Random thoughts on a late summer afternoon. How do you define a "brand
experience?"
It seems to me .. the traditional "brand experience" is evolving into what it might be more appropriate to call .. the
"human experience." It seems to me .. brand experience goes beyond the customer use of the product/service, ad messaging, PR spins or slick logos that are all wrapped up in a beautiful bow of consistency across all communication channels.
It seems to me .. that while those elements may be
important to build the structure of a brand promise, they become part of the
new brand equation. Add to that a not so minor detail of peer-to-peer
influence.
Example: What makes Zappos a great brand? It's not so much its offering of a zillion different shoe options or even the free return policy. It's the commitment to customer care which begins with its trust in its own employees. Employees are encouraged to take good care of its customers, as well as, to build people-to-people not brand-to-people, relationships from call center exchanges to tweets.
How odd it seems in 2010, to build a relationship with an inanimate
object when people (employees & customers), who are really the heart of a
brand, are out from the shadows.
Inspiration can come in many forms and in many ways. From a dance troupe, as Yvonne DiVita
describes, to a simple stone washed by the ocean.
As the tides came into the shore, I watched as gray sands began to cover the little stone-heart. I was tempted to pick it up and carefully place it in the purple straw purse I was carrying. Somehow it seemed wrong to do that. Instead I snapped a photo with my iPhone.
I continued my beach walk wondering if someone else would notice the stone shaped like a heart. Or perhaps it was just my imagination that a heart was hiding in a small, smooth stone. Maybe the next person would see something different.
We each see the world through our own unique lens. Often people think they see something in a similar way. However, the illusion is it's never quite the same .. it's always a little different.
In the world of social media we are learning that our customers can see our brands differently than what we might have imagined. In the world of social media we are learning that diverse views can help create better products. In the world of social media we are learning that there are many shapes hidden in a smooth stone.
This post is dedicated to Susan Ellen -- Jessica's & Scott's mummy, my sister, Polli's friend, Kaye's & Mal's cousin and Barbara's niece -- who saw the hearts in little smooth stones. Sending virtual happy birthday xxoo. We miss you Sus.
Diva Marketing Talks is a live, internet radio (BlogTalkRadio) show. 30 minutes. 2 maybe 3 guests. 1 topic about social media marketing. Why? To help you understand how to participate in the "new" conversation without getting blown-up. Miss today's show? You can pick it up as a podcast or listen on your computer..
On today's Diva Marketing Talks we're exploring how a "traditional" interactive tactic .. eMail can be integrated with social media to produce more compelling campaigns.
Joining me as to talk about, what to some people seems a bit anti-intuitive, are Simms Jenkins, CEO, BrightWave Marketing and Morgan Stewart, Principal, ExactTarget's Research and Education Group.
Simms Jenkins is CEO of BrightWave Marketing, an award-winning agency specializing in email marketing and digital targeted messaging programs. BrightWave Marketing partners with clients in the development, management and strategic optimization of digital messaging programs that drive revenue, cut costs and build relationships. Jenkins has led BrightWave Marketing in establishing a top tier client list including Affiliated Computer Services (A Xerox Company), Chick-fil-A, Cox Business, O’Charley’s, RaceTrac Petroleum and Ted’s Montana Grill as well as leading advertising and marketing firms.
In 2010, Jenkins was awarded the prestigious AMY 2010 Marketer of the Year from the American Marketing Association’s Atlanta Chapter for being the top agency marketer. Jenkins is regarded as one of the leading experts in the email marketing industry and is the author of The Truth About Email Marketing, which was published by Pearson's Financial Times Press.
Jenkins is currently the Email Marketing Best Practices Columnist for ClickZ, the largest resource of interactive marketing news, information, commentary, advice, opinion, research, and reference in the world, online or off-. His industry articles have been called one of the top 21 information sources for email marketers.
Additionally, Jenkins is the creator of EmailStatCenter.com, the leading authority on email marketing metrics. Prior to founding BrightWave Marketing, Jenkins headed the CRM group at Cox Interactive Media.
Jenkins serves on the eMarketing Association's Board of Advisors and recently completed his tenure as a Board Member of Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA). Jenkins is a graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio and resides in Atlanta’s Brookwood Hills neighborhood with his wife and three children.
Morgan Stewart is the Principal ofExact Target's Research and Education Group. Morgan began his email marketing journey in 1999 when he managed the development of Pampers websites and email marketing programs across the U.S., Western Europe, and South America. Morgan came to ExactTarget in 2004 to launch ExactTarget's strategic consulting group, which he managed for more than 3 years. His true interests lie in demographics and studying how consumers interact with brands. He now serves as ExactTarget's industry expert on marketing trends across all interactive channels.
Considered one of the industry's thought leaders in interactive marketing research, Morgan is a regular columnist for Mediapost's Email Insider and frequently appears in industry publications such as MarketingProfs and iMediaConnection. His work has also been featured in leading publications such as Fortune, Forbes, Newsweek, Mashable, and AdWeek.
Social is Email’s New Best Buddy So Get Used To It
Know Your Audience
Follow Your Customers
Don’t Market in Silos
Talk Uniquely Where Your Customers Are
Don't Be the Cut-and-Paste Social Marketer
Share Content and Value
Use Both to Build Permission Databases
Test & Measure
Complements of Morgan Stewart
Email, Twitter and Facebook all have unique strengths (and weaknesses) in the minds of consumers
Email’s key strengths are Relevance and Exclusivity – consumers expect highly tailored content that makes them feel special
Twitter’s key strength is Influence and Interaction – the people that are most active on Twitter have huge voices across the internet and they want to interact directly with brand insiders
Facebook’s key strengths are Entertainment and Discovery - Consumers use Facebook because it’s fun to see what their friends are into... Which includes brands. Consumers don’t go on Facebook planning to interact with brands, but they consistently find new things that peek interest through friends.
Marketers need to understand and leverage these nuances in order to develop integrated and optimized messaging strategies.
Consumers do not operate in digital silos. Marketers can’t afford to operate in silos either.
With over 13,500 views on YouTube, my dog Max thinks he's a social media rock star pup. Shh.. don't tell him there are videos with millions of views and he is at most a blip on the celebrity circuit. It would hurt his feelings.
In all honesty, Max doesn't really care if 13,500 or 13,500,000 viewed his cute video. Max is a dog. Max is not a brand. For him quasi social media star status is good enough bragging rights at the doggy park.
What is disheartening is many organizations/brands have similar, let's call it a "Social Media Dog Mentality" where cute and counting are the extent of their planning process. Tweets and Facebook status updates fly into cyberspace that are little more than "cute" spins from a marketing campaign. Success is determined by the number of likes, followers, connects, comments or views rarely taking spam bots into consideration or if the "right" people are engaging.
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking at a conference, sponsored by Connuntelligence, about how to build a social media strategy. I presented a 3 phase model that might be helpful to you as you build your social media strategy.
If your organization is new to social media, or if you jumped in without an enterprise direction, I would encourage you to spend some time on Step 1: Align the Enterprise.
Our customers' expectations of how they make purchasing decisions (peer reviews, online conversations with peers and with the people behind the brand) are changing. That change impacts every traditional customer touch point e.g., customer care, sales, marketing. Business units that rarely, if ever, had direct customer contact may find themselves center stage.
Step 1: Align the Enterprise .. Develop the Social Enterprise
Face the Gorillas in The Room, Determine the impact on the enterprise, Determine cultural compatibility, Identify social media champions, Inform all your staff
Step 2: Build the Strategy
Objectives/goals support business outcomes, Conduct social media assessment audit, Conduct industry and competitive analysis, Identify target audience, Ensure Brand consistency, Determine tactics and Content direction, Determine metrics for success
Step 3: Create Awareness
Cross promotional, Social media, Traditional marketing
I'm happy to share the deck with you - below. Thanks to Dorothea Boziconlona-Volpe for her help transcribing the participants' comments about Barriers. @socialespinonage
Puppies are fun and a Social Media Dog Strategy Mentality may be great people talk at meet ups or tweet ups. However, it is not a business strategy. Max sends woofs to you!
In a recent eMail volley with twenty-something Jason Stershic, Spectyr Media, Jason posed an interesting question -
"How do you humanize Coke, Pepsi ESPN? I follow them but I don't expect a human connection, is that part for the course for most users following corporations?"
My views about social media are fairly traditional, if you can use that word for a strategy that is nano seconds old. I believe the value of social media occurs when the people behind the brand step out from the brand shadows and actively listen (active listening is a 2-way communication!) to their customers and other stakeholders. The result is what has become a social media cliche - people-to-people relationships versus a relationship with an inanimate object or brand.
Over the past six years I've talked to thousands of people about social media. I'm always curious to understand - What does social media mean to you? For the most part, people told me social media is ... as Tim Jackson said, "Connecting with people" or as Connie Reece put it, " It's all about the relationship."
However, when it comes to Big Brands Jason doesn't expect a "human connection." I wonder .. can a Big Brand create customer intimacy with millions by using the tools of the social media world?
When Richard Binhammer or Lionel Menchaca - Dell or Frank Eliason - past Comcast now Citi or Tony Hsieh respond to @tweets or comment on blog posts it's a 1:1 interaction. Since they communicate in the digital public square their conversations are overheard by thousands if not by millions. By default that opens the communication to whomever is listening in.
Perhaps those people RT (retweet) or add a status up to their Facebook page or write blog posts or even take it offline at office water cooler conversations. Through people who were not involved in the initial discussions the perception of the brand's humanity is expanded. Without that initial direct to brand customer conversation, can a brand still create customer intimacy through social media?
Duncan Wardel, vice president Disney, agrees that social media provides new avenues to create dialog with consumers. However, he also has another view of how brands will use social media. He told me that he sees one of the biggest trends is -
".. allowing consumers to talk with one another .. establishing a platform to really allow your brand evangalists to reach out to other people that you won't be able to reach .. as consumers have an inceasing ability to screen out brands they no longer consider relevant." Video
What do you think? Does a Facebook page or a peer-to-peer crowd sourced campaign, supported by a brand, but with little or no brand engagement, help to create the humanity of the brand? Do you expect to have direct conversations with the people from brands you follow? Can only peer-to-peer interactions create raving fans?
Inspiration can materialize at the oddest moments. We round a corner and Zap! something unexpected takes hold of our hearts and imaginations. That's exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago.
I walked into a classroom at the Drew Charter School in the East Lake area of Atlanta .. very Hot'lanta today! .. fully expecting to meet a group of smart teens. However, 3-hours later I walked out of the building inspired and energized. The students in the East Lake Foundation'sCREWTeens summer program were beyond just smart .. they were amazing!
My dear friend Mary Dugenske - the awesome director of marketing & communication - invited me to be a guest speaker for the Tweet This program. The course explores how social media and the digital world are impacting advertising, marketing and journalism. Jana Broadie, the instructor, not only brings heart but soul and humor to the class.She's created an environment where learning is interesting and fun.
The assignment that I was given was to help the students understand the differences, and similarities, of using Twitter for personal and business purposes. We started the session off with a jar of jelly beans to demonstrate that the same could be different. Of course in order to really get the concept many jelly beans had to be consumed!
A lot of the students were using social media from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube, MySpace and Ning. While munching on jelly beans we explored why. The reason: to keep in touch with friends. At the end of morning we came to the conclusion that brands had a similar purpose to be involved in social media. The reason: to connect with customers.
Some of the most significant dfferences we decided were that brands develop a strategy and content direction. We talked about the importance of knowing who you wanted to talk to (identifying customers) and how to add value while representing the brand. All in 140 characters!
Celebrations for the Fourth of July are wrapped in tradition. In Hot'lanta the 41st Peachtree Road Race again closed Peachtree Street in Buckhead through Midtown to accommodate 55,000 runners, joggers and power walkers.
Tonight there will be over 800,000 people, with blankets and picnics at the Esplanade on the Charles River, who will enjoy a night of Boston Pops, fireworks and @craigyferg.
There will also be millions who will turn on the grill and kick back with family and friends. Kids will be running through sprinklers, jumping into pools or building sand castles on the beach creating their own memories of the day.
Although the day is framed with the familiar there are often a few new elements that occur. Maybe it's a surprise guest to your BBQ. Perhaps it's an unexpected fireworks design. Or did you set a new time for the Peachtree?
