If you’ve never heard Peter Shankman speak in person, well, you should. Not only is he a dynamic speaker with a keen sense of humor, but he’s got a lot of great things to say, especially about succeeding at social media.
I had the opportunity to watch his keynote address at Affiliate Summit East 2009 today (you can watch the 1+ hour keynote here), and made the following notes:
“We have entered the age of immediacy.”
Things online, especially in the social media space, happen very quickly. I get a lot of news from Twitter long before it’s reported on TV or radio. Don’t believe social media is immediate? Within 10 seconds of posting my weekly bike route this week on Twitter, 5 people had already clicked to see the route map.
“Your reputation is on the line. You have the chance to screw up to a large audience in a short time.”
With social media, once you post something, it’s out there for the world to read. Some social networks (Facebook comes to mind) let you edit or delete a post, but chances are someone has already read it by the time you edit or delete it.
“If you are running a social media campaign, you must talk, listen & respond.”
It’s not enough to “push” content to social networks. You have to engage by listening and responding to others.
“Social media is about trust. Doing something nice gets you remembered, not just recalled.”
As you start conversations on social networks, people form trust bonds with you. The way to separate yourself our your company on social networks is to engage and to give.¬† Whether it’s information, being helpful in some way or just making a positive impression, doing something nice for others helps you stand out.
“Want to sell more? Learn how to write!”
You can achieve brevity by learning to write. Persuasion happens online through copy. I recommend Copyblogger.com if you want to read more about learning to write.
Shankman’s Rules for Social Media
- Be transparent. Transparency leads to trust.
- Be relevant. Make people need your messages.
- Brevity. Attention span is now just 2.7 seconds (or the time is takes to read 140 characters). Just say it.
- Be top of mind. Let other people do your PR for you.
