Sometimes the path of least resistance unwinds into a far more complicated and arduous journey than we anticipated. In times of change, taking the path less traveled, although initially daunting, proves easier and far more rewarding in the long run. Such is true for social media.
I read a review about Engage once that read, “Brian Solis takes the fun out of social media.” The author’s point was that the book took an academic approach when the industry could benefit from a simplified focus on best practices, case studies, and actionable takeaways.
Shortly thereafter, I participated in a day-long event at a leading global consumer brand. Following my presentation, the person, a representative from a leading social network, took the stage and started her presentation by slighting the general theme of my discussion. She simply said, “Don’t over think social media. It’s supposed to be fun!”
Between the review, others like it and that on-stage remark, I was starting to think that maybe I was beating the wrong drum. While I appreciate their perspective and their ideas, there are those of us who must march to the beat of our own drummer. This is why my work focuses on how to bridge the gap between customers and businesses, nothing less, nothing more. I focus on accountability, change, innovation and co-creation. It is not easy nor is it supposed to be when your mission is value, starting with the end in mind and working backwards from there.
The truth is that the customer gap existed prior to social media and successfully closing it takes more than basic conversational or content-driven strategies in Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. The path to engagement is strenuous, uncharted, and anything but easy. Everything begins with understanding the magnitude of the gap and what it is that people want, are missing or could benefit from in order to bring both ends toward the middle.
No matter how hard we try, we just can’t build a customer-centric organization if we do not know what it is people value. Social media are your keys to unlocking the 5I’s of engagement to develop more informed and meaningful programs:
1. Intelligence – Learn about needs, wants, values, challenges
2. Insight – Find the “aha’s” to identify gaps
3. Ideation – Inspire new ideas for engagement, communication, new products/services, change
4. Interaction – Engage…don’t just publish, bring your mission to life
5. Influence – Influence behavior and in the process, become an influencer
Social media is as effective as its design. The ability to deliver against brand lift, ROI, or an established set of business and operational metrics and KPIs is all in the design. I believe you can not measure what it is you do not, or do not know, to value. As part of a recent study sponsored by Vocus, MarketingSherpa discovered that a majority of social media programs focused on programs that were deemed “fast and easy.” Sound familiar? Indeed, those programs that focus on social media programs that are easy are less effective than those that require a deeper investment of time, understanding and resources.
MarketingSherpa combined three questions about social marketing tactics: The effectiveness to achieve objectives, the degree of difficulty to implement each tactic, and the percentage of organizations using them. Their findings across the board were that “fast and easy” trumps effectiveness.
The tactics with the lowest degree of difficulty and corresponding level of effectiveness include…
– Social sharing buttons in email
– Social sharing buttons on web sites
– Tweeting
– Multimedia creation
– Social advertising
The balance shifts however toward potency as the degree of difficulty escalates. Here we see the following programs carry greater reward for consumers and businesses alike, but as such, you get what you pay for.
– Blogging
– Engagement in social networks
– SMO (Social Media Optimization)
– Blogger and influencer relations
Social media doesn’t have to be void of “fun.” It must offer value and usefulness to be successful.
In the end, the reality is that you get out of social media what you invest in it. But at the same time, experimenting with social media is not anything to discredit. The difference between today’s media and the networks of yore is nothing less than the democratization of information, from creation to consumption to sharing and the equalization of influence. The marketing landscape has been reset and thus requires a shift from a casual approach to genuine leadership.
1. Start by understanding who you’re trying to reach and what it is they value
2. Design programs that meet the needs of each segment
3. Dissect the keywords and clickpaths of your desirable segments and develop a thoughtful SMO program
4. SMO is only as effective as the content and destinations it’s meant to enhance. Develop content and click paths that matter and deliver value on both sides of the transaction.
5. Identify the individuals and organizations that influence your markets. Learn what it is they value and develop engagement programs that offer tangible value (what’s in it for them and their audiences).
6. #Engage
Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook
___
The New ENGAGE!: If you’re looking to FIND answers in social media and not short cuts, consider either the Deluxe or Paperback edition
___
Get The Conversation Prism:
___
Image Credit: Shutterstock
Hi Brian,
I feel the dilemma for many, esp B2B, is how to engage on a large scale and justify the capital layout.
For example, if you examine the costs of running a Call Center v a Social Media presence, some will chose the call centre as they can influence/engage with customers directly.
They’d like the Social Media too but budgets only go so far.
Hello Ivan, I suppose everything begins with a cost analysis of how well
B2B sales, marketing and service is performing today and to what
extent. Doing so gives us something to benchmark social against. In
regards to the call center example, I guess the question is, “is this
good enough.” When we run opportunity costs against the people we’re not
already reaching, those who choose not to come to us. I believe the
opportunity for greater influence exists when we reach outside of our
domain.
Keep taking the path less traveled, Brian. And, keep sharing the lessons learned.
Will do Michael!
