On the heels of one recent exchange, it occurred to me that an invitation to make social media alliances/associations had become a gesture grounded in normalcy – no different than adding contact info to a rolodex or data-base in the old days. Online life and offline life have aligned: tool in some cases, skill in others.

It also occurs to me that although this mode of relationship-building requires little lift, it shares far deeper insight into folks who are all but strangers initially. For me, it has the makings of an unspoken trust initiator. Without much effort, you have some credibility with one other.

That is not to say the natural soul connection or skill of building bonds and relationships is replaced, or for that matter lessened (indeed the opposite), but it does allow a more instant comfort with each other. You can see other comments and recommendations and understand in a snapshot the basics of their expertise.

For example, reading that one of my new vendor contacts was the owner of a very well-established and respected “Print Solutions Innovator,” along with several other key phrases, instantly added to the impression that we likely had similar work ethic and were dead-on for product fit. It was also very interesting to see what groups and associations he valued enough to join. Subsequently, this vendor (and his team) has become a highly valued partner, not just a vendor.

It reminds me of a video I ran across recently (which, by the way, I ran into by browsing beyond the LinkedIn page I was invited to and onto the Facebook wall of another potential freelance partner). It compares everything you need to know about social media to online dating. In the description of TEDxAtlanta – Sally Hogshead – How to Fascinate it says, “In today’s world of 9-second attention spans, our introductions mean more-than-ever before. Sally Hogshead reveals the seven triggers of fascination and how to get others to fall in love with your ideas, instantly.” In reality, when we are forging any vendor relationship, we are inviting each other at first to fascinate with the knowledge or expertise we are seeking in each other and must ultimately share to achieve excellent products for clients.

Of course, the “real” life vs. online/online vs. “real” life notion has not just occurred to me. The Washington Times recently ran an article, DE BORCHGRAVE: Embracing Web 3.0, by Arnaud de Borchgrave. He suggests that social networks are tapped out, since we have all reached that moment in time when everything we do online is just part of everyday life – something we no longer plan or think about, but simply do. I don’t think that proves social networks are tapped out (just simply become a staple vehicle used as part of everyday life) but the rest of his statement about us having reached Web 3.0 makes perfect sense to me: “Web 3.0 is that moment when you forget you’re doing any of this stuff. It’s when using the Internet becomes so casual, so much a part of your natural life, that you don’t think about it anymore. … You no longer have the conscious sense of a dividing line between the real and the online world.”

For those of us who cut our teeth on pre-internet production values, adapted to the advent of “The World Wide Web” and embraced “Web 2.0” as a pretty cool tool that we all played a part in creating, the motto of being a jack of all trades and a master of many still fits. This new online comfort and normalcy is just another facet. Experience is, after all, a culmination of what comes naturally over time.

But for social media efforts to attract attention and gain momentum, companies must stick with what they know about the original meaning of the lingo. Both retailers and B2B companies must avoid tossing around jargon and ensure their intentions are genuine reflections of the words that hold their places.

Take a look at how personal knowledge of these words informs social marketing campaigns and social promotions:

• Relationship
  What do you know about building relationships IRL? It takes time. You have to establish trust. You must earn credibility.

• Conversation
  It’s easy to attach this label to text inside a series of fields on a screen, but just as in face-to-face meetings, good conversation isn’t a bland exchange of information. Your social media conversation should be interesting and collaborative. If it is, more people will want to join in, and people will look forward to talking with you again at the very next opportunity.

• Engagement
  IRL people engage when their emotions and interests are invited to the interaction. Make people feel good about spending time with you. That’s where the connection is. That’s what makes people want to repeat the experience they had with you and share it with their friends.

First, let me take you back some twenty months when I first ventured into my personal Twitter account, Facebook and LinkedIn pages. I readily entered this new world with just enough activity to stay visible and gain practical, user experience: posting to walls, liking, uploading, commenting, joining brand communities and dabbling in a FB apps (“What should your parents have named you?” or “Who were you in a past life?”). I certainly made my foray in a way that I would now characterize as flirting with social media platforms, kind of toying with an online social life.

In fact, I have a distinct recollection of a conversation with my same-generation friend, Sally, “Yes, I’m on Facebook and Twitter….have to be as a marketer…”  Sally is a committed blogger with strong opinions and impressive writing skills. She sees no difference between online versus offline life. She has a high level of connectivity, tweeting and re-tweeting, re-publishing, point/counterpointing, and is constantly engaged. I, on the other hand, approach social media and my online life as an academic exercise, a giant science experiment, somewhat detached and cerebral.

