Niklas Myhr - The Social Media Professor

Social Networking in Real Life

March 18, 2015 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

Steve Farber, Martin Shervington, Niklas Myhr, Derek Coburn, Chris Brogan, and Marla Schulman at Social Media Marketing World 2014

At last year's Social Media Marketing World, I had the honor of meeting up with many masterful networkers such as Steve Farber, Martin Shervington, Derek Coburn, Chris Brogan, and Marla Schulman, all of whom effectively use both on and offline means to build and nurture their networks.

Even if I am enthusiastic about the opportunities for online networking, I never dismiss the value of meeting people in real life. By contrast, I not only encourage students and professionals to take advantage of varied sets of offline networking opportunities as the bond that you can achieve face-to-face usually is stronger than the one you can develop online only. It doesn't have to be at expensive conferences but can also be during free events in your local area.

I find that on and offline interaction can build on top of each other. Networking with people online actually makes offline encounters both more fruitful and less awkward as you have already broken the ice and gotten to know a little bit about each other beforehand.

Similarly, the online interactions that you have with someone after having met the person face-to-face can be more meaningful and natural as well. Not only have you gotten an opportunity to better learn the interests and personality of the other party, but also you may have gotten a sense of how they usually prefer to communicate whether it be on or offline. Sometimes the best way to learn this is to simply ask where they prefer to communicate.

Even in cases when you have not directly communicated with someone online before you meet in person, you may still have an easier way to take your face-to-face interaction to a higher level if you know a little bit about the other party from following their online activities and public postings. It could obviously turn creepy if you reveal that you know almost too much about the other person.

Still, in most cases, I think such preparatory work helps you form a bond quicker as you can more readily find common ground. Also, most people would be pleased and flattered to learn that someone have read or viewed their updates.

Good luck in your own experimentations on how to achieve the ideal mix between on and offline networking and let me know if I can expect to see you at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego March 25-27. If you can't make it, I highly recommend you get the Virtual Pass to gain access to all the sessions from your home.

Disclosure: Some of the links on this website are so-called “affiliate links” but please note that I only recommend products or services that I either use to satisfaction personally or am confident will add value to my readers based on endorsements by people I trust.

Intern, Go Make that Viral Video, please!

March 17, 2015 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

Niklas Myhr and Jonah Berger at Chapman University

Yesterday, I asked my students to name some videos they thought of as “viral,” that is, something that had been shared extensively. We also discussed some of the factors that they had in common and recurring themes centered around humor, cuteness (read: cats/dogs), and emotional appeal. Here's one of the videos we looked at in class (also boosted by a $4+ million Super Bowl ad spot…):

Just remember that identifying common traits among videos that became successful does not necessarily tell you why they became successful unless you also consider all the videos that had similar characteristics but did not become viral. Otherwise, your analysis will be subject to the so-called “survivor bias.” Jonah Berger points this out in his excellent book Contagious: Why Things Catch On and strikes home the point with the statement:

“But these ‘theories' ignore the fact that many funny or cute videos never take off. Sure, some cat clips get millions of views, but those are the outliers, not the norm. Most get less than a few dozen.”

Perhaps in another blog post, I will discuss Jonah Berger's take on viral marketing in more detail and I also hope that he remembers from his visit to Chapman University that he has promised me a podcast interview 🙂 In the meantime, I highly recommend you get his book Contagious yourself and learn more about the six factors that Jonah Berger argues are scientifically established as positively contributing towards a higher likelihood of something going viral:

Social currency
Triggers
Emotion
Public
Practical value
Stories

Chapman University going to Social Media Marketing World 2015

March 16, 2015 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

The Social Media Professor Niklas Myhr at Social Media Marketing World #SMMW15 — Pic from Social Media Marketing World 2014

Next week, I am excited about returning to my favorite conference, Social Media Marketing World in San Diego. I am particularly happy and grateful that my friends over at Social Media Examiner who runs the show have allowed 25 of my Chapman University students to volunteer at the event. This will give the students access to phenomenal learning and networking opportunities at an early stage of their careers and for me, it is difficult to see a more fun way for them to spend Spring Break 🙂 The world's top experts in many areas related to social media and digital marketing will speak and the 2,500 marketers attending will provide plenty of chances for good networking and discovery.