Interesting & Insightful. I also like the term used at the BBC Social Media Summit last week “Open Media” rather than social or new.
Hello Gabrielle! It’s a term that I’ve used in the past…”open” is a term that we embrace at Altimeter Group, starting with Open Research. It’s definitely accurate…but with mobile and gamification on the horizon, open is actually moving towards proprietary networking. Something I’m paying close attention to. Will be back in London soon!
As always, excellent work.
Great post, but if I were to add anything it would be that “it’s all relative”. A large company can make little effort and gain a lot, while a small, local business will have to put in a lot more resources to get a fraction of the return. No doubt that investment & return are relative to one another, but for some the graph will be a lot steeper than for others.
“Brian Solis takes the fun out of social media.” The author’s point was that the book took an academic approach when the industry could benefit from a simplified focus on best practices, case studies, and actionable takeaways”
Sold. Kindle edition of Engage is downloading right now.
Fun, in my world, is sitting 400 yards offshore at Ocean Beach waiting for some massive swell to a-frame right at my shoulder.
Everything else is just *work*.
Brian – I read your blog regularly – usually late at night when I have the time to actually focus on the content. It’s ironic that tonight I had just typed an email to a colleague that the blog we have at my work (Wolf Trap – a very neat place to work) which we are just trying to ramp up – could easily be my full time job – though it is not. Then I looked at your post. Social media is not easy. It can be fun and it is rewarding and interesting. But no it’s not easy. I actually find that rewarding and interesting are usually not adjectives that go hand in hand with the word easy. Just thought I’d chime in – your post /thoughts came at the right moment for me.
Thanks! I keep meaning to start your book – soon.
Melissa Chotiner – at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
http://wolftrapinsider.blogspot.com/
Melissa, I love this comment. Keep up the hard word!
Melissa, I’m definitely with you on all points. Especially with rewarding and interesting not going with “easy.” Per my comment above, I don’t find rewarding and interesting need go with “fun” either. I do, however, very often find work rewarding and interesting!
I haven’t started reading either, Engage is next up (After Cory D!).Apropos of absolutely nothing at all, USPS issued a Wolf Trap stamp when I was a kid, and the name just fascinated me. Very cool it’s as neat a place to work as it ought to be.
“Social Media is fun” is how I start all my executive presentations at Intel as this is the surest way to get funding #ahem #not
Brilliant Bryan!
Brian, I’m about half way through Engage! I can’t help but think I’m missing something in the Kindle version and may attempt to confirm that at a bookstore. But that’s not why I’m commenting on this post. I for one appreciate the academic approach you take. There are plenty of books out there that take the simplified approach and provide best practices, case studies and actionable takeaways. Those books serve their purpose but Engage! is exactly what I was looking for. What could be more important than bridging the gap between customers and businesses? I appreciate your approach, focus and perspective on the industry. Thank you.
Interesting Brad, curious to know more. Bridging the gap is now more possible than ever before…we just need to embrace and support it. Keep up the great work Brad.
It is uncharted. Guess that’s what makes it art. I love the reinforcement here, and some new critical identifications as well Brian. I spent some time in the Army as a cav scout, and when we did urban warfare (room clearing) training, we were always told to take the path of least resistance.
Turns out, that’s one of the only situations following that advice is good for. However, I’m thrilled that there are still millions of companies, (and will continue to be) that spend a lot of time trying to engage in some quick “strategy,” without really rolling up their sleeves. They give us a lot to talk about and we can help them to make the systemic and behavioral changes necessary to actually compete in an intellectual evolution and collective paradigm shift.
Right on Ryan. Love the story about least resistance. Thanks for the feedback and the support!
Right on Ryan. Love the story about least resistance. Thanks for the feedback and the support!
Keep banging the drum, Brian. Figuring this stuff out IS fun.
You got it Steve.
You got it Steve.
great arti9cle a must read for all social media enthusiasts hungry for more –
regards
@twittingtool:disqus
It’s quite a challenge to keep up with social media when you’re a new site like htpp://ShivaConnect.com, introducing a new concept, (free online information, notification and coordination for sitting shiva) for a subject no one likes to talk about!
Well said. I thoroughly don’t understand people that dismiss an academic approach. These are probably the same people who work at big agencies and submit the atrocious Silver Anvil entries that I read each year. No research – no strategy, no measurement – just tactics. It’s so sad that these people rise to a level of prominence where they are speakers…
Thank you Heather!
Thx for this Brian. To me, this a holistic point of view that is really needed in digital strategy. The only question for me is if we’re talking about Social Media only or digital communications in general.
Hello Christian, thank you for your comment. Digital…
Thx for this Brian. To me, this a holistic point of view that is really needed in digital strategy. The only question for me is if we’re talking about Social Media only or digital communications in general.