Social media is a little like that. It takes the traditions of strategy, segmentation, customer insights, branding, service and wraps it in something new .. authentic digital conversations.
To celebrate the Fourth of July I've taken a few of my favorite traditional recipes and added a dash of social media spice by turning them into Twitter recipes. This July 4th Twitter Menu also includes a few recipes from foodie tweeters - Martha Stewart @marthastewart, Julie Tharalson @foodierd, and Lucy Waverman @lucywaverman. Enjoy!
I really like the beat you cover began one pitch that recently dropped into my inbox.
Seems that PR people think that I am a media outlet. Sort of funny. However, at this juncture in the evolution of social media and blogger relations, sort of sad and frustrating that too many agencies still don't understand the "human side" of "social." All they see is "media."
One could make a case that most marketing and public relations higher education courses don't cover earned media well if at all. One could make a case that social media is new and many people are at the initial stages of learning. One could make a case that blogs appear to be a type of public information and leap to the conclusion that content creators are another type of reporter.
One could come up with a whole bunch of excuses. But Girlfriend, if you don't fix the broken heel of your favorite Jimmy Choos you'll hobble along forever. Or something like that. How do you "social media fix" a PR agency or ad agency? With a little training and a walk in a blogger's stylish shoes.
For now forget the listen to the conversation. Forget the build the relationship first. If you've ever stepped your polished purple toes into the social media waters you've heard that at least a zillion times. Guess you didn't get it.
We're changing Nike's Just Do It into "YOU do it" with Extreme DYI Social Media Blogger Relations Training For Agencies (and anyone else). It's not easy. It does take time. It's based on at least 2 people or 2 teams participating. It's not for the whiners.
If you succeed at the end of the course .. you buy me my next pair of Jimmy Choos. If not I'll buy you a drink when your boss says the famous Donald Trump words - You're Fired!
ExtremeDYI Social Media Blogger Relations Training - A Four Week 12 Step Program
Step 5 - Create a blog on any topic that you can sustain for three weeks. The graphical look and feel must complement your subject. Add at least 10 blogs that write about similar topics to you blog roll.
Step 6 - Write a minimum of 3 well thought out posts per week for the next 3 weeks
Step 7 - Comment on other blogs at a minimum of 3 times per week.
Weeks Three & Four
Step 8 - Pitch A Blogger
Step 9 - Develop a minimum of 4 pitches per week that you will send ONLY to the people who are participating in the Extreme DIY Social Media Blogger Relations Training with you.
Step 10 - For each pitch you receive do one or more of the following actions: a. reply back; b. post to your blog; c. do nothing; e. other .. you decide. Track your actions for each pitch.
Week Four
Step 11 - Provide feedback to your colleagues on their pitches including how you responded and why.
Step 12 - What did you learn? How did you feel about response to your pitches? What will you put into practice in your next blogger relations campaign? Did you color outside the lines .. do more than was suggested? What?
Last Sunday night I was chatting with a few hundred people about blogs on Mack Collier's popular Tweet Chat #blogchat.
What's a tweet chat? Glad you asked. It's simply people tweeting on a designated topic, at a specific time, and using a unique identifier - called a hash tag (#blogchat) - so the conversation can be easily followed online.
#blogchat is always fun with lots of ideas generously exchanged among colleagues from all over the world. @mattchevy offer a great suggestion that I found so simple but elegant .. like the classic black dress.
Some people might call Matt's idea an "evergreen post; this is Diva Marketing after all and I prefer - "Classic Black Dress Post." Girlfriend, think Coco Channel. The little balck dress never goes out of style.
Please enjoy one of Diva Marketing's Classic Black Dress Posts - August 31, 2008
life just happens. However, every once in awhile when you round a corner, when you least expect it, you bump into something that causes you to pause. No where is that more magical than in New York City.
Big bronze pennies leading to whimsical art, created by local sculpture Tom Otterness, was one of the many little surprises that my friend Kate introduced me to during our walk along Rockefeller Park (Battery Park City) this weekend. I found it interesting that the name of this wee park is The Real World but the children call it Penny Park. I couldn't help but think .. what's real and what is play and how as adults we loose our sense of wonder and miss the moments of delight.
It's only a description of what I see in New York: the constant clash between people walking on the same street, living in the same world. I see small vignettes of meaning, but the connection between the events is beyond my understanding. Tom Otterness
Later that night Otterness' words would ring true for me. In a NYC taxi my aunt lost her purse. Panic set in as she was told by the 311 operator that due to the holiday weekend no one would be able to help her for 7 long days. Her lost money and cell phone were not so much a concern as her identification. How much of a hassle would it entail to get through TSA security? Life can be so complex.
The cabbie had found her purse. Taken the initiative to call several people from her phone list who in turn called family who was with my aunt. Happily ever after occurred when this good samaritan took time out from his job to return her pocket book.
I see small vignettes of meaning, but the connection between the events is beyond my understanding.
What might this have to do with marketing, or branding you may ask? In my way of thinking it is a reminder that be it taxi rides or art it's the people who we touch .. who we connect with who matter. For me social media marketing is making that happen more so every day. Because business is personal.
How do you define real in a world that too often seems to be like the illusion of a magic act? Dictionary.com defines "real" (as a noun) as something that actually exists.
A tweet is here today and gone tomorrow. Take down a server and your post may disappear. Is it the vapor trail that makes it real?
Does it .. whatever "it" may be .. need to be tangible to be real? Recently my eBook, Social Media Marketing GPS, was turned down to be included in a list of books about social media because it was not "professionally published and printed and available for purchase on amazon.com." Now everyone has the right to set their own guidelines of course but .. was the gentleman really saying it was not a real book? The oxymoron was the list was part of a digital publication.
I began to wonder .. how comfortable are our customers in the digital world? As experiences in online and offline worlds continue to blurr the idea of what is real is shifting. Here are 5 questions that might help you find the secrets to make your next social media magic act "real."
1. What is real for our customers? Books. An eBook, an iPad or Kindle book or a hard copy 'dead tree' book?
2. What is real for our customers? Relationships. Relationships begun in childhood, at work, on a commuter train or from a tweet or blog post?
3. What is real for our customers? Thought Leadership. Expertise reinforced through tweets, blog posts, Facebook status updates, traditional books or newspaper articles?
4. What is real for our customers? Education. Learning for free through digital posts, webinars, podcasts or in a paid class room settings?
5. What is real for our customers? Purchase Decisions. Purchase decision information and sights gained from people you know, the company or from strangers on Yelp, tweets, blog posts or tweets?
Five years from now we probably won't be having this conversation; but for many organizations it's an important issue to address today. How do you define "real" in the 21st century digital world? More importantly, how do you customers define what is real?
Social media tools may fall out of favor; but the concept of leveraging the conversational, digital world to engage, educate and energize our customers is here to stay.
When most people begin to explore social media they usually start from the perception that social media is another marketing channel. What exactly is a marketing channel? Glad you asked. Let's take a look at the American Marketing Association definition:
A set of institutions necessary to transfer the title to goods and to move goods from the point of production to the point of consumption and, as such, which consists of all the institutions and all the marketing activities in the marketing process.
Wow girlfriend, that's intense. The Product Marketing Handbookby Rick Chapman offers a simpler explanation. A channel to market is the method of getting your product into the customer's (end user's) hand.
For many marketers that translates to a creating a "campaign." Wrapping social media around a campaign is not a new idea. In 2005, The American Cancer Society used a blog to support its Fabulous at 50 promotion focused on colon cancer education. If you're curious about the strategy and want a look at social media "history" skip over to the interview; I conducted with Lisa Myers Brown, who was VP of Marketing at the time.
One of the lessons that Lisa shared was ~ It's not enough to build it and hope people will come.
That was true for blogs in 2005, it's true for social networks in 2010, and it will be true for the next shiny platform. However, unlike traditional campaigns, social media is not, or should not be, a static set of institutions but a method to open a dialog. To have those conversations with your community .. you have to have a community.
How to build community that is sustainable and where people are engaged is the $64 zillion dollar question. In Social Media Marketing GPS, Nancy White tweeted, We'll face at least 2SN/Comm challenges: too many options & too many people.Sweet spot develop tools and practices 4 this.
To help build and promote its Facebook page, Cooking.com created a contest encouraging customers to "Like" .. which of course not only builds the community but promotes it. The campaign began with an eMail invitation to win a $500 Gift Certificate.
The Facebook contest landing page provides not only an opportunity to Invite Friends but also collects demographic profile information. Now, I understand the importance of the data but there seems to be something just a teeny disingenuous and old school about the extent of info required before beginning a relationship.
As social media twists and turns, I hope we keep top of mind what my friend Tim Jackson posted on #blogchat .. It takes a community to build a brand. In the age of (digital) conversations how we achieve that may mean viewing marketing "channels" thought a new lens. Perhaps we should call it .. Kaleidoscope Marketing. Just a thought ...
Sometimes you just have to color outside the lines. Sometimes you stumble. Sometimes you soar. Sometimes people wrapped in the status quo just don't get your ideas. Sometimes you find people who believe in your vision.
My story. Last summer I invited social media marketing pros to explore with me a new book genre. I wondered if a real business book could be written using Twitter as the major content platform and distribution channel.
I am excited to launch Social Media Marketing GPS, as free eBook, in celebration of Diva Marketing's 6th blog birthday! My mom's birthday! and Shel Israel, who wrote the Forward and is recovering from heart surgery! Social Media Marketing GPS is the first business book based on Twitter interviews.
What is it about? Social Media Marketing GPS is based on Twitter interviews with 40 of the smartest people working in social media. The book begins with an explanation of why include social media and moves on to cover ethics, tactics, research, metric, branding, sponsored conversations, blogger relations and even a few case studies. Additional content wraps around each of the 12 chapters creating a process for you to use to develop your social media marketing plan.
Who is it for? It's a genre for the 24/7 marketers who don't have time to read a tome but must understand social media in order to do their jobs. It's for people who want insights and information bite-size and actionable. It's for business professionals who want a quick refresher and innovative ideas to take their current strategy to the next level.
I invite you to download the eBook; and if you find value please pass the link to people in your network and in your social networks. I'd love your thoughts on the genre, the book, social media and how to promote the it. If you tweet the hash tag is #smgps.
Social media is all about the stories. This tale could never have happened without the technology of the Internet, the culture of social media and the generosity of over 100 people from all over the globe.
It is also a case study that reinforces that social media does create real and sustaining relationships. It begins with two guys from opposite ends of the world. One was from the middle of America and the other from down under in Australia.
Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan had a wild idea to crowd source a book about the new conversations that were changing the fabric of marketing. No one would make a penny .. all of the profits would be donated to charity. In 2007, they asked people active in social media to write 1 page. Hence was born the Age of Conversation 1. 2008 brought Age of Conversation 2 with over 200 contributing authors.
Age of Conversation 3 launched this week. It's available in Kindle, hard copy and soft copy at amazon.com and other digital book stores.Subtitled, It’s time to get busy!,it focuses on action versus theory. This social media book is divided into 10 sections:
1. Conversational Branding
2. Influence
3. Getting To Work
4. Corporate Conversations
5. Measurements
6. In The Boardroom
7. Pitching Social Media
8. Identities, Friends and Trusted Friends
9. Conversations At The Coalface
10. Innovation and Execution
I'm proud to have participated in all 3 Age of Conversation books. Thanks to Channel V Books for their help in publishing and distribution. Toss of a pink boa
to the awesome authors, and of course, Drew and Gavin. Would love to know your thoughts about any part of the book, the concept, where you see new media heading.
Part of the author agreement is not to publish our pages until 6-months after publication .. but sshhh .. here's a sneak peek of my page for you! Of course it's told in story format (smile).
Once upon a time there was a CEO who worked diligently for many years building a successful company. One day she (or perhaps it was a he) realized the business model she had carefully crafted was no longer valid. She found her customers and prospects were not waiting for her website to be updated, new ads to launch, sales calls returned, or direct mail pieces received in order to make purchase decisions. She discovered customers were not in company service queues waiting for answers to their questions. [Continued inAge of Conversation 3 - Chapter Corporate Conversations: Building The Social Enterprise]
2. You understood the impact the social web will bring to your enterprise.
3. You created a strategy that includes objectives, goals, measurable results. You've integrated it into your overall plan.
