Social Media Marketing, SEO & More

Perhaps I’ve led a sheltered life, but I had never taken a real train trip until this past week.  Alanna and I decided to attend the National Restaurant Show in Chicago since we have some industry contacts and experience.  We wanted to think a bit outside the box and have a mini adventure on the way, so we decided to take an Amtrak train from Orlando, Florida, to Chicago, Illinois.  Beyond discovering a fun and different mode of travel, I learned a little something about social media.

On the first half of our trip, we decided to ride in Coach.  On the upside: you have decent space, the seats recline, it’s comfortable, and you’re surrounded by people from various walks of life.  On the downside: you sleep in your chair, you sleep with dozens of other passengers in the same car, and you are at the mercy of those around you to let you get some rest.

Life in Coach is a lot like Twitter–only it’s “live” and not “online.”  In Coach and on Twitter you are given adequate space–a decent seat/140 characters.  Not too fancy, but appropriate.  You can recline and relax in Coach; you can relax and observe on Twitter.  And, in both scenarios you are surrounded by all kinds of people with all kinds of ideas, quirks, and views.  Some people are wonderful, some are quiet, and others are spammy jerks.

But the comparison to Twitter goes beyond those listed above.  If you want to really learn about how a group of loosely connected people end up communicating, take a train trip in Coach.  Waves of communication ripple through Coach–and things are “retweeted” verbally based on the level of importance or interest.  I heard everyday observations that never made it beyond the row in back of me–”I had salmon for dinner in the dining car.” And, I heard whispered “retweets” about a sick passenger named John, who may have been having a heart attack.  Everyone in Coach was talking about John as we stopped in Virginia to wait for the paramedics.  “Is there a doctor on board?”  “I’m going to say a prayer for him.”  “I’ve had medical training, maybe I can help.”

Lesson One from Coach:  People are more apt to share things they have concern or passion about.  We were all concerned for this man who was ill.  Nothing compares to that kind of concern, for sure.  But, social media practitioners should take a cue from this:  share important things that will help your customers/audience.  Simply tweeting about how great your product is can be OK.  Tweeting about how you helped a customer become awesome at his or her job or helped them be awesome in some other way–that’s way more interesting to share.  I can personalize and empathize with people like me who may have my same problems, fears, or interests–and I’ll want to use and share solutions they found effective at solving their similar problems.

Another passenger, Matthew Mallett, was on our DC to Chicago train.  I saw him carrying a guitar case, and I heard him say something about being a musician.  But, I was thinking–”every joker who has a guitar thinks he’s a musician.” Just hearing him say that about himself didn’t make me believe his claim.  However, he changed my mind–and had me verbally “retweeting” his praises when he played for us in the lounge car.  He wasn’t just strumming chords–he was a real, bona fide musician.  By the time we reached Chicago, everyone in our car knew this kid has talent.

Lesson Two from Coach:  Don’t just tweet your claim, prove it.  Simply saying he was a musician and carrying a guitar didn’t sell me that Matthew was a “real musician.” When he played and sang for us–that sold me.  Make sure you back up your claims on social media with links to case studies, white papers, and customer testimonials.  Make us believe you, and people will be more likely to share it.

On that same train from DC to Chicago, we had an “interesting” travel mate join us in Coach.  He spent time in the lounge car, too, enjoying Matthew’s music.  He also enjoyed a whole bottle of wine by himself.  Needless to say, the night of sleeping in Coach became a bit restless for all of us while we put up with his antics.  He was verbally “spamming” all of us with his comments, shouts, and shenanigans.  He walked up and down the aisle shaking a box of candy in the ears of sleeping passengers.  He was violating the terms of service as far as I was concern.  Thankfully, he was reported for all his disruption, and the conductor got him settled down with the threat of kicking him off the train at the next stop.

Lesson Three from Coach:  Don’t be a spammy jerk.  Sure, everybody wakes up on the wrong side of the bed–and some even drink a whole bottle of wine by themselves.  That doesn’t give one license to menace others in the community.  I am sure any of you who do social media marketing for a living would never purposely try to alienate prospects and customers, but it never hurts to do a double check and use good judgment when posting.  We’ve seen some questionable moves over the past couple of years from major brands who used tragedies as springboards for brand-related tweets (KFC, Kenneth Cole). So, just think through what you’re doing and the impression it can have on your brand.

Now that you know the value of a train ride, I hope to see you on my next trip!