JESSE MCDOUGALL
Jesse is a Digital Marketing Strategist from Vermont, USA. He has over 12 years of experience as a web designer, programmer, and web strategist. His book “#tweetsmart: 25 Twitter Projects to Help You Build Your Community” was published in February 2012 and features practical ways to use Twitter as a platform to build brand communities. In this interview with Jesse, he speaks of his experiences working as a social media advisor, the common challenges that companies face when using social media, as well as offering clear insight into the most effective ways to approach social media marketing.
Jesse is a Digital Marketing Strategist from Vermont, USA. He has over 12 years of experience as a web designer, programmer, and web strategist. His book “#tweetsmart: 25 Twitter Projects to Help You Build Your Community” was published in February 2012 and features practical ways to use Twitter as a platform to build brand communities. In this interview with Jesse, he speaks of his experiences working as a social media advisor, the common challenges that companies face when using social media, as well as offering clear insight into the most effective ways to approach social media marketing.
How long have you been working in the area of social media strategies and web development?
I started building and marketing web sites for small businesses and professionals in 1999, while still in college.
How did you get to where you are today?
Hard work, long nights, and caffeine. I always knew I wanted to write books, and so I went to school for book publishing—hoping that getting into the book publishing industry would make it easier for me to publish my own book. While in school I would build web sites for friends and local businesses. I was drawn to the web for it's instant-publishing power. In the classroom we would spend all day talking about printing & paper and distribution. But back in the dorm, I was bypassing all that and publishing instantly to the world. I approach web design & development with a publisher's mindset: it's not enough to just publishing something, you need the world to notice. That's where the marketing and community-building comes into play.
How would you describe the role of a Digital Marketing Strategist?
I'm a business therapist. I didn't expect this to be my role when I started this venture, but it is clear to me now that it is inevitable that any digital marketing strategist will end up here someday. I ask tough questions and the clients are forced to re-evaluate what it is they're doing.
When planning a marketing campaign, I am an advocate for the audience—not for the business. If the marketing campaign I put together doesn't work for the audience it won't work for the business. So I ask: Why would anyone care? Why are you better than the competition? Why does your organization exist? What makes you valuable? Why do you need a web site? And so on. I try to get to the core issues. If the business can't answer these questions for themselves, they'll have a hard time convincing anyone else of their worth. And, they're not easy questions...so people stumble.
What types of social media do you use, personally and professionally?
I think your question is a bit flawed. In my experience, there is no separation between "personal" use of social media and "professional" use of social media. All of these platforms are public, and therefore if you're joking about farts with your friends on Twitter (which I do), your professional acquaintances will see it.
I use and love Twitter. I use and enjoy Tumblr. I tolerate LinkedIn. And, I left Facebook 6 months ago because I disagreed with their company's ethos. Their disregard for their users' interests is a bit too close to the surface for me.
What are the greatest challenges involved in social media marketing? What are the biggest mistakes that businesses make?
The biggest challenge in social media marketing is how managers approach it. People assumed that since I was a social media marketer that I would come into their business, make magic happen, and do everything for them. No one can run a sincere social media campaign on behalf of someone else. The business must run it for itself. It's a long-term commitment to build a community, to serve that community, and to get to know that community. It isn't—and shouldn't be—a one-way marketing pitch.
How do small businesses utilise social media in comparison to larger companies or organisations?
Smaller businesses have an easier time grasping the concept of community-building. I think they are still in the mindset of "trying to build a customer-base" and can therefore see how Twitter or Facebook should be an interaction or meet-and-greet. Larger businesses already have a customer base. And therefore they use social media to pump out coupon codes or for customer service. They're not looking to build anything. And therefore their interactions on social media tend to be less valuable for the average consumer.
How do organisations measure a campaigns effectiveness? What do companies or organisations need to do in order to value a social media marketing campaign?
Sales. I see sales as the one true metric that matters. We all need to pay rent and buy food and stay in business. And therefore we can't afford to spend 16 hours a day on Twitter if it isn't producing sales for the business. But, having said that, sales from social media may not start arriving until the community is built and working for you—which can take a year of hard work. I use ChartBeat, Google Analytics, and Bitly to watch the effectiveness of my community-building efforts.
In #tweetsmart you state that "The tools we use may change – but the new mode of communication these tools have introduced are here to stay."
With so many new social media networks being created, is there a way of knowing how successful a social media platform will be or become? Are there any key features that will determine how well it is received?
A social media platform has "made it" when other large brands begin putting its logo in their own ads. I knew Facebook "made it" when I started seeing other businesses advertise it for free. The same with Twitter and the same, now, with Pinterest.
I watch adoption rates. I join new social media platforms that I find interesting and I watch whether or not the community is growing. If I only see the same people hanging around (which is what I'm seeing with Google+), then I don't pour a lot of energy into it. The key factor, though, in determining whether or not a business should invest time and energy in a social platform is whether or not the business's audience is there. There's no point in squawking to 10,000 people on Twitter if 10,000 people on Twitter have no interest in you.
You co-founded Catalyist Webworks in 2009, how fast/slow did the organisation grow?
We grew incredibly quickly. Luckily, there is a huge demand for this type of work. We doubled our revenue every year we were in business and we just sold to a larger company last month.
Do particular types of businesses and organisations contact you for help more than others?
We were lucky to work with a lot of sustainability-focused business and organizations. We didn't market ourselves that way, word-of-mouth just spread through that community on its own. We also did a lot with the book publishing industry since I had plenty of connections there.