4. You listened to the social conversations and understood how your customers are engaging and the value you could contribute.
5. You built a content direction that could be maintained for the long-run and across multiple social platforms e.g., blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and even the next shiny new toy.
6. You have internal and external guidelines in place.
7. You've even identified a social media champion who is respected at a senior management level.
You finally launched and took a celebration sip of a well deserved appletini or double espresso latte. You wait. You wait. You wait. So what happens now? Where are the comments? Where are the RT (retweets)? Where are the atta girl we love your ideas?
Ooops! You gave a social media party and forgot to invite the guests. If you build it they will not come .. unless you tell them. Similar to your traditional website .. social media serves many masters. Not only can it support marketing, public relations, customer service or consumer insights but think of it as an asset unto itself.
Shh .. don't tell .. here's the secret .. the missing piece to the social media puzzle that is frequently forgotten: a promotional strategy must be included with each and every one of your social initiatives.
However, for me, the customer experience stumbles with the goal of providing only the website url. It's not easy to go to what is promoted - Facebook or Twitter. Once at the site links to Facebook and Twitter are below the fold. Though I might not have found the sweet dedication to their dog Lulu and her pup friends. Max sends woofs!
To help you ease on down the social road ...
18 Easy Tips To Promote Your Social Media Initiatives
1. Add urls to your email signature
2. Add urls to your business card
3. Include in traditional marketing communication materials
4. Include links in all of your social media assets
5. Add links above the fold on your website
6. Add links to the footer or site navigation bar that runs across the site
7. Include in ads - print,digital and broadcast
8. Create a special ad a la Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
9. Include links in your eMail newsletters
10. Drop a Facebook status up date
11. Drop a LinkedIn update
12. Judiciously tweet it out
13. Engage with the social web communities where you 'live' e.g., comment on blogs, @tweets, etc.
14. Include "share this" widget on posts
15. Optimize for key word search
16. Send email updates to your network
17. Add urls in media releases
18. Take online offline .. mention it to colleagues at networking events
Now .. take a sip of 'tini or vino or java and toast to your success!
Quick thoughts about social media on a drizzly afternoon.
In a scant few years we've seen social toys change in popularity from My Space to Facebook from Pownce to Twitter. Recently Four Square and cool participation badges have made it onto the social media playground.
Our customers are beginning to expect direct engagement with brands that go beyond interacting with the people behind the brands or playing games on social networks or solving customer service concerns. Our customers are assuming they can influence the direction of the brand through status updates, blog posts, comments, tweets, review sites .. and more.
What we call "marketing" is changing. However, social media is simply a conduit to that new direction. It is our customers who are leading the charge. A VIP of a F-100 company recently told me he thought of social as an new channel. That may be true, but sir, social media goes beyond that to impacting the way we will conduct 21st Century Business.
The good news is that research confirms that social media positively impacts brand perception. What exciting opportunities are possible for organizations that smartly and strategically make those connections!
No matter what the next cool social media toy, or as I like to think of as marketing tactic, may be .. one thing is certain ... companies that do not build social media into the DNA of their brands will miss powerful opportunities to build stronger emotional ties with their customers and stake holders. What's the ROI on that? Perhaps you might ask your competition.
On my happy birthday to me day, thoughts turned to cupcakes. Little tastes of wonderful sweets that do not overwhelm .. but with big flavor. They can be made from decadent chocolate or veggies like carrot or zucchini. Cupcakes are limited only by your imagination. When I was a little girl my mom use to bake the most fun cupcakes frosted in a rainbow of colors and decorated with sprinkles and candy.
I thought a "cupcake" post of several 'tastes' of ideas, instead of just one, might be a fun way to celebrate with you. Read what resonances with you. As with social media .. it's always your choice!
The Social Enterprise - Social media's impact is not confined to the department that initiated the tactic or program. Consumer generated media may find its way into every area/department that touches the customer experience.
Questions: Are communication systems in place to ensure information is captured and received by the ''right' people?' Is there a feedback process in place to ensure people know you are listening and are responsive?
Authentic Brand Stewardship - Social media brings interesting challenges to marketers who are responsible for keeping the brand safe. Together brand managers and customers are co-creating the brand and the brand experience.
Questions: How do you define brand stewardship in the age of social media? How do you ensure a brand's value is maintained, and if you are developing content, still portray your authentic self? How can you share the creation of a brand with your customers .. what does that mean?
New Value Propositionn - In the digital world of bytes you can measure ten thousand nine hundred and fifty six different metrics. However, in additional to traditional web-based analytics, there are new values that are perhaps even more critical to understand and track that pertain to human capital.
Questions: What value do you place on the halo effective that a trusted person brings to your brand with their tweet or blog or status update? What is the value of longevity of a post or review? What is the value that a respected influencer brings to the mix through links and extended community awareness?
On April 1st I had the pleasure of speaking at the American Marketing Association Charleston Chapter's luncheon about social media marketing. (Wow say that fast .. American Marketing Association Charleston Chapter's luncheon!)
I've been writing Diva Marketing for almost 6 years, and must admit I've taken a sip .. well maybe 3 or 4, of the social media kool aid. So when Kara Neureuther, the AMA/Charleston program chair, asked me me to approach the topic from the view of building trust and relationships it seemed like a great idea. However, since it was April Fool's Day I thought it would be fun to take an opposing position and began with a quote from the Godfather.
This is business not personal.
Then I'd bring it back with a 'gotcha' .. explain that the Godfather was wrong .. dead wrong .. business is personal and social media helps build those relationships.
However, the more I thought about this social media thing, the more I began to realized that so much of social media is Never about the personal but about the messaging. For many marketers the social web is nothing more but a new channel to reach more eye balls.
And oh by the way, there is this highly coveted thing called buzz. What is buzz? It's a way for you to use your brand fans, your best customers, your brand champions to bring your carefully crafted messages to their friends. So wrong .. the blather of marketing messages posted on social networks like Facebook or Twitter are conversational hoaxes.
Conversation Hoax 1: People don't pass along messages to their friends. They talk about what is important to them. They talk about feelings. They talk about how your brand brings value (or frustration) to their lives. They talk about cool and relevant.
Conversation Hoax 2: Buzz alone does not make the cash register ring. If the product/service is off target the conversation is a hoax. I was talking with a smart women with great traditional marketing credentials. She was confused why a campaign, that pulled a huge number of social media 'impressions', was lack lusher in conversions. Wrong offer? Wrong 'influencers?' Wrong timing? More analysis needed.
Conversational Hoax 3: What do you see as social media conversational hoaxes?
Thanks to AMA/Charleston for their gracious hospitality .. as promised here's the April Fools Day deck!
Kinda nice but scary and dangerous dealing with the truth. - To SIr With Love
Customer feedback is built
into the DNA of marketing. Although raw opinions in the public world of the Internet can be
unnerving, as marketers we're use to customers evaluating the brands we
work
on and even the service we provide.
Everyone has an opinion and in our online world millions of people are
not shy sharing theirs. Even ten year old Perry Chen reviews films on
his site Perry Previews. Click a link or two and you're in the midst of a universe of zillions of ways to review and rate products, services, books and even non profit organizations.
Blogs and social networks also provide avenues to voice personal opinions. These ideas live in an odd, online, glass house world. Social media unleashed another type of evaluation that many never
bargained for .. peer-to-peer judgment.
Often when people talk about social media two words are bounced about: transparency and authenticity. Here are two more words to add to the mix: vulnerable and brave.
When you step into the social media world and express your opinions you are vulnerable to the challenges of your colleagues and foes. However, at the same time the courage to take that risk is too often rarely acknowledged. Toss of a pink boa to those who are creating thoughtful and thought provoking content that encourages us to reach a little further and learn a little more.
Relationships don't matter .. to some people. Bloggers like to build relationships with the people who pitch them stories; however, that is not always the case for content publishers like Jeffry Pilcher, of The Financial Brand.
I'm a one-man show running two businesses. I don't have time for touchy-feely stuff. If I could spend my whole day "engaging with my readers," "joining the conversation" and doing phone interviews .. Sadly none of that puts food on my plate.
A few eMail exchanges and a comment on a Diva Marketing post might not a deep relationship make; but they opened a door that resulted in an interesting exchange and this blog post about how one publisher finds content for his online site. Perhaps you'll find a few ideas that will help you write your next blog post.
About The Financial Brand: The Financial Brand is a niched B2B online publication about banking and brand/marketing. The community has approximately 3,000 active subscribers who read about 50,000 articles every month. The site ranks about 135 on Ad Age's Power 150 list.
Monitoring The Internet & Social Media: Jeffry spends about 90 minutes daily reviewing about 50 Google Alerts, RSS feeds and Twitter searches that he's converted into RSS feeds. His search terms including: bank, credit unions, marketing, advertising, new logo, branding, promotion. He has invested many hours honing these key words. In addition, he also scans Twitter using the special columns in Tweetdeck.
Organization: What interests Jeffry goes into folders. At the end of the week he reviews all and chooses the five he's going to write about. Although he posts five days a week (Monday through Friday) he usually sets aside time during the weekend to write.
Information relevant to his audience that isn't turned into posts are shared through Twitter @financialbrand. Jeffry has even posted his Twitter policy along with a few Tweet resources. Well worth a visit.
Diva Marketing: What influences your decision to choose the stories for your publication?
Jeffry Pilcher: The #1 thing that will influence my decision to write a full article is the immediate availability of supporting images/artwork. As a publisher of a marketing/advertising website, it’s vital I have visual examples of what I’m writing about. Who wants to read about a TV campaign or billboard promotion if they can’t see what it looks like? Most press release fail miserably with this. I want your logo, pictures of the people quoted in the release, photos, illustrations, graphs, etc.
Diva Marketing: When you're working with bloggers do you do anything differently than when you work with agencies or brand managers?
Jeffry Pilcher: I don't work with bloggers. In fact, I almost never work with anyone (for any reason). I don't usually do interviews for stories. I just don't have the time. It takes me an average of 4 hours to write an article already, without interviews.
Diva Marketing: When you find a lead from a blog do you do additional vetting to ensure credibility?
Jeffry Pilcher: I never rely on one source and I Google the heck out of everything. Of the four hours it takes me to create an article, easily one hour is spent researching. Also, remember: If I can't find artwork, photos or imagery, I won't run the story. But once I find the necessary graphics for my story, it's almost as if the sources become irrelevant. I can write my own review of what I see.
Diva Marketing: What advice can you give to bloggers, and other social media content creators, who want to gain exposure with online publications?
Jeffry Pilcher:
Make sure 100% of your content is 100% relevant to your audience 100% of the time. (I extend this rule to include ads.) If you do that, you can throw away all the other rules.
There's a lot of noise out there about stuff like "engagement," "authenticity" and "transparency." I ignore all that crap. I'm running a B2B site. It's business, not casual, nor recreational. My readers want insights and information. Period. All I have to do is give it to them and stay out of the way.
Pre show Kelley & I were talking and we agreed the emphasis should be Marketing With not Marketing To Women. One world changes the entire concept and impacts strategy.
The culture of social media along with those funny tech tools like blogs, Twitter, social networks, etc., gives us an amazing opportunity to create a collaborative environment where marketers and customers can together create the brand experience.
Our podcast conversation explored a lot of issues, however, at the end of the day, we agreed women want to know that they/we matter. Savvy marketers are trying to build emotional connections by:
1. Listening to what is important to each customer segment.
2. Realizing that women relate through not only information but stories that speak to their/our personal experiences.
3. Understanding that the segment "women" is comprised of many niches and what captures one women's attention or heart may not work for another.
In our world we encounter thousands of marketing messages every day. We are bombarded with traditional advertising to new media ads on Facebook fan pages and Tweet messages to logos on t-shirts and even on our own bodies e.g., tattoos. Women (and men!) pay attention to what is relevant to them. Stories are a powerful element that can create emotional connections, that in turn, help a target market relate to the brand/product.
Not to crush any brand marketer's ego .. but, although many in the social media marketing world would claim it as their own, telling stories that resonate with a specific niche is not a new idea. Shh .. believe it or not savvy marketers have known the secret for over a 100 years .. probably longer.
Take a look at the ad for Mellie's Food which came from Scribner's Magazine December, 1897. It is a mom's story about how this brand of baby food helped her daughter to be a healthy, happy, little girl. The photo of a "real baby" adds credibility and solicits an additional emotional response. An added bonus from Mellie is their offer of a free sample.
