It is time for high tech to get involved in Social Media. Even with the millions of people on Facebook, twitter, etc., there is a very small number of high tech companies joining the conversation. It's not easy convincing these companies to get involve though - kind of a catch22 going on. Other companies are not on Twitter for instance, so companies don't want to waste time talking to no one. Someone has to bite the bullet and start an industry trend, but no one wants to be first - and alone.

After putting much thought into this for the industry that I know best, fiberoptics, I have decided that Twitter is the place to be. OK - let me back up a bit. I guess I should clarify that I think all businesses should have a profile on LinkedIn and be active there, but I'm pushing for a high tech Twitter movement.

Here is my thinking. High Tech does not (in general) see much need for the social aspect of Twitter, but they can be well served by using it to share information. For many of us involved with twitter, one of the most useful aspects is how easy it is to find articles about things that interest us. We follow people and keywords that are relevant to what we want to read about and learn and are rewarded daily with snippets of information and links that prove to be helpful. This, I believe, is the key to social media engagement for tech industries. 

The Proposal:
  -Every industry has a trade association, a few industry news websites and even some local chapters/sub-chapters of associations. Start there. These organizations need to get active with twitter - posting industry news and info.
  -Associations with member mailing lists need to email their members with a call to get engaged and share their knowledge and product information.
  -Make a plan. Who will post for your company? What type of things will you tweet about? Don't just sell - engage. Post info about what you offer, but balance it with industry news and general info that your potential customers may find informative. Make a plan for addressing complaints or nasty posts that may crop up. Monitor your business name and keywords.
  -Set up your Twitter account and search out a few people to follow - look for customers, vendors, competitors, trade associations, industry news sites...
  -Make sure to put a link to your twitter on your website.
  -Send an email to your customers and vendors announcing your twitter address and encouraging them to join the conversation. Tell them what type of information you plan to post.
  -Now engage! Use one of the many sites that help manage your social media info if you find that helpful. I use HootSuite, but you can use Tweetdeck, Tweetizen or many other sites.
  -Remember, this is still "Social", so send thank you notes to new followers, follow some of the people who follow you, retweet interesting posts, acknowledge people who retweet you.

That's it - go for it. Don't give up or get discouraged. It takes time to build a following. You will not have 100 followers in a week - or even a month. But, if you follow the plan and keep at it, you will suddenly realize that people are following and engaging and you are seeing posts with links to good information... It's all good!

What do you do about socal media when you are part of an industry that has not embraced it?

This is my current dilemna. Having worked in the fiberoptics industry for many years, I have been approached by Marketing Directors of small FO companies, asking "Why should I have a Facebook page?" or "How can I justify the cost of setting up and maintaining a Twitter account or a blog...?" Since I am a true believer in the power of Social Media Marketing and feel it is here to stay (will evolve, but won't go away), I can generally give good information and examples of how SM can help a company.

But... here it comes... it is difficult to convince companies that this is worthwhile when other companies from their industry are not active in social media. Who is a small fiberoptic company going to reach if other companies and potential customers are not engaged? It's not just fiberoptics. There are many industries out there that are not involved in social media widely enough to attract a good number of companies to join in.

So, how do we solve this problem? I can't say for sure what will work, but relative to the industry I have been involved in the most, I am proposing the following:

Start with industry groups and news outlets - they are generally involved in social media at least a bit and they have mailing lists. See if they will send a call out to their members/readers to get active and help to build a useful online community.

Find the few from the industry who are active (there are generally a handful from any industry trying things out) and reach out to them to contact their customers/vendors and encourage engagement.

Encourage industry trade shows to bring in at least 1 speaker on social media marketing to inform and encourage companies to engage and to share some much desired statistics,...

I can't say for sure that this will have the desired effect, but it's worth a try. I'm off to put together a nice note to send out to some news and trade associations to see if I can jump start this.  I'll let you know in a few months if I make any headway in the Fiber Optics market and we can take it from there!

I was at a business dinner a couple of weeks ago with a group from the New England Fiberoptic Council (NEFC). After a lot of chit chat around our table about the changes in our industry over the last 30 years, we listened to talk about FTTH (fiber to the home). It was a bit long, but interesting to most in the room. As we wrapped up and started saying our goodbyes, one of the gentlemen at my table approached me. I was ready to offer my hand to say "It was nice to meet you..." when he said "Tell me why my company needs to be involved in Social Meda. And how will we benefit?" Wow, I just wanted to say goodbye and go home!

Actually, anyone who knows me does not believe that last line! So, we engaged in a lively discussion about the importance of social media today. He was very stuck on the idea of Facebook and how a company like his (small company doing specialty optics stuff) could not possibly find Facebook to be anything but a waste of time. It struck me a bit odd that his whole view of social media centered around Facebook. He admitted that he really did not know much about it, but he just did not get it. Obviously!

So, I offered up a few thoughts about other things that may be more worthwhile for his type of business. Perhaps a blog to show expertise and develop a following, make a few videos showing some applications for his products, get involved with Linkedin, look at Twitter to see if some of his keywords are being discussed... He did not seem moved! So, it was late and we left it there. I offered to send him an email with a bit of data about B2B social media successes and a few more thoughts on what might be right for his business in particular.

Fast forward 2 weeks and we have now gone back and forth several times in an email conversation. I have made him think about this more and he has pushed back, citing the Target boycott ordeal on Facebook. I reminded him that people can post negative things on the internet whether or not you have a presence in Social Media, so you might want to engage and monitor - at least you will be able to respond. He has not been convinced that any of it is worthwhile to spend time doing, but he has engaged - even discussed it with his daughter in college who happens to be creating a FB page for a company as part of her part-time job. A little ironic, eh?! 

I have to say that he does have reason to doubt the effectiveness of social media for his business in particular. The fiberoptics industry has been slow to adopt social media as part of their marketing strategy. When you have an industry that, in general, is not on board, there are not many people to engage with online. So, I am joining the NEFC as a board member soon and I'm on a mission to change that. It's time for this high tech, fast moving industry to see the positive side of engagement. Every industry needs to have a good presence in social media (for B2B companies) otherwise, maybe it is a waste of time. Oh my! Did I really say that?!