iMediaWorksConnect by @iMediaMichelle

Are You Invested in Your Social Media?

Yesterday, I was on the phone with my financial manager to get an update on my retirement portfolio.  Surprisingly, he had some positive news to report – I actually had some cash generate from dividends being paid out on some of my assets.  Immediately he posed the question, “how do you want me to invest those funds so they keep working for you?”  My options were: invest the lump sum in a single, growing stock that currently was generating over 9% return; spread the investment over the rest of my existing mutual funds, or keep it in my reserves and do nothing.  Not being the “do nothing type”, I knew I had only 2 options to consider.  Either I wanted to be “all in” and really commit to the stock in hopes of a big payoff, or I wanted to help augment all of my existing efforts and reap a slow, steady growth down the road.

I think my investment dilemma above is very illustrative of the scenarios brand marketers are facing today.  Do they take the limited cash they have and put it all into social media, or augment their existing offline and online efforts?  “Do they invest in one particular social media channel, or in multiple ones?  The answers, of course, will always depend on the goals and objectives of the business.  Knowing why you need to do something should guide what you need to do.

At last night’s Social Media Club Atlanta meeting, our panelists, Jeannie Ericson, Director of Lens on Atlanta with PBA and Tony Conway, Development Director for the Atlanta Children’s Shelter and Kashi Atlanta led by moderator, Diane Deseta of White Knight, both discussed their approaches to developing “The Case for Investment” within their respective organizations.  They also shared their views on measuring success and the challenges they each faced in bringing their social media investment to life.

It was a fast-paced and highly engaging conversation between the panelists and standing-room only crowd.  Below are a few key excerpts I took away from the discussion:

Which brands did you look at when you were developing your Case for Investment?

Jeannie Ericson (Lens on Atlanta) – National Public Radio (NPR) because they have a dedicated social media strategist and they are not afraid to experiment.

Tony Conway (ATL Children’s Shelter) – New York Times because they really understand how to incorporate multiple voices through blogs and engage the community in conversation.

How did you present the investment to your internal stakeholders?  What worked, didn’t work?

Jeannie Ericson – we were fortunate because the vision and mandate was being led top-down by our CEO who says, “Tv and radio are not dying tomorrow, but they are evolving and changing with digital”.  It wasn’t a question; we were going to do it.  However, we focused initially on communicating that message externally and did not communicate it enough within our own organization so everyone would know what was going on.

Tony Conway – several of our decision makers were familiar with social media, so we were able to get them on board fairly quickly.  With the rest, we explained that our initial investment would be a controlled experiment around a specific set of communication goals.  We made sure we had a consensus in order to take that critical step.

What is your commitment level to social media?

Jeannie Ericson – we are never going to quit – we view ourselves not just in social media, but in a relationship where we engage our community.  Right now, we have an integrated plan for Lens on Atlanta that will focus on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn initially to help cultivate the base community.  Eventually, we’ll amplify that using our broadcasting assets in radio and television.

Tony Conway – for us, social media is not about a one-night stand.  We see it as a key method in being informational and cultivational with our audience.  We’ve exploded out our initial investment (which generated 2x the expected goal) and have architected an annual social media campaign.

What are some of the key elements of your investment plan that brand marketers need to account for?

Jeannie Ericson – having someone dedicated to coaching and cultivating your community base.  Although stakeholders say they will participate, you need to have someone come along side of them to encourage and partner with them to do it.

Sherry Heyl (Concept Hub) – focus on teaching the benefits of the social media platform and tools first, then the actual tools with your community ambassadors.

Tony Conway – having the RIGHT consultants to help shape your strategy and plan, help you find and tap into the influencers and tools, is essential.  Also, you need to find the right people who can help develop key relationships within the community to participate as well as operationalize your platform.  We were able to do that with Georgia State and Oglethorpe and now have a commitment for interns to handle the publishing for us across seven social media channels at 50 hours per week over the next year.

How are you defining success for your investment?  Internally as well as Externally?

