59

PR 2.0

• Video: Checking-in as a Form of Social Currency 15 August, 2010, 3:02 am
  In part six of a series of conversations that explore the state and future of social media, Chris Beck, founder of 26dottwo (@26dottwo), and I check-in with FourSquare and other geo-location networks. We review how these location-based networks open new channels and dynamics for online and offline connections. We also examine the nuances of “checking-in” as a form of social currency and implied endorsement. Essentially, there are cultural and economical aspects with tying your “personal brand” to the locales you visit. You lend your reputation and audience and over time, you will be increasingly rewarded for doing so. More on that subject here, “FourSquare Means Business: Have You Check-In Yet?” This series was filmed at the new video studio at KickLabs SF where I spend time as an entrepreneur in residence. Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook ___ Please consider reading, Engage!: It will help you find answers to your questions… ___ Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: ___
• Video: Is Social Media Burnout Imminent? 14 August, 2010, 10:02 am
  In part four of a series of conversations discussing the state and future of social media with Chris Beck, founder of 26dottwo (@26dottwo), we review the prospect of social media burnout or social network fatigue (SNF). We also explore the evolution of privacy and the willful exchange of what used to be private or sensitive information and content for the semblance of value and rewards. Those rewards could be as simple as reactions, responses I discuss these issues a great depths here, “Who is the ME in Social Media?” This series was filmed at the new video studio at KickLabs SF where I spend time as an entrepreneur in residence. Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook ___ Please consider reading, Engage!: It will help you find answers to your questions… ___ Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: ___
• Facebook Connects 500 Million People: Defines a New Era of Digital Society 22 July, 2010, 10:31 am
  On July 22nd 2010, Facebook officially announced that it had surpassed 500 million users around the world. This significant achievement represents a significant milestone for Zuckerberg and Co. as well as for social networking and more importantly for global societies overall. To celebrate this achievement, Facebook released Facebook Stories, a new service to spotlight user stories from around the world and the impact Facebook has had on their lives. In Mark Zuckerberg’s words, “We’re launching a new application called Facebook Stories where you can share your own story and read hundreds of others, categorized by themes and locations around the world.” Highlights shared in Zuckerber’s blog post about the service include: - Ben Saylor, a 17-year-old high school student, who turned to Facebook to organize a community effort to rebuild the Pioneer Playhouse, the oldest outdoor theater in Kentucky, after it was damaged by floods in May. - Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who, during his time in office, would go jogging with 100 of his fans from Facebook. - Holly Rose, a mother in Phoenix, who credits a friend’s status message telling women to check for breast cancer with her being diagnosed in time to treat the disease. She used Facebook for support during treatment and became a prevention advocate herself. Facebook Around the World Facebook is the leading social network in 111 out of 131 countries as recently analyzed by Vincenzo Cosenza. If Facebook was a country, it would rank third, just behind the People’s Republic of China and India and roughly 190 million ahead of the United States, over 200 million greater than Indonesia, and 300 million greater than Brazil. If we examine the breakdown of Facebook’s population, we’re presented with an interesting picture of worldwide adoption (source). Top 15 Countries by Number of Users 1. United States – 125,881,220 2. United Kingdom – 26,543,600 3. Indonesia – 25,912,960 4. Turkey – 22,552,540 5. France – 18,942,220 6. Italy – 16,647,260 7. Canada – 15,497,900 8. Philippines – 15,284,460 9. Mexico – 12,978,440 10. Spain – 10,612,820 11. India – 10,547,240 12. Argentina – 10,452,040 13. Columbia – 10,226,920 14. Germany – 9,948,700 15. Australia – 9,151,280 To offer a bit of balance, at the end of the population list, Anguilla Facebook ambassadors rank at number 187 with 6,420 users. When we examine worldwide Facebook activity however, we’re presented with a different picture. According to O’Reilly Research, Asia and Africa represent high growth regions. O’Reilly also reports the age demographics of users in each country. The share of users age 18-25 is higher outside the U.S., but notice the representation of users 35 and older. The Human Network Facebook’s mission is to help make the world more open and connected and indeed it is changing how people interact online. The “Facebook” stories shared through this new service highlight very human ways that social networking is changing people’s lives and I believe that is the bigger story here. Over time, I have borrowed Cisco’s tagline, “The Human Network” to demonstrate how digital social networks were contributing to a new era of society that transcends online and offline relationships and how we foster and interact with each. The discussion as to whether or not Facebook is the largest social network in the world is no longer relevant. Facebook, along with other prominent and emerging networks such as Twitter, Foursquare, and hundreds of other networks, has forever changed the way individuals connect and share with one another, adapting cultures and customs, dissolving borders, and uniting disparate cultures. The world is indeed becoming a much smaller place. From Dunbar’s Number to Social Graph Theory Many experts continue to cite British anthropologist Robin Dunbar’s famous number of 150 (estimated). Dunbar’s number represents