I cannot put my finger on exactly what it was that made last year's event such a success. However, I think it has to do with the culture of generosity and openness that Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner, has managed to instill. I got the chance earlier to interview Michael about the origins of Social Media Examiner and it is quite clear that he has found a winning recipe.

By being a pure play publisher, he sets up true win-win scenarios as he lets his invited experts to shine in the spotlight at his prestigious events while they return the favor by doing it for free for the most time. Michael Stelzner is also very humble and low-key in his personality which makes him accessible and someone that people would like to help.

Another reason that Social Media Marketing World has been successful is undoubtedly that Michael has managed to assemble a strong and very committed team to help scale the operations. Last year, it was quite impressive to see how relaxed Michael Stelzner actually was even when the event was in full swing and this shows that he has been a good delegator. I was happy to meet up with the event director of Social Media Marketing World, Phil Mershon, and learned about all the focus that goes into the details of ensuring a high-quality event experience for all attendees.

Consider getting the Virtual Pass to Social Media Marketing World which should provide a rich library of materials for the year to come, cannot recommend it enough!

Denying the World a Taste of Your Personality

March 15, 2015 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

Today, it happened again. I was yet again dishing out a cautionary note of guidance to a student in an email missive about the risk of not showing enough in terms of her personality online as she strives to establish “a more mature professional image.” I understand where she is coming from, though, and “mature” is also a relative term. For example, it is reasonable that she doesn't want her middle school MySpace pictures prominently featured on first search engine results page.

Her approach, like for many other college students, is to separate their personal and professional sides into different sets of accounts or social networks. Specifically, on Twitter, she had one open account for professional appearance and a closed, personal one for interactions with friends. On Snapchat, she only had a personal presence with select and approved friends. On LinkedIn, she was present but considers it an extended resume and professional networking tool and “not for social use.”

Again, I understand what she means but my sense is that today's college students have an overly dry interpretation of what “professional” interaction implies. In short, I believe most professionals like to have social and human relationships as they conduct business. Or, do you think that I overreact?

3 Bedtime Thoughts to Seed Your Sweet Dreams

March 14, 2015 by Niklas Myhr 2 Comments

SelmaAngelBubble — Grateful to be a dad: Selma blowing bubbles

If I avoid caffeine after 6 pm, I usually don't have any problems falling asleep. Still, the quality of sleep matters as well and if something frustrates me, this could become an issue. Therefore, I'd rather stay up a bit longer until I have settled down or begun to think of something else than going to bed early with a negative mindset. To expedite this process so that I still can go to bed before midnight, I find that it helps to seed my dreams with a specific series of thoughts.

3 seeds for your dreams and a good night's sleep

While it is difficult to know what I dream at night, I still believe that I can impact the quality of my sleep by entertaining the following thoughts at bedtime:

Recognize that whatever happened during the day is already history. Perhaps something negative happened or maybe you didn't accomplish everything you had set out to do during the day. Still, there's no actual benefit worrying about it or having regrets, at least not during the night.
Be grateful for what you have. These thoughts should center around the people you value in your life and by considering your friends and family, you also move your thoughts away from your own little bubble.
Aspire to change the world tomorrow. Determine to take on your challenges and improve the world at least a little bit the next day. It also helps to admit to yourself that the people who depend on you need you rested to get the job done so go enjoy a good night's sleep, it's midnight already, good night everyone!

Check out Global Marketing Professor

March 13, 2015 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

While I currently concentrate my own blogging on TheSocialMediaProfessor.com, I also maintain GlobalMarketingProfessor.com as a hub with links to multiple specialized sites on various aspects of International Marketing. When I teach MBAs, I sometimes give them as an assignment to blog and currently, my Executive MBA class in Marketing Management blogs on GlobalMarketingProfessor.com. Check it out, I'm sure you'd enjoy it!

My Vote for The Business Podcast of the Year: Smart Passive Income

March 12, 2015 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

2015 is turning out to be yet another “Year of the Podcast” and while I am myself still procrastinating the launch of my own podcast (any week now…), I very much enjoy listening to the podcasts of others during my daily walks with our Goldendoodle Simona (pictured below!).

