Enterprise Social Media

Is It All Relationship Media Now?

Posted on 17. Jul, 2009 by Bob Duffy.

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Occasionally folks in my neighborhood throw parties and it’s fun for my me and my wife to get out of our own house, engage in adult conversation, look at the how second mortgages were spent in backyards and see how fancy their tequila is.  A lot of “Jonesing” going on as we absorb the information on vacations, car purchases, and kid sport stories.  It seems there’s something instinctual at play here; something deeply fundamental in how we socialize and ultimately how we are influenced.

And as we’ve progressed with the social web, I can’t help but look at traditional concepts of marketing as unnatural.  With the traditional channels there is a crafted message pushed at you from sources and voices you don’t have a strong connection with.  Now as unnatural as this feels, it really is how we formally try to influence people.  And nearly all forms of metrics and analytics for this marketing are based on the concepts of how well and how often you can reach an audience with your message.

Now with the web, we’ve seen an evolution from this broadcast voice of one to many, to an interactive shared voice of influence of many to many.  Yet as we’ve done this, how we measure this medium’s influence is still baked in the concepts of broadcast media.  How many people came to your site?  How many people clicked thru links?  How many people left your site?  Again unnatural, and there seems to be something missing that is closer to me going to my neighbors house that we are not measuring.

The problem dawned on me when I read an article that explained how social media sites are not influential in the purchase decision.  The results were very clear, people did not consider Facebook & Twitter as places to form opinions about a purchases.

In my opinion this is dead on and dead wrong at the same time.  Of course people don’t consider these as places to go to be influenced on purchase decisions any more than my neighbors house is the influencer for my next top shelf tequila purchase.  But like at my neighbors, people in Twitter are influenced on purchase decisions when they engage with people they trust.

I think the research made an erroneous assumption based on traditional way we look at marketing. The research made the assumption that the site, or the destination is relevant to the purchase decisions.  However with social networks it’s the relationships with friends and followers that are relevant to purchase decisions.  Facebook and Twitter are destinations, the people within those destinations enable relationships and enable influence.

For argument sake, I’d like to take this even further.  Do Facebook & Twitter have any intrinsic value.  Is it possible the value is between people and profiles and not the site?  Take out the people, leave the content.  Is there’s value and power to influence?

Twitter is a bit easier to look at this way. I tweet around 4 to 5 times a day on average. I probably read dozens of tweets a day.  I rarely go to Twitter.com.   My relationship with Twitter.com is nonexistent.  For me, Twitter is actually more of a relationship API than a website.

Now this is something for marketers pause and consider.  Twitter.com is as relevant as the concrete poured in the foundation of my neighbors house.  The site is a construct where relationships happen but it does not create, foster or enable the relationships, therefore measuring the value of the concrete is erroneous.

Now can we take this even further and consider if ANY website holds value?  Is it possible that nearly all traffic on the web is some form or relationship media, where the value and influence is between personas and not between the site and the visitor.

I recently tweeted on this and got a response claiming that even with social media, it is not always about relationships.  The example given was a user recieved needed technical answers he was seeking from people he did not know, who had tweeted out into the ether.

From my perspective this person trusts the collective intelligence and personas of the Twitterverse.  He is using the Twitter API as a channel to connect with people he doesn’t otherwise have access to. I believe that IS relationship media at work.  He has definitely moved past finding value in a site or destination in exchange for connecting with expert personas.

Even beyond social interaction I think we can see the web has shifted primarily to relationship media. Consider the 90/9/1 rule where 90% of engagements on any social site are people consuming but not participating in the conversation.  I see a relationship here. The 90% has a relationship with the 10% of content producers.  And that relationship is often more sought after because it is deeper and more trusted than most institutional sources.

So for marketers what does this mean?  I can’t help but wonder if we have moved to relationship media while not fully aware, and not comprehending what it means.  Are we continuing to build sites while focused on the value of these destinations, meanwhile ignoring the value of personas & relationship fostering, that may truly be at the core to building relevance and influence on the web?