the maximum number of social relationships we as individuals can manage to a stable extent. If we look at Facebook data, the average person maintains a social graph of 130. However, I believe that we will eventually see a shift from relationships to relations as a result of social networking. The average number will grow from 130 to double over the next 1-2 years as individuals expand their social graph from those we know in first-degree relationships and those we care to know, second and third-degree relationships. While we’ll still place greater emphasis on important offline and online relationships through active interaction, we will also consume, react to, and share thoughts, insights, and content with those individuals that move us intellectually and emotionally. As a result, Facebook will eventually need to revisit its current friend limit of 5,000. For those individuals who hit that ceiling, their only option is to move from a profile to a “brand” page. Doing so however, shifts the dynamics of the relationship and resulting interaction from a peer-to-peer or horizontal axis to a top-down or vertical grade of communication. We will focus shifting attention on the sub-networks within our social graphs that are separated by themes and context. These social “nicheworks” will result in higher engagement and participation as the core of these discussions, individuals are rewarded for their participation with intelligence, a platform to share their perspective as well as new requests for connection. Expect to see Facebook create grouping functionality to draw lines between interaction within these nicheworks to ensure that we do not cross the streams within our main social graph. So, how has Facebook changed your world? Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Google Buzz, Facebook ___ Please consider reading, Engage!: It will answer your questions… ___ Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: ___
• Email Marketing Goes Social: Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook 2 August, 2010, 4:24 am
  Email, we love to hate it, yet we hate to love it. For better or for worse, we are tethered to our inbox and continue to send messages and respond to those individuals and organizations to which we’re tied or vested. Over the years, I’ve labeled email as the world’s largest untapped social network and even though many services attempted to socialize the inbox over the years, email, for the large part, remains regressive. For the time being, brands and organizations continue to rely on email to connect and stay connected with various stakeholder communities. While message open rates and conversion ratios remain abysmal, email is nonetheless, effective en masse. However, the time individuals spend in their email labyrinth is eroding. Analytics firm Nielsen recently reported that nearly 25% of the time Americans spend online is now spent on social networks. Additionally, email only accounted for 8.3% in June, down from 11.5% last year. Social networks represent something promising to any organization dependent on communications. Each network represents an “always on” series of engagement opportunities that are each inherently opt in whether they’re in the front or back channel. - Wall posts - Direct messages - Invitations - Gifts - Public @ messages Businesses are now attempting to migrate or extend their communities to social networks including Facebook and Twitter. The ability to do so offers organizations the ability to not only build communities in more modern, real-time and interactive domains, social networks offer a new way to connect personally and contextually. Engaging in social networks presents two immediate benefits: 1. Connect value 1 to 1 to many individuals 2. Connect information 1 to many Either way, meaningful and substantial information in these paradigms triggers the social effect, which expands reach and also the community overall through comments, shares, likes, retweets, and connections. This activity is visible by friends and friends of friends, and so on, and when combined with an appealing click to action, also enhanced performance and metrics in the process. eROI recently released a new report, “The Current State of Social, Mobile, and Email Integration,” which found that 66% of marketers included links to social profiles in email campaigns. StrongMail released research in its study, “2010 Email Marketing Survey” that not only corroborated the data from eROI, it upped it to 71%. StrongMail interviewed business executives in its most current study released in July 2010.  Second to the promotion of social presences in email campaigns, was the ability to provide social sharing functionality inside email. We’re already witnessing the migration as well as integrating the social effect into the inbox. eROI also found that this clickable functionality was secondary in terms of importance with 59.1% of all responses. Of those social networks most actively promoted in email, eROI found that Facebook was the top promoted network with 91%. Twitter ranked second with just under 84%. LinkedIn and YouTube earned third and fourth spots with 48% and 34% respectively. Other studies found that most small to mid-sized businesses rarely promoted on other social networks outside of Facebook and Twitter. Social Databases As engagement evolves from email 1.0 to social networks, expect to see experimentation with one-to-many communication through automated one-to-one and one-to-many mass messaging systems. This capability will evolve from messaging existing friends and followers to sophisticated frameworks that find and connect with individuals who have publicly shared information related to industries, products, services, and interests via keywords. These systems will seek an opt-in relationship through a reciprocal friend, follow or “like” in order to experiment with direct messages that offer promotions, rewards, or exclusive access or content for establishing and maintaining the link.  