Copy:
Rhea Elizabeth Dobbrow.
A Melli's Food Girl
I am pleased to send you a picture of our baby girl, Rhea Elizabeth Dobbrow. She was nine months old when this was taken and a fine healthy baby. She's had Mellin's Food since she was six weeks old, which I can recommend very highly as being an excellent food for babies. - Mrs. Augustus A. Dobbrow. Alton, R.I.
Write to us (a postal will do) and we will send you a sample of Mellin's Food free of expense. Doliber-Goodale Company, Boston, MA.
So girlfriend, perhaps we should be taking our learnings not from 21st century brand marketers but those from the 19th century! Combining those lessons with the tools of the social web we can create exciting environments where where people come together in supportive communities to share experiences, information and of course their stories.
Note: Borden's print ad is from The Saturday Evening Post Septemeber 11, 1949. Cost of the publication: 15 cents. Yup .. we've come a long way Girlfriend!
A thank you post to the great people who generously participated and gave of themselves to create a "real time social networking" environment last week at the American Marketing Association Social Media Bootcamp in San Antonio. Our day and a half together ended as, it began, with people learning from each other. With their permission, here are some of the take aways and lessons learned from our concluding exercise.
When building a social media strategy
Focus on achievable outcomes and goals
Consider the pros and cons of various social media platforms
Have a basic understanding of your audience and how they want to receive information
Determine the definition and structure of the plan
Define and refine expected outcomes
Fit audience to appropriate channels
Value of listening
Balance between professional image and more conversational content in social media
WOM
Be aware of and utilize the "funnel" effect of word of mouth
Make it easy for customers to promote events .. talk about you and your brand
Display outcomes of your customers' suggestions in social media
Building an internal case for social media
Include cases and testimonials
Ability to prove ROI to management
When considering an outside agency
Looking for quality websites
Active in social media
Thoughtful strategies
Consider longevity of media outlets
Toss of a pink boa to the AMA San Antonio Chapter for rolling out the red carpet for our workshop .. especially prez Casidhe Meriwether and Sheila Dunn who handled on site logistics. Watch for some exciting social media initiatives from:
These boots were made for walkin' and that's just what they'll do .. It's funny the songs that get stuck in our heads. As I prep for a trip to San Antonio boots and cowgirl hats spin in my mind. And girlfriend, those Texas boots are red and sassy! Wondering if Nettie will be wearing a pair ..
Social media is walkin' and some might say runnin' through our business practices. Sadly, it's barely crawling in terms of an integrated process through out most enterprises.
As our understanding of
how our customers, the media, prospective employees, current employees,
share holders and more use the social web it becomes evident that BBF Shel Israel was right. Social media does not
live only in the world of marketing. Public relations, customer service,
operations and human resources are exploring ways to incorporate online digital
conversational tools.
Comcast is using Twitter as a customer service channe; while the business-to-business company
Indium has tapped its engineers and scientists to create twelve niche topic
blogs. Small local businesses like Atlanta restaurant Pizzeria Venti are on Twitter, Facebook and including blogger relations outreach to
build relations with neighborhood patrons through special offers and
conversations.
Isipho, a small nonprofit that’s
mission is to improve the lives of the children in Nzinga, South
Africa, has raised its awareness
and brought in funding through its Facebook page, blog and tweets. Dell is a marketer's dream selling millions of dollars of computers through special Twitter offerings.
All too often, enterprise social conversations are grassroots efforts .. which might seem like it would dovetail with the social media culture. And perhaps it does. However, with so many areas of the enterprise joining digital
conversational exchanges With customers and stakeholders we inadvertently created a set of expectations.
Limited planning and neglect in creating a comprehensive enterprise social media direction results in disappointing customers and in the disconnect of the brand promise. Why? Because we can't sustain the same level of engagement since too frequently no one knows what all of those social media experiences entail.
A few questions for you to consider at your next department meeting:
Is service better on the Twitter channel than in your call
center?
Does a blog or Facebook post provide more relevant information than
your website or brochures or trade shows?
Do your enterprise bloggers or twitters understand
the needs of your customers better than your traditional sales force?
Is the HR
specialist bringing in more qualified candidates through LinkedIn than ads or
recruiters?
Please, please, please .. keep in mind: Every time a customer or
client interacts with your employees (or -gulp- agency .. you are transparent about that I hope!) within your social media assets (Twitter, blogs, Facebook, YouTube, etc. You do consider then assets and not resource drains?) it creates not
only a new experience for that One person but it is viewed by hundreds if
not hundreds of thousands of people. That secondary audience
also experiences your brand and builds expectations of how they assume you will treat them.
More questions:
From the customer perspective: If my friend receives a comment from you on her blog post or my neighbor gets his problem resolved from a tweet But I do not .. how is the disconnect in service and the brand promise resolved? Not to mention the "feeling badly" emotions that may occur.
From the enterprise point of view: How in the world do you scale this stuff without hiring a cast of zillions?
One of the benefits that
social media brings to the enterprise is ... a we can not wait any longer .. critical need to ensure cross functional
communication systems are in place.
Processes should be developed to capture the
learnings and information occurring from each social media touch point.
Ideally, that information should be analyzed and placed in a common, let’s call
it digital repository.In addition,
critical information should be directed to people who can quickly provided a
response and begin a solution process.
“Un-soloing” an organization, whether it is a Fortune 100 enterprise with global
divisions or a small business with three employees with distinct
responsibilities, takes time, commitment, often a change in culture and team work.
These boots are made for walkin' .. or perhaps we should change the song to these shoes were made for runnin'!
Out of work? Pink slipped? I've been there and done that. No matter the reason being for being down-sized or right-sized the results are the same .. it's a loss on so many levels. Especially in our economic times finding your next corporate home may not come quickly.
Finding a support system is not just helpful but can be critical to expanding your network and providing emotional support. Recently, my friend Linda asked if I would talk with the amazing women of C3G - an Atlanta suburb networking group - about using social media to support a job search.
I wanted to frame social media in a way that most women could relate to .. so Girlfriend, I built our conversation around .. shoes! Talking about social media should be fun .. don't you agree?
We spent some time discussing how social media tools can be used to create a digital bio that can represent you far better than a static paper resume. In the digital world there is a greater opportunity to leverage your special style that distinguishes you from others in the same field.
We talked Jimmy Choos to help determine digital personality. Try it!
Question 1: What type of shoe fits your personality?
Question 2: How will your "shoe image" influence 4 elements of your digital style: Content Direction.Tonality. Expectations. Boundaries?
Today I was going to ask you toBe My Valentine. I was going to send you virtual hearts and chocolates to let you know how much I care.
But now I'm not so sure. For you see I've found out that what you created is an illusion. You made us believe that we need you to connect with each others. Even to finding love.
Oh sure .. The Suits are loosening their ties and opening their hearts beyond corporate talk. The playing field is leveled for small businesses and non profit organizations to tell their stories without huge budgets. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, MySpace, LinkedIn and more offer ways for people to reach out to people to express opinions and passions.
This morning, as I was about to create my ode to you social media, I received an eMail from my friend Kate with a link to a New York Times article about the Victorian Era. How quaint is that I thought. It was more than quaint .. it was a dose of reality from circa 19th century. In the age before a tweet people were using newspapers ads to find love. You created an illusion that if it weren't for you dear social media we would not find ... love, happiness, business, friendships or even our newest, favorite restaurant in town.
We don't need you social media to send Valentines. We don't need you social media to connect to people. We don't need you social media to build relationships or sell our products or find new friends. We don't need you social media to find the humanity in humans.
No we don't need you dear social media but ..
Dear social media I must admit you have given us new ways to build bridges that sometimes span oceans of geography and opinion.
You have given us new opportunities to meet people who might have never come into our worlds.
You have given us avenues to tell the stories of the people who are the heart of our organizations and those who use our products and services.
You have encouraged us to be more of who we are in our transactions with customers and that courage to be ourselves often spills into our relationships with family and friends.
Perhaps this Victorian Valentine is just the right way to say Will You Be Mine? While reminding us that what you offer complements what we already have.
Friday Fun is Diva Marketing's virtual happy hour from cosmos to Jack to lemonade. A waiting for the weekend 'playground' time to be sophisticated-silly. Or sometimes just plain silly.
In the social media world things and people should be as they seem. However, as often as that is true it is not. Business issues add complexity and shades of gray to what and how information, and often conversations, are presented.
The concept of transparency in the business social web continues to be an illusive idea - especially when it comes to social media content ownership. The debate on full disclosure versus or "degrees of transparency" as my friend John Cass termed, in the cross posts we wrote together on social media transparency, is a hot topic. (Insights from over 30 people active in social media. John's transparency post; Diva Marketing transparency post.)
Beth Harte offers an interesting 3-dimension model on how businesses approach transparency: Opaque, Translucent, Transparency. I rather like the idea of "translucent."
Although this is an important issue, Girlfriend, sometimes the social world takes itself way too seriously.. so today's Friday Fun is dedicated to ..
Top 10 Reason Why Transparency In Social Media Is Over Rated
With apologies to David Letterman ..
10. You've built your social media model after your favorite holiday .. Halloween because wearing masks are so much fun.
9. Your agency needs a way to train their interns on social media .. your account would be perfect.
8. You don't have many friends in the 'real world' why would people friend you in the social media world?
7. You want a presence in the social web but no one in your entire organization has the time to write a 140 character post so a ghost writer is the perfect solution.
6. Your call center reps never use their real names - why should social media be any different?
5. Your agency ghost writes all your CEO's speeches - why should social media be any different?
4. Individual accountability is not part of your business model.
3. Your customers don't want to get to know the people in your organization they want information so who cares who creates content?
2. When it's all said and done it's not the people in the enterprise who are important but the Enterprise that matters.
1. Your organization is afraid of creating social media "rock stars."
Do you sometimes long for the simpler days of social media, say 5, 6+ years ago, when the hot issues were should comments should be monitored and how to handle the negative ones? Especially for marketers, the social web grows more complex by the nano second.
As customers come to expect the opportunity to interact with (hopefully!) the people who are behind brands we find ourselves addressing aspects that impact brand value. Note: Please check out Diva Marketing's post Where Does Transparency Fit In The New Social Media Marketing Model?
How can social media help tell the stories of your brand?
Can you be a steward of your brand while still maintaining your authenticity?
How can you integrate social media into the DNA of your brand?
These were the questions that I used to jump start the conversation about branding and social media at SONCON10 last week. Although I created a deck (yeah I know some people hate PPT .. but people learn in different ways and sometimes visuals are helpful.) our time turned into a great discussion that really was peer-to-peer learning.
As promised to the great people who attended the session, I'm posting the slides. One of my goals was to provide a thought process to help incorporate social media into the DNA of a brand.
6 Questions To Help Build Your Brand Value Through Social Media
1. What sets your brand apart from the rest? How is it special and unique to your target marketing?
Our brand is the only ________ that ___________.
2. Especially in the social media world brand values become important in building content direction.
In 3 words what is the essence of your brand? Or if you want to get social .. describe your brand value in 140 characters.
3. People use social media networks, platforms, tools different making identifying your audience critical.
Who do you want to talk with or who is your target audience?
4. Determining what you want to accomplish will guide your decision in what you consider to be success. Which in turn will lead to your metrics.
What are your objectives and goals? How will you know if you succeeded?
5. Determining resource allocation: people, time and money will impact which tools, or tactics, you choose to use Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Flickr, Video, etc.
What are tactics will you use? How will these tools reinforce brand value?
6. The more you can integrate social media tactics into initiatives (social media or traditional) the more benefits you'll see.
Identify current programs where social media can support the brand and build relationships with customers (and other stakeholders).
Many thanks to the terrific people who made SOCON10 so much fun for me. Here are a few ..
Unlike most business strategies, social media is built on a culture that is developed by the people who are involved in digital communities. The concepts of transparency, authenticity, honesty and passion for the topic/brand have evolved as 'society norms' for communicating and forming relationships in the world of the social web.
In an environment where your changing avatar is accepted as your image to the world, where people exchange ideas that frequently lead to business opportunities and where 'real' friendships are formed it was important to have a few boundaries that could help establish trust.
