter (the classic permission marketing medium). The big difference, of course, is that newsletters are still one directional communication. Social media is the first medium where campaigns have been pre-approved to start a bi-directional conversation with all four key audiences (voters, funders, volunteers, and influencers).

So don’t waste the opportunity…

Now that you’ve been given this pre-approved, bi-directional communication tool…don’t waste it. Most candidates will never get the chance to speak to even a small portion of the voting population directly. However, with social media you CAN talk to thousands of voters…and you can do it with your own personal touch. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Ask questions? This is a great opportunity to learn what’s on the voters’ minds and a great opportunity to show the voters you’re deeper than a stump speech.
Don’t and I really mean this…don’t reprint your press releases. No one cares. Take the concept you’re trying to get across in that press release and write it for real people (preferably in a link friendly blog).
Be real…most politicians have a personality and this is one of the few ways you can show it off. (note: being real does not mean stream of consciousness…no one cares what was on your subway sandwich)
This one will probably get some push back from some, but I don’t believe social media is a place to ask for money. However…
Do link back to your site often. If you have a good site, there will be a lot of great content to link to. It will also be very clear how to give money, volunteer, sign up for the newsletter, etc.
Oh ya, don’t forget to link to other sites/articles/blog posts as well. This is something that bloggers learned some time ago, but it’s still a good best practice for all social media.

Sincerely,

Your Friend

I would love to hear other good suggestions and examples of politicians doing a great job in social media.

UPDATE:

I came across an interesting article in the Washington Post (thanks to the NOI Blog for the link) about politicians using social media. A study run by the University of Maryland concluded that 80% of postings by Congressman on Twitter were self-promotional or just a running list of activities. The study outlines a few of the main points that I was trying to make. It’s not about broadcasting information, it’s about interacting with the voters in a conversation. You can read the article at the Washington Post.

Joe Rospars on Obama Campaign

Phil Nieman — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:36:54 +0000

Yes, we all know how amazing the Obama digital strategy was during his campaign. However, I still find it to be interesting and there is still much to learn about what worked and what didn’t. One of my favorite parts of the video is when Joe talks about sending fundraising emails. Out of 10 emails you send, only 2 should be asking for money…the other 8 are there to set up the ask. Most campaigns will throw out the occasional endorsement announcement, press release…but 75% will be requests for donations. Give your supporters a reason to read your email, don’t just ask for money!

Do something unexpected for regular customers

Phil Nieman — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:00:25 +0000

I regularly eat at Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe here in Chicago, and it’s safe to say I eat there enough that the people recognize me. The other day the cashier took one of their frequent visitors cards (you know, buy 8 sandwiches and get one free) and punched out five of the sandwiches for me. I thought this was fantastic. Your most regular customers are usually not going to be your biggest talkers. They already love your place and have very little more to say about it. A little unexpected move not only keeps those customers happy, but gives them something great to talk about back in the office.

I would love to hear some more good example of this.

Why Don’t Politician’s “Get” Social Media

Phil Nieman — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:23:39 +0000

The world of marketing and communications is going through a massive shift right now. We have seen start-ups embracing it for several years now (i.e. Zappos) and over the last two years even the most massive corporations have started to embrace it. Why is that politicians and their campaigns are still not getting it? Sure we see lots of campaigns getting involved on Facebook, Twitter, and maybe even a blog. However, most of these actions are simply “check the box” attempts, with no actual personality involved.

I watch most campaigns go through the same old template every time:

Build a boring website with your generic bio, a few position papers, pictures of you at the parade, and maybe a YouTube version of your TV ad
Send out the same ugly emails asking for money and reminding us that the quarter is ending soon
Mail out a ton of generic mailers calling the other side names (if you blanked out the names on 99% of mailers, you’d have no idea who sent them)
Create the same old tired TV commercial (much like the mailers) that doesn’t really say anything at all

So what’s the problem?

Too scared
They really don’t know how to be genuine
(I hate to even say this, but…) No consultants doing this yet
Lack of expertise (it’s a problem when 90% of staff are 19 and move on in 6 months)

I want to hear people’s opinions on why they aren’t doing it. I would also LOVE to see good examples of politicians that really do get this.

Shift Happens

Phil Nieman — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:38:03 +0000

If you haven’t seen this video, you should. It is a really fantastic presentation that addresses some of the major shifts that are already occurring around the world. Is everything in the presentation going to happen? No, probably not. However, I think it’s very good demonstration of the major shifts that are currently happening in the world we know. Either we all adjust our paradigms or we will simply be left behind.

Alan Rimm-Kaufman gives a little background on the presentation:

Karl Fisch, a high school administrator at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colorado, pulled together a powerpoint with “some interesting ideas” for teachers at his school. (Later, Scott Mcleod, a professor at Univ. of Minnesota, generalized the presentation.)

Who owns your personal brand online?

Phil Nieman — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:48:59 +0000

The answer of course is, it depends. If you blog, are involved in other online networks/communities, and follow some simple rules…you can own your online brand. If you choose to sit back and do nothing, then your brand is owned by anyone who chooses to talk about you. (This has been covered by a lot of bloggers in the past, and I won’t rehash it all here. If you want to get some good tips on personal branding online, I would visit Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog

I recently came across a great personal example of this that I thought I should share. In a recent class I was taking at Northwestern, a discussion about online branding got started. The professor teaching the class is an extremely experienced sales and marketing professional that took up teaching upon retirement. He has has been resisting the move into the online world of blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I kept trying to explain to the class the importance of owning your online brand. Then the professor mentions that recently a friend of his had Googled his name. The Google search revealed one connected to the professor, and that was a single mention that I made on this very blog. Ahhh, the perfect example. This is a man that had 40 very successful years in business and has been teaching at Northwestern and Loyola the last 10. However, the one hit that comes up is a single mention on a small blog.

Lesson: If you aren’t engaging online, the people that are…OWN you.

Stupid Simple Word of Mouth

Phil Nieman — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:06:39 +0000

A couple of months ago I took a trip to Sonoma the weekend before BlogWell. We were walking down the main strip of shops in downtown Sonoma after hours and came across a place with baby kittens in the window. The kittens were on loan from the local animal rescue, and could be adopted right there. When we came back the next day, I spent some time watching this store… every person that walked pass would stop and watch these little kittens and many would then walk into the store. As I spent the day in town, I would hear people all over talking about the store with the kittens. This store had nothing to do with pets (except a few poodle print pillows), but they had a great way of getting people talking. There are two good word of mouth marketing lessons here: 1) keep it stupid simple 2) The thing that gets people talking, doesn’t have to be your product.