It took an insightful blog post from Alexandra Samuel to shift my perspective. And, in the process, help make me a better modern marketer.

In essence, Ms. Samuel divides the world into two camps – those whose reality seamlessly encompasses offline/online life and those who live a dual existence of In Real Life (IRL) versus online. She observes that a segment of the population feels moved to apologize for their online lives, a statement that prompted my “aha” moment. Ms Samuel writes:

….it’s our decision — individually and collectively — to separate the Internet from the context, norms and experience that guide human behavior. It’s our decision to engage in online interaction as if it were fundamentally different from offline conversation. It’s our decision to label the Internet as something — anything! — other than real life.

The author articulates a set of guidelines designed to encourage us to “start living in the 21^st century reality….to acknowledge online life as real, and [then] the Internet’s transformative potential opens up.” I find her advice, excerpted below, worth remembering in the pursuit of not only personal authenticity but also authentic marketing:

• When you focus on creating real meaning with your time online, your online footprint makes a deeper impression.
• When you treat your online attention as a real resource, you invest your attention in the sites that reflect your values, helping those sites grow.
• When you spend your online time on what really matters to you, you experience your time online as an authentic reflection of your values.
• When you embrace online conversations as real, you imbue them with the power to change how you and others think and feel.
• When you talk honestly about the real joys and frustrations of the Internet, you can stop apologizing for your life online.

To take Samuel’s guidelines and extend them to a modern marketing mindset may require a shift in thinking. However social media is, after all, no different than traditional marketing in one fundamental way: great advertising and direct response is created by those who have a pre-requisite beyond professional skills, that is, a personal and emotional connection — as a consumer not a creator.

At Media Logic, as early believers, we’ve had a head-start on moving past the intellectualization stage to view online/offline interaction and marketing seamlessly and agnostically. This perspective has allowed us to work with clients from diverse sectors – Financial Services, B2B, Retail, Healthcare – wherever they fall on the continuum and consistently extend the boundaries of what our clients think is possible.

I’ll leave you with a final thought from Alexandra Samuel “all it takes is the decision to treat your online existence seriously, honestly, and attentively and you will find the internet is RLT (Real Life Too).”  Great advice for people and marketers too!

Here’s an article about the potential end of “free TV,” as the nation’s top networks contemplate moving to a cable-like pay-TV model to compensate for declining viewership and lost ad revenue.

The lesson for marketers on the road ahead: we’ll have to be flexible, as old rules are cast aside and new opportunities emerge.

I’m struck by today’s images of protesters in Iran, some of which are no doubt captured stealthily via cell phones and smart phones. By actual witnesses and participants… not professional journalists.

The lesson for future marketers: authenticity and immediacy can trump slick and polished.

I’m bemused by this story about teens working to curb their Facebook obsession. Hopefully, they’ll share their advice with their increasingly obsessed parents and grandparents!

The lesson for soothsaying marketers: social media has inserted itself firmly and fixedly into the mainstream. We must embrace this, and leverage its potential.

Indeed, technological and behavioral changes have quickly, profoundly changed how we market products and services. And yet, at the core of all this evolution, consumers still exhibit a fundamental desire for engagement (such as fabulous cable shows like Breaking Bad or Mad Men), truth (from the front lines of Iran or anywhere) and a social connection (online and in real life). These are the timeless tenets of effective marketing. Stick to them, and let’s go boldly into the new decade!

Ahem…after I check my Facebook Live Feed.

(Serious fans of Glee call themselves “Gleeks.” As far as I’m concerned, Gleek is a Superfriends space monkey. But that’s a debate for another day.)

As Ad Age opines, “There is no other show on TV right now that gets as much free, voluntary social media marketing courtesy of fans.”

So how can your business hit the right notes and bust the right moves to engender this kind of enthusiasm? Short of hiring the glorious Jane Lynch, the lesson to take away from this viral success is that you need to make an emotional connection with your audience – in your stores, in your marketing, at every possible touchpoint.

It all comes back to your brand. Is it conversation-worthy? Frame it right and customers and prospects will happily help sing your praises.

Harness the power of social media. Register for your free presentation today and find out how you can use social media to build your brand and business.