Jun 16

Written by:
6/16/2009 

It starts when the alarm clock goes off in the morning.

Radio.

It continues, perhaps, with the click of a few buttons and some news headlines from a familiar face.

Television.

For a declining number of Americans, it might continue with a scan of the front page and perhaps some sports headlines.

Newsprint.

On the daily commute, the barrage continues with billboards, radio, text, mobile phone calls, bus shelter signs, bus stop benches, and the list continues.  And that's before the inevitable wiggle of the mouse to bring a computer monitor alive.

The science for rising above the fray is very well documented in textbooks and blogs all over the universe. Target your audience, tailor your message, pick your medium, and winnow the crowd down to the people that care.

In 2009, the key to all of this comes down to one word: authenticity.  The age of social media and the empowerment of the end user to affect and control the message has almost forced individuals and companies to throw away the talking and copy points and get real with the people. 

Sitting in a chair and telling your staff "we need a Twitter account" and asking "so...who wants to run the facebook page?" is a pretty important step, but it's not the answer, especially if you're a company with an online concern that is looking to drive traffic and/or revenue to your site.  There is no documented "right way" (that I've seen) of participating in social media other than to accurately and honestly tell your story to help convey your principles and objectives.

Americans have a pretty solid B.S. dectector, especially when there is a crowd of us with enough cynics to cast doubt on anything. We can spot a talking point a mile away.  Talking points are important. They form the basis of your well thought out, targeted message.  But repeating them like a robot to anybody that inquires gets really old really fast. 

And I'm not just talking about Twitter/Facebook/MySpace either.  Radio and television , working the floor at a convention, answering phone calls, chatting to your neighbor about work - it's ALL social and it had better all be authentic.

It boils down to a conversation, simple and pure.  Treat your message as an ongoing conversation that is being conducted through a variety of channels.  In any conversation, the most important thing you can do is listen, right?  Only then will be be able to form and offer an honest answer to move the discussion forward.  The death knell is to have the next talking point on your tongue when you THINK you know what the person is going to say.