A couple of weekends ago I was in Minnesota at the annual Twinsfest event inside the Metrodome. While I was there, I had an opportunity to speak with Bill Smith, General Manager of the Minnesota Twins. For those of you who don’t know I’m a huge baseball fan and follow the Twins religiously so this was a big thrill for me. If you aren’t familiar with Major League Baseball, as General Manager of the Twins, Bill Smith is essentially in charge of all player acquisitions and trades. Next to the owner of the team he has the greatest amount of power/control within the Twins organization and in the corporate world would most likely have the title of CEO, CMO or President.
During our conversation, which lasted a good fifteen minutes, we discussed the team, the upcoming season and my aspirations to possibly work in the Twins front office someday. For someone so important and with so many people vying for his time, he never seemed in a rush to finish our conversation and seemed to really value what I had to say. He even thanked ME at the end of our conversation for talking with him and remembered my name, which doesn’t sound like a big deal but it’s one of those little things that people these days don’t always take the time to do.
Despite the fact that my interaction with Mr. Smith took place in person, I think every CEO, CMO or high level executive out there that is trying to figure out how they should enter/use social media should learn from the approach Bill Smith took with me and apply it to their interactions on the social Web.
Here are some things I think are important to do when entering social media
1.) DISCOVER: Bill Smith knew that a lot of passionate Twins fans such as myself would be at Twinsfest so he decided to make himself available my being there to. Find out where your customers or target audience are interacting online and join those communities. Make yourself available.
2.) BABY STEPS: When Bill Smith entered Twinsfest he didn’t have the public address announcer make an announcement in order to draw attention to the fact that he had arrived. Instead he simply showed up and let people discover for themselves that he was there. Do the same with your brand. The temptation when you first enter social communities will be to loudly announce your presence, because after all you want people to know you’re there. However, try to avoid doing this. Believe me, the people within these social communities know when someone new joins and you don’t want to make the wrong first impression. Instead, find some small way(s) to let the community aware that you’re there and that you’re available.
3.) LISTEN: Just as Bill Smith took the time to listen to me and didn’t try to dominate the conversation by just talking at me, when you first enter online social communities just try to listen for a while to the conversations that are taking place. By listening you show your customers that you care and that you value their input. A lot of companies have forgotten how to listen to their customers because they’re too busy talking at them. Taking the time to simply listen will separate you and your brand from others who aren’t and this goes a long way in the social media world.
4.) PAY ATTENTION & ACKNOWLEDGE: When I was talking with Mr. Smith he looked right at me and acknowledged everything I had to say. If you don’t pay attention to your customers and the types of conversations they’re having about your company or brand online you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Pay attention and measure all conversations and comments (Positive or Negative). Also, too many companies out there are afraid of social media because they don’t want to have to acknowledge negative public comments. Guess what? People are going to say negative things about brand online whether you’re there or not. Wouldn’t you rather be there to acknowledge their comments as opposed to someone from a competing brand? Think about it.
5.) TAKE ACTION: When I was talking with Bill Smith, asking him questions and expressing my thoughts, he took action by answering my questions and addressing my comments. He added valuable words of encouragement which I appreciated. You and your brand should have the same approach with social media. If you do #4 above but don’t take action your customers will either think you aren’t listening to them or don’t care enough to do anything. Taking action online can come in several forms. Sending a comment back to a customer regardless of if it is positive or negative is one form of action. Another is actually changing something about how your brand operates or something about your actual product(s). Both of these show the customer that you care and value their input enough to make changes and people are much more likely to purchase from brands they feel value them as customers.
6.) LEAD BY EXAMPLE: As an important member of the Twins front office, Bill Smith took the lead by making himself available to the Twins fans. Not only did he spend some of his time with me but he provided me with valuable information and insight without asking for anything in return. Once you’ve been in the community for awhile and have established yourself as a regular community member, take the lead by creating something of value for others in the community to take advantage of and benefit from without expecting immediately in return.
7.) ENJOY: Once you have properly done the previous six steps you and your brand should have an online social presence and network that is returning value back to you and your brand. However, it’s important to remember that with social media this process can take awhile so don’t get discouraged if after completing the previous six steps you aren’t seeing immediate return. Social media isn’t like your traditional media campaign where results can be measured and seen in the first few weeks. Success in social media depends on your willingness to put in the time nurturing and maintaining relationships within your network as well as the activity level of those within your network. It took Bill Smith over 20 years to get to where he is today. Years of hard work not to mention years of cultivating and maintaining countless relationships helped him achieve personal success. Social media is a tool that can help you and and brand achieve similar success but you have to understand the dynamics of social media communities first.
So what do you think about my list? Do you agree? Am I missing anything? I would love to hear from you so feel free to post your comments.
Dear Mr. Stengel:
I am a good friend and classmate of Bill(y) Smith’s father and have known Billy for many years.
It is not surprising to me to read the 7 things in his approach to the media, and by the way, this is also his approach to life in general.
I was is marketing/sales during my working career and when hiring, would look for someone with these attributes – because thse are the foundation of a winner.
Murray,
First off, thank you so much for checking out my blog. It’s always nice to know that someone other than myself is reading it, haha. Secondly, thank you for the wonderful comments. They are very much appreciated. It must have been very exciting to watch Billy grow up all these years and move his way up through the Twins organization. I do have to point out that I am not a member of the media, just a young advertising guy who has a passion for the MN Twins. This is part of the point I was trying to make in my post is that I am basically a nobody and yet Bill took the time to talk with me and really listened to me and provided a lot of good feedback and insight which I really appreciated. A lot of people in his position and with his title would not have done the same so it speaks volumes about him as a person and says a lot about the Twins organization, which he represents. Hopefully some day I will have an opportunity to work in the front office and learn more from him on a regular basis. Thanks again for checking out my blog and the comments and GO TWINS!