Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) showed impressive intestinal fortitude while battling an intestinal malady as he spoke to the Social Media Club of Dallas on “The Book of Business Awesome.” Despite suffering through his post-Turkish excursion illness, Scott was hilarious with his Jim Gaffigan-esque delivery filled with asides and internal debates as he explained what it takes to be awesome and how to avoid being un-awesome in social media practice.
Some of Scott’s words of wisdom include:
Social media is merely an amplifier. It doesn’t fix a bad product or service.
Following a negative incident, companies should quickly and candidly own up to the problem. Scott cited FedEx and its blog post “Absolutely, Positively Unacceptable” following the viral video last December of the careless deliveryman. A quick, honest apology can ride the viral wave with the incident and even leave a business with a more favorable impression than before the event.
Some audiences require extra care. “You don’t want to piss off geeks or moms” since both are very active on social media.
Marketing and HR need to get better aligned, since hiring the right people is the best thing you can do to market your brand.
When hiring social media functions, businesses should look for personality and passion for the brand. Although Scott likes the idea of metrics like Klout or Kred scores, he questions their validity when people can see their scores, and can game them by performing activities specifically designed to raise the rating.
The best comedy bit of the night was the QR Code Fail routine, where Scott pointed out all the ridiculous, unhelpful and even unsafe applications of QR Codes. Taking top honors was the billboard discouraging texting while driving—which had a QR code on it!
Although the audience was enthralled, we breathed a collective sigh of relief as Scott finished his program without incident and beat a hasty retreat home to Toronto and the comforts of Canadian healthcare. To your health, Scott!
Event sponsors include Chili’s, Allen Tsai Photography and Uber. SMC Dallas Annual Sponsors include Pocketstop.com and Synthesis. To inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Elysa Ellis at sponsorship@smcdallas.org.
What’s next? Mark your calendars for the Jingle Mingle, the big bash of the Holiday season. Benefiting the Dream Fund, the December 6th at Gilley’s is hosted by the Social Media Club of Dallas and a sleigh-load of other organizations.
