Web Business by Ken Burbary

Social Media by the Numbers

Social Media continues to be the hottest topic in business, advertising, marketing and communications worlds. Why? Because it is a game changer for businesses. The future of business online (and offline for that matter) for brands will be based on the relationships they have with individual consumers and influencers. The tried and true method of top down brand marketing and advertising is already proving less effective each and every day. And it will continue to become so as social media continues to enable consumers and influencers to define brands, define what is important, set the terms for how to be engaged and where. 

Not Convinced?

Maybe you’re sitting on the sidelines watching with a skeptical eye. Or perhaps you’re somewhat involved personally in social media, but haven’t actively moved forward with your business because you’re waiting to see how this plays out. Forget all the talk about monetizing social media, ROI debates, and chasing shiny objects (social media tool du jour). Social media has morphed into a global phenomenon, and consumers are demanding that brands, companies they do business with (YOU), join them in the social media landscape.

Let’s look at just how big this movement really is. Twitter is the most talked about social network right now, and rightfully so.  Great things can happen there for brands. To date, there have been over 1.4 billion messages sent on Twitter. However, the real story on Twitter isn’t about what is happening here in the US. In fact, over 60% of all web traffic to Twitter comes from outside the US. The rest of the world has a bigger footprint on Twitter. See the graph below for a breakdown by country. 

Let’s turn our eye to Facebook. As of this moment, Facebook is truly international social platform. There are more than 35 translations of Facebook.com available, and an additional 60 others in development. Every month,  approximately 70% of Facebook’s 200 million active users come from outside the United States.

Consider how Facebook users are spending their time. Take a moment to let these numbers sink in:

• More than 850 million photos uploaded to the site each month
• More than 7 million videos uploaded each month
• More than 28 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each month
• More than 2 million events created each month
• More than 25 million active user groups exist on the site

Finally, let’s combine the sheer volume of individual participation and interaction online, with consumer expectations. According to a  2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study, online consumers have some lofty expectations for brands & social media.

“93% of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites and 85 percent believe that these companies should use these services to interact with consumers”

 

Get into the Game

Companies spend a lot of time, money and energy trying to understand what consumers want. They talk about keenly understanding their audience all the time. Social media has gift wrapped a golden opportunity for brands to get the answers these questions and more, by developing real relationships with consumers, on their terms, in the spaces that are relevant to them. Sure it can be scary. You lose control. You open yourself up for criticism and attack. Guess what Mr. Brand, you already did and you’ll be worse off the longer you wait. 

Listen. Understand. Engage. It is time to leave the sidelines and get into the game. Your customers and the marketplace are giving you all the signs you need. 

Social Media’s Mount Everest, Helping Toxic Brands

During the past 6 months, I’ve talked and written a lot about how engaging in Social Media can help your brand. There can be numerous benefits. In fact, Social Media Maven Chris Brogan has already written what Social Media does best. And expert Mack Collier wrote a thoughtful article some time ago, describing how Dell has successfully integrated social media into its marketing communications and culture. Both are worth your time to read.

We’re delirious with Social Media mania right now. For good reason, in most cases. However, there is one important question that a brand needs to ask before jumping into Social Media. Is it right for my brand? How and where can it be useful for us? Translation: Does it make sense to engage in Social Media.

Sure, for many brands the answers may come easily. A strategy will emerge, tactics will follow. The excitement and energy that comes with entering a new channel will also.

However, what if you’re a toxic brand? What is your current brand perception is in the dumps? What if your current customers are your most bitter and harshest critics? What if your product is far inferior to the competition? How can Social Media help you under these circumstances (and I believe it can)?

What brand could I possibly be describing? Sadly, I’m using my favorite, and home town, NFL Franchise as my test subject. The Detroit Lions brand is at an all time low. They set an NFL record for the 2008-2009 season by losing every regular season game, finishing 0-16. Ticket sales are down. Home games are blacked out on local television because of it. The Lions franchise is the laughing stock of the league. And I, like many other thousands of fans, DO NOT LIKE IT. I’m a life long fan (I know, I know, spare the glutton for punishment jokes) and want to see them succeed, so much so that I’m devoting this time & energy to blogging about it.

I have my own ideas but am looking for your perspectives. I’m hoping to tap into the collective wisdom of the Social Media crowd, and answer these 3 questions:

1. How can the Detroit Lions effectively engage in Social Media to help improve their brand image?
2. How can the Detroit Lions effectively engage in Social Media to increase sales of tickets and merchandise?
3. How can the Detroit Lions effectively engage in Social Media to improve the relationship with their customers and fans?