Initial experiments will resemble dedicated push streams such as @DellOutlet or Twitter’s @EarlyBird promotion channels where followers subscribe to accounts for clearly articulated benefits. Over time, marketers will seek to enhance responses and ensuing actions through varieties of messages aimed at  segmented users as indexed by expressed wants or defined preferences. Eventually, we will see personalized, contextualized and value-added engagement to induce positive word of mouth and consumer responses. In the end, it’s what you introduce into your messages and streams that counts for everything. Regardless of the incumbent social messaging solutions that are available today or those soon to debut, what’s clear is that intention speaks volumes here. Any mass-marketing that mirrors email blasts of today will only create animosity and immediately alienate communities. In social media, you earn the relationships and inspire the desired outcomes that you deserve. Remember…Relevance + Resonance = Significance (RRS) Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook ___ Please consider reading, Engage!: It will help you find answers to your questions… ___ Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: ___ Image Credit: ShutterStock
• Twitter Helps You Expand Your Social Nicheworks 1 August, 2010, 4:30 am
  Social networks are propelled by the connections, conversations, and gestures between active netizens. The success and vitality of each network is rooted in its capacity to expand social graphs and nurture communication and shared experiences. As such, Twitter announced a new feature to help you discover who to follow. The new “Suggestions for You” service is simple, but powerful. It not only introduces you to like-minded people, it empowers you to more effectively curate your connections and as such, your overall Twitter experience. After reading Julia Angwin’s fantastic article, “The Web’s New Gold Mine: Your Secrets,” I realized that I was not connected to her on Twitter. Upon following her, I was introduced to several similar accounts that Twitter’s new human algorithm (as I call it) factors people you follow in addition to the people they follow and presents a qualified list for your consideration. Suggestions for You is not unlike the Suggestions feature we’ve enjoyed in Facebook for quite some time. From Social Networks to Social Nicheworks I believe that social networking is rapidly evolving from relationships to relations-based connectivity where context prevails over association. With the world literally at our fingertips, we are learning that we are in control of defining our online experiences and as such, curating who we follow contributes to the relevance of our social streams. It’s less about who we know, and more about who we want to know and who we should know based on the shared topics, interests, and themes that form the ties that bind us. Facebook and now Twitter are helping us refine our experience. Over time, our social networks will transform into contextually-based social nicheworks. Dunbar’s Number to Social Graph Theory British anthropologist Robin Dunbar’s famous number of 150 (estimated) is often cited as a benchmark for online social connectivity. Dunbar’s number represents the maximum number of social relationships we as individuals can manage to a stable extent. Ironically, Facebook states that the average person maintains a social graph of roughly 130 friends.  As intelligent algorithms introduce us to people who share our passions and interests, I believe that the average number will double every year. While staying true to Dunbar’s number, we will extend core relationships into “relations” where we are less vested in the cultivation of these new connections. Essentially, our social graphs will expand from those we know in first-degree relationships to now focus on those we align with intellectually and emotionally through second and third-degree relationships. Do you see foresee a change in how you connect with people online? Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook ___ Please consider reading, Engage!: It will help you find answers to your questions… ___ Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: ___ Image Credit: ShutterStock
• CRM Magazine’s 2010 CRM Market Awards 8 August, 2010, 11:40 am
  There’s a saying that good things happen when you least expect it. Such is the case this past week. As part of its CRM Evolution ’10 conference, CRM Magazine announced the winners of its 2010 CRM Market Awards. I’m proud to say that I was listed as one of eight CRM “Influential Leaders” by the magazine, to which I am quite literally speechless. To say that this came as a surprise would be an understatement. To be included among a list of mentors whom I greatly admire is nothing short of dreamlike. The list of 2010 Influential Leaders: Marc Benioff, cofounder, chairman, and chief executive officer at Salesforce.com (see CRM’s November 2009 issue for our cover-to-cover special report on Benioff and Salesforce.com); Bill McDermott, co-chief executive officer at SAP; Doc Searls, fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, head of the individual-empowerment initiative ProjectVRM, and one of the co-authors of the landmark Cluetrain Manifesto (see CRM’s May 2010 issue for a closer look at VRM and Cluetrain at 10); Brian Solis, principal at FutureWorks, cofounder of the Social Media Club, and author of Engage! (see this month’s Required Reading for an interview about the new book) Ray Wang, partner at Altimeter Group, a new and noteworthy analyst firm; Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a unit of Microsoft Business Solutions at Microsoft; Michael Wu, principal scientist of analytics at social CRM innovator Lithium Technologies; and Mark Zuckerberg, cofounder and chief executive officer of social networking behemoth Facebook. The magazine also inducted Paul Greenberg, one of my heroes, to the CRM Hall of Fame. Paul is the president and founder of consultancy The 56 Group LLC, author of industry bible CRM at the Speed of Light, and prolific industry consultant, blogger, and columnist. CRM Magazine named eight Rising Stars this year: Wunderkind analyst firm Altimeter Group Small-business CRM specialist BatchBlue Software Email marketing provider (and CoTweet acquirer) ExactTarget Location-based social gaming site Foursquare Content conductor Open Text Listening platform Radian6 A pair of companies providing human resources software, SuccessFactors and Workday, that may help expand the parameters of CRM itself. Congratulations to all of the winners! Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook ___ Please consider reading, Engage!: It will answer your questions… ___ Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: ___ Image Credit: ShutterStock