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The Social Media Organization

Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by Michael Brito.

I have a tendency of over simplifying things in my head. It makes life easier that way. Below is a list of what I call a social media organization and represents various job functions in the enterprise, with one or two phrases describing each. Here is a more thorough description of each of the social media roles.

• Social Media Strategist: defining strategy, little to no execution
• Community Manager: Customer facing,direct engagement with end users, face of the company
• Social Media Manager: hybrid role; and may define strategy as well as execute
• Public Relations: influencing external bloggers, blogging
• Social Media Metrics: measuring social media, both on & off domain, reporting
• Legal: ensuring FTC laws or followed, providing guidance on user generated content on corporate domain
• Privacy/Security: protection of online corporate assets, privacy law enforcement
• Customer Support: respond to customer issues on the social web
• Ad Sales: selling ad space within a social network or community
• Employees: social participation on behalf of a company, not measured and done in the free time

Depending on the size and culture of the organization many of the above job functions may be shifted around. Does this make sense?  Am I over simplifying it?

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Twitter For Business: To Tweet or not to Tweet?

Posted on 24. Jun, 2009 by Michael Brito.

If you are in town next week, I’d love for you to come to this panel. It’s at David’s Restaurant right next to the Santa Clara Convention Center (details below). I will be joining a few colleagues, LaSandra Brill (Cisco), Michael Moesschler (Voce) and Sumaya Kazi (Sun); and we will share best practices of using Twitter in the enterprise.

Details:

Date/Time:
Tuesday, June 30th
5:30 to 8:00 p.m.

Location:
David’s Banquet Facility
5131 Stars and Stripes Dr.,
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(408) 986-1666
Map/Directions

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Also, if you are in Silicon Valley and would like to network with other business professionals who use Twitter, we are launching a new site, Silicon Valley Tweetup and plan to have monthly meetings and networking sessions. We are also partnering with the Anissa Lopez Foundation and the George Mark Children’s House and will be accepting $5 to $10 donations. Everyone who donates will be placed into a raffle and have the opportunity to win an HP Netbook.  More details to come later.

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How to Start a Game-Changing Dialogue with Consumers

Posted on 23. Jun, 2009 by Michael Brito.

Last week, I was invited to speak at the Facebook Marketing Breakfast (hosted at the Razorfish offices in SF). Thanks for the invite Justin. The turn out was amazing; and from what I understand, the waiting list was super long (sorry to my friends that I couldn’t get in). But what can you expect when you have such fantastic speakers like Jeremiah Owyang show up at an event like this to present Forrester’s latest report, The Future of the Social Web.

Here is my presentation, followed by some commentary:

Title Slide:

Before we start talking about engaging with consumers online, I think it’s imperative that we first start referring to them as people and not consumers, target audiences, or segments.

From my experience in working at Yahoo! and now Intel, is that when it comes to building relationships online, people relate to other people more so than a logo or brand.
Once we can accomplish this organizationally, we can then be better equipped to be more human and directly engage with people.

So, I hope you don’t mind, but I changed the title of today’s discussion to, “how to start game changing dialogue with people”

Slide 1:

How to Start a Game-Changing Dialogue with Consumers people

Slide 2:

There are few different ways to engage with consumers on Facebook. There is a branded fan page; a Facebook application; and lastly, through personal profiles (a community manager). And, when I refer to a personal profile, what I mean is a community manager or an employee who uses his/her personal profile to drive brand engagement within their own micro communities.

Slide 3:

We know through some very specific research that a high percentage of our audience join and use social networks here in the US. We also know how they behave in the social web. So, not only is it important for us to engage in direct dialogue with consumers, but we can also build in those social capabilities that our consumers are familiar with.