Jeannie Ericson – Success externally is cultivating stories of users who get something accomplished using the Lens platform and permeating that out to their peers on the network.  Internally, we’ve defined it as being self-sustaining within four years.

Tony Conway – We see social media as the medium to reach people in an intimate way that is unpurchasable.  Externally, we define success as connecting with people and bringing them face to face with the physical experience of volunteering in our organization.

No matter who you are, making an investment decision is never simple; there are always complex factors across business, process, organizational and technical aspects.  Failing to invest, however, is a decision brands cannot afford to make.

For more highlights on this conversation, go to Social Media Club Atlanta or search for the conversation thread via #smcatl in Google and Twitter.

A Day Spent with 140 Characters – Part Deux #140conf Takeaways

What is it about social media events that bring out the super-nocturnal creature in me?  It’s past midnight again as I finally drop my computer bag, plug in and start to marinate on the day’s events.

The second day of the #140conf featured more fascinating Twitter Characters from around the globe sharing their personal stories and insights from inside the Twitterverse.  The keynote speakers, moderators and panelists spoke about big business, small business, trust agents, chaos theory, covering the White House, dating escapades, hyku, user experience, science, fashion and filmmaking.  With each topic, the dialogue not only challenged our thinking around old and existing business and communication models, but our very own personal life operating constructs as well.

Once again, I’ve attempted to capture the key takeaways from each of the #140conf Characters.  Unfortunately, there were several time periods when I had to step away from the live conversation, so not all topics are represented below.  After reading this list, if you have any others you would like to add, please post as a comment below and be sure to tag it #140conf

@mkokc – “Using Twitter for Public Safety”

“People are looking for one another in the most basic human way – Twitter has become our little Town Hall, our ‘Mayberry’, like a good back fence neighbor””

@erictpeterson – “Twitter Stats”

“The average active Twitter user: 4,664 followers, 1,165 following, 108 updates/week, referenced 75 times, Tetweeted 21 times, Retweeting others 11 times per week on average” (Slideshare deck here - http://bit.ly/iUIc0)

@maheshmurthy – “Twitter’s Role in an Integrated Marketing Plan”

“Existing digital marketing and advertising models are unsuited for Twitter – re-defining CRM = Cult Relationship Management” (Slideshare deck here - http://bit.ly/bGBQO )

@steverubel – “Twitter and PR”

“No community has a staying power past 5 years – don’t get too attached to any one community platform, instead take a digital embassy approach”

@KaylieJones – “Twitter Rocks Publishing” Panelist

“If its only about me, then it won’t be an interesting story; people go wrong on Twitter because of too much self-promotion, instead of too much community”

@RonHogan – “Twitter Rocks Publishing” Panelist

“Make sure you are sharing the thing you are most passionate about with others”

@chrisbrogam – “Twitter and Trust Agents” Moderator

“When something goes bad, don’t’ go dark.  Leverage is about building and sharing relationships”

@julien – “Twitter and Trust Agents” Panelist

“The more you act like the network, the more successful you will be on the web”

@dberkowitz – “Twitter as the GPS for Greater Social Media Mesh” Panelist

“Be in the channel so you’ll at least know how to respond to customers”

@bmorrissey – “Twitter as the GPS for Greater Social Media Mesh” Panelist

“Most brands are not sure what their role is within social media; its like watching Dad dance – it feels awkward and creepy”

@pfasano – “Twitter as the GPS for Greater Social Media Mesh” Panelist

“The hard part for brands is to distinguish the hot topic of today from the true trend of tomorrow”

@hadleystern – “Twitter as the GPS for Greater Social Media Mesh” Panelist

“For brands, understanding what is the sea of change happening within social media is their greatest challenge”

@bronwen – “Twitter, the media and Chaos Theory”

“Twitter is the opposite of controlled media – its chaos theory in action.  Although it mostly looks like disorder, you discover all the underlying order within the random data underneath”

