007 Reasons James Bond Won’t Need a License to Kill Your Social Media Plan

November 15, 2012 By Digital Operative,

James Bond Shows how to use twitter and facebook

James Bond doesn’t use social media, but know that if he had a social media presence it would be amazing (@jamesbond: A small, mute man calling himself “Odd Job” just tried to take my head off with his hat #wtf). Mr. Bond’s social media presence would be filled with pictures of exotic travels, disposed henchmen, and reviews of the latest gadgets – his social media presence would be almost as active as his love life. In honor of James Bond’s new movie Skyfall, and because Bond is my favorite action hero, this article shares the double – o- seven traits that would make James Bond a social media killer.

1. James Bond keeps it classy

Like a deadly version of Ron Burgundy, James Bond stays classy. He is always well dressed, well spoken, and nothing makes him lose his cool. Your social media presence needs to have the same type of composure. There is no point in getting into a “flame war” which will permanently be online and forever make you look like a fool. Let the other person be a screaming idiot and you automatically come out the winner. It’s like an online judo chop.

2. James Bond (the franchise) deals with failure

Some James Bond movies were terrible (see any Tim Dalton incarnation) fortunately; the franchise has learned lessons from these failures and moved past them. Use this example from Bond in your social media: some of your posts/tweets are not going to be good and that is just a fact. You may think that every blog you post is going to go viral - it isn’t. We will call these failures “Tim Daltons”, you as a social media operator must learn lessons and deal with your own “Tim Daltons”. Know that if you keep learning, you will get a Sean Connery one day.

3. When Bond sees a problem he immediately deals with it

Much like Vanilla Ice “If there is a problem, yo he solves it” when there is a problem in Mr. Bond’s life – he deal with it immediately. In his job, Bond is immediately frank with his boss “M” when problems arise. If he sees a woman he would like to speak with he does so immediately, and when a villain needs to be dispatched he does it in the quickest manner possible. Conversely, Bond’s opponents set up elaborate traps to stop him, which rarely – if ever – pay off. In social media companies needs to be on alert at all times, in case of negative backlash on the social channels. Do not let negative comments on your channels fester in the hopes that no one will notice and they will just go away like David Spade’s career. Always be on alert, because your customers are always interacting with your brand. As marketing wizard Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) says, “Outrage doesn’t take the weekend off.”

4. James Bond keeps his commentary short & on point

If you have seen any of the James Bond movies you know that Mr. Bond is a man of few words, but each one of these words count. An example comes from the movie Goldfinger, when Bond throws a lamp into a bathtub, electrocutes the henchman and simply states, “Shocking, positively shocking”. Funny, short, and the audience knows exactly what he means. To translate this to social media: keep your commentary short and on point. No one is going to read facebook like a blog, so don’t even try. Even within the blogosphere it is better to produce short (as my friends at Kuno say) “appetizer-sized” content.

5. Mr. Bond fights focuses on one task at a time

For example, in Dr. No, he fought to stop Dr. No and only Dr. No. He didn’t stop at a local police station or ask about forged checks at the bank. In the same way, it is important to focus on the social networks that are most important to your business and not spread yourself too thin. I have tried to be on every social network at once and much like the last three Weezer albums, I was mediocre in every way. Pick one or two networks at first and get great at them. Strive to make a difference and participate in the important networks that you have selected.

6. James Bond has style

James Bond has a certain style, a certain je ne sais quoi. When he talks, walks into a room or pulls up in his car it is immediately apparent that he is James Bond (sidenote: I always thought that this was a bad trait for a spy). In the same way it is important to develop a style and not just send out useless tweets/comments. Find your voice and let it make the social media presence unique and personable, not just another robot auto-responding company.

7. James Bond has direction

James Bond always knows where he is going. It could be pursuing Hugo Drax or pursuing Mary Goodnight, Bond always has a plan. This makes him swift; able to focus and end up exactly where he wants to be. In this same way social media should have direction. Create a plan, figure out what your goals are with your social media. Allow them to focus your tweets or updates and make them worth reading and sharing. Adam Lundquist is the Roger Moore of this office. Connect with Adam on Google+.