Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’
Conflicts Within Marketing, Social Media, and ERP Software
Since college I have loved ERP software. I embraced the concept of an order entry system back in 1993 when I created a tiny Lotus 123 script to enter a basic sales order. From that day on I was hooked. I mean really hooked. I fell absolutely in love with technology and could not turn back no matter how hard I tried.
After college I found a temporary position at a barcode and data collection distribution and before I knew it, I was a full-time employee running their operations. Why? Because I fell in love with the ERP system they installed three months before my arrival. That and the fact that I was one of the few employees who “got” new their ERP system. I didn’t just get it, I embraced it with my entire being. For the next three years I worked 60-80 workweeks and spent much of my time on the applicable. And while it wasn’t perfect, it helped me manage a national distributor with multiple branches and distribution centers. Again, I was in love with my job and my ERP software. To this day I miss the chaos and the challenge of fixing every operational woe with my ERP system.
Flash forward fifteen years and I’ve moved from my first college job through working ten years for an ERP developer and now I run my own Internet marketing company. The trouble is my love for marketing and ERP rarely seem to connect as much as I would like. While a VP of marketing at an ERP developer, I myself struggled with managing marketing via my ERP system. While I lived off my personalized dashboards and workbenches, I used a lot of offline processes to help manage what my beloved ERP software could not. Don’t get me wrong; I knew exactly where each lead came from, where it was at in our sales process, and how long the sales cycle should take before new business was closed. I had lead generation and tracking, but I lacked the ability to proactively manage marketing. Within my ERP software, everything I did for marketing felt reactive, which is not at all, what marketing is supposed to be.
Honestly, I don’t think I’m alone. While I doubt there are many marketing people reading this blog entry, I know they would concur with me if they did. And I don’t believe ERP developers have reached the concept of automating marketing enough to work hard at developing strong marketing content for their user community. They are side tracked with fuel surcharges, customer service needs, and compliance issues. And really, who listens to marketing people anyway? We are overhead plain and simple.
Today I received a feed from Web Strategy by Jeremiah. He was covering CRM software (aka ERP software) and the newer functionality for social media management. Yes, social media, the new darling of topics on the Internet. Social media reminds me so much of ERP software, because just like a complicated ERP system, few people get it. They think you can throw up a Facebook page or Twitter account and call it good. Not so fast. Just like an integrated ERP system, your social media accounts are fully integrated with your overall marketing campaign and search engine optimization. There are rules to follow and there are reasons why you do what you do on Twitter versus Facebook. Honestly, I think you either get it or you don’t. I always felt the same about ERP software. You need to look past your little piece of the ERP pie and you need to look into the entire pie or organization to see how your data input alters another department, process, or users. Social media is the same. Your tweet on Twitter will alter other marketing activities. Good or bad. The Twitter community is persnickety and they speak differently than Facebook or MySpace. Make a mistake and you will be ignored or blocked. Do the same in an ERP application and you’d just lose your program access.
Okay I’m running off track here a bit. I have to really question the blog entry by Jeremiah, because I truly question if the ERP developers and their programmers get social media and marketing. I question if they can truly meet the needs of marketing departments and look beyond a simple project plan, marketing budget, or lead-tracking program. Marketing, and in particular Internet marketing, is like voodoo. Hard to quantify and difficult to measure results, yet something I believe in. Okay I don’t believe in voodoo, but I did catch your attention. I do believe in successful marketing and I do believe in ERP software.
So Jeremiah, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, and Salseforce – do you really get it? Are you writing software code that your marketing department lives and breathes by or are you writing code that helps your salespeople sell your ERP software? Ask yourself the question, then ask a marketing person who understands both their functional role and your ERP software. The answer may surprise you.
Popularity Contests Take It to the Next Level With Social Media
We are all familiar with the popularity contests of high school. The idea of becoming homecoming queen or the student council president scared me as a teen, as neither were my thing. I was more quiet and into other pursuits. What is funny is now, some twenty years later, I find myself in Internet marketing and social media. What is even funnier is the fact that I didn’t gasp at the idea of Mashable’s Open Web Awards Social Media Edition popularity contest. Instead, I’d love to be nominated or win. What the heck happened to me?
Maybe I grew up or morphed into someone else. I can say my fellow high school classmates saw a new me at our twentieth class reunion. I was more outgoing, hugged everyone, and was much more “out there” than I ever was back in school. I think a major part of this is due to my profession and my persona on the Internet.
I developed this persona back in my ERP software days and have continued it now that I run my own Internet marketing company. A few years ago someone who knew me through my blog approached me at a conference. While this didn’t alarm me then, it does now. Again, didn’t want to be the queen of high school, so why do I have this urge to be the bell of the Internet? Technology. I love it and cannot get enough of it.