One of the key fundamentals in any social media engagement is authenticity. But, more importantly, a brand or an employee representing the brand needs to be believable. And in order to be believable, you have to spend time in a community and listen, observe and fundamentally understand the dynamics of that community. Once you foster trust and begin that relationship building process – you, the BRAND become believable. So when I say that this Netbook is awesome and fits my mobile lifestyle, people will actually believe me and maybe even buy one.

The topic of personal profiles versus branded profiles comes up a lot at Intel, especially in reference to twitter, and personally I think there is a strong need for both. At Intel we cannot legally tell someone to talk about Intel within their communities. If they do, of course disclosure is important. We have a comprehensive training program where we equip our employees with tools they need to engage online.

Slide 4:

Mass Animation was one of two programs we had to support the launch of the Core i7 processor, which is a desktop processor for content creators (multimedia, film animation, rich media). It was the first ever collaborative effort to utilize Facebook and its community to create an animated film. Basically, the way it worked was that we provided the community with a storyline and 3D character assets. The community downloaded the assets; downloaded Maya software and animated a 5 second clip. Then, they upload their clip and the community votes on the best clip.

The dialogue – which is still happening today – happened on the Mass Animation fan page; and it also spread to twitter and even our Intel blogs.

Slide 5:

Present these metrics to senior management and they will be pleased with the results. What they won’t see are the rich conversations that are still happening today; and the relationships that have blossomed from this program.

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Much ado about Twitter

Posted on 29. Apr, 2009 by Tom Diederich.

For companies (brands), Twitter isn’t a replacement to existing communication channels. It is, however, an additional channel.

I think of Twitter as a news ticker (like those annoying streams of text headlines scrolling on the bottom of your TV screen during the morning news). For brands, it’s a way of driving traffic to specific content on their websites — or a specific call for action.

People interested in your brand will follow your company on Twitter. If you’re a B2B or B2C company, you could use Twitter to call attention to a new product, a new blog post, an interesting discussion in the forums, etc.

Why bother with Twitter?

• Most folks don’t think to check your site every day.
• Email is not always effective at providing information — particularly eNewsletters.  Most marketers know that email open rates are generally around 12-20% and CTRs are 2-5%.  Plus, you have to take some action for email (even if it’s to delete it); whereas the Twitter feeds just jam on by.

Given the massive growth rates, chances are becoming higher each day that your customer is on Twitter (and Facebook) every day (or at least a few times a week).

So Twitter is an “onramp” to your community.  I suppose you could think of “tweets” as billboards along the highway. When someone sees something that catches their eye, they follow the link in your tweet.

If you’re a store, say a supermarket (Kroger, Safeway, etc.) or a clothier (The Gap), for instance, you could use Twitter to call attention to a sale or you could “tweet out” an online coupon. Another onramp.

Comcast uses Twitter to connect with customers to strengthen the brand and escalate issues to support as part of the company’s social media monitoring and response program. Some recent tweets:

@annaonthemoon Can we look into it for you?

@peteskomoroch757 The modem was connected and responding properly to me. Pings looked good. I did reset it. What lights are on modem?

@kekil Is the modem new or used? If used could be registered in different area. You may need to call to have set up, should be easy

Motorola’s Developer Program uses Twitter to connect with members, informing them on a wide variety of topics. Some recent “tweets” include:

• 5 Mobile Development Headaches by Mike Riley at Dr. Dobb’s Portal - http://twurl.nl/6ddu1n
• great mtg at the Silicon Valley Android Developers Meetup. could on only stay for first two presos on AdMob and Flurry. http://ow.ly/3JhB
• talking about customer service & mobile apps on http://blogtalkradio.com/mo… #android

Both Comcast and Motorola don’t just use Twitter to broadcast, they also use it to listen — and when appropriate, to then respond.

How are you using Twitter? And is your company using it? Or thinking of using it?

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The Rise of the Customer Service Rep

Posted on 30. Mar, 2009 by Kelly Feller.