• Once More, with Feeling: Making Sense of Social Media 26 July, 2010, 4:15 am
  I was recently asked at a communications and marketing conference for senior executives when Social Media would start to appeal to all senses including, vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. It was an interesting question and the first time that I had heard it in public. My response was that it is already in full effect. To go one step further, much of the work I’ve studied and also the focus of much of my own work fuses aspects of sensory branding and marketing with elements of experiential and emotional marketing to appeal to the senses as well as to the emotions that inspire action. In marketing today, it’s less about what we say about us and more about what people hear, feel, and in turn, say about us. The “Me” in Social Media While the culture and corresponding dynamics and mechanics of social media remain elusive to many executives and marketers, its purpose and promise are far more profound than we may realize. To that end, I believe that in order to unlock the methodologies and philosophies tied to effective and long-lasting social media strategies, we must remove our marketing capes and instead remember who we are as individuals.  There’s a “me” in social media for a reason and that is because everything in social networks and online for that matter, begins with us. We define our own experiences. We decide who we follow and who follows us. We choose which stories we read and those we share. And it is only those experiences that we connect with emotionally that compel us to push across our social graphs. Before we are marketers, sales or service professionals, executives, employees, or leaders, we are human beings. And social media equalizes the playing field for media consumption, production and distribution. We are the champions who introduced businesses to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, et al. We disrupted marketing. We disrupted communications. We disrupted media. More notably, we are affecting the very foundation of business itself by influencing the evolution of its culture, mission, purpose and how it communicates with its markets. You, me, and everyone with whom we connect online are no longer an audience for messages and gimmicks. We are no longer voiceless and faceless consumers who react quietly to public information. We are now part of the media ecosystem. And, we are stakeholders in the online communities where we define experiences and outcomes. To connect with the social consumer here and now, we must be part of the community. We must approach business and the business of marketing and engagement with the same resolve we approach our own social networking. We must become the very people we’re trying to reach, because ultimately, we are consumers and we are stakeholders in the evolution of our social relationships and experiences. Social Media is Rich with Emotion As we are at the center of our individual experiences, social media then naturally becomes powered by emotion and all that moves us. If you love something, share it on Twitter. If something inspired you, blog about it. If an incredible event is unfolding before you, capture it on video or still and upload it to YouTube or Flickr. If someone captured your attention, connect with them or link back to their post or profile. What’s shared across each of these scenarios is the feeling that motivates us to publicly react. When I refer to sensory and experiential marketing, it is for this very reason. People are emotional creatures and their actions and decisions are driven by a combination of experience, education, instinct, and emotional intelligence. For those who venture boldly into the very public universe that is social media, we slowly trade privacy for recognition, gaining confidence with every response, new connection, comment, retweet, and “like” we earn. We transform into digital extroverts intentionally or subconsciously seeking affirmation in all that we do, and it’s seductive, educational, and fulfilling when we learn how to manage and invest in our role in these new online societies. Indeed there is an addictive quality to online interaction. While science is long tied to more personal forms of commercial engagement, we now have a new study that shows that emotion is indeed tied to social networking. Rude Lovers© Adam Penenberg a contributing writer to Fast Company volunteered as a test subject in Dr. Paul J. Zak’s “neuroeconomics” research, an emerging field that combines economics with biology, neuroscience, and psychology. The studies seek to “gauge the relationship between empathy and generosity.” In a series of studies spanning nine years, Zak found that Oxytocin (aka the cuddle drug, not the pain killer Oxycontin) is not only the hormone that forms the bond between mothers and their babies, it is as Zak says, the “social glue” that adheres families, communities, and societies, and therefore acts as an “economic lubricant” to engage day-to-day transactions. Zak’s work has essentially recognized oxytocin as the human stimulant of empathy, generosity, trust, among other important social