Social Media Marketing Tactics for Broadcasters

AMC's "Mad Men"

In last week's article, I talked about the new techniques of social media optimization.  These are methods used to increase a product's viral buzz factor.  It is all about optimizing for social media interaction on blogs and sites such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Flickr.  The main goal is to put your content into a format that allows easy sharing and linking.  SMO increases the odds that brand evangelists will adopt your product as a part of their own persona and subsequently spread the message to their friends.  Today I’m going to talk about ways you can get started with social media.

One of the latest trends is that media companies are launching individual blogs for new shows. AMC's "Mad Men" website gives audiences a chance to meet the stars, see behind-the-scenes clips, and find out more about the show.

These web sites are a good start, but most are still "brochure" sites - that is, they are not a lot more than an interactive version of the classic paper information brochure.  They lack any sort of social media buzzability.  Most of the content consists of the producers presenting the show in a mass communication style.  Just take a look at the main sections on the AMC web site navigation bar: schedule, movies, AMC originals, blogs, video, photos, polls, games, store.  Conspicuously missing are buttons that take you to commenting, forums, or fan activities.  If you click on the forums or blog sections - it's a ghost town. Almost no one is discussing anything - and the most conspicuous components are the innumerable BMW ads that dominate these sections.

This site is all about you watching their show. They really aren't that interested in giving fans the tools to interact and share their passions for the show.  The tacit message - just shut up and watch.

Now check out the Wikipedia page for this show.  Wow, it is a viral whirlwind journey around the web to all things Mad Men.  It shows what happens when you give fans the tools to create content for things they love. 

Now check out Basket of Kisses the unofficial series blog.  You'll see dozens of blog post and a passionate community that is hooked on this quirky AMC series. 

Next, stop by Facebook's Mad Men fan site, with over 19,000 people enrolled.  On there you will find Mad Men poems, commentary, individual fan sites for each main character, plot predictions, even local groups who meet up to watch the show together. 

So why is the AMC Mad Men web site so phenomenally sterile while these fan sites are so incredibly vibrant? It's because AMC still treats advertising like it's a one-way communication.  AMC has dutifully provided a web site with the standard fare, but they don't want to get caught up in all the messiness that comes with communicating with the herd. AMC is the sophisticated program distributor, not one of the rabble that hangs out on these fan sites. There is a carefully drawn line between programmers and fans.  Imagine how rich the experience could be if the AMC site fostered sharing and intermingling.  It would have a rock star web site.

AMC probably spent a boatload of PR bucks getting Mad Men in the trade press, on the Today Show, and in the checkout tabloids, yet it couldn't be bothered with its own web site.  When designing on-line ad campaigns, most companies still primarily rely on well-worn online advertising venues such as Google banner ads, and other traditional means.  They are beginning to realize that social media requires a whole new set of rules.

Most marketing departments are accustomed to running campaigns. They receive tactile reassurance by creating products they can see and touch: websites, collateral materials, print ads, and video trailers. They have an entire infrastructure that dutifully measures these very concrete results through ratings services, circulation reports and web traffic data.  They can tangibly see that people are clicking through and doing stuff.

Social media requires a different kind of strategy.  The big thing you lose is control. Social media specialists put a branding message out into the world and hope that other people will pick it up and carry it to places they never dreamed it would venture.  This makes it incredibly hard to measure because you never know where it will turn up. 

This is something the chief marketing officers and marketing managers just aren't accustom to.  When the president asks "How are we doing on marketing?" it is comforting to whip out an official report and be able to say, "Look at this statistic from my traditional media reporting agency.  Rest assured, we're doing great!"

Social media quantitative data will come in time, but this lack of metrics is only a symptom of the bigger problem - social media marketing is something that most marketing managers underutilize because they don't take the time to learn how to properly apply this valuable tool.  Social media optimization is one the cheapest and most effective ways to create buzz for a product, yet most marketing managers stay firmly entrenched in the comforting traditional media outlets.  We just like creating ads, buying radio and creating web sites.  Creating one-way communication is just simpler.  There aren't all those messy commenting worries and the audience remains safely out of reach of any real power to influence the message.

On a lot of websites the primary focus has been on layout, attention getting devices, and clutter.  These sites dance around and get the customer's attention, but attention is only a part of the game.  When Flash first came to market, it was seen as the ultimate opportunity for web builders to interact with their customers. It was responsive. It provided tangible feedback as visitors moved through the page.  As social media sites really start to take hold, the next step in feedback is making our sites more friendly for sharing and communication outside our own venues.

Social media's greatest virtue is that it enrolls a passionate community - not just a general audience.  These people really care about their particular interest.  In television the sophistication of our metrics tends to fall along traditional lines of gender, age, race, and geography. But social media has the ability to find people's most intimate appetites and offer advertisers a chance to connect with whole new categories of potential customers - adventure nuts, worriers, liberal haters, family advocates, gardeners, or travelers.  The passions are not defined around traditional demographic categorization. Instead, they are defined by the deeply held desires of people who naturally come together. They self-sort and line themselves into groups that are wild about a specific passion.

A weather blog won't just attract a specific age and demo. It will attract people with a passion for science, the outdoors and geography.  A political blog will not just attract a particular age group but will attract those who have a passion about local government, their city and public policy.

In essence these people have been pre-qualified. These are some of the most passionate people you could attract. Because they actively participate in a subject-matter centered blog means they are some of the leaders in these individual areas. You have unearthed their fondest desires and found their hot buttons.  This is the place where they spend an inordinate amount of time and energy -- and they do it gladly.

With the traditional media approach we try to attract an audience and we assume they don't know a lot about our content.  Social media groups show up as people to be spoken with, not groups to be spoken to. You join not from on high, but in the eye to eye, one-on-one conversation that is a celebration of the passion you share.  This brand strategy is about interacting with people and letting them participate in your brand.  Social media offers unique opportunities to get a line to people who won't listen to your advertising.

At the end of the day, social media is about allowing people to create their own content online. If we want our brands to be a part of that personal expression, then we must relax the grip on our brands, and let our fans set the agenda. This allows them to share our content using their own personal style.  They usually share our brands with the people they care about most deeply - family, friends and coworkers.  Social media allows you to be a participant in these very intimate conversations.  You don't show up as a vendor hocking your wares, but as a fellow enthusiast who shares their values, passions and dreams.  This is how brands like Apple, Anderson Cooper, American Idol, Mini-Cooper, and Obama got on everyone's lips.  They didn't build the brands themselves.  They planted the seeds of viral branding and let others grow it for them.

So how do you get started?  Began at home.  Step one is to search out the influential decision-makers in a particular community and participate in their blogs. Have your on-air talent regularly comment on their sites.  Local blogging leaders are already the designated experts in their communities -- people whose opinions are valued and whose judgment is established. Engaging these decision makers in a dialogue is a great way to get results, get honest feedback, and gauge the mindset of the community.  Better than anyone, they understand the passions of the people in their community. That could include getting them to review a show or get their feedback on your new franchises. This is a great way to get access to their fans in a very short amount of time.

Also, enroll your own loyal customers. Who is already spending a lot of time on your web site?  Can you allow them a bigger role on your site?  Invite them to be a forum leader or to facilitate a blog that fosters conversation among your team and the public.  Find the people who already love you, and invite them to be a volunteer, working side by side with your web team.  They will spread your message and do it gladly.  These are people who already dig who you are.  By giving these evangelists a platform on your own site, their positive and authentic voice will attract fans.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and web marketing specialist.  His teasing seminars immediately raise news ratings, and he guarantees you will get results or his workshop is free.  Find out more here.