Social media etiquette - and a prediction

First, the prediction.

I've been through at least a dozen high-tech media cycles, and the pattern is always the same. In fact, I'm pretty sure my husband and I invented the term "hockey stick" way back in 1995, to describe the over-hyped growth pattern that occurs as part of the rapid adoption process. I wrote a story about it in the newsletter I published back then, Marketing Technology.

Here we are again, riding on another hockey stick. This time it's social media. And here is what I predict will happen, because it happens every single time.

Technology that actually gets assimilated into our society always does it in 5 phases, as shown on this chart. We're somewhere on the Hockey Stick Ascent right now. Just how high we are, and how far from the peak we are, is anybody's guess.

Analysts get paid a lot of money to answer that question, and they are almost always wrong. I do think that this ascent will be faster and higher than any before it, because the hype is being fed by the very people using the social media tools. Everyone is a publisher now.

Technology that doesn't get assimilated never really goes through the Hockey Stick Ascent. The media pays a little attention to it, but it never goes viral. An example is the CueCat, a portable bar code reader that you were supposed to plug into your computer, then pass it over a barcode on an ad or product package. That swipe would cause your browser to go to a special URL.

Why go to all that trouble, when all you had to do was type the URL into your browser? And who wanted to be tracked like that by advertisers? Nobody. How did that device help customers? It didn't. Which is exactly why it never took off.

The world wide web, on the other hand, was assimilated. It went through its own hype-fed hockey-stick phase, breathlessly fueled by pundits and profiteers. We all know what happened, because the failure of the over-funded dot-coms was the first high-tech assimilation that broke beyond the boundaries of Silicon Valley (where I had seen this pattern so many times before), and affected nearly everyone.

The world wide web was ultimately assimilated because it is useful to customers. It helps them achieve their goals. They use it to learn new things. They use it to do their pre-purchase research. They can try on clothing, virtually, while sitting in their home. They can read what other people think of that hotel where they were thinking of staying, or a book they are thinking of buying. It took the control of information away from the few and gave it to the many. Even the least-technical people now turn to the Internet for the latest news.

Social media will be assimilated

Please note that when a technology goes through its climb to the Media Mania Peak, and its fall back to more realistic levels, the adoption by customers continues its slow, steady growth path. No matter how many businesses jump on board, in the hopes of capturing some of those customers, customers will do what they always do. They will only pay attention to those who help them, and they will avoid the rest.

In other words, those who jump on board to "get rich quick" are going to be disappointed. Hype is not the same as sales.

The good news for all those twittering is that social media is here to stay. Social media will be assimilated.

The photo-oriented Facebook model gives people of all ages, from all walks of life, a convenient way to connect with friends, family, and other like-minded folks anywhere in the world.

Short-message social media, such as Twitter, gives consumers an easy way to pass ideas around, connect with friends and associates, and send their preferences and complaints directly to the people inside companies who have set themselves up specifically to "listen" for tweets related to their company, and respond to them. An example? Check out @HyattConcierge. This is all to the good. There is value here.

Of course, Twitter is a great vehicle to increase your own visibility and value, a fact that hasn't been lost on thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs and managers of larger, progressive companies.

There's a line, though, as there is in all interactions. There was a line with email (which defines the difference between welcome email and spam), and there is a line with social media.

Cross the line, and you will lose the trust of the very people you hope to attract. Which brings us to social media etiquette.

Where's the line in social media?

If you want to actually end up with customers, and build a solid business for the long term, you really can't cross the line. I think of the line as defined by three core values: Truth, Courtesy, and Unselfishness.

1) Truth: Whatever you do, what ever you say, it should be true. Don't make promises you can't keep. Remember the "Zhivago Branding Mantra":

Branding is the promise that you make.
Your brand is the promise that you keep.

 Your word-of-mouth reputation will be based on the promises you keep - or break. Whatever you do, be truthful. Don't try to fake things or hide things. You will be outed, in this transparent age. And once that happens, people will shun you and caution others to stay away.

2) Courtesy: While it seems really, really cool to behave like a punk, if you actually want customers to do business with you, you'll have to treat them in a very unpunky way. The only punks who make a lot of money are those who entertain other punks. If you're selling anything else to anyone else, you'll have to think and behave more like a Boy Scout. No one wants to do business with a jerk. Not even other jerks, ironically.

3) Unselfishness: Tweet others the way you'd like to be tweeted. When someone new follows me, I go to their Twitter page and take a look. I don't follow those who are all about selling, all the time. Every one of their tweets is for their own benefit - "Make money while you sleep with this new affiliate program!" Or, none of their tweets would add any value to my day: "Just watched Seinfeld and Oprah. Pigged out on Haagen-Dazs!"

Twitter is fast becoming a cross between LinkedIn and FaceBook (more personal than LinkedIn, but not as personal as FaceBook). Find ways to send interesting, helpful tweets out, whether you create them yourself or retweet. And keep the "quotes from famous people" to a minimum. That gets boring, too.

The money is going to be where your customers are. Your customers will be attracted to things that help them achieve THEIR goals.

Those who fill the Twitterwaves with "I just got back from walking my dog," and "Why aren't more people following me?" are not going to end up with a revenue stream from their tweets. It won't even help them get followers. On the other hand, if you pass along helpful information, those who find that information useful will appreciate you, as well.

I like Twitter. I've gotten some great info from those I follow, and it's been fun to get involved. I got into the Twitter game a late, because we were sailing our boat home from South Africa when it really took off. But even now, I'm taking my time building my Twitter base, on purpose. I'm in it for the long haul. I don't feel any need to be followed by people who really can't benefit from the work that I do, nor those who really aren't interested in the same things I'm interested in.

I also refuse to resort to "gaming the system." There are always methods available to cheat when these new marketing technologies come along, and I just won't do it. I'd rather have 1,000 followers that I "earned" with valuable content over time than 10,000 followers that I "bought" in a month.

Which brings me to my last point about Twitter - and all the other social media. If you're trying to figure out where the money is, remember that nice, steady Customer Adoption slope. The money is where the customers are, and the customers only go where they can find solutions to problems they're trying to solve.

So while "SoMe" (such an apt acronym!) is fascinating because it's all about "me," that's not where revenue comes from.

Revenue doesn't come from self-adulation, at least in all businesses except show business. Revenue for the rest of us comes from figuring out how we can help other people. Social media is no exception to that basic revenue-growth truth. That will be true while the hype builds to its crescendo at Media Mania Peak, and it will be true after the hype subsides and SoMe finds its logical place in the marketing mix.