As marketers began to use social media platforms like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc., to communicate with their customers and stakeholders it didn't take long to realize that to sustain and grow interest in our brands we had to provide unique content. Agencies, consultants and freelance copywriters seized an opportunity to provide that all important Content.
My friend John Cass, PR Communications, and I had an interesting discussion about where the concept of transparency fits into the new social media marketing model - content developed by people outside of the enterprise. We decided to collaborate on a cross-post and did what any good social media citizen would do .. we opened it up to the community to discuss on our blogs, on Twitter and in a few emails.
Bloggers have long discussed the importance of transparency when writing content on a blog. With the growth in the adoption of social media marketing, many marketers now wonder how would they develop enough content for all of their new social media channels.
When a client hires an agency to write content for their blog, twitter account, Facebook page, we are wondering about the level of transparency by an agency writer on a client's social media channel.
We would like to ask you: What are the practices that you think should be followed? Feel free to tell us if you have differences of opinions across social media channels.
39 people, active in social media, shared their insights with us. Their views ranged from total transparency to not necessary. As Jeremy Pepper indicated this is a complex situation that is "fraught in grays." Yvonne DiVita reminds us, " .. in the end it isn't the bloggers, the company or the agency that will dictate the success ..it's the customers." What are your thoughts?
Degrees Of Transparency Quotations
Jim Alexander (No link given) - As
long as the client is willing to own the consequences of engagement by
proxy I don't think the identity of the content authors need be an
issue. Jump to Jim's content
Ellie Brown - I don’t think it matters who is doing the responding, as long as they are responding. The goal of social media is to facilitate discussion and generate attention through tweets and posts by real people. The company name on that person’s business card doesn’t matter. The agency is an extension of the client, and as long as the agency is well-informed, genuinely interested, authentic and responsive – everything should be good. Jump to Ellie's blog post
Bob Cargill - I think it’s perfectly acceptable for an external resource to write and
post social media content under the aegis of a brand. The client
representative just needs to be mindful to speak in the first person
plural, “we,” as he or she is communicating on behalf of the brand as a
whole, not as an individual. Jump to Bob's content
Susan Cartier Liebel -
'Personal' in my opinion isn't about a 'particular' person ... it's
about personalized service through social media that ends with a happy
customer and a positive impression which builds the company's brand. Jump to Susan's content
Jeff Cutler - The other matter is using a ghost blogger to put up content that
supposedly comes from an executive. I think this is OK if the writing
is merely rewriting or editing. Jump to Jeff's content
Susan Getgood - Bottom line, the more personal the expression, the more
important it is to know *who* is speaking. When the social media channel, or the brand’s use of it, more closely resembles broadcast, it isn’t nearly so
critical. Jump to Susan's content
Brendan Hurley- In
reality who is writing the content isn't nearly as important as who is
'approving' the content. Strict policies and procedures should be
drafted by the client, so the agency knows what it can and cannot do or
say, while giving the writing enough freedom to be creative, passionate
and opinionated when necessary. Jump to Brendan's content
Trish Grier - If a company is outsourcing its social media to a consultant, who is then creating copy for them via a social media platform of some kind, then it should be clearly disclosed that the person is an outside representative of, and not an employee of, said company. Jump to Trish's blog post
Max Kalehoff - The fact is that everyone has an agenda, and therefore is an agent of
some kind. It builds trust when one is forthcoming with his agenda, and
even better for all to simply anticipate agenda and not be surprised. Jump to Max's content
Rick Liebling - My current thinking is that the upside for trying to hide agency
involvement is almost nil, but the downside can be high, at least from
a consumer perception stand point. Jump to Rick's content
Jim Matorin-
The agency people are jumping in because we are alphas that
understanding social media is a platform to deliver messages/content,
to open conversations with consumers. Dinosaurs need agency folks to
jump start their new marketing initiatives at this point. Jump to Jim's content
Marc Meyer
- At the end of the day, agencies see an opportunity and until
businesses find the time and staff to learn to do this on their own,
there continue to be this need coupled with the void supplemented by a
lack or transparency. The better question may be, Who owns the mistakes
and customer service miscues that may arise? Jump to Marc's content
Lynn Anne Miller It is quite
common now for blog posts to be ghostwritten and then edited and
approved by executives prior to publication, just as is routinely done
with contributed/authored/bylined articles, speeches, etc. I see that
as a practical approach, but the twittering and blog commenting should
be disclosed with the author's true identity. Jump to Lynn Anne's content
Melanie Notkin -
As long as content is authentic and approved by the client, I'm not
sure there's a difference when a "social media consultant" or freelance
writer writes the content for a brand. Jump to Melanie's content
Jeremy Pepper - The basic premise on transparency, though, is to provide a biography (large or small) to show who is taking care of what. Jump to Jeremy's content
Tim Skaggs - I can see why larger companies would not be transparent in the social marketing because of the previous types of marketing done by the company in the past. Jump to Tim's content
Liz Strauss - The key is to choose people who will champion the company because they want to be part of celebrating what the company is doing and they're proud to put their own name on their efforts. Jump to Liz's content. Jump to Liz's content
Mike Volpe - Where you might be posting on behalf of a person, say the CEO of a
brand/company, then I think complete transparency is called for. Jump to Mike's content
Steve Woodruff
- Let people get their feet wet and outsource as they must. We should
encourage brands to use social media responsibility, realizing that
those who abuse it by a lack of transparency will be outed in time, and
the lessons will be learned! Jump to Steve's content
Total Transparency Quotations
Chris Brogan -
Content creation and the like: we use our own name, but willingly
create on behalf of the company. We work to educate our client partners
so that they can create on their own, but we still fill in and create
under our own name. Jump to Chris' content
Matt Churchill
- If we are managing a Twitter stream on behalf of a client, we
disclose in the bio which team member is running it, the fact we work
for Edelman and also include our Twitter handle. Jump to Matt's content
Yvonne DiVita -
In the end, it isn't the bloggers, the company, or the agency that will
dictate the success; it's the customers. If they accept it, we'll see a
lot more of it. If they reject it, we'll see companies scratching their
heads in confusion, because the agencies know all, don't they? Jump to Yvonne's content
Arik Hanson Overall,
I tend to fall on the side of transparency. But, that doesn't lend
itself too well to agencies making money. Jump to Arik's content
Roger Harris - Most people would rather be aware that content is being provided with an agenda or an element of bias and then make their own decisions rather than have the wool pulled over their eyes. Jump to Roger's content
Ellen Hoenig - Social
media is about listening, learning and building relationships..how can
you outsource this? And from my own experience, how can you learn or
develop your own voice without doing it yourself and experiencing the
ups and downs first hand? Jump to Ellen's content
Jonathan Kranz - You wouldn’t get married, then hire someone
else to have sex with your spouse; the point of the relationship is to relate,
in all its forms. Jump to Jonathan's content
Tracy Malone - My
gut reaction is yes, social media is meant to be nothing but authentic.
Relationship development, at it's best, and an opportunity to have more
insight into a brand and the people behind the brand. Jump to Tracy's content
Lionel Menchaca - The
basics of the policy will stay the same: strive to be honest and
accurate while maintaining transparency when speaking about Dell. Jump to Lionel's content
Chris Norton - If I am to write on their blog I will become a guest author and I will make sure it is clearly disclosed in the about page so readers know who is writing what. Jump to Chris' content
Tom O'Brien - I think the “transparency” requirement is at the brand level. Not at the “agency on behalf of brand” level. Jump to Tom's content. Jump to Tom's content
B.L. Ochman - Hell there was once a time when you could get by with typewriters and
mimeograph machines. Those days are long over and businesses need to
stop whining about social media and adapt. Just as companies had to
hire IT people a couple of decades ago so they could remain
competitive, they now need to hire community managers and others who
can participate in online interaction. Jump to B.L.'s content
Jeremiah Owyang - Disclosure is key, and in some cases, may be enforceable by the FTC, we encourage all organizations to abide by the law. Jump to Jeremiah's content
Rick Short - In 2010, the "rules" are that the blogger/tweeter is authentic, or is
pulling a fast one.
And (Rick gave quotes to both Toby & John) Today, given all the concern with transparency in social media, I feel
that today's "rules" guide us to be completely open about exactly who
is publishing what. It is phony to tweet, blog, and/or post to Facebook
or LinkedIn as an executive (or anyone else), when you are a
ghostwriter. If your name is on it and it blows up in your face, the world won't allow you to slip out of it by blaming a ghost writer. Jump to Rick's content
Caroline Slomski - These channels are embraced because of the level of authenticity they bring - authenticity that would be completely lost without transparency. Jump to Caroline's content
C.B. Whittemore -
It's been fascinating to observe the process of evolution from
traditional to social, and what it takes to get immersed in the social
aspect. What this tells me is that the more transparent and authentic
the effort, the more credible it is. Better not to delegate all
responsibility for your social efforts to 3rd parties who - for the
most part - really can't speak competently to your customers. Get
guidance, include them, but own it. Jump to C.B.'s content
Jack Yan -
My rule is to be transparent on everything that is public knowledge.
There is nothing wrong with being personal about the Tweets as long as
what you write does not attack the company or in my case the campaign.
(Jack is running for mayor of Wellington, New Zealand) Jump to Jack's content
As
long as the client is willing to own the consequences of engagement by
proxy I don't think the identity of the content authors need be an
issue.
I don't expect UPS or FedEx to identify their seasonal temps, as
such, when they deliver my holiday packages. I (as I suspect, their
respective employers do) expect them to comport themselves as competent
and capable representatives of the hiring firm.
Whether the authors catch a salary + 401K for the client or work on
the cum for the consultants take matters little. At the end of the day,
if the purpose is served it is irrelevant who dished it up.
Having worked on the agency side for most of my career, I’ve earned my livelihood by writing content – direct mail, email, ads, etc. – for my clients. And in that traditional marketing world, there was never much talk about being transparent in communications. It just wasn’t an issue.
In the world of social media, however, transparency and authenticity are essential. The more capable an organization is of keeping it real on the grid, the more successful it usually is in the blogosphere, on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else it maintains a social media presence.
But not everyone has the bandwidth, capability or desire to use social media themselves. Or they may need a little help getting started. Each of these barriers to entry represents a tremendous opportunity for agencies, consultants and freelancers to provide assistance to their clients. So yes, I think it’s perfectly acceptable for an external resource to write and post social media content under the aegis of a brand. The client representative just needs to be mindful to speak in the first person plural, “we,” as he or she is communicating on behalf of the brand as a whole, not as an individual.
I don’t believe in posting for another human being, though. “Ghost” tweeting and blogging is verboten in my book. I know it’s done. And I don’t pass judgment on anyone who does it. But if there’s a name and photo attached to a blog post, tweet or any other activity in social media, I think the words should be coming from that particular person and not someone else.
That doesn’t mean that one can’t receive a lot of help behind the scenes. Those who aren’t the best writers in the world or who have more important priorities can have someone provide them with ideas and even draft posts, tweets and updates. Shared thoughts and opinions should reflect the account holder’s views, however, and – ideally – should be posted by him or her, too. That’s the only way to really get anything out of social media anyway – to be immersed in it yourself, not to have someone acting as your proxy.
Whether social media is outsourced or not, what matters is the end
result to the customer. If the goal is to facilitate discussion,
improvement of the product or service or quick easy access to 'someone'
who can resolve a problem, I don't care if it is the president of the
company, a designated CSR or the PR agency who is going to make sure
the suggestions, complaints, promotions are handled properly from the
customers perspective. What matters is the end result and the press for
the company left in the wake of the interaction. Does it build or tear
down the brand?
I'll give you two anecdotal situations from my own experience. I
needed to reach someone in control at a furniture company. When I got
to their website they did everything imaginable to avoid a customer
interaction other than sending an e-mail they could respond to at some
future point in time. I ended up calling corporate directly after
looking them up on line in the white pages bypassing their website and
getting head of quality control. I told him how challenging it was to
connect with a live human being and he said that was deliberate because
customers are supposed to go through their sales representatives
through their stores. Needless to say I was less than impressed.
On the other hand, I had an issue with Jet Blue who is on Twitter
and Facebook, has set up fan pages, etc. I knew they were on Twitter
and started to air my complaint. I don't know who facilitates their
account. I didn't care what their name was. But I quickly realized
through this vehicle that I was able to resolve my problem because we
took it from Twitter to e-mail to resolution with the company.