In addition to following podcasts on social media and digital marketing, I have also been “glued” to the Serial podcast (good luck with your appeal Adnan Syed!) and picked up the Swedish hit interview series “Värvet” now also available in an English-speaking version Varvet Intl.

What I have not done enough of to date, however, is to help spread the word about the podcasts that I recommend others tune into and today marks a particularly timely occasion to start doing more of that. The situation is that one of my favorite podcasters, Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, is yet again up for a Business Podcast of the Year award. (Beyond the To-Do List by Eric Fisher is another great one amongst the finalists by the way!)

So, why do I think that Pat Flynn is most deserving of this award? For starters, he is generous and transparent with his audience about sharing both his successses (many!) and failures as he conducts a rather impressive series of experiments with his own online entrepreneurial ventures. He even calls himself the “crash test dummy of online business.”

In addition, he features an intriguing list of guests on his show that includes not only the “big names” but also people you've never heard of. Using this approach, Pat effectively illustrates how a varied set of small businesses, solopreneurs, and part-time entrepreneurs can achieve impressive results both cost-effectively and in relatively short order. Through his disarming charm and curious attitude, Pat manages to get guests to open up more than on the average podcast to the benefit of listeners such as me that stands to learn from their experiences.

Niklas Myhr & Pat Flynn at Social Media Marketing World 2014

Tips and tactics shared on Smart Passive Income revolve around how you can best leverage tools, time, and resources for maximum impact and value to the communities you serve. He shares his favorite tools, explains how he uses his time and experiments with his morning routine, and increasingly Pat also includes discussions about how you can scale up a small business through the use of outsourcing without losing the human touch. In this last respect, Pat has been inspired by his best buddy Chris Ducker, the Virtual CEO and author of the eye-opening and best-selling book Virtual Freedom.

There is no doubt that sales and marketing is undergoing a radical transformation fueled by increasingly powerful new technologies and platforms available at low cost and I think it is critical to stay up to date with what those opportunities are regardless of whether you are strive for a corporate life or enter into online entrepreneurship to some extent.

At least, I know that many of my students are looking at all the emerging technologies with a mixed sense of bewilderment and overwhelm and I don't hesitate to recommend they listen to Smart Passive Income for clarity and to get with the game. For corporate managers and executives, I also think it makes sense to learn what a new generation of online startups are up to as they and the companies they work for otherwise risk becoming obsolete unless they too become more responsive to the needs of clients and adopt some of the same tools, principles and strategies as those discussed on Smart Passive Income.

So, if you are not convinced yet that Smart Passive Income is a podcast deserving of your vote as Podcast of the Year, please give it a chance and listen to some episodes first and I think that you'll come around 🙂 Thanks Pat for all the good work that you do that also undoubtedly also helps me stay up-to-date and relevant as a Social Media Professor. I am also looking forward to seeing you and Chris Ducker and learning more about this exciting time of online business and entrepreneurship that we are living in at the 1-Day Business Breakthrough event in San Diego on April 24!

Simona at her lookout post.

A photo posted by Niklas Myhr (@niklasmyhr) on Mar 5, 2015 at 7:31am PST

The Marketing Concept Sliding Down the Long Tail of Marketing

March 10, 2015 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

In the history of marketing, Peter Drucker's Marketing Concept of 1955 is a milestone. The statement that “the purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer” served as an eye-opener to many executives and helped transform many businesses as a result. Consistent with this perspective, Theodore Levitt published the classic Harvard Business Review article Marketing Myopia in 1960 in which he claimed that businesses should define themselves more in terms of the needs that they were satisfying rather than by the product that they currently made.

This has impacted the naming of companies and the general wisdom is to not name a company after its current product as the means by which you meet customer needs can change over time. Indeed, it is difficult to find more than a few (e.g., Nescafé, MasterCard, and MTV) out of the 100 Best Global Brands of 2014 with a name that directly hints at specific products.

Also, if you have already painted yourself into a product corner that you are feeling is becoming too constrictive, look at ways by which you can become more vague or flexible going forward. Hence, International Business Machines became IBM, Kentucky Fried Chicken started going by KFC, Citibank switched into Citi, and Apple Computer Inc turned into Apple Inc.

