Why Social Media is like Parenting

For those that have been following me on Twitter or reading this blog or just know me in general, you've probably heard me complain about the state of social media. I've been talking about how the "conversation" is not going anywhere and how it's time that "experts" start showing the world real uses of social media and product innovation like mobile apps for insurance agents (as an odd, but doable, example).

All this "talk" about the space has me thinking about how B2B companies, big consumer brands, mid-tier market players and non-profits the like can use Twitter, Facebook, Ustream, Qik, Plurk, Flickr, etc. for real and tangible interactions with their audiences - interactions that sell products, support a cause or raise money (which ever the case may be).

As I've struggled with a post on this very topic - a post with real examples of success, how-to's, etc. - I started to think about how social media is like parenting.

As a blue collar-type guy working in a white collar business, I consider myself a no non-sense thinker. I'm not going to write 700 words that will blow your socks off. I'm not going to write something so heady that it'll take you three reads to digest. I'm going to give it to you raw. And, for those that know me or follow me on Twitter or read this blog know, my first priority in life is my family.

With all that said, the wait is over, here's why I think social media is like parenting:

When you find out you're going to be a parent (in most cases), there's this wave of jubilation that crashes over you. You experience excitement and nervousness all at the same time. It's the unknown, but something that you're eager to experience. Social media is the same way. Companies are excited about using available technologies to engage with their audiences but have no clue how things will turn out. It is still the great unknown.

When the baby is born, you are sent on an emotional roller coaster. You are overwhelmed with the responsibility of taking care of another human being - feeding them, bathing them, ensuring they get enough sleep, take them to the doctor, etc. You are constantly monitoring their progress and are amazed at all the little things you notice: how they grasp your fingers; how they look when they sleep; how they scream in the middle of the night and you don't want to get up. Social media is all about discovery. Companies and organizations have a plethora of tools at their disposal, but really don't know how their audiences will react once they are engaged. Companies and organizations should constantly monitor how their program is working; what their audiences are saying about their brand; how their audiences are embracing or not embracing the "conversation." The process is forever evolving and companies and organizations need to be nimble and quick to react to changes beyond their control.

Once you think you have this parenting thing down, your son or daughter starts to crawl. No longer can you sit on the couch with the baby in one hand and a beer in another. The kid is on the move. You have to kid proof the house and make sure he or she can't snatch anything off a table that they could choke on or break. Luckily enough, you're quicker than the baby at this point so you can be prepared, sorta. Then the baby starts to walk and you find yourself constantly chasing after him or her. At this point, the kid is mobile and there's no stopping them. They want to get into everything, all the time. Social media is similar to this stage of parenting because just when you think you have your program running like a well oiled machine and all your ducks are in a row, it can blow up in your face. See the Motrin Moms case study as an example. Lesson learned here is that companies and organizations need to be prepared for the worst case scenario with all social media campaigns. Whether it's a technical or content issue, good crisis preparation and constant monitoring are keys to success. In the case of a crisis, quick strategic actions are needed to ensure the fire is put out quickly and mending can start immediately so the existence of the program is not jeopardized.

With parenting comes great rewards. The best part of my day is when I come home from work and I open the garage door. At the top of the stairs are my two girls who are beyond excited to see me. The feeling I get with that reception is something I will never forget and something that motivates me to work harder and provide everything humanly possible that my family needs and wants. With social media, the rewards are very high. Today's media landscape is such that a mommy blogger can have as big of an impact on a brand as a front page Wall Street Journal article. If executed in the right way, companies and organizations will receive a wave of support from brand evangelists who in essence will spread good will amongst your core audience. Basically, social media can fuel the fires of change in basically any corporate or non-profit environment.

Finally, as a parent you wonder how your kids will turn out as they get older. You wonder if they will do well in school. You wonder if they will get into good colleges. You wonder what career path they will choose. You wonder if they will be successful and have a family of their own. It's THE big unknown. Social media is the communications unknown. Where is this space really heading? Will Twitter ever mainstream like mobile banking? Will the investments you make up front pay off in the long run? There are just no answers, just more questions.