'Personal' in my opinion isn't about a particular 'person'....it is
about personalized service through social media that ends with a happy
customer and a positive impression which builds that company's brand.
While transparency is vital to get consumers to buy into a firm's product or service offerings, it sometimes handcuffs an organization when they're using an outside party or a freelancer to create content. Like anything else, there are no absolutes. If I write a tagline for Gulf Oil and they pay me for it and use it on all their collateral, I don't expect that the public needs to know I created that content. Moving down the line, if I pen a product description in a catalog for a client, nobody really needs to know who the copywriter was on the job. But then comes the sticking point...is the material being written supposed to be impartial and unbiased?
If the answer is yes, it behooves everyone to reveal where it came from and the credentials of the writer.
If the answer is no, you can do what you want.
The other matter is using a ghost blogger to put up content that supposedly comes from an executive. I think this is OK if the writing is merely rewriting or editing. If it's wholesale editorial change, then you can't really give the executive credit for the post. But you could say that the material was written based on input from that company rep.
Tweeting for hire is another issue. With so little space - and admittedly so little impact for each 140 character tweet - I'm conflicted. Guest tweeting is fine if the credentials are revealed in the bio of the Twitter name/profile page as there's no room to really put a byline on each tweet. Also, if the person tweeting has the blessing of the communications/marketing department on messaging and promotion, I don't see an issue. Where I do feel misled is when some random person tweets to me from a corporate named account and they have no official affiliation to that firm.
Hope that helps.
Full disclosure.... I currently guest blog and tweet for a number of organizations and most of them reveal my identity. There are a few that don't deem it necessary or the pieces I'm writing are just revised materials from existing marketing or advertising.
Before I address your question, I want to touch on a related
issue. In my opinion, as ethical best practice and per the FTC guidelines
on endorsements and testimonials, agency personnel commenting about clients and
client products on social media channels must identify their interest. Even on
Twitter – it only takes 8 characters (client), 10 if you count the spaces.
I’ve also long thought that public relations, marketing and
advertising bloggers should include a list of their active clients on their
About page to better inform their readers about potential influences on their
opinions. Some agencies and people do it, others do not, on the theory that such
a list creates a prospecting list for competitors. Maybe so, but I believe
transparency requires it. Utopian of me I know.
Does this mean that Richard Edelman’s About page needs to
list every Edelman client. Of course not. The Edelman website surely does that
already, and as agency head, he’s not actively engaged in all those accounts
anyway.
But if you are actively engaged in an account, even at a
senior level, and commenting on the client’s industry, even if not directly
about the client, don’t your readers deserve that information? I think so.
Now to your question. What is best practice about
transparency/disclosure for agencies creating/writing content for their
clients’ social media channels? In other words, when acting as a proxy for the
client.
Let’s take blogs first. I have no problem with agencies
creating the content for client blogs, as long as it is disclosed. I also don’t
have any issue with blogs written by an impersonal “Company Moniker” as long as
there is a page somewhere that tells who the people are behind the writing. I do
prefer it when those posts are attributed to the individuals writing them,
rather than the group identity but also recognize that there are many
circumstances when the more impersonal is the better choice. You are building,
writing and speaking for the brand, not an individual.
I do not like ghostwriting, i.e. when someone else writes the
blog for a named person like the CEO without attribution. There are so
many other tactics available to us in social media to can bring the executive
voice to the customer that a ghostwritten blog is just a cop-out. You can do a
podcast, and then like Marriott does, transcribe it onto the blog. You can have
someone interview the executive periodically, much as you might for a customer
or employee magazine. You can do video chats and roundtables. You can even have
someone edit the original writing of the attributed writer. But write it 100%
for someone else, under their name, on a blog. Nope.
Similarly, I’m not terribly fond of ghostwritten tweets –
ghweets – for individuals. However, the practice of having multiple people tweet
on behalf of an organization under the organization moniker is fine, and even
better when there is a page that tells you who the Tweeters are. That’s what GM
does. It’ll be nice with the forthcoming Twitter functionality that those tweets
can be identified to the people if the organization chooses, but I don’t think
that is absolutely necessary.
Facebook Fan Pages. By design, fan pages are impersonal.
Posts default to the fan page name, regardless of which administrator is posting
the material. In fact, unlike Groups, you don’t even know WHO the admins are. I
imagine this was an intentional decision to focus attention on the brand, not
the individuals. It’s not supposed to matter *who* is talking – it is the
brand. For this reason, I don’t think it much matters whether it is an agency or
internal individuals posting to the page. [Side note: In fact, I’m not even sure
if you *can* post to a Fan Page for which you are an admin as
yourself, and not as the page. If it is possible, I wish someone would tell
me how, as I think we *should* be able to do this.]
Bottom line, the more personal the expression, the more
important it is to know *who* is speaking. When the social media channel,
or the brand’s use of it, more closely resembles broadcast, it isn’t nearly so
critical.
This is an interesting question. At the end of the day, the client
should be reviewing and approving any content that goes out through its
social media channels anyway. So in reality, who is writing the content
isn’t nearly as important as who is “approving” the content. Strict
policies and procedures should be drafted by the client, so the agency
knows what it can and cannot do or say, while still giving the writer
enough freedom to be creative, passionate and opinionated when
necessary.
As you recall, one of the reasons we decided on the use pseudonyms
for our fashion blog and Twitter sites (DC Goodwill Fashionista) and
mission focused Facebook and Twitter sites (Good Willy) was to enable
us to maintain consistency in the “name” of the content provider, even
though the individual behind that pseudonym may change…as it did when
we transitioned from Em Hall to Gillian Kirkpatrick as the writer of
the DC Goodwill Fashion blog.
In order to be transparent, we wrote a series of “transition blogs”
where Em “officially” turned over the writing of the blog to Gillian,
so readers knew the writer had changed, even though we never dropped
the DC Goodwill Fashionista name or image. That pseudonym and avatar
represent the “writer” of the blog, not the “person” writing the blog.
Not only was the blog not damaged as a result of the transition, its
readership has actually grown quite substantially. And Gillian is not
an employee, she is a volunteer.
We recently launched a Spanish fashion blog using the same strategy,
which is also doing very well. That writer also is a volunteer.
Max Kalehoff: The fact is that everyone has an agenda, and therefore is an agent of some kind. It builds trust when one is forthcoming with his agenda, and even better for all to simply anticipate agenda and not be surprised. Agenda is not some evil tendency. It's our perspective when going about the world. It's ok.
Personally, I don't advocate ghost writing -- but believe it has its place, but only when the attributed author personalizes and approves the copy. OK for an agent to update a wiki entry on behalf of a company? Absolutely. In fact, agents often can be better suited, more trusted and more capable of acting on behalf of a company than many of a company's own employees. I'm being extreme here, but you get the concept. In my case, we have awesome employees, but we also several contractors (technically/legally) who operate as full-fledged members of our team, with full access and privileges.
John Cass: Do you think your thoughts on ghost writing have changed over the years?
Max Kalehoff: I think there is greater expectation that the author attributed was the actual author, not a ghost writer. Which means that writing skills are becoming perhaps more important in business.
This is an issue that comes up quite often for us. My current thinking is that the upside for trying to hide agency involvement is almost nil, but the downside can be high, at least from a consumer perception stand point. So I would advise that any blog, Facebook page or Twitter account be labeled as being written by the 'Company X' team. The term 'team' covers a lot, and certainly makes it clear that the content is not coming from a specific individual.
Now, if you are talking about a blog that is being positioned as written by a CEO, then you've got to make sure it is indeed the words of that CEO. She doesn't have to be the one responsible for uploading and making sure the links work, but it has to be her words.
Thought provoking post and in agreement re: transparency. However, I
think we should recognize that all the agency people are jumping in
because we are alphas that understand social media is a new platform to
deliver messages/content, to open conversations with consumers. In
closing, dinosaurs need agency folks to jumpstart their new marketing
initiatives at this point.
Great topic John and Toby. Surprisingly all we need to know has
already been covered by your uber smart readers. The issues as to the
why are simple. Clients have neither time nor talent and in most cases
knowledge to carry this out. Thus, enter in the Agency, which should
have all...OK, Maybe 2 out of three.
I'm still on the fence about knowledge. But nevertheless some great
points were made in regards to a) end result b) transitioning the
duties and c)some modicum of ownership is better than none.
At the end of the day, agencies see an opportunity and until
businesses find the time and the staff to learn to do this on their
own, there will continue to be this need coupled with the void
supplemented by a lack or transparency. A better question might be, Who
owns the mistakes and customer service miscues that may arise?
Lynn Anne: I just
had a very interesting discussion with a potential client about this
issue. The client, a savvy Capitol Hill type, did not agree that the
agency contact's name should appear along with client names on a client
twitter account. He pointed out (rightly so) that CEO speeches and PR
commentary are routinely ghostwritten, and said that his clients would
be confused if someone else's name appeared on the company Twitter
account.
We got into a discussion about the timeliness factor...a CEO always
approves a press release or speech before it is released, whereas that
is not the way real-time social media channels work.
Increasingly, I see disclosure of team members on Twitter feeds, and
I regard that as a best practice. The actual author simply uses his or
her initials at the end of the tweet in brackets.
Still, it can be tricky to implement this when every one of those 140 characters counts!
I think the situation is different with blog posts. It is quite
common now for blog posts to be ghostwritten and then edited and
approved by executives prior to publication, just as is routinely done
with contributed/authored/bylined articles, speeches, etc. I see that
as a practical approach, but the twittering and blog commenting should
be disclosed with the author's true identity, in my opinion.
John Cass:You mention it is quite common for blog posts to be ghostwritten. What do you think of that practice?
Lynn Anne Miller: In
very few cases does a CEO have the time, talent, or inclination to
blog. There are of course notable exceptions (one thinks of Mr.
Marriott dictating his blog entries or Seventh Generation's Jeffrey
Hollander, who is also an author is his own right).
Blogging is just one more public communications channel for an exec.
Few CEOs write their own speeches so why should they labor over blog
posts? I'd rather a CEO focus on more material business matters, and
simply review/edit/approve copy that is posted under his or her byline.
I think that is entirely appropriate, and I would wager that is the way
it is done in most companies.
That said, any comments posted from the CEO should of course come directly from him or her.
John Cass: Why would any comments have to come from the CEO, if the blog post was ghost written?
And what do you think are reader expectations about blog posts, do you think readers believe such posts are ghost written?
Lynn Anne Miller: From your questions, John, I'm wondering if we're in agreement regarding the definition of ghostwriting.
Typically, a CEO brings in a ghostwriter to discuss his or her ideas
for the article, speech, blog post, or whatever is being crafted. (In
some cases, such as when the CEO or politician has one or more
GW/Speechwriters on staff, the writer will know the CEO well enough and
the subject matter well enough to approach the CEO with ideas). Then
the CEO reviews and approves the copy, sometimes making substantial
edits, but usually, if the GW is any good, making very few. Then the
piece is published under the CEO's name.
So let me ask you this: When you heard Obama's acceptance speech,
did you think of John Favreau, his speechwriter? When Reagan spoke, did
you think of Peggy Noonan? When Carly Fiorina gave her speeches at HP,
did you think of her speechwriter?
Back to your questions:
1. The comments would need to come directly from the CEO because the
comments are in real-time and demand a real-time response and immediate
judgment regarding the issues. (That said, in reality, I bet the CMO or
his or her designee is the one actually monitoring the blog, drafting
those responses, and running them by the CEO for approval before
hitting publish).
2. Regarding reader expectations, I think it totally depends on how
the blog is positioned with the public. There are some CEOs who have
very publicly stated that they in fact are doing the blogging. Those
tend to be the best blogs - they may not be perfectly "crafted," and
they may not appear on a very regular basis, but the passion and the
voice of the CEO comes through loud and clear. In many other cases,
though, a post is contributed by the CEO to a group blog and it is
ghostwritten just as all the other executive communications are
ghostwritten.
So no, I don't think most readers think posts are ghostwritten
anymore than they think a CEO's speech or bylined opinion piece was
ghostwritten.
That said, is it the CEO's role to labor over prose, or is it his
role to communicate ideas to the communications experts and then review
the final product?
