Again, Steve, I agree with your remarks. The successful business people using Twitter and Facebook are the ones who keep tweeting, and keep posting, very loudly and often.

And, just a little more than that, they come across as real people. Their postings aren’t Corporate PR scripts (like Taco John’s response to the #tacotuesday drama), nor are they replacements for paid 30-second spots on TV and Radio. They are speaking from the heart.

Also, I’d like to also recognize Gale Van Campen of Cabana Bob’s Tiki Hut, EdnasDoor, and Chef Bruce Rineheart of Rococo. They do a great job of promoting their busineses using Twitter.

Who said that success using social media for marketing is easy? Just like any other strategic marketing effort, it requires an investment of time and a clear direction.

To your point about it not being social media that is boosting the business, but the business personalities themselves, I would say that most people who don’t succeed in social media are missing the point. It will never replace standard good business practices, customer service, etc. Successful social media practitioners are not suggesting that you should replace your normal day to day operations with social media instead. Social media is simply a tool to help supplement and enhance a good business model. The fantastic thing about social media as a marketing tool is that it puts these personalities in front of a wider, more accessible audience, many of whom would not hear the message coming from the personalities if it were not for social media.

Lastly, look at what social media has done for your particular brand. I had never heard of you until today, when a follower of mine tweeted this particular blog post. And now, here I am reading your blog post and interacting. Social media made this possible.

I’m not dismissing social media as a tool. But I am questioning whether Iguana, Big Truck, Coop Ale and the others named by John would have had the same success by using hired guns – something we’re seeing promoted over and over right now by people pointing out these success stories without delving into how they had to pull it off with their own personalities, their own pull, and they didn’t use hired guns.

as opposed to, say, the advantages of advertising in a newspaper?

The landscape has changed so much that I don’t think there’s anyway possible the old methods of paying big bucks for traditional PR and advertising would do the trick for a business in the way it have even as recently as the early 2000s.

A fairly stunning number I came across recently is 600. That is, 600 advertising messages is the average each of us see every day – that’s a grand total of 219,000 per year (yikes!)

Consequently, we have to have some way of curating our consumer choices, from buying toothpaste to the places we dine, or the result would be total paralysis based on the obscene amount of choice each of us has with every single product imaginable.

Enter social media – or rather, as I like to think of it – the atomization of the Internet. Everyone has a megaphone, which allows us to rely on a digital network of friends, family, and broader contacts within the community to curate our consumer habits and choices.

Counter-intuitively, we use digital tools to connect on an emotional level with brands, and establish authenticity in a way for which traditional PR and advertising doesn’t allow.

I’m not sure exactly why that is, or how it’s all going to play out, but based on the rate of change, I think we can expect more of this in the coming years – and add into the mix billons of everyday devices gaining an internet presence (conservative estimates over the next five years) and it creates an interesting time to live in for us all.

Social media functions just as a large public “room”. The socially awkward will stand in a corner and do nothing and claim everyone else in the room is lame but the communicators in the room will talk in the center and whoever wants to listen will listen. I don’t think that concept is going away.

Will the communicators in the room “change clothes” out of Twitter and Facebook and into the new clothes of whatever popular social media outlet is available? Of course. That doesn’t mean social media is dying…sometimes you just want some new clothes.

I don’t “think big bucks are to be made with social media, either through seminars or representing clients on Twitter and Facebook” like you claim. I do, however, think social media gives me a free pass into “that room” to join the conversations…or just choose to sit in the corner…either way, people are now privy to conversations they never could of had, and that sense of curiosity will never die.

Every single person/business you and John mentioned have another thing in common: they are peddling food/beverage. If you already make a great beer, tasty enchiladas, or have a fun and popular hangout, it’s much easier to connect with people. Nearly everybody is emotionally connected to their belly. They all have to eat/drink every day, and most enjoy it as much as just about anything they do. Show me a local dry cleaners or a local office supply store experiencing “huge success stories” with their social media efforts. I doubt that you can. Maybe they are the ones who would benefit from professional assistance, or maybe they shouldn’t spend much time, money and effort on it to begin with. I’m not really making a point, it’s just an observation.

Interesting points, Gene. But Collected Thread and DNA Galleries do ok – obviously both are located in the Plaza District, which has a great overall social media operation. I believe they too are operated by the owners, with no “experts” in the mix. And the Red Dirt Emporium has over 3,000 fans for its Facebook – and I’m aware much of that following was built up by co-owner, operator Chad Huntington. I guess what I’m saying is business owners, don’t miss the overall lesson to be gained from the success stories described in this post: no expert, no consultant, no hired gun has emerged as the the magic behind any of these successful social media strategies. If you want to get a good following, the best shot seems to come from someone who is emotionally tied to the business being promoted.

It’s about authenticity.

“I guess what I’m saying is business owners, don’t miss the overall lesson to be gained from the success stories described in this post: no expert, no consultant, no hired gun has emerged as the the magic behind any of these successful social media strategies. If you want to get a good following, the best shot seems to come from someone who is emotionally tied to the business being promoted.” -Steve

So are you saying that social media will NOT die because it will NOT need “hired guns” to continue? Seems like if everyone does it on their own then it should grow even more…right? I completely agree with your last comment.

This is spot on. Social media is nothing more than the medium for communication. It’s a public medium, allowing you fast access, tremendous reach and a ton of opportunity, but it’s just the medium. The perception is that Twitter made the Big Trucks/Iguanas/Coops successful, when really all Twitter did was give motivated, passionate, capable people easier access to their target. Simple enough.

Casey, you are correct. I’ve never indicated I think social media will die – even when I was most reluctant to embrace it. Do I think Twitter is sustainable? No, I don’t – I suspect it will have to change quite a bit to avoid becoming the next flame-out (See: MySpace. Vince and Kris pretty much have my thoughts nailed – Casey, you and fellow public relations practitioners are unlikely to make great fortunes and create new business models based on social media alone. It’s just another tool, and based on local success stories to date, it’s a tool best employed by the actual business owner or operator and not a hired gun. When the whole “bone” incident occurred with Big Truck Tacos, some observers suggested they had a teenage employee running the account. But those who know the “twins” would have (correctly) assumed the culprit on the keyboard was none other than (tall twin) Cally Johnson.

“Casey, you and fellow public relations practitioners are unlikely to make great fortunes and create new business models based on social media alone”

This is not news to me. My firm was one of the few that didn’t try to hire a “specialist” and instead our entire firm aimed at embracing it individually, which I think we all have done quite nicely. (@CaseyCornett, @SamSims, @JMHarlow)

Good point Casey. Though you’ve been very shy at this whole social media thing…
(this is an inside joke between friends involving jaded reporter upholding a long-standing tradition of taunting the public relations professional)

You can usually replace “social media expert” with “fraud” or “waste of money.” Any company paying big bucks to someone to tweet for a living is getting ripped off.

Without Twitter, we would not have the #CaseyCornett Dog. And that’s just sad. Without Twitter, I would not be able to entertain people with my wiener. That’s sad too. I love Twitter, HOT DOGS & OKC! ps. I hired my Great Grand Mother to tweet.

ps. Thank You John “Radar” for the Shoutout!