As you strategize about what your company or organization wants to do in the social media space, think about tangible, measurable strategies - like crawling then walking. Don't announce that you're going to be on Twitter or launching a Facebook group. How are you going to use it as it relates to your business model? What's the strategy behind it? What are you looking to get out of its use and how are you going to measure it? How will you continue to mold it so it's continuously of interest to your audience (keeping in mind the short attention span of online audiences).

Let's move the "conversation" to "conver-actions." It's time to stop the talking and time to start acting.

So you might say, "great post Don, but you're basically saying the same thing as everyone else is - all talk, no action." Well, you're right...for now. Stay tuned to the PR Finish Line - the work-related blog I write for - as we'll be rolling out something on this very topic: an actionable, tangible point of view on cause marketing with a social media slant that really can help companies and organizations move the needle.) Read more!

Who is going to "own" social media in 2009?

Doing a little social media reading this morning and I came across a post that outlines who is going to take control of social media in 2009.

The four groups that are said to have an opportunity to control social are (grossly going to summarize here):

Advertising - they create tons of content that is viewed by millions and can have a huge impact on brand awareness, ad reps should control social media.

Digital - because social media is ALL online, the gear heads should control social media.

Public Relations - PRs help clients yap to their audiences so the PRs should control social media because it's all about the "conversation."

Client - in the end, the other three are working on behalf of the client, the client should own the conversation. consumers want to interact with the brand, not the Ad/Digital/PR hacks.

All great thinking here. However, there's one group that's missing and is THE most important - the audience.

At the end of the day, content is created for consumers. At the end of the day, if you're a mommy blogger, a hard working dad, an entrepreneur or a c-suite type, you're a consumer. Social media content IS created for the consumer. Consumers drive brand loyalty. Consumers can smash the marketing dreams of a client with a popular blog post. Consumers create and maintain the "buzz." Consumers are in the drivers seat and will be in control of social media in 2009.

The question is, however, how to ad/digital/pr/clients plug into the consumer control?

Well, here's my two-cent opinion:

Advertising: Consumers know what they want and don't want to be talked to. Advertising will have to plug into this mentality and reinforce what consumers want - an affirmation or reinforcement. Rarely will consumers make a purchase decision based on advertising alone.

Digital: These are the gear heads creating all the cool content on the web. They will be creating and launching the tools for which the message will be delivered - widgets, blogs, micro-sites, video, etc.

PR: Us PRs will help develop what the key messages are. We will continue to evaluate the message and if it's resonating with consumers and help clients stay above the curve, driving the conversation.

Clients: Clients will control the other three groups because they have the budget. They will rely on the other three groups for guidance, but will have some good opinions as to execution because they are starting to get more in-tune with the entire social media scene. They will also remain hesitant because social media is still the wild wild west. They will need good advice and real case studies to help them make purchasing decisions.

At the end of the day, the four groups will have to work in-sync in order to meet the content needs of consumers. Additionally, these groups will band together to propose new ideas, new products and new "conversations" that will be tested against needs of consumers. It'll be like a rolling focus group, but instead of 50 people in two groups, it'll be billions of people, everyday, all day...always changing, always being tweaked.

There will be more FAIL concepts in 2009 than WIN concepts. However, those that WIN, will be big because they will rise to the top of the convo clutter and really engage consumers and activate them. They will take off like the popularity of Facebook in the last half of 2008.

It will be an exciting year for consumers on the social media scene. The four groups mentioned above will be at the mercy of consumers, a group that can crush a brand in 140 characters or less.

Just my $.02. What do you think? Read more!

Looking back at ESPN expert pics for Celtics Lakers series

The Celtics are on the verge of claiming their 17th championship. I've been around for five of them, I really only remember two of them though (early 80s). So it's been a long drought since then and it makes me smile when I look back at "expert" picks before this series started.