John Cass: Well
ghostwriting means that someone writes a blog for someone else, and
there's no revelation that the post was written by a ghost writer.
It is standard practice in political speeches to have a speech writer.
If you look back at the early history of blogging, the clear
expectation on the part of most bloggers and blog readers was that
blogs would be written by the author. The reason, blogs are not just
publishing tools, but rather two way communications tools, they enable
people to have a two way conversation back and forth. I don't dispute
it may not be the CEO's role to labor over prose in most circumstances,
but some in the industry would argue that in the example of blogs and
social media, if you are not the author you shouldn't be writing. Toby
and I have been in the industry a while, and we developed our
strategies for marketing in social media during the early days of how
social media should be discussed. We both think that there's a large
sea change in how the industry is developing. And that is why we want
to get a gauge on where the industry is today. In 2004 if you asked
most bloggers is it okay for a CEO to have ghostwritten blog articles
they would say no. Today I don't know if that would be the answer. We'd
like to find out what the answer is, and perhaps what the answer should
be.
As long as the content is authentic and approved by the client, I'm
not sure there's a difference between when a "social media consultant"
or freelance writer writes the content for a brand.
The same rules apply: if someone other than brand-guardians are
communicating content, it should be guarded and approved by the brand
manager and follow brand guidelines. If the writer is writing on behalf
of a CEO or other executive, the same rules as ghost writing should be
used. Any CEO, brand manager or communications manager who let's
someone else communicate on behalf of their company without approval is
probably not just downgrading the importance of social media, corporate
communications and branding, they are downgrading themselves, their
brand and their company.
Transparency has always been a big sticking point
for me - and a hot button issue for the industry - but I learned a
while ago that it is not a simple black and white issue. It is fraught
with greys, and it is hard to figure out where those lines are, and who
is really in the right to call out people.
As you know, for generations, PR firms have written white papers,
contribute articles and the sort for clients. And it was fine, no one
questioned it because it was standard procedures for PR.
And, a few years back, it came to a head with The Newsmarket and Andy
Plesser: Corporate Blog Published by your PR and
Corporate Blogging and Honesty.
Plesser had hired journalists to write the corporate blog for The
Newsmarket, and most people attacked it. Ironically, I defended it at
the time, and still believe they were handling it the right way.
And I still believe that. Internal people have a lot to do, and
ghostwriting DOES happen, and there can be both, and a marriage to
transparency. And, with Twitter, we'll see agencies helping out more
with the corporate accounts.
The basic premise on transparency, though, is to provide a biography
(large or small) to show who is taking care of what. It can be the
agency, an outside writer, an internal person ... anything. For
ghostwriting, well, that will happen but have the final person actually
review and edit, so it is in his/her words. It's not the best practice
in transparency but it works.
I agree that the full disclosure of the writer should be viewable by readers and visitors. My clients have a brand to stand by and 'honesty' is a key factor to trusting the brand. The manner that the company conducts themselves will eventually be realized by the visitor or reader. The problem I see here is that companies have hired out to create marketing products before the creation of Social Media and those marketing products do not have any type of transparency as though the company created those marketing products themselves. I can see why larger companies would not be transparent in the social marketing because of the previous types of marketing done by the company in the past.
This is no different than hiring a contractor to do any other project for your company.
Every
business hires writers to create content. Heck, I am hired by many of
the biggest. They never disclose that I created the content. Why?
Because it is not in their best interest to tell who is an employee and
who is a contractor. The last thing the business wants is to have
someone taken by a competitor.
Be clear on your goals. In this case, three great goals might be:
- to foster relationships that work for of the client, the agency, and the client's customers
- to build an exchange of information that invited participation because it is easy, efficient, and meaningful / fun
- and to build a situation that can transition in the future if others take over the content producer role
The agency bloggers should use their own names, even if it's first name only. A good partnership is something worth sharing with customers. The agency bloggers should write what they know or can research, with an eye toward what interests the client's customers (not just the client.)
On Twitter and Facebook, the agency social media folks can build a client account, but their client account or fan page should reveal their relationship as well. On YouTube, I'd suggest that agency folks get permission to and find ways to feature heroes who work for the company and customers. Creativity can make this low prep, high interest, and high value.
The key is to choose people who will champion the company because they want to be part of celebrating what the company is doing and they're proud to put their own name on their efforts.
I think if it is for the brand/company, then it is fine to just go ahead and
post as the brand and not disclose exactly who the post is coming from. Just
like a number of different employees might post on behalf of the company, you
might also hire an agency to do so. And there is not that much difference
between the agency and the employees, especially in today's world of
contractors, part time workers, outsourcing, etc People who see posts coming
from a brand should understand that it is a person or a team of people posting
on behalf of the company, and they need to consume the communication in that
way. Just like you might get an advertisement or letter or email from a company
and it is not "signed" by the marketing person or agency that created it, you
might get a Tweet from a company but not know who exactly wrote it.
Now,
in the case where you might be posting on behalf of a person, say the CEO of a
brand/company, then I think complete transparency is called for. People deserve
and expect to know if they are actually speaking with Marc Benioff or someone
posting on his behalf, because there is a real person in the conversation. By
the way, this does not mean that it is bad to have people post on your behalf.
I think Guy Kawasaki on Twitter is a great example that being interesting is
much more important than posting everything yourself.
I think that the goal of the agency/consultant worth its salt should
be to enable the client to build relationships (real ones) with their
online communities. The content creation that enables that, without
being untruthful, unethical or misleading, should be whatever works.
These platforms are communication channels and we all have to take a
deep breath and have a reasonable view of how companies will use them.
I happen to think that the companies who advance with real personality
in their social media endeavors will likely do best, but not every
company is prepared out of the gate to have designated in-house
personnel to “feed the beast.”
We don’t need to beat these folks with a purist club and accuse them
of being inauthentic – unless they’re being inauthentic! Let people get
their feet wet, and outsource as they must. We should encourage brands
to use social media responsibly, realizing that those who abuse it by a
lack of transparency will be outed in time, and the lesson will be
learned! Read more at Steve's post Who's Behind The Avatar?
Here's where we (New Marketing Labs, LLC) play in the transparency for clients department:
Content creation like blogs and the like: we use our own name, but
willingly create on behalf of the company. We work to educate our
client partners so that they can create on their own, but we still fill
in and create under our own name. We haven't ghosted. Do I think it's
okay to ghost? I think it's more okay to ghost articles than I do
social presence. Ghost tweeting seems a bit less genuine to me. Maybe
that's splitting hairs, but that's my gut take.
Social platforms. We don't create on the client's behalf. Tweets
should come from the company, not the agency. I think you can tweet on
behalf of the agency from your own account, but if I'm talking to
@Coke, I want it to be someone from Coke.
I work at Edelman Digital in the UK, and this is a topic that is very important to me. The digital team practice full disclosure on every piece of Social Media campaign activity we are involved with. For example, if we are managing a Twitter stream on behalf of a client, we disclose in the bio which team member is running it, the fact we work for Edelman and also include our Twitter handle. This is reflected when also managing Facebook profiles and pages, where we always state who we are and our affiliation with the client. Consumers appreciate the transparency and it ensures that the client is not perceived as running a campaign nefariously.
First of all, I'm appalled that so many PR firms and agencies are
blogging and tweeting, and perhaps doing Facebook, on behalf of clients
without letting the end-user know it's them, not the client.
Personally, I don't see how they can talk about anything except the
current campaign, project, or contest. And that's advertising, not
having a conversation.
Ghost blogging is wrong when it's done to deceive, or to be part of
the crowd without putting in the work. Ghost blogging where you
represent the client because you're in the industry, or know the
client's work so well you can speak for them, is somewhat okay. Which
means...tweeting on behalf of the client can be okay, if you're really
there to talk WITH people, not AT them and if the company participates
at least by following the discussion. I see some brands that have
twitter accounts that openly say they're an agency or PR firm doing the
twittering on behalf of so-and-so...and I watch, and wonder - why can't
so-and-so do it for themselves? But, in the case of big brands, they
might not have the talent in-house - or, which is more likely - they
don't want to train in-house and they are willing to give their brand
image over to the agency because...that's what they've always done.
The folks who blog, tweet and create Facebook accounts for
themselves, and traverse the many gates one needs to pass through for
social media success on their own, are the ones who will see the most
and best positive return. That doesn't mean they can't engage a PR firm
or agency to HELP... maybe to guide them. But, in the end, it's a
consumer controlled environment and the consumer doesn't want to talk
to your agency rep. They hate your press releases, and they are
especially looking askance at your attempts to fool them with twitter
accounts that do nothing but announce your latest product release.
I know companies that have ventured into social media and are
relying on agency advice and assistance, when they have some talented
small business bloggers on the payroll. Rather than tap into the folks
who are experienced with blogs and twitter and Facebook, this company
is relying on its ancient roots of paying an agency to tell them what
to do and how to do it. I'll be watching to see how they do - because
in the end, it isn't the bloggers, the company, or the agency that will
dictate the success; it's the customers. If they accept it, we'll see a
lot more of it. If they reject it, we'll see companies scratching their
heads in confusion, because the agencies know all, don't they?
Personally, I think the answer to that is no, they don't. Real people,
with real personalities, who identify themselves on the blog, twitter
page or Facebook, have the answes. And the answer is: this is who we
are (real people), this is who we work with (real company), this is who
we want to talk with (you).
This could go either way. I'm betting on the consumer maintaining
control and agencies and the companies they represent learning the hard
way that transparency is more than being the mouthpiece for the PR
department or "interactive media" - which is the new popular phrase for
online media. It's allowing the consumer access to the people who make
the company what it is. The brand is not the agency. The brand is not
the twitter account. The brand is the conversation between the company
and the consumers. It starts with, "Hello, my name is..." Not with,
"Hello, look at our new product launch!"
Overall,
I tend to fall on the side of transparency. But, that doesn't lend
itself too well to agencies making money. That said, I think there's
still a big role for agencies/consultants to educate, coach and advise.
And to keep clients one step ahead in this constantly evolving
environment.
I have worked on both the agency side (Capstrat) soliciting bloggers to write content and as a blogger.
I am strongly of the opinion that complete transparency is essential, whether the content provider is working through their own blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. The agency writer needs to fully disclose the relationship with the client, although this does not mean on every blog post, Tweet, Facebook update. Simply that the information is readily available for people who are interested in understanding the motivation and resources of the content provider.
There are too many examples of situations where content providers (usually employees) have contributed ostensibly as objective outsiders, only to be discovered as working for a promotion. Why take the risk of losing credibility and embarrassment? Most people would rather be aware that content is being provided with an agenda or an element of bias and then make their own decisions rather than have the wool pulled over their eyes.
I'm of the mind similar to BL Ochman that company outsiders should
be helping company people learn how to use social media themselves, and
if they do write, its not done as 'ghost' but 'guest'...
Social media is about listening, learning and building
relationships...how can you outsource this? And from my own experience,
how can you learn or develop your own voice without doing it yourself
and experiencing the ups and downs first hand.
If a company is just doing sm to 'cross it off their list' or to use
it as another source of one-way communication, then its not really
social media and probably isn't fair to the readers who are genuinely
looking for dialog and relationship building/learning. On twitter
especially, I find it disconcerting for people to post for others
without at least leaving some initials so the reader knows who tweeted
it etc.
First, I believe that much depends on the nature of the content and its
corresponding reader expectations. For articles, white papers, ebooks and such,
I think ghostwriting is entirely legitimate. In these instances, reader
expectations are focused on the substance of the content, rather than on
its author; as long as the ideas truly belong to the putative author (the person
to whom the work is attributed), there is no violation of the implied social
contract.
But blogs, tweets, Facebook entries and other forms of social
media communications are another story. Here, the emphasis is flipped on its
head — it’s the author of the communication, not the substance, that
attracts readership. After all, if you were to take the same 140 character tweet
generated by Seth Godin and attribute it to someone else, it wouldn’t have the
same meaning or impact; the tweet is relevant because of the person behind it.
The attraction is not the substance, per se, but the reader’s expectation of
having some sort of relationship with the author. In this case, I think
ghostwriting — or agency creation of social media content — is indeed unethical.
I also think it’s pointless. You wouldn’t get married, then hire someone
else to have sex with your spouse; the point of the relationship is to relate,
in all its forms. And the point of social media isn’t the exchange of ideas
(some cynics might wish one luck finding them), but the building of
relationships. If you’re not going to personally participate, why
bother?
