life

Corporate blogs are nothing new. They have been around long enough to see mainstream adoption from companies like GM, HP and Bank of America. Corporate blogs are usually maintained by marketing or PR teams, with CEOs and upper level execs popping in every once and awhile to make an announcement or two. They are typically sales, service or industry centric… watered down and lack any real personality. The large majority of these blogs are the same-old boring-ass corporate communications crammed into a new format. Corporate Twitter accounts tend to follow a similar path.

I am not saying that there is anything wrong with corporate blogs or Twitter accounts. Dissemination of organizational information through social media is an important part of the marketing mix. However, I believe this is a myopic view of how social media should be used by companies. I believe every CEO should augment their corporate social media strategy with their own personal social media presence. Here’s why:

Relationships Matter

Any CEO worth his weight in corn flakes understands the value of relationships. As CEO you have relationships with customers, vendors, employees and investors. Some relationships are formed in the office throughout the work day, but the strongest relationships tend to be formed outside the confines of the office. When a CEO takes a client on a golf outing, invites an investor to dinner or grabs a beer with employees the magic is in the personal connection. The little stories that are shared between people create a deeper bond and understanding of each other.

Social media allows a CEO to take thousands of people on a golf outing at the same time. They can simultaneously share a beer with customers and investors or even bond with new people that may become valuable contacts in the future.

Relationships Have Their Place

While these bonds are important they also have their place. I don’t want to go to the Google blog and see how Eric Schmidt spent his vacation or what he does to manage stress. It’s not appropriate to share that type of personal information on a corporate blog. When I go to the Google blog I expect to see information about Google. However, it would be perfectly acceptable and relevant content for Schmidt’s to share on a his personal blog (which doesn’t exist).

We follow this rule at IZEA where I am CEO. The IZEA blog is focused on things relevant to IZEA and our community. Ted.me is filled with content relevant to me and my personal thoughts about the world around us. While there is some overlap in audience each blog has a different message and bond with the reader.

Relationship Force Multiplier

Most CEOs that don’t use social media say they “don’t have time to play on the Internet” or “It’s not a good use of my time”. To which I say “You may be rich, but you are a donkey”. That’s like saying you don’t have time to write a mass email about the new product launch because you are in physical meetings about the new product launch.

I look at my personal use of social media as a relationship force multiplier. I can’t possibly maintain communications with all the people I want to face to face. But my blog and twitter account let me build and maintain relationships with thousands of people every month. If you can make time to play a round of golf (4 hours) you can make time to write a blog post (.5-1 hours) or write a tweet (.5-1 minutes).

Relationships Drive Results

If you are a numbers driven CEO you have probably read all of this and think it is complete crap. I don’t blame you. There are a lot of “social media consultants” out there (which I am not) that talk about this stuff without anything to back it up. Here’s the bottom line: My personal blog consistently rates in one of the top 5 referrers to IZEA’s corporate website. Twitter is consistently in the top 5 as well (though I can’t take 100% credit for that). My personal use of social media drives traffic, helps retain customers and most importantly acquires new customers.

Personal social media isn’t just about good relationships. It’s about good business. Go setup your blog and get on Twitter already. Once you do don’t forget to follow me!

If you read this whole post and don’t leave me a comment I will hunt you down and steal your twinkies.

I first met the SeaWorld communications team in December of last year. I came to them with a big idea…I wanted them to partner with IZEA to bring IZEAFest to SeaWorld in 2009. To my surprise they instantly understood the value of having bloggers visit the park. As a result  500 bloggers and social media types will descend on SeaWorld in October. They have really embraced bloggers and social media in general and continue to impress me every month.

The Real Shamu Marks SeaWorld’s Official Twitter Debut

Last night I found that I had gained a new follower called @realshamu. The name peaked my interest and I decided to check it out. Sure enough the SeaWorld communications team was now on Twitter with the most creative corporate use of the medium I have ever seen. I immediately reached out to Shamu for an Interview.

Shamu Interview

Ted: How did you hear about Twitter?
Shamu: Well, 11 million people visit SeaWorld every year. I hear things. I see people in the stands tapping away on their mobile phones. Our staff too. You’d have to be pretty out of touch to not know about Twitter.

Ted: Is it hard to tweet underwater?
Shamu: It’s impossible to tweet underwater. It’s tough on the keyboard and the saltwater really munges up the computer. Tweeting is simple when people are lined up to transcribe for you, however.

Ted: Do you follow any other animals online?
Shamu: You will notice over the next weeks and months that I do not hold other species in very high esteem. This is typical of your apex predators. I would be inclined to follow other animals if they had something worthwhile to say, but frankly if I saw them in the world I’d either ignore them or eat them.

Ted: You seem like you have a bit of an attitude? What’s up with that?
Shamu: Well, I like to think of it as a kind of quiet confidence, not attitude. I am the Ocean’s Top Predator. It’s hard not to look down if you’re at the top. But I don’t want to be mean exactly, it’s just biology. I am very picky about my favorite sports teams and I don’t like animals that are poseurs. Dolphins, I’m looking in your direction.

Fred Jacobs Interview

After I got up off the floor from laughing I decided I needed some straight answers. I reached out to Fred Jacobs, Vice President, Communications at Anheuser-Busch Theme Parks.

Ted: Why did SeaWorld decide to to embrace Twitter?
Fred: Twitter allows us to engage people in a conversation, anywhere and at anytime. It differs in that sense from more traditional marketing, which is typically one-way and passive. We get visitors from all over the world and this is a good way for us to offer people a window into SeaWorld and our other parks. It also allows Shamu to show people what he’s like on the inside.

Ted: What led you to make Shamu your first official voice on Twitter?
Fred: Shamu represents SeaWorld. He is universally associated with this brand and has been for four decades. He is one of the world’s best known animals. Plus, he’s a higher mammal, meaning that he really does have some interesting things to say.

Ted: The voice of Shamu is edgy. Why?
Fred: Well, sometimes he’s edgy and sometimes he’s sweet and sometimes he’s a bit silly. We hope he’s always interesting. It’s really all up to him. Stay tuned.

Ted: How do you monitor interaction with SeaWorld brands on Twitter?
Fred: A lot of our folks have Twitter accounts and there’s a pretty good internal network that distributes comments and questions. We’re working hard to use Twitter in a way that not only enhances our guests opinion of our parks, but improves their experience. We encounter guests sometimes who need an answer or who have encountered some kind of challenge, and we work hard to fix those problems. Twitter is a great asset to us.

Ted: What are SeaWorld’s goals with this new medium?
Fred: We have a whole new generation, the members of which inform and entertain themselves in ways that no one could have dreamed of a decade ago. RealShamu on Twitter is one small part of our plan to reach out to people and connect with them in their everyday lives; to give them positive and authentic associations with our parks, our brands and our company. Our larger mission is to entertain as we educate. That’s sounds a bit corny, but it’s true. You leave SeaWorld more aware and maybe even more enlightened than when you entered it. We want the same thing to be true with everything we do in social networking.