Studying the impact of innovation on business and society

PBS MediaShift: Social Media Marketing

Mark Glaser (@mediatwit) is the executive editor of PBS MediaShift and also the host of 5Across. MediaShift serves as the guide to the future of the digital media revolution.

Over the years, I’ve followed Glaser’s work closely. His astute observation and poignant sense of distillation and direction help his readers and viewers understand change and evolution to make more informed decisions. Recently, we discussed the landscape, market, opportunity and pitfalls, and psychology associated with sponsored tweets, paid posts, disclosure and the new guidelines proposed by the FTC.

I was both flattered and humbled when Mark invited me to join a panel of expert voices that included Cheryl Contee of Fission Strategy, Jeff Pester of Text Capital and curator of @socialmedia411, Laura Pexton of PeachPit Press, and Caleb Zigas of La Cocina on an episode of 5Across discussing Social Media Marketing.

As Mark wrote for PBS:

There’s a new series of demands being made in company meetings everywhere: “What is our social media strategy? What are we doing on Facebook and Twitter? I want followers and fans, and I want them now!”

But before companies large and small — as well as non-profits and charities — jump into social media, they need to take a deep breath and think about it. What are their goals? What kind of return on investment will they get? Even though it’s free to set up fan pages and feeds, there’s a time investment that may or may not pay off.

On this episode of 5Across, I convened a group of social media marketers and publicists who’ve had success (and mishaps) in creating campaigns on these platforms. They’ve worked with non-profits, helped street food vendors, gotten authors on Twitter, and spread viral videos on YouTube. Hear their advice on doing social media marketing right, learn how to avoid common pitfalls, and find out how to manage the expectations of clients who want popular social media channels, but don’t know why.

It’s important to remember, that the proverbial conversation defining Social Media is much bigger than any one network or any one voice. It’s the distribution of dialogue and the democratization of content creation and publishing that has equalized influence.

The resulting conversation, both on and off camera, was refreshing, informative and inspirational.

PBS 5Across Taping on Social Media - Mark GlaserMark Glaser

PBS 5Across Taping on Social Media - Cheryl Contee
Cheryl Contee

PBS 5Across Taping on Social Media - @peachpit
Laura Pexton


PBS 5Across Taping on Social Media - @streetfoodsf

Caleb Zigas

PBS 5Across Taping on Social Media - Jeff Pester @socialmedia411
Jeff Pester

Connect with Brian Solis on:
Twitter
, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Plaxo, Posterous, or Facebook

Click the image below to buy the book/poster:

13 COMMENTS ON THIS POST To “PBS MediaShift: Social Media Marketing”

  1. markglaser says:

    Great pictures, Brian! Thanks again for joining us on the episode. I think it's important to separate the hype from the reality in social media marketing, so I hope this show helped people to do that.

  2. Harriet Meth says:

    I hope everyone watches the video in its entirety. I also hope you do a follow-up on your comment about restraint being the real opportunity. The subtlety might be lost on some who are looking for the quick and ultimate big-bang from social media. Excellent post, as always. Thank you!

  3. Great clip Brian, love the photos. The show had a lot of information and totally worth watching.

  4. keithjudish says:

    Thank you for your post, this is grate information Keith Judish from http://www.247RealEstateOnline.com

  5. zuwairiaiman says:

    useful informations and great delivering. i like it very much

  6. SocialSteve says:

    Thanks for the footage – very imformative,

    Social Steve

  7. liberationiannillo says:

    Thank you for posting this.

    Watching too much TV post Thanksgiving, I have noticed that a lot of mainstream companies like Sears are now telling people to follow them on Twitter, Facebook, etc, and I just think to myself “why?!?” For me, I tend to associate Twitter, and follow people / companies on Twitter, who may not have a voice otherwise.

    I pay more attention to someone like Caleb who uses Twitter for his business than I would Sears. I saw a story on the news last night about a company that sells cupcakes from their truck here in NYC. They tweet where they are going to be throughout the day and their business is so successful because of it, they are trying to decide whether to get more trucks or open a physical location. I love hearing stories like this.

    Personally, I would rather support a local 'Mom and Pop' company with roots in my community than support another chain like Sears, Walmart, Starbucks, etc. who just want my money. I think smaller companies benefit more from Twitter because there's less skepticism. It's a way to have a one degree of separation from your customers. The communication seems more authentic. With bigger companies like Sears on Twitter, my guard is way up.

  8. Finally the digital divide topic is discussed somewhat. Would like to hear more about digital divide predictions. Where is it heading? Thank you for the great video.

  9. Finally the digital divide topic is discussed somewhat. Would like to hear more about digital divide predictions. Where is it heading? Thank you for the great video.

  10. Social media marketing benefits organizations and individuals by providing an additional channel for customer support, a means to gain customer and competitive insight, and a method of managing their reputation online. Key factors that ensure its success are its relevance to the customer, the value it provides them with and the strength of the foundation on which it is built.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join Our Mailing List

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Stay Connected