One of my jobs in a past life was to help set up a customer relations department at a giant organic salad company (yeah…that one). At the time the job was rather unglamorous; I set up processes and fielded phone calls from both ranting and raving customers wanting to know answers to questions like “are the salad greens really were pre-washed?” or “where are the greens actually grown?” Fast forward ten years and I’m doing the Web 2.0 version of this same task at an even larger company.

As companies like the one I work for across the world—and the web—tackle the challenge of how to listen and respond to customer feedback or criticism, we’re beginning to see a trend emerge: companies with strong customer service skills and an online presence (like Dell, Comcast, Southwest Airlines, & Ford) are winning fans (and creating passionate brand advocates) across all industries. From agencies who service these clients to the small and large businesses themselves, the voice of the customer is being given more weight than ever before. And this is a terrific thing for innovation, companies & consumers, and the economy as a whole.

Just today I noticed two blog posts that tackle this issue. One was Jeremiah Owyang’s post on the “Future of PR: When Agencies Represent Communities–Not Brands.” It talked about the growing power of online community voices and how agencies might harness that power into creative ideas. Additionally, Southwest Airlines today announced it was dumping its use of powder creamer for coffee and switching instead to liquid creamer at the request of its customers.

So with all this talk of listening and responding to customers, we’re also seeing the emergence of a new paradigm: the rise in the need for customer service reps. Unlike the past when corporations were scrambling over each other to hire outsourced customer service agents in call centers across the globe, increasing numbers of companies are looking inside their walls for people who can speak the language and who have familiarity with social tools to join online conversations where they are happening.

Last week I presented at the Social Media Club of Portland on the topic of careers in social media. I summarized many of the different jobs that are needed as more companies look to connect with customers online. These include:

• marketing and PR professionals
• strategists
• lawyers
• web designers and developers
• community managers
• online customer service reps (in my opinion the most important)

This last group of folks includes the people brands are looking to as the front-line response teams to reach out and respond when customers discuss their company or product in the many online forums that exist.

All this is super sweet news! I’m guessing this might be a harbinger for a whole new type of workforce–one who is well connected and possesses the super stellar customer service skills to wow and woo online.

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Skittles Twitters the Rainbow

Posted on 02. Mar, 2009 by LaSandra Brill.

 What if a real company decided to turn their whole site into a twitter conversation?

That’s what skittles did in what can only be described as a bold move to embrace Web 2.0.

What a unique approach. In a traditional viral campaign, you launch a viral concept and it takes on a life of its own, living in media largely beyond your control. Skittles did one better. They launched a viral campaign and turned their website into an incubator for the virus. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is! An argument could be made that the skittles website isn’t core to their product sales, so replacing it with a twitter results page isn’t as big of a risk as if a B2B company were to do it. But still, you have to respect the moxie of Skittles’ Web 2.0 marketing team. What a great campaign!

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Insights from Intel Social Media Practitioners

Posted on 26. Feb, 2009 by Michael Brito.

I have known Bob for about one year and I have to say that Bob is definitely a visionary in this space. I often seek his advice and feedback on a multitude of projects that I work on. I was able to catch up with Bob last week in Santa Clara and he agreed to answer a few of my questions. You can follow Bob on twitter if you like.

Josh is definitely seasoned in front of the camera. He is also the community manager/evangelist for Intel’s VPro Expert Center. Josh is high energy, full of passion and has tremendous wisdom in building valuable relationships. You can follow Josh on twitter if you like.

If this post provided some value to you, please consider subscribing to our feed, or you can always follow me, Michael Brito on Twitter.

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The P. Diddy Method for Community Success

Posted on 20. Feb, 2009 by Bob Duffy.

follow Bob Duffy on www.twitter.com/bobduffy and Facebook

Two years ago I had a challenge to build a community for an audience that was not already knocking at our door. This audience  used and valued our products but they did not connect with the company and the brand.  

So how do you become relevant?  How can you be successful with social media when you are not top of mind? 