Great article. Thanks for putting all these together. I’ve been getting one of my clients to embark on a social media program for the entire company but one of the barriers they face is integrating the different functional departments together on this, which would be crucial to their success. A social media program should not be limited to the marketing team, it crosses into the PR, Customer service, Sales team as well. Any thoughts on how to bridge this gaps?
This article made sense to me. I really love the term ‘customer-centric organization’. I am fairly new to social media, and trying to find my place in it. I hear another little piece, clicking into place.
PS: I LOVE your profile photo. I don’t know why…but I’m strangely disturbed by it…Good Job!
Hi Brian, there is no doubt that social media is rapidly gaining more prominence in Internet marketing relative to its influence on channels like search engine marketing, and SEO in particular. It’is good that more companies are dabbling so that they can better understand the context and potential. The smart ones will get serious in time to ride the current wave of Social Media value sort of like the early SEOs that have the vision to see where the market was going as far back as the mid to late 90s. There is some interesting correlation data presented by SEOMoz that shows a super strong positive correlation in website ranking based on content likes, shares, tweets, retweets. The value of doing social media well is immense and the work associated with that is also intense. The key is to understand the correlation between social media inputs and anticipated ROI based on projected outcome. Since everyday in Social Media is an evolution, new players enter the market, existing players enhance technology and user experience, constant experimentation is required. Those that excel in social media have HUGE influence, both online and off and are BOTH serious AND passionate, and passionate implies FUN!
Very interesting article. With the announcement that social media indicators are now included in the ranking algorithms of the search engines… what are the best ways to achieve increased organic rankings in the search engines? As this is one of my returns from successful social media.
Hi Brian, I just gave a presentation on this at the Social Media Optimization conference. I’ve written about SMO in the past…perhaps its time for an update.
Hi Brian, I just gave a presentation on this at the Social Media Optimization conference. I’ve written about SMO in the past…perhaps its time for an update.
Hi Brian, I just gave a presentation on this at the Social Media Optimization conference. I’ve written about SMO in the past…perhaps its time for an update.
Hi Brian, I just gave a presentation on this at the Social Media Optimization conference. I’ve written about SMO in the past…perhaps its time for an update.
Hi Brian, I just gave a presentation on this at the Social Media Optimization conference. I’ve written about SMO in the past…perhaps its time for an update.
Thank you Brian for providing my “Brain Candy” I love the analytics behind something I call fun!
Thank you for this nugget, Brian. I’m inclined to agree with you. I am going to go out and read your book. I have finally hired a firm to handle my social media marketing, because doing all the “easy” steps you outlined above have gained fans – now “likes” but not materialized in hard leads. Even asking the fanbase questions hasn’t resulted in any type of ongoing engagement. Local biz is growing by word of mouth, but not the online biz. Something has to change.
Thank you! This is exactly what we need to do!
…and yet, many companies focus on getting as much fans/likes/whatever as possible, and leaving it at that. I appreciate having a large fanbase as much as anyone, but without any meaningful way of identifying the needs and wants of that fanbase and connecting them to your company’s offerings, there’s very little you can do to extract any real value from them. I myself am a fan of God knows how many groups, but unless they are somehow reaching out for ME, I probably won’t be paying any extra attention to them. If anything, I might be thinkng “Okay, I’ve been fan of company X for 6 months now, but haven’t seen any meaningful communication from them in that time. What is wrong with these people?!” Engage. That’s spot on.
Love this post Brian! “Social Media is fun” is the battle cry of those who favour quick fixes over meaningful outcomes. Social media is hard work for those who endeavour to succeed. It’s also fascinating : )
It is surprising to know that there are companies which are still reluctant to embrace social media. Perhaps, they haven’t recognized the ROI of social media.
With this article, businesses should be encouraged to initiate actions to build their brands as well as their products and services by applying social media tools in integration with the marketing aspect of the business.
So right Brian! Taking the path less taken can indeed be very rewarding as with Social Media. And what makes it more rewarding is enjoying what we are doing despite the difficulties and the distractions that challenge us.
Definitely some interesting ideas in here. I think social media (for businesses at least) is all about combining fun WITH business and hard work. A good social-media business person should also use social media frequently on his own time. But yeah, social media is definitely providing us with a whole world of information about consumer / customer behavior that’s totally observable and quantifiable in a way it wasn’t before.
What a though provoking post!
Truth is that the customer gap continues living previous to social media and
successfully finishing it takes more than basic conversational or
content-driven strategies in social networks. The path to engagement is arduous,
unexplored but easy. all begins with considerate the extent of the gap and what
it is that people want, could benefit from in order to bring both ends toward
the middle.
Very inspiring written article with simple but very descriptive content.Many Thanks for sharing with us.Keep sharing in future too.
So, right Brian! When the path less taken it can be very rewarding as social media. And what makes it more rewarding to enjoy what we do, despite the difficulties and challenges distractions.
search engine optimization company
Most of people are looking these types of valuable posts. Keep in touch with us.
v921mh
xf6qjy
3f8yt5