Yet, even as I recognize the benefits for many companies if they follow such advice, sometimes I wonder if product-centric names aren't making somewhat of a comeback? I see that companies with a name that specifically matches what someone searches for on Google, can be very successful selling their wares online.

For small businesses to show up high on Google, they often have to resort to so-called long-tail strategies, the idea pioneered by TED founder Chris Anderson. What I also have seen is the phenomenon of companies buying up not just one but multiple domain names. In fact, I visited a firm here in Orange County recently and learned that they operated four different websites under very different names but all four basically led people to the same company and address.

Some businesses are taking this one step further and launch perhaps hundreds of different websites each of which is customized to a precisely defined target market and the searches they are likely to make. The more specific you become, such as through the use of 3 or 4-word keywords, the more likely it also becomes that you will be found by people searching for that more specific term. I recognize that many such websites that are set up are not company names per se but rather they represent product pages but still, building up a product-specific web property could also become limiting after a while.

Regardless, my sense is that emerging long-tail tactics in digital marketing indeed can work to your advantage but a key factor is the degree to which you make fixed investments in the form of time and money spent on each of your many different websites. If that amount is low, you could readily change your mix of product pages and transition to new product categories as needs change. Many products are indeed meant to be temporary and corresponding microsites that are set up do not require substantial resource investments.

The potential downside of using product-centric names is still that you are not building a brand for the long haul if the whole product category risks becoming obsolete or if you would like to include other products in your offering over time. So, what do you think? Would you prefer to build a website using product-specific phrases like Air France or would you rather call yourself McDonald's?

Social Media and Quality Management

March 9, 2015 by Niklas Myhr 6 Comments

Niklas Myhr, The Social Media Professor, and Ted Rubin at Social Media Marketing World 2014 USS Midway — Niklas Myhr and Ted Rubin at Social Media Marketing World 2014 aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier

Inspired by Ted Rubin's post Social Media is the New Quality Control, I began to reminisce about my past as a Quality Engineering major at Linköping University in Sweden. Perhaps that past of mine is not so unrelated to my current focus on social media marketing after all?

I can definitely see that Ted has a valid point in that attempts by brands to divert attention away from product flaws can backfire as those glitches will resurface sooner or later anyway. Passionate users like the brand advocates Ted focuses on are also likely to be amongst the first ones to discover any issues with a product.

The connection to quality that Ted makes is that you can use your advocates as a Social QC (Quality Control) and you will basically get the brand reputation that your product deserves. A faulty product will not get good word-of-mouth but a “flawless product” will get some serious buzz by your brand advocates. Picking up the relay baton from Ted, I suggest that you also can make some additional links between social media and quality management and here I elaborate on some of those.

You can use social media to identify brand advocates that you can invite to play more active roles than in the past at much earlier phases in the new product development process. Social media platforms can be used to communicate with those advocates during the process as they convey their feedback. This is consistent with emerging practices of crowdsourcing and open innovation where you open up holes in the product development funnel for outsiders to take a peek at what is going on inside and dig in and do some work when called for. The potential benefits of such initiatives are that you can both expedite development processes with external help and increase the accuracy in terms of securing a tight product-market fit. In short, you can increase the attractiveness of the end result at the same time as you can eliminate or fix problematic issues before they are set in stone. Addressing challenges early both in the production and the design processes is definitely a core principle of quality management.

Services is also an area of quality management that has come to the forefront in recent decades and here social media is already playing a major role at many companies as they monitor and respond to concerns and opportunities discovered on various social channels. The reason why service quality has become such a critical factor from a competitive standpoint is that this can be the area in which companies can still differentiate themselves while many physical goods manufacturers have found themselves embroiled in fierce competitive battles as their physical products have become more or less commoditized.

To the extent that service delivery requires the active participation of service representatives, a high-quality service experience also represents an important opportunity to develop stronger relationships. If nothing else, that aspect I am sure that Ted “Mr Return-on-Relationships” Rubin will appreciate! I hope that I can discuss this further with Ted in a few weeks in San Diego and I hope that you will be joining us there as well at The Social Media Marketing World! A fantastic event with the opening networking party again taking place on the USS Midway aircraft carrier. For those unable to go this time, I recommend that you consider going there!

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3 seeds for your dreams and a good night's sleep

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