attributes. Penenberg connected with Zak to learn if Zak’s research on oxytocin is applicable to social media research. In fact Penenberg’s experience is fascinating to me in more ways than I could possibly share. I too have long theorized that social media IS driven by emotion and as such, the interaction and relationships in which we place great value is indeed rooted in biology. And as such, we can learn from the behavior that ensues through not only biology, but other social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, ethnography, and psychology. Penenberg’s telling post in Fast Company is worth the read, but in his own words, he summarizes the findings that should have massive implications for the future of socialized media, “…all of this research reinforces the idea that we are biologically driven to commingle, and suggests that online relationships can be just as real as those conducted offline.” He continues, “…social networking may increase a person’s oxytocin levels, thereby heightening feelings of trust, empathy, and generosity.” In fact, in a series of three experiments in social networking, specifically with Twitter, Penenberg’s oxytocin levels jumped 13.2% while hormones related to stress waned. Zak concluded that Penenberg’s brain, “interpreted tweeting as if you were directly interacting with people you cared about or had empathy for.” Will Work for Empathy In my experience, empathy is a powerful ally and catalyst for sparking meaningful interactions and relationships in social media.  Individuals online are empowered and as such, their attention focuses on those who can demonstrate an awareness and understanding of their interests, challenges and options. Empathy is detectable and contagious. To garner empathy, we must “feel” that moves our communities and markets. To do so, we must transcend listening and monitoring into a form of kinesthetic analysis to truly become the people we’re trying to reach. I’m not just listening to you, I hear you. I see and feel what you’re saying. If we look to forms of interpersonal, sensory, and experiential marketing, the cornerstone of connectivity is built upon meaning, relevance, and purpose. As such trust becomes a measure of metric to weigh our participation efforts and emotional marketing value (EMV) ranks our ability to demonstrate empathy and earn attention, support, and affinity. This insight should absolutely change how you approach social media, from design and imagery to intent and communication. Source: Advanced Marketing Institute As businesses seek to establish presence and prominence within these social networks, a sense of persona, character and purpose proves paramount. Those in charge of outbound strategies will have to expand their communications prowess with an understanding of digital sociology and psychology. The Social Marketing Compass As we plan for meaningful social media engagement, our strategy should be woven by a fabric of ethics, purpose and principles and bound by salient business goals and objectives. Inspired by a moral compass, I created The Social Marketing Compass, again with the artistic talents of JESS3, to serve as our value system when defining our program activities. The Social Compass made its debut in Chapter 21 of Engage!. A compass is a device for discovering orientation and serves as a true indicator of physical direction. The Social Marketing Compass points a brand in a physical and experiential direction to genuinely and effectively connect with customers, peers, and influencers, where they interact and seek guidance online. The socialization of the Web is powered by people and as such, it’s held to the same natural laws and rules that govern human behavior. The outer ring of the social compass guides brands from targets to technology to connection with emotions and empathy serving as the final step to engagement. Successful branding is magnified when individuals can establish a human and emotional connection. In social networks, the brand is represented by you and for that reason, we must factor in compassion, care, and feeling into our planning. Connect from the heart. Behaviorgraphics: Visualize the “Me” in Social Media Behaviorgraphics examines the “me” in Social Media. While it’s avatars that capture our attention, it’s personality that captures our heart and mind. Social media tests the filter that divides inner monologue from disclosure. As our thoughts become words online, they color our avatars and profiles with a glimpse of our personality – who we are online and in the real world. Over time, it is how we put our words into action that establishes our character. And, it is our character, through the marriage of our words and actions that paves the way for relationships and opportunities. At the center of behaviorgraphics is benevolence. The unselfish and kindhearted behavior that engenders and promotes recognition and reciprocity, and in doing so, earns the goodwill of those around them. This is the hub of social networking with a purpose, mission, and a genuine intent to grow communities based on trust, vision, and collaboration. Visualized once again with the help of JESS3… Influence is distributed across segmented personality traits and categorized by the prominence within specific nicheworks linked by interests. Activating social networks and the people within them is an act of communication to form an association. Therefore, we must understand much more than how content attracts varying levels of behavior, but also surface the personality characteristics of the people we’re hoping to establish connections and relationships. In many ways, we become social psychologists and linguists who can speak to individuals in manners that appeal to their demeanor. And, since each of us are also consumers, we find ourselves not in any one group, but at any point in time, we can identify with several traits based on our engagement in varying circumstances. May I Have Your Intention Please As actions speak louder than words, intention also speaks volumes. While my work has not involved a lab such as Zak’s, it has experimented with the idea of connecting with individuals based on empathy and recognition in order to earn awareness, consideration and ultimately trust. It is the basis for my focus on R.R.S. (relevance, resonance, significance), social media’s new critical path.  