The Social Media Marketing Blog: Social Media Takeaways #3

This is a busy week - coming off of the great Boston Web Community dinner, courtesy of EMC, where I got to see some of my favorite new media folks (Jeremiah Owyang, Chris Brogan, Laura Fitton, John Wall, Sarah Wurrey, Steve Garfield, Dan Schawbel, Peter Kim, Yianni Garcia, Julia Roy) and meet new ones (Jeff Glasson, Christine Perkett, Amanda Gravel). In addition, I'm gearing up for PodCamp Boston 2, where I'll be speaking.

But that doesn't mean there wasn't still a bit of time for a few Social Media Takeaways:

My Apple Is a Lemon
No, this isn't David Armano's way of trying to score some free bling for his blog (like some other people we know). It turns out this is David's 2nd Macbook Pro that's given him inexplicable trouble, so he decided to write about it.

SMT: Uh-oh. Apple should be concerned. First they fired 800 employees for taking a $100 voucher on their free iPhones, now they've got a prominent blogger who's pissed off. I hope they're listening. But I like what Matt Dickman had to say on twitter: @Armano: I bet Dell responds before Apple does ;-)

Quick, Fire That Customer
It's not a good week to be a customer. Seth Godin and the Ad-Vocate both opine that the customer is not always right and call for certain customers to be fired. I like Seth's rejoinder to the phrase "the customer's always right": when they're wrong, they're not your customer any more.

SMT: Listen up. Get to know your customers well, through whatever space they inhabit. Find out what they're saying about you and join the conversation if you can. But realize when you'll never convert them and know when to let go.

Fa¢ebook
At this point, Facebook is steering clear of Google and instead opting for the cold hard cash from our friends at Micro$oft - a cool $278 million, to be exact. This amount, a 1.6% stake in Facebook, entitles the software behemoth to be the exclusive U.S. and international advertiser with the social network through 2011.

SMT: A $15 billion valuation for Facebook? What-ever. If the ad revenue can continue to stream in - and with Facebook's ability to target different demographics, it's an attractive site for advertisers - then perhaps it's not totaly off-base. But with today's fickle youth, I wonder if Facebook isn't going to be old school before 2008 is out. The only hope is continuing to get the more mature generations involved. And I wouldn't rule out additional funding for Facebook from other sources...

Labels: Apple, customer relations, David Armano, facebook, social media, social media takeaways

About Scott

For hi-res, click here

He has been called "an unstoppable force of nature," "the best corporate social media lead on the planet," and Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him "a visionary."

Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford Motor Company, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his consulting and agency background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in hundreds of news and business publications in print and on the web, in nearly twenty books, and on a variety of broadcast media, including NPR, CNN and Fox Business News. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary of English-accepted term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of Rosh Sillars; a PDF version of Scott's bio is here .

Books in which Scott's work is featured:

Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications

Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Real-Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now

Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web

Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business

Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements

Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead

MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small

Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution Is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell and Live

Power Friending: Demystifying Social Media to Grow Your Business

The New Rules of Marketing & PR

by David Meerman Scott

Twitterville
by Shel Israel

Six Pixels of Separation
by Mitch Joel

Monkeys with Typewriters
by Jemima Gibbons

Read This First
by Ron Ploof

World Wide Rave
by David Meerman Scott

Get Seen
by Steve Garfield

Disclosures/Relationships

Scott has been named to the Advisory boards of Pivot, SavvyAuntie, Business Smart Tools, The Hive Awards, Curation Station and The Realtime Report
Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards

Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators

Humongo occasionally does web work for me and designed this site

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

Scott Monty Bio

Speaking Events

Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please click here to submit a speaking request for Ford-related purposes or email me at speaking [AT] this site's URL (if you know what I mean) to send a general email request.. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Recent speaking engagement:

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views. Bio available here.