Here is a social media story gone WILD. (literally and figuratively).
Return with me to 2007, when the chairman and CEO of a public company created an anonymous account in Yahoo’s online financial community. Over eight years, he posted over 1400 glowing comments about his company. He also posted many negative comments about his number one competitor. His activities triggered a proxy battle, stalled merger attempts, and an FTC investigation.
This social media experiment gone WILD backfired—Within a 12-month period, their stock dropped 50 percent.
This story describes John Mackey, the CEO and chairman of Whole Foods Market. Even though their acquisition of Wild Oats Market finally closed in 2007, Mackey learned some emotionally taxing lessons. And you can too.
Lesson One: Anything you say may be taken out of context, and can spread like a virus through all forms of digital media.
Lesson Two: buying into social media HYPE can test our good judgment and destroy our reputation.
It’s easy to buy into the hype, that’s true. Where can you go to get the REAL skinny on social media strategy? Right here, of course. I spent months scouring the web for pragmatic articles on the topic. Here are my Top Ten Tools to help you tame the Social Media beast:
LISA’S TOP TEN TOOLS
TO PLAN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
SIX PHASES TO LAUNCHING A SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY-Jacob Morgan
http://www.jmorganmarketing.com/rolling-out-a-social-media-strategy/
7 SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS FOR MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS – by Holly Reville of Xpressive Marketing LLC:
THE ZEN OF SOCIAL MEDIA – A must-have guidebook published by Shama Hyder
SOCIAL MEDIA CASE STUDIES – by Chris Brogan
http://delicious.com/chrisbrogan/casestudy
www.kdpaine.com – social media metrics expert
CEO’s who USE SOCIAL MEDIA – by Ragan.com
http://buzzmarketingfortech.blogspot.com/2008/12/c-level-tweeters.html
INVESTMENT TRENDS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA – Forbes Survey Results:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=107121
HOW TO JUSTIFY THE INVESTMENT IN SOCIAL MEDIA by Chris Brogan
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/get-on-the-right-side-of-the-fence/?source=HubSpot_email20090423
HOW B2B DECISION MAKERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO MAKE BUYING DECISIONS:
http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2009/02/new-research-b2.html
MASHABLE SOCIAL MEDIA CATALOG – HUNDREDS OF ARTICLES AND TOOLS:
http://mashable.com/category/business-lists/
CURRENT STATISTICS ON SMALL BUSINESS SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE – New York Times, June 2009:
http://tinyurl.com/nytimessocial
BONUS: HOW TO AVOID TAKING SOCIAL MEDIA TOO SERIOUSLY:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid271557392?bctid=18328570001
To receive a full copy of my recent presentation on “11 Ways to Avoid Social Media Hype,” please post a message here.
Copyright 2009, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.