@newmediajim – “Correspondency in the Age of Twitter” Moderator

“Through tools like Twitter, everyone gets a seat at the briefing table”

@anamariecox – “Correspondency in the Age of Twitter” Panelist

“Twitter gives us the ability to share the inside context for why certain things are happening; Being a journalist is not something you are – its something you do”

@MarriottIntl – “Twitter and Brands: Lessons Learned and Still Learning” Panelist

“You gotta listen; without listening we wouldn’t be where we are today”

@jbell99 – “Twitter and Brands: Lessons Learned and Still Learning” Moderator

“I think Twitter is a pretty forgiving universe, if you respond to criticism and keep carrying on the conversation”

@ami_with_an_i – “Twitter Publishing: People Get Real” Panelist

“Book reading is a solitary activity, but they spawn highly social activity; Books function as social glue in the community”

@chapmanchapman – “Twitter Publishing: People Get Real” Panelist

“Storytelling is going to change form – from just text, to text that can live”

@hjortur – “How I Became a Twitter Character”

“Putting out value, putting out great ideas is what truly spurns connection and community on”

@scottpordad – “Follow Friday”

“Hashtags make conversation more democratic and open up the playing field; think about how what you’re doing can help to create a framework for community”

@thesciencebabe – “Twitter and Science” Co-Moderator

“Twitter is enabling the application of science and scientific research to be more in the hands of the people”

@bernard_d – “A Look at Twitter Apps and the Road Ahead” Panelist

“Aggregate, filter, curate and associate that content/ideas with the community”

@WingDude – “A Look at Twitter Apps and the Road Ahead” Panelist

“The market will shift towards tools that enable you to search, filter and become an editor of the news; little Twitter is dragging Facebook ahead into this space”

@pallian – “A Look at Twitter Apps and the Road Ahead” Panelist

“I see a lot of mashups coming between Twitter and Facebook”

@heathr – “Being ‘Private’ in Public”

“Twitter and social media are revealing the personal, and making the personal more revealing”

@garyvee – “What I Love About Twitter”

“When was caring not a real job?  Twitter has allowed me to scale my caring”

@wyclef – “An Interview with Wyclef Jean”

“It’s important that we feed the soul”

@jobsworth – “Twitter in the Enterprise"

”The traditional ways of communicating, even e-mail, deal with the hierarchy of the organization.  But when its subscriber driven (like Twitter), then its more about linking and tapping into the passion that breaks through hierarchies”

@JaysonElliot – “Designing User Experiences for Twitter” Moderator

“We’re in an experience-based economy; experience is the reason why one entity beats another”

@karenmcgrane – “Designing User Experiences for Twitter” Panelist

“Don’t focus on talking to ourselves, but to the people who are puzzled on why they should use tools like Twitter; its our job to get more people to use it”

@jeffdachis – “Designing User Experiences for Twitter” Panelist

“Its about applying values of what you get out of Twitter and bringing those values to the applications and other user experiences we design”

@whitneyhess – “Designing User Experiences for Twitter” Panelist

“Keep in mind who your target is – Twitter may not be right, then if not, apply the values Jeff was talking about to the places that will best serve your users”

@sujamthe – “BottomUp Innovation”

“Come with an idea, take a risk, put it out there and see what comes back” (Slideshare deck here - http://bit.ly/1b7ZfX )

@jeffpulver – “Intermission”

“We’re living in the NOW and Twitter is the language we speak.  If you have an idea for change, now is the time to act”

@marcyshinder – “Twitter and Small Business” Panelist

“Twitter reveals itself the more you get into it”

@rieva – “Twitter and Small Business” Panelist

“The beauty that Twitter brings to small business is that SMB is used to being part of the conversation already”

@alizasherman – “Twitter and Small Business” Panelist

“Empty followers are like sugar – empty calories and they give me a headache”

@howardgr – “The Wisdom of Twitter” Co-Moderator

“Its about find your tribe, contributing and making that tribe a better place”

@DeanLand – “The Wisdom of Twitter” Co-Moderator

“You have to follow someone, you just can’t be there”