Very interesting and controversial topic you have brought up! I own
an ad agency and have seen many of our competitors embrace social media
and quickly jump up on a pedestal touting themselves as experts so that
they can "help" their clients enter the social media-sphere and take
the reins as an opportunity to rack up additional hourly billing each
month.
So MANY are doing this. But does it go against the grain of
everything that social media stands for? Good question. My gut
reaction is yes, social media is meant to be nothing but authentic.
Relationship development, at it's best, and an opportunity to have more
insight into a brand and the people behind the brand.
But I do have to admit that we, as marketers, do try our best to
become TRUE partners with our clients. Having them see us as an honest
extension of their staff. Their advertising/marketing department
extended, just beyond the boundaries of their building. And with a more
subjective viewpoint.
So that does mean that, in theory, an agency who is very tapped in
to their client, their products and services, understands who that
client is, their brand, personality, how they live, eat, breathe, could
potentially act as a vehicle for helping that client connect with their
market and prospects via social media and actually provide a fairly
authentic experience. I do think it is possible. Is it truly REAL,
though? Probably not.
That said, our agency is taking another route, and helping our
clients put together strategic plans for how to leverage social media,
then training them and giving them the tools they need so that THEY can
implement it themselves. We've seen great success. And clients who
swore they just "don't have the time to blog" are now putting it at the
top of their daily priority list because they've seen the light and
tremendous results.
So I do think that that is the ideal way to go. Real. Authentic.
Personal. If you want repeat traffic and to develop a great following,
I think being real and having the client do the work and the agency the
guide is the best route.
We don’t use agencies for content. We do use them for some design
help (page and site design on some things). One thing we’re focusing on
now is revamping our employee policy in an effort to scale more of the
work we do into areas within the business. The basics of the policy
will stay the same: strive to be honest and accurate while maintaining
transparency when speaking about Dell.
I am a blogger and public relations consultant and I write, tweet and help my clients all the time but I am transparent about how I do it. For instance, if I am to write on their blog I will become a guest author and I will make sure it is clearly disclosed in the about page so readers know who is writing what. Not only that but I will introduce myself clearly. I think this is simply good practice so the readers aren't reading lots of posts under admin and worst still mislead. People prefer to buy into the bloggers personalities and often they will subscribe to different authors RSS feeds.
I have been pretty much a hard liner on this issue – full disclosure is best. I don’t think the agency/client relationship (typically) requires disclosure – what requires disclosure is that the communication is being done on behalf of the brand.
John Bell from Ogilvy gave a great presentation on this topic for WOMMA: Finding Best Practices for SM Health Marketing. While SM in the health context (involves FDA regulation) is different from other SM, I think the ideas in this presentation are 100% relevant to the question being discussed.
So, I think the “transparency” requirement is at the brand level. Not at the “agency on behalf of brand” level. Consumers don’t care about that. My $0.02.
I think the best role agencies, consultants, etc. can play is
coaching clients so they can learn to use social media. As you said,
the tools may be free, but effective participation takes time,
experience, and a realistic budget to pay for expertise.
Hell, there was once a time when you could get by with typewriters
and mimeograph machines. Those days are long over and businesses need
to stop whining about social media and adapt. Just as companies had to
hire IT people a couple of decades ago so they could remain
competitive, they now need to hire community managers and others who
can participate in online interaction.
Used effectively both internally and externally, social media is not
just a time sink. It can increase productivity, and help to build
sales. However, I think some standards are necessary. I've blogged for
clients on topics as diverse as clutter control and hairstyles. I
always write under my own name, with my bio attached so it is clear who
I am and what role I play. My goal always is to turn the blog over to
the client so they can do it themselves once they learn what's needed.
Jeremiah Owyang: In general, that's a bad idea. Agencies should teach their clients
how to 'fish' rather than do it for them as strategic advisors. I
don't have data to how much this happens.
Disclosure is key, and in some cases, may be enforceable by the FTC, we encourage all organizations to abide by the law.
John Cass: I’m getting reports back of agencies conducting campaigns
for clients but being transparent about the relationship. What do you
think of that? Edelman does this apparently.
Jeremiah Owyang: That's a best practice, absolutely.
Why? It builds trust with their own community and readers.
I reject the premise. I do not recommend people hire agencies to create
content. Instead I recommend that they hire journalists -- either
full-time or part-time to create content. More here http://bit.ly/ABHLd
I
think if a company hires a journalist as a full or part time employee
(with a title, email address and whatnot), and that person creates
content, then there is no transparency issue.
Being on the agency side, I see my role as consultative more than contributory. My clients need inspiration (and reminders!) to keep their blogs and social networks fresh. If I were to cross that line - especially undisclosed - I risk not only my client's brand reputation, but mine as well. These channels are embraced because of the level of authenticity they bring - authenticity that would be completely lost without transparency.
In these early days, blogging and tweeting are felt to be from the stated
author. Just like in the early days of giving speeches - people assumed
(rightly so) that the speaker penned the words.
Lynn Anne reveals the crux of the issue when she says, "In very few
cases does a CEO have the time, talent, or inclination to blog."
Understood - so don't pretend that you do!
As things evolve (like speech making did) expectations will change.
In 2010, the "rules" are that the blogger/tweeter is authentic, or is
pulling a fast one.
And Rick Also stated:
Today, given all the concern with transparency in social media, I
feel that today's "rules" guide us to be completely open about exactly
who is publishing what. It is phony to tweet, blog, and/or post to
Facebook or LinkedIn as an executive (or anyone else), when you are a
ghostwriter.
If the "author" doesn't have the time, skill, or ability to write
and post, then they shouldn't pretend to be doing so and falsely
representing both themself and their company's communications
program/capabilities. Why? Because social media was born in an era of
transparency and authenticity. Because social media is held, by so
many, to be a true voice.
Interestingly, the rules don't apply evenly to all forms of business
communication. For examples, a CEO addressing a room full of
shareholders may or may not have written his speech. That nuance is not
a big deal. The President of the USA addresses a group and no one
believes that he wrote his speech. Again, not an issue. Why? Because
the practice is both well known and well accepted.
What all media now have in common is that whoever signs their name
to the piece must stand behind it. Regardless of the medium or
platform, you can't have it both ways. This is because, while different
media have different expectations and "rules", people are now held to
one standard of transparency. If your name is on it and it blows up in
your face, the world won't allow you to slip out of it by blaming a
ghost writer.
Toby, thanks for this timely and relevant discussion. It's
interesting to step back and appreciate that social media tools are
communication tools [marvelous ones in my opinion!] and they can be
used in the traditional push format or to engage & interact &
be social. It's a subtle difference if you're in the traditional
mindset and a glaringly obvious one if you're already on the social
side.
To be effective in a social environment, you must be human,
authentic, responsive, consistent and genuinely interested. It's what
you so often remind us of: it's like being invited into someone's
living room.
I recently set up the "Social Flooring Index" to monitor the social
state of flooring - an extremely traditional industry mostly committed
to push marketing. It's been fascinating to observe the process of
evolution from traditional to social, and what it takes to get immersed
in the social aspect. What this tells me is that the more transparent
and authentic the effort, the more credible it is.Better not to
delegate all responsibility for your social efforts to 3rd parties who
- for the most part - really can't speak competently to your customers.
Get guidance, include them, but own it.
I love the approach that DC Goodwill has taken to make the
transition in DC Fashionistas and establish connection/continuity for
its audience. About developing enough content. Companies develop
content ALL the time [or they should be!]. With social media, they have
the opportunity to multi-purpose their original content work and
distribute it in a variety of forms. It takes some effort at first to
proactively think in those terms, but it's effective. When I did that
in pre-digital days, I referred to it as 'merchandising my marketing.'
Thanks again for this marvelous discussion.
My rule is: be transparent on everything that is public knowledge,
or allowed to be public knowledge. Do not talk about emails or letters
that have come in to the firm if the sender can be identified, or
anything where there might be the remotest confidentiality involved.
Talk about what you would talk about if you were at the pub for
after-work drinks. Not that I go to the pub for after-work drinks.
When it comes to the mayoral race, there is a Tweeting strategy. For
instance: do not Tweet about getting people excited to vote when voting
forms aren't even available. These need to be timed accordingly.
However, these should reflect the mood one is in, and the things one
does, preferably after the fact for security reasons. It shows what you
believe in and what you are prepared to do for the city.
Again, they should not be critical unless there is a very good
reason, so no negative campaigning or Tweeting. They should generally
be positive and inspirational. There is nothing wrong with being
personal about the Tweets as long as what you write does not attack the
company or, in my case, the campaign. I cannot see any point being
different just for Facebook: use the same messages on all platforms, to
be consistent. (Note: Jack is a candidate for mayor of Wellington, New
Zealand)
Friday
Fun is Diva Marketing's virtual happy hour from cosmos to Jack to
lemonade. A waiting for the weekend 'playground' time to be
sophisticated-silly. Or sometimes just plain silly.
Top 10 Reason Why Not To Use Social Media
With apologies to Mister Letterman ..
10. Social media is just a fad.
9. Social media is a kid thing.
8. None of my customers are using social media or those network things.
7. Why would I want to know what you had for breakfast?
6. Twitter twits tweets. How you take something that sounds like bird seed as a serious marketing tactic?
5. We don't have the time.
4. No way to determine ROI.
3. Our brand could get blown up.
2. People who use social networks or those blog things just want to rant about things they know nothing about.
and the number one reason not to use social media
1. Social media will break down the carefully built silos in our company and we really don't trust each other enough for that to happen.
When I heard a colleague call social media a "consequence free environment" one word came to mind: Chaos. Dictionary.com defines choas as: a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order. In the business world, where order and analysis are the basis of strategy, it's a small wonder why many marketers think of social media as their worst nightmare!
However, as is often the case of a Google search I saw something else .. another spelling - Khaos - and followed the links. Khaos was the Greek Goddess of the space between heaven and earth. Some ancient writers believed that she was primary source of all things.
Okay .. I promise not to leap into the gaping void and propose that social media is the source of all new marketing. If we think of social media not as Chaos, but as Khaos a new way to breach the void of customers and company, then perhaps we shed light on what is scary in the night but finds purpose in the day.
What do you do if you find your brand in the midst of a 'consequence free environment' where the conversation is more of nightmare than a pleasant dream? Here is a model to help breach the gap. For best results, of course, it should be part of your Social Media Enterprise Plan and dovetail into "In The Moment Marketing."
3 Steps to Khoas Social Media
Step 1: Determine Extent of Influence
a. Follow the conversation
b. Identify the people who are posting and who is commenting
c. Determine viral impact e.g., retweets, blog links, forum discussions, etc.
d. Monitor for main stream media mentions
Step 2: Analyze Meaning
a. What aspects of the brand resonated with customers?
b. Where are the emotional ties to the brand?
c. What is the impact on customers about the brand and the
company?
d. What is being repeated/RT’ed?
e. Is there offline impact e.g., customer call center?
Step 3: Determine Opportunities for Engagement
a. Tell your story in the same platforms
b. Co-create with your customers and fans
c. Join the conversation before it occurs!
Now I ask you, where else can you find social media served up with Greek Mythology?
Update: Thanks to @Attentio who reminded me that this is a circle strategy .. monitoring is the first and last steps; reviewing your results is also critical. So add 3 more steps please.
Today Max and took a walk in the rain. Max hates to get wet and while I might like to fantasy about dancing in the rain with Gene Kelly, being out doors in a cold winter rain with winds blowing is not my ideal of fun. But we were safe. I knew we were going back to a warm house where I could relax by the fire with a hot cup of tea or even a snifter of brandy and Max, of course, could chew on a doggy treat.
There are millions of people today in a small island in the Caribbean who are not safe. The people of Haiti will not be safe for many weeks or more likely many, many months.
Diva Marketing is a wee voice within the billions of web pages on the Internet; however, I couldn't let the opportunity of using the space on this site go by without an acknowledgment, of what my friend Geoff Livingston says, goes beyond the damage of a hurricane to the devastation of poverty.
If there is anything social media has taught me .. it is to believe in the miracles that people can make one-by-one-by-one. Just in case you wandered in and needed one more bit of encouragement to help here are a few sites that provide information.