Without relevance, we cannot trigger resonance, and without resonance, we cannot establish significance. As such, in social media, we earn the relationships, responses, and trust we deserve as measured through the emotional vibrations that reverberate across social graphs. Now, once more with feeling… Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Google Buzz, Facebook Engage! was written to help you find answers to your questions and the questions you didn’t yet know to ask… — Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: — Lead Image Source: ShutterStock
• The Business of B2B Social Media 12 May, 2010, 4:52 am
  Social Media is often misconstrued as a medium for business-to-consumer or B2C engagement and discounted as a viable communications network for those companies focused on business-to-business transactions. However, B2B, as in any other field impacted by online activity, is faced with a prime opportunity to not only cultivate communities in social networks and other social channels, but also amplify awareness, increase lead generation, reduce sales cycles, and perhaps most importantly, learn and adapt to market dynamics in real-time. Ignorance is Bliss Until It’s Not… Customers and those that influence them, regardless of industry, are migrating to the social Web at varying paces. While social or digital strategies do not replace proven means that are in play today, they do however, require augmentation and shifts in resources commensurate with the distribution of attention, where it’s focused and to what extent. In my research, programs measured in hindsight are not the only views that offer 20/20 vision. Unobstructed foresight is now attainable and in some cases, predictable, based on our investment in time, energy and creativity in how we analyze online behavior, interaction, and ultimately influence. And, our ability to study and put research to work is only limited by our process for learning and adapting to earn and increase resonance within our target markets. Perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of listening to focused online interaction, is the ability to breakdown the decision making process and how customers and influencers impact behavior. To say it blatantly, social media makes it possible to identify and segment the specific stages of decision making online and how to in turn, respond in ways that steer interest in your favor. The results of these interactions also lend to the importance of adaptation. As we learn more about the challenges, considerations, and sentiment of our potential stakeholders, we can introduce those insights into future designs, processes, and communication. If we are not part of the decision making process, we are then absent from the decision. Opportunity Clicks To help make the case, Outsell recently published its “Annual Advertising and Marketing Study” and in the report, Outsell states that B2B advertising and marketing spending will increase by only .8% to $129 billion. Interactive spending, on the other hand, will escalate by 9.2% to $51.5 billion this year. As Social Media becomes pervasive in workflow and influence, Outsell’s study shows that spending is following the trend. To that end, B2B marketers will increase spending in social networks by 43.3%. While it’s not necessarily as alluring as social, company websites are only receiving a boost of 7.5%. When we study engagement in interactive media, we find that we captivate attention in a very dynamic environment, but we lose them with each click that we either intentionally or unintentionally introduce to lead their experience post engagement. Many times, the click path is aimed right at the company site, and if we were to analyze the design and effectiveness of B2B websites today, we might just find that a large number are stuck in time, representative of an era more aligned with Web 1.0 than Web 2.0.  Opportunity clicks, and without defining a rich and rewarding click path as well as an enriching experience, which most likely requires the renovation of the corporate website, all online activity associated with increased social spending, will bear the brunt of defining and capitalizing on attention, within social networks, the moment it’s captured. As part of the study, Outsell surfaced preferences for business engagement and activity in social networks. When asked to rate the effectiveness of particular networks, more than one-half of respondents claimed that Facebook was either “extremely” or “somewhat” effective. LinkedIn ranked second with 45% surprisingly (and not so surprisingly) ahead of Twitter at 35%, which of course, ranked higher than MySpace at 25%. As eMarketer noted, when HubSpot ran its B2B North America survey, it found that businesses ranked LinkedIn on top at 45% ahead of Facebook at 33% as most effective in lead generation. B2B, or any business or organization, must evaluate and implement interactive strategies in order to earn relevance and hopefully resonance in order to compete for the present and the future. Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Google Buzz, Facebook — Please consider reading my new book, Engage! — Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: — Image Credit: Shutterstock
• 7 Scientific Ways to Promote Sharing on Facebook 10 May, 2010, 4:27 am