After some trial and tribulation I can boil the community manager strategy down to a methodology akin to the actions of P. Diddy aka Sean “Puffy” Combs.  As the mack daddy player of hip hop he is a magnet of activity and relevance in his industry.   To follow the P. Diddy method you don’t need all the glitz, glamour and bling of a hip-hop music icon.   But there are things Mr. Combs does that relate directly to building relevant online communities.  

So here’s the P-Diddy 3 point plan for Community success

1. Build A Posse
2. Throw Awesome Parties
3. Go On Road Trips

So where do you sign up right?  Well if you have multiple community projects all supporting various initiatives and interests then you may need to be a sideline P-Diddy.  But don’t let that stop you from sporting sun glasses while indoors.  Your Community Managers are the ones closest to the community content.  They are the ones you should encourage to emulate Puff Daddy.

Here’s what to do.

Build A Posse: First thing to focus on is making friends. Know your industry players and subject matter experts  i.e industry peers, service providers, vendors, OEMs, industry fellow travelers, ect and have them know you.  Connect with them often. Be a generous and inspirational figure to energize them on your community topic. Take time to mention them and promote their interests. Interview them, bring them together in panel discussions, and help evangelize their voice and perspectives.  

Tools to use: Follow and interact with them on Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In. You can use a free service like BlogTalkradio.com, to do a phone interview that becomes podcast content for your site
  
Throw Awesome Parties:  Host online communities and events. Invite the right players, who you’ve made friends with, to be key participants and content producers. Don’t force the conversations but help it along.  As the host you are there to keep the pace and interest in the community lively.  So engage as needed but see yourself as the master coordinator that allows your community members to interact. 

Tools to use: According to a recent Forrester Research report Jive Software and Telligent are best of breed community platform solutions

Go on Road Trips: Get outside your community and participate in others sites.  Make your presence known. Attend real world events and use them as opportunities to capture content and 3rd party perspectives on your community topic.  Do a live web-cast. Interview participants at these events. Post these and your perspectives on your own community site.  

Tools to use: For live web-casts ustream.tv and BrightTalk are effective low cost or free services for live web-casting.

In the end it boils down be being connected and facilitating connections.  This is where Sean Combs is a master.  He is so successful at being connected in his industry that his personal brand stands for being relevant.  So have fun with this.  It doesn’t need to be hard work but it does require continual effort to ensure you are connected to your community and your community programs are seen as relevant portions of the conversation.

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People are the New Currency

Posted on 15. Feb, 2009 by Wesley Faulkner.

Many novices just getting involved in the social media space seem obsessed with getting more friends, followers or fans. When I started out, I also felt the need to get as many people following me as possible. I kind of used it as a method of determining my own importance.

I visualized every new follower as a rung in the ladder as I climbed up the social media totem pole. If you just do a quick Google search on how to get more followers, you’ll get over thirteen million hits. Of course it’s easy to see how having more followers is a nice tangible to point to when trying to gauge how influential someone is. I personally disagree with the theory that the more followers you have the better marketer you are. If you look at the likes of Scoble, Kevin Rose, and even Obama, they have tens of thousands of followers. What you can’t tell by that number, is how many people are like minded individuals, and how many people agree or disagree with their opinions.

At the peak of the Howard Stern show, he was paid millions because of the amount of listeners he had. I would say a significant amount of that following adamantly disagreed with what he stood for and his message. Simply looking at the total number of listeners that he had did not directly translate to his ability to sway the opinion of this vast following. The same truth can be applied to social media. I contend to assert that quality should always trump quantity. Thinking about numbers alone is the mindset of old media. The people who find your message valuable and the interaction and participation of that community is truly what we all should strive for.

Humans are the new currency in the social media space but each individual person is not the same denomination. Someone who has a fat role of one dollar bills is flashy and can get a lot of attention for the bulge in their pocket, but they’re no more important than the person who has a bank account with an equal balance. When looking for alliances, look for someone who stays on message, on point and is true to their beliefs; not necessarily the person who has the biggest audience. Someone who likes your product and is willing to talk about it carries more weight than someone who just may be a shill to the highest bidder.

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