All but one of the ESPN "experts" picked the Lakers. Goes to show you that no one is really an expert at sports. Yea, maybe these folks have a little more inside knowledge about the players and the game, but at the end of the day, the players still have to PLAY the game. What we see on TV is what they see in person. That's what we judge our opinions on.

People who know me will tell you that I've said Celtics in 6. I've predicted each outcome of the series (not the huge come back win, but a win nonetheless in game 4).

Maybe ESPN should hire me.

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Difference between Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe

As the NBA Finals roll on, you folks will start to see my dislike for Dan Shaughnessy and why Bob Ryan "gets it." Check out the recaps of last nights game three loss to the Lakers from each.


Yea, Bob is a homer. He loves the Celtics, but he tells it like it is. Basically that the Lakers should have beaten us by more points last night and that the C's were very close to stealing this game.


Danny boy basically takes the angle of we blew it. Our best chance of stomping the Lakers was with a game three win to go up 3-0. But no, they couldn't pull it off. God knows what's going to happen now - is the message I'm getting from him.

I wish Danny boy would take a buy-out and start writing for the NY Post or something. Moron. Read more!

For the most part, Dan Shaughnessy pisses me off, but today he got it right

Sports columnists are the worst type of journalist. They can have you carrying the rally cry one day and ripping your heart out in pain the next. For me, Dan Shaughnessy typically is a half empty sort of columnist. He's the, "now that I've read this, I want to jump off the Tobin Bridge" type of columnist. I am convinced that he coined the terms, "It's over," and "Wait 'till next year" as they relate to the Red Sox (prior to 2004 of

I swore I saw some pigs flying this morning or heard a report that hell froze over because in today's paper, Mr. Dan has a column that's right on the money. It's a great piece of writing and is one of those stories that encapsulates a big sporting event like the NBA Finals without actually talking about the details of a game or player profiles.

I must admit, I do question whether or not he was actually in Faneuil Hall that late at night/early in the a.m. (never mind talking to the ghost of Red Auerbach).

There would be less people jumping off the Tobin and having mental breakdowns if Mr. Dan conjure up more of these types of stories where he truly showcases his writing talents.



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Pats OL Kaczur: Poppin' Pills, Getting Busted, DEA Informant?

So the crap keeps hitting the fan for the Patriots. Globe breaks a story in this mornings paper about Starting New England Patriots offensive lineman Nicholas Kaczur being arrested in April on a charge of illegal possession of prescription painkillers. Then apparently, big boy secretly cooperated with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in a sting operation that resulted in the indictment of his alleged drug supplier.

Great. Let's add this to the pile of cow dung that's starting to stink up the organization.

In no random order, the Pats seemingly invincible has been pierced with stories such as spy gate, HGH and Cheech and Chong. Oh yea, don't forget about that almost 19-0 thing.

If any organization needs a little PR love in terms of its reputation, it might just be the Pats. Read more!

Hazel Mae to go bye bye

Seems as if Ms. Hazel Mae will be leaving NESN. For those of you who don't know, Hazel is the anchor for the network that covers the Red Sox and Bruins. She's quite the looker. In fact, I know one heart that is probably broken over the news.

I know my father-in-law will be crushed, He calls her Sexy Mae, which always freaks out my wife, but hey, he's a guy. Can't blame him. She's good looking AND she knows a lot about the Sox.

Bonus.


Mae is the second broadcast chickie to bounce from NESN as of late. Former sideline reporter Tina Cervasio (who looked much better on TV than she does in person) left before the season started.

Now we have Heidi Watley on the sideline. She's also a looker.

Seeing a theme here? The powers that be at NESN are no fools. Let's put decent looking ladies on the tube during the Sox games because 90% of those who are watching are guys. This way, the won't tune out during breaks, which hopefully will mean they will stay engaged with the station so our advertisers will get some exposure.

Well, good luck Hazel. Can't wait to see who NESN drags in next. Read more!

Dan Gillis RIP

Legendary Boston sportscaster and pioneer, Don Gillis died at the age of 85. He was the first sports anchor in this market and set the tone for others who have come after him. A true pioneer.

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