@calindrome – “All the Web’s a Stage”

Performance arts are the original disruptive social media; they give a voice to the voiceless”

@sass – “Everything I Know About Twitter, I learned in Grade School”

“The best way to make friends is to share, raise your hand and participate when you hear someone ask a question or for help”

@melissapierce – “The Documentary that Happened Because of Twitter”

“The planned life is not worth living anymore; we’re all living intuitively”

Last but certainly not at all least – a few shoutouts to Tweeps who helped make the #140conf especially productive, memorable and fun:

@Urvaksh – for being my steady seatmate and “pet sitting” my laptop all during Day 1

@aaronstrout – for organizing a delightful impromptu Twinner outing with 13 great Twitter Characters

@pfasano – for encouraging me to come and experience the #140conf and a much needed guac and chips break on Day 2

@shelly_palmer – for asking me about my story and profoundly changing the course of my next few months

@Haroldgr – for being my seatmate sidekick and “Tweet co-heckler” on Day 2

To all the Tweeps who sat behind us in Row 3, where the AC adapter lived, props to you for keeping me and a dozen other laptops juiced and plugged in throughout the show

Weren’t able to make the NYC #140conf?  Never fear!  #140conf Los Angeles and #140conf London are in the works for Fall 2009.  Follow @140conf and nominate yourself or another Tweep to be part of the next Cast of Characters.  The State of Now continues on…

The Next Frontier

A lethargic Austin morning greets me as I prepare to start another day as a SXSW newbie.  I move through my morning routine thinking about the days events to come, my mind wandering from to do list to all the faces I had met the night before.  As I start my shower, my head continues this daily conversation, until my eyes make an unexpected discovery.  I see that an 800 number and its URL mate have been prominently displayed on the face of the showerhead.  I’ll have to admit that I blinked.  Twice.  Now for the techset, this may not be that strange to find a brand other than the shampoo bottle present during one of their more personal moments.  But wearing my average consumer hat, it definitely caught my attention.

Staring at the showerhead, I began to think about what the brand, Speakman, intended by putting their information front and center on the product.  Of course, this would be immensely helpful during installation of the product in case any problems arose.  But once the piece was affixed and working, what then?  Did Speakman still want to hear from me?  Was this supposed to be an invitation to start a conversation?

During his SXSW09 plenary talk, Tony Hsieh stressed that customer service that delivers happiness is the core of his company Zappos’ culture.  Zappos’ focus is on building a lifelong relationship with each customer, one call at a time.  For Zappos, the 800# is one of the best tools for creating branding opportunities with their customers.  Contrary to many in the industry, Tony wants customers to call his company and his people to spend time with each customer, regardless if it relates to a direct sale.  The conversation rather than the transaction between brand and customer is most valued.  If people can call Zappos from a hotel room at 2am looking for a hot pizza, then shouldn’t someone be encouraged to call or tweet Speakman from a 7am shower just to share their gratitude for the rainforest spray power setting?

Now this is where things get bumpy.  Can we start to expect shower liners with advertising callouts, branded entertainment or coupons?  Touchscreen technology is exploding – its already finding its way into our living and dining rooms, the elevators we ride each day, the gas pumps we congregate around – are the shower walls next?  Imagine catching up on your iTunes shopping while getting a deep conditioning on your split ends.  Or better yet, being able to place your coffee order for pick up at Starbucks as you finish shaving.  But at what point do we say that certain spaces are “off limits” to brands?  Or, does it depend on the context?  Another SXSW09 panelist, Jamie Monberg, stated that you have to be thoughtful on where you place your assets and on the interaction you want to create.  To me, the best interactions result in great stories.  And how you create opportunities to appropriately generate and share those stories with consumers will be the main challenge for brands facing an increasingly digital world.  The right way can endear you for life.  The wrong way can get the door slammed in your face, with a slim to none chance for redemption. 

For now, we’ll have to wait and see how brands and consumers explore this next frontier.