  Leonardo Da Vinci once wrote, “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Kelly Johnson modernized that philosophy with an alternate twist, KISS, Keep it Simple, Stupid a.k.a. Keep it Short and Simple. In a social economy where attention is a precious commodity, the ability to strip a social object down to its essence to capture attention has less to do with compacting character counts and more to do with the art and science of packaging and presenting content so that it is immediately compelling, simple to grasp and appreciate and in turn, share across social graphs. For participants in the socialization of media, an ever-thinning attention span is forcing the rapid evolution of our ability to multitask – albeit at shallow depths.  Cognition is thereby stimulated by relevance, simplicity, and in social networks, the objects and content screened and shared by peers. In Twitter, we learned that there is indeed an art to ReTweets and to increase the likelihood for tweets to spread, the words and times we choose dictate their lifespan and ultimately, fate. To examine social objects and how they affect sharing in Facebook, I once again reached out to my friend and social scientist, Dan Zarrella. Zarrella studied Facebook data for quite some time and observed that simplicity, among other interesting linguistic and timed attributes, is the key to triggering word of mouth. Readability’s Effects on Sharing in Facebook With a view from the top, we can see that Facebook sharing is enhanced by simple language and thus modernizes the old adage KISS to now represent Keep it Simple and “Shareable.” In his research, Zarrella examined article titles and matched the propensity for sharing with reading grade levels. The results were revealing to say the least. Essentially, the higher the share rates, the lower the reading grade level, with notable spikes resonating at fifth and ninth grades. Numerical Value For those looking to capitalize on propagating your content in Facebook, although the same could be true in other online mediums, consider the addition of digits to your titles. Yes, there’s a reason why we as content consumers, are duped into reading and distributing social objects with numerical digits in the headline. For example, the title of this article is intentional “7 Scientific Ways to Promote Sharing on Facebook.“  Social science now shows that there’s a reason why articles with similar titles consistently perform well. In Facebook, titles with digits (1-9) outperform text only titles. As much as I’d like to see more originality in and creativity in the school of compelling headline writing, the numbers add up to make a strong case for considering alternatives. Carpe Diem Similar to Twitter, there are days and times where we as content consumers transform into curators by sharing relevant content objects. Whereas on Twitter, RT’s occur most often on Monday and Friday, Facebook users seem most likely to share on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s important to note here that while sharing is notably higher on the weekend, the volume of URLs introduced into Facebook are higher during weekdays, most notably Wednesdays and Fridays.  However, as Zarrella observed, stories published on the weekends tended to be shared on Facebook on average, more than those published during the week. This could be due in part to the fact that more than half of businesses in the U.S. block Facebook and other social networks in the workplace. But then again, if this were true, the science of retweets would also prove otherwise. Personally, I’ve experimented with this over the last couple of years. Indeed, content introduced on Twitter, tends to spark greater reactions during the week, with Monday and Wednesday and Friday in particular. However, when I withhold the same object and introduce it to my social graph in Facebook on Saturday morning, responses are far more notable. What Are Words For, When No One Listens Anymore The act of sharing implies so much more than curation. When we “Like” or share content in Facebook, we are essentially endorsing it and as such, recommending it to friends and followers to act and react. The words we intentionally or unintentionally surround the objects we share result in either relevance or irrelevance. While current events play a role defining the most shareable content, truly, experiential words such as “why,” “most,” “world,” and “how” trigger the greatest volume of shares in aggregate. However, when viewing the activity of words in isolation of sharing events, “you” and “video” prove extremely noteworthy. When words aren’t working for you, they’re working against you. As documented, certain words serve as inhibitors to sharing, closing the attention aperture before content has an opportunity to breathe. According to Zarrella’s research, the least shareable words include expressions I would not have otherwise guessed, including “review,” “poll,” and “social.” Among the least shareable words however, the following terms are introduced with greater frequency, however do not engender the desired outcome, “time,” “Twitter,” and “live.” Action Speaks Louder Than Words Part-of-speech also lends to the shareability of social object. Much like Tweets or any other update in the “statusphere,” brevity serves as a framework for what we introduce into the stream. Seems that we have proof that actions speak louder than words, or at the very least, verbs as action words appear to motivate sharing with important nouns following in second. As to be expected, there are a greater number of nouns introduced into updates, however, it is verbs that imply action and therefore the right verbs compel us to share. Adjectives and adverbs appear to be among the least shared parts-of-speech in Facebook as our attention spans are trained to look beyond promotion or hyperbole. The Glass is Half Full The effect of linguistic content and the tone of updates and objects introduced in Facebook say everything about you. At the same time, determine whether someone reads, ignores, and more importantly, shares what they encounter. Negative updates are among the least shared objects with positive sentiment and words sitting on the opposite end, prove to be among the most shared. It’s interesting to note that a greater number of negative updates are introduced into NewsFeeds than those that are positive. I suppose it’s to be expected, but sex is at the very top of the list and also among the least often introduced into social feeds. I’m also pleasantly surprised and encouraged to see learning, media, work and constructive in the company of shareable linguistic performers. There are times where the content we introduce into the activity feeds of those in our social graph is intended to inspire sharing across the graphs of friends and friends of friends. Consider the science and then craft the update to employ it to your benefit – and hopefully the benefit of others. Antione de Saint Exupéry observed, “Perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Google Buzz, Facebook — Please consider reading my new book, Engage! — Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: — Image Credit: Shutterstock