I love technology so much that the idea of a popularity contest intrigues me and does not haunt me. I even voted for @puremichigan and @shitmydadsays as the best social media campaign and funniest tweets. So I have changed and I think for the better. The Internet has blessed me in many ways and I think this very personal change is just an example of why I’m attached to my Mac and my wi-fi.
Twitter and Linkedin Unite in Social Matrimony
This week Twitter and Linkedin united to share status updates across their mass social media networks. I was thrilled, as I love both communities. As soon as the functionality was released, I was on my Linkedin profile attempting to unite the two applications. And for a moment, I quickly fell out of love with them and all the social ramblings they represent.
At first, the process was bug ridden and would not connect my profiles. I am fairly savvy on the computer, so I knew this was not user error. It was just a few bumps in a pretty elaborate launch. I waited a day and returned with hopes of more status updates, tweets, and social musings than I could stand. I was elated to find the bugs of launch resolved and my Linkedin and Twitter accounts are now tied together in one big social media love-fest.
My only problem is, well, me. I start chatting on Twitter and sending my comments back and forth with other Twitter peeps, only to realize this is all hitting my Linkedin profile. I received a Linkedin email from my buddy Norm that was commenting on one of my Twitter tweets. Okay, maybe I need to tone down my tweets little, but the ability to share this content is fabulous. I’m in social media heaven and the feature was just launched.
So take my warning fellow social media junkies, you need to think twice before you connect Twitter and Linkedin. If you are job searching on Linkedin, but socializing on Twitter, think twice before you connect your virtual lives.
Now that this marriage has occurred, what could be next? That would be Linkedin for your mobile device. Ah, the world of social media just continues to get better all the time.
When the Secret Service Goes After Social Media Misfits
Social media is not for everyone and the events of the last few days are a classic example of why this statement is true. Over the weekend a poll was released on Facebook that questioned the public’s desire to have someone kill President Obama. Yes, as amazing as it is, this story is true. Facebook responded quickly and shutdown both the poll and the third party application used to generate it.
While some may dismiss this as just pure silliness, it is not. It is not only a very sad display of social media usage; it is a reminder that your personal activity on the Internet has repercussions. Sometimes, social media has very long-term repercussions.
Now add in the athletes’ recent problems with their tweets on Twitter and the many cases of authorities arresting MySpace and YouTube posters for their content and you will quickly see a trend emerging. Social media adoption is rising, although the knowledge and practice of social responsibility are not.
Hopefully, the multitude of recent mishaps on social media sites will resonate with the user community and the masses will take note. You may be logging into Facebook in the privacy of your own home, but your content and your postings are very much in the public domain and governed by the laws of United States.
9/11 Remembered Through the Eyes of Social Media
I was sitting by my computer when the phone rang. My sister was calling my office in the middle of a workday, which was very odd. Did you hear was all I remember her saying and then silence – utter silence. I had not heard about the 9/11 attacks and quite frankly I almost did not believe her.
I tried to access CNN’s website, but our Internet lines were jammed with activity and my screen stood in an abyss of grayness. I was completely cut off from the world or at least this is how I felt. I remember walking quickly to our corporate cafeteria in hopes CNN was on the tiny TV that seemed to always display nothing of value. Upon my arrival I was relived to see the TV on and I stood watching, trying to get a grasp of what was transpiring. I stood in disbelief and in awe of the brutality, the loss, and the despair. I had no idea the magnitude of the events would have on our country. No one did.
While I personally was without loss, I knew of someone who did lose a loved one that day. While I did not lose a friend, loved one, or my own life – I was touched and I was forever changed. The world I knew was different. It felt no longer safe. The existence I knew, no longer was a reality. It took me a long time to recover and to return to normal and I live far away from ground zero. I can’t imagine what the day brought for those within New York and the other sites of chaos.
Today I remember this day clearly and I remember the feeling of helplessness. I remember the feeling of being cut off and without the knowledge I so deeply craved. It made me wonder what that day would have been like had 9/11 occurred in today’s high tech world. Today when Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube are information giants that spread data feeds at the speed of light. Would we be better or worse off with this technology? Would our Blackberries and text messages help or hinder us?
I wonder if real news would stream from these sites quickly or would panic erupt inside an electronic cloud of misinformation and self-induced chaos. I don’t have a good answer for it. I suspect we would see positives and negatives from our new obsession with social media. And while I welcome the positive aspects of life confirmations, snippets of hope, and stories of survival, I also dread the idea of those Internet lurkers and cave dwellers who might have used social media to exploit others with their own twisted versions of reality.
For the first time I am fearful of social media and what it brings to society. And why I am momentarily concerned for the future of this medium, I am also thankful for the country in which I live, the people that united in post 9/11 efforts, and the nation that became stronger and safer than it was in years past.
For all of those who lost their lives in 9/11 and for all of those who lost someone, you are remembered.
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