Couldn’t this become the perfect case study? If Social Media can help save a brand like the Lions, lifting them out of the brand perception toilet, then one could argue the right Social Media strategy, integrated into an overall marketing strategy, could be a difference maker for any brand? And collectively, we have an opportunity to help make that happen.

I am VERY interested in hearing your input. Please share your ideas and opinions in the comments. With any luck, maybe…..just maybe…the Lions will be listening. And if they aren’t, I’ll do what is necessary to take the answers to their doorstep. Viva La Lions!

Community sourcing evolves to the brand level

I’ve lived through many movements on the “web” since I began my career. Along the way there have been a countless number of trends, both successful and not, that have impacted how individuals and companies operate online. Two trends that emerged and have been adopted across the globe are outsourcing and crowd sourcing. I’ve separated them into the two major web eras to easily look at both trends.

Web 1.0 = Outsourcing                   Web 2.0 = Crowd sourcing

Outsourcing was/is mostly about saving cash.  Why try doing something in-house that isn’t a core competency? Instead go buy that product/service from the outside (Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency).

Crowd sourcing is different. The basic premise of crowd sourcing can be best described as the trend of leveraging mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. Smart professionals have been crowd sourcing problems to the communities they participate in for awhile. Like Chris Brogan. When asked, he was unable to pinpoint his first use of crowd sourcing, but responded that he has been successfully practicing it for over 2 years.

Recently Warren Sukernek, creator of the Twittermaven blog, wrote about the the growing interest in crowd sourcing on Twitter. His post provided several examples of individuals using crowd sourcing to solve both personal and professional problems. Example:

As Laura Fitton said in Clive Thompson’s great Ambient Awareness article, “I outsource my entire life,” she said. “I can solve any problem on Twitter in six minutes.”

The benefits are many. Increased innovation, productivity, new & stronger relationships, etc.. One could argue that some businesses are being built by effectively leveraging crowd sourcing. Whether you agree with that or not, there is a large body of evidence that demonstrates its value.

Interestingly enough, Crowd sourcing has evolved into a higher level of sophistication, called Community sourcing (coined by Zena Weist). Community sourcing differs from traditional crowd sourcing in one key aspect. Its purpose is to direct the efforts and collective intelligence of the community, for the benefit of the community. Now this may be true in some cases of crowd sourcing (both parties benefit), but not always. In the case of community sourcing, it is the primary focus.

Individuals tapping into crowd or community sourcing is one thing, but how are progressive brands using community sourcing? The most widely known use is the Dell Ideastorm. However, it is far from the only example. Brands big and small are jumping into the community sourcing pool hoping to do with the help of the community, what they cannot on their own. Two examples I’ve seen recently are the NBC4 news team in central Ohio, and the Detroit Red Wings.

Ryan Squire, Managing Editor of the NBC4 news team, wants to connect with his viewers throughout central Ohio. He asked them, “What Would NBC4 2.0 look like?” on the corporate blog? His viewers have an unprecedented opportunity to establish a personal relationship with Ryan, and provide  feedback that will influence, and in some cases direct shape what the future of NBC4. How many times have you watched your local news and thought, I wish they did (fill in the blank), or I wish they would stop doing it that way? Here’s your chance to let them know.

The Detroit Red Wings are a dominant brand among NHL teams. They have loyal fans in every city, who are passionate supporters of their team. Last week, Shannon Paul (the Red Wings new media guru), led the NHL franchise into community sourcing territory by tapping into the fan base with this question: “How should the Red Wings use social media to strengthen relationships with fans?”. Have ideas on how you would like to see your favorite team engage with fans online? Exactly, we all do. What sports fan hasn’t said to themselves, it would be great if my team did this new thing, or why aren’t they doing that online? This opens the door for the Red Wings to go in a direction they aren’t capable of doing without the fans. Because in community sourcing, ideas come from everywhere. And each idea exchange, discussion, and interaction strengthens the relationship one has with the brand.

Why aren’t more companies/brands doing this? Why not tap into the customers you know for collective widsom? It’s not always going to give you the answer, but it will always show your customers/fans that you’re doing one VERY important thing, LISTENING.

What brands do you see engaging in community sourcing? What tools are they using to engage? What social networks are they leveraging? Please share your findings in the comments, and I’ll update the post to include new examples.

Most importantly, are these brands backing up the listening with changes in behavior? Are they adopting the suggestions and implementing them?