Commonsense advice on Twitter and Facebook from the highly talented Ian Denny

My friend Ian Denny turned 40 last Friday. I wasn’t able to go to the party in Liverpool – which surely saved me a train fare and a life-threatening hangover.

However, I predict his life is about to begin, as he is one of the smartest people I know; a highly imaginative copywriter with far more ideas than he knows what to do with.

 

Yesterday he sent something that rang enough bells to fill a cathedral belfry. I’ve edited it slightly, but the suggestion that Facebook is like a giant pub is brilliantly perceptive.

Just had to share this annoyance with someone! I find Facebook gets me lots of business and I’m too busy to figure out whether Twitter etc. work.

I just get annoyed being asked to become friends of something as dull as a CCTV camera supplier.

 

I can get to know John Smith who happens to supply CCTV cameras, and if I ever need one, I’ll buy one from John. But not i-Security, Liverpool.

I don’t fancy going to the pub to watch the match and have a pint with i-Security Liverpool. I may pop along with John though.

Anyway, I’m sure when the social media gurus eventually create some REAL rules, they may be something along these lines:

1) Make sure you use a real person’s name when creating a Facebook presence. I just cannot relate to a logo or silly name. I find people far more interesting.

2) I’m sure somebody will give a load of money-making reasons why people may relate more to a brand. But I don’t feel like talking to a brand unless I want to complain.

 

Do I buy from a brand? I do. But I’d much rather buy from a person. And on Facebook, I’m more interested in hearing from people – even when they’re pitching something.

3) Social media like Facebook reflect real-life. People buy people. But not always instantly. It’s about building rapport first.

4) Facebook is like a huge pub. Full of people. All listening, watching and making judgements. Some very loud and controversial characters do well from a noisy approach. It reflects their business and personality. Be yourself. But don’t get pissed, dance on the tables for all to see. Unless of course your business benefits from being loud and brash!

 

But in some lines of work, it simply isn’t appropriate to be like that. Reflect your audience, but don’t be completely dull and stale.

5) Post personal updates. It shouldn’t always be about work. It should be opinion. It should be about football. Politics. A funny incident while walking the dog that morning. Anything that you would normally say to people if you were chatting face-to-face.

 

Mundane stuff which many gurus are bound to frown upon like “Had a BLT for lunch – delicious” may still get replies and build rapport, even though it’s actually rather a dull thing to say. There’s a subtle line to draw.

Personally, an awful lot of what I now do is underpinned by Facebook. It develops relationships. People attend the events I do as a result. Those people buy other stuff I do after they’ve been to an event – not always immediately.

Some who have become Facebook friends AFTER first meeting them have become customers afterwards. And without Facebook, I doubt that would have happened.

Out of interest, what’s on your list? Am I right?

Has anyone proved yet that Twitter works? Am I alone noticing that Facebook complements other DM activity?

I agree with every word of that. Facebook does complement other activity. Within reason I think the more relevant media you use, the better you will do, as they create synergy. One of my clients just had a record month in the middle of this dire recession – or slump, which is the right word – because of this.

 
At my EADIM event here in London last year we managed to get Lucy Stafford, MD of WPP’s Mindshare, to do a presentation which covered this very subject – and quite a few others.
 
Since I drafted this, someone wrote saying they could do amazing things for me via Twitter. So I’ve invited him to have a go.
 
If he accepts the challenge. I will feature his progress, so we can all learn.
 
Lastly, thanks to the 279 people who signed up at ludicrously short notice for my webinar yesterday. Not all of you made it, but judging by the comments you loved it.
 
I did record it, and will be doing regular ones for AskDrayton members.
 

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

4 Comments

  1. I agree with the Pub analogy. I often tell people that Twitter is like a house party. You wouldn't go to a house party and walk up to a person you haven't met yet and say – “The TRUMP network is changing lives. The revolution has begun!” So why do it on twitter!?

    But if you interact, share and provide value (just like you would at a house party) – it's amazing what you can create.

    Great stuff Drayton!

  2. draytonbird

    Nice one, Todd. Trump certainly changed the lives of anyone dumb enough to invest with him.

  3. Steve Gibson

    I enjoyed the webinar yesterday.

    I happened to pick up a copy of the Metro today and there was an ad (next to a photo of that ghastly windbag, Germaine Greer) that caught my attention.

    It had a picture of the back of a football shirt.

    The shirt had a number 7 and the words (above and below the number, like a name) “RAISE A PRO FOOTBALLER”.

    The copy starts…

    “He's only 2 but he can kick the ball at least a metre. Before long he's playing for Barcelona, modelling on billboards and in need of family grounding. He buys a street, gives you a mansion…”

    Can anyone guess what it was selling?

    (Answer in the P.S. below)

    Steve

    P.S. The copy goes on to say…

    “He buys a street, gives you a mansion and you never have to worry about money again.

    But just in case…

    … maybe your pension plans need a reality check

    Visit: getarealitycheck.co.uk”

    The advertiser is Standard Life.

    I happened to work for their marketing department very briefly and a very long time ago.

    Those were simpler days and good advice about direct marketing was far harder to find. So, I'd assumed they would have upped their game considerably over the last 15 years.

    Clearly not. Maybe their head of marketing needs a “reality check”.

  4. Jared McCarthy

    Drayton,
    You mentioned that you recorded the webinar. Where might one find this?

    Thank you from Omaha, Nebraska, USA

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