• In Social Media, Engagement Has Its Rewards 21 June, 2010, 4:16 am
  One of the most sought after answers in Social Media is whether or not engagement in social networks such as Twitter or Facebook directly correlates to customer acquisition, retention, and advocacy. Before we can earn customers however, we have to recognize that at any given time, there are also prospects. And, prospects require information and confidence in order to make decisions, in your favor of course. The answer to our question lies in social engagement. Prospects are not only searching for guidance, comparisons, and experiences through Google, they are also becoming increasingly social in every step of a decision making process. If brands do not identify the various stages of choice and resolution and also the networks where they socialize and explore, opportunities will be missed. If we’re not part of the decision making cycle, we are absent from decisions. From Fans and Followers to Customers In order to connect with prospects online, we must do so where they’re already active. New research reveals that doing so may have a strong effect on the decisions and activity of your customers. In February 2010, market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey along with iModerate Research Technologies, surveyed over 1,500 individuals online as well as conducted one-on-one discussions to contextualize social media behavior. The study found that an astounding 60% of individuals who “like” pages dedicated to brands on Facebook are more likely to recommend the brand than those unaware of the company’s presence within the network. Perhaps even more incredible, is that 79% of consumers who follow the brand on Twitter have stated that they too, would refer peers to those companies they follow. Since actions speak louder than words, the study sought to answer the question of whether or not engagement actually leads to purchases. The answer is yes. An impressive 51% of Facebook fans and 67% of Twitter followers indicated that they are more likely to buy since connecting online. With 450 million users on Facebook and over 100 million registered users on Twitter, the potential is not only great, it’s exponential. Social Media is a Tool for Customers and Prospects What compels someone to fan a page on Facebook or follow a company on Twitter? The survey specifically asked the question of its panelists in relation to Facebook and Twitter and their answers may be surprising to many. Facebook On Facebook, existing customers topped the list with 49%. Following with 42%, consumers felt compelled to show support for the brand. In third with 40%, individuals admitted that they hoped to receive discounts and promotions. Other stats worth mentioning, 27% and 26% of respondents stated that they would like to be among the first to know information about the brand and also to gain access to exclusive content respectively. And, 17% claimed that they were referred to the page by someone that they knew, which already demonstrates word of mouth at work. Twitter Twitter paints a different picture, but more so than in Facebook, consumers want access. 51% of consumers polled are already customers of the company. 44% stated that receiving discounts and promotions was the primary reason for following. 42% did so for entertainment purposes. Gaining access to exclusive content and learning about information first with 37% and 36% respectively is also worth noting. Whereas 17% were referred to Facebook pages, only 12% followed brands on a recommendation. However, as the number two reason for following reveals, Twitter users are ready to make a purchase based on information gleaned from their stream. Engage or Die Creating a presence in social networks is mandatory, but it’s also not enough. Actively and thoughtfully engaging consumers in social networks is quickly becoming an expectation. As part of the study, consumers voiced their opinions and sentiment, some of which serves as a wake-up call to businesses everywhere: “It’s EXPECTED that a company have some digital face – whether it’s on FB or Twitter I don’t know – but they need a strong electronic presence or you doubt their relevance in today’s marketplace.” Female 50-54 “Either they are not interested in the demographic that frequents Facebook and Twitter or they are unaware of the opportunity to get more exposure in a more interactive method.” Male 35-39 “It shows they are not really with it or in tune with the new ways to communicate with customers.” Female 18-24. “If they’re not on Facebook or Twitter, then they aren’t in touch with the ‘electronic’ people.” Female 55-59 It’s clear. Those brands that focus on prospects and customers through social engagement will open new doors that increase brand awareness and sales through word of mouth. But perhaps more importantly, businesses will also earn expanded relevance in the age of a new and powerful medium. Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Google Buzz, Facebook — Have you had a chance to read, Engage!…? — Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism: — Image Credit: Shutterstock