Communities And Conversations

Jan 21 2010

Challenge ROI, Challenge the Model, but Social Media Means Real Business

Category: executive learnings,social media,tech opinion,tools,trust & reputation — jmacofearth @ 6:54 am

ROI ROI ROI seems to be everyone's challenge to social media here and in the mainstream media's coverage of social media. And having been at Dell during the TWITTER sells a million dollars of refurbished computers news, I can tell you there is a lot more to the picture trying to draw the old school marketing equation around social media engagements. (5 dollars spent will earn 20 dollars in sales)

It's not quite that easy to see. But if you take the Dell story as an example, what Bob Pearson and his communities and conversations team built (empowered by Michael Dell himself) was a team of over 100 people working the web 24/7. But they were not sales people. Their first question was not, WHICH COMPUTER DO YOU WANT TO BUY?

The first question of the Dell outreach team is still, "How can we help?" The answer, depending on the situation will be different everytime. But not having that conversation is like being deaf and dumb to your customers concerns, ideas, innovative solutions, and YES sales opportunities. But it's not 100% focused on making the sale. That's called marketing or sales. There IS something called social media MARKETING and social media SALES. All part of the spectrum that we are still trying to hold under one umbrella as "social media." The follow up question is "social media [what]?" If you just call it all social media, you are mixing up all the possible roles the conversation can play in your business.

So in the accounting driven model it might have been hard to justify the expense of 100+ FTE's a few very high level executives and an army of consultants, vendors and contractors running around "doing social media."

However where the benefits get outrageously profitable, and yet still not quite trackable, is in the large business space. Often sales for large installations of systems and networks and storage platforms can take months to put together. The deal is usually being driven by numbers as well as personality. If you hate your account executive, the 10% discount on the project will probably not translate into the deal. So what is it that influences the final sale more than the ± 10% pricing difference?

It's the people. It's the way you are being communicated with. It is even the communication platforms and patterns that are largely responsible for how smoothly these transactions go through. In a multi-million dollar technology purchase, so many layers of management, finance and technical engineering are involved that the overall project team will probably loose and gain a number of key decision makers during the course of the 6-month close.

How well does your company respond to questions?

What about if those questions are not posted on your site? What if someone is complaining about your SAN disc product on GetSatisfaction.com and you are not listening? What if the twitterverse is a twitter with just how bad your after-the-sale support is?

Are you listening? Are you responding? Are you solving problems on all levels of your organization using informative discussions rather than marketing/advertising push-like blasts?

In a Social Media Club meeting on Tuesday night we listened to Bazaarvoice and IBM's Rational Software talk about the value they provide companies like Petco, Dell, Best Buy. And the quote that really stuck out and was even clarified by @wesley83 in the crowd.

"So you are saying the conversation IS the currency?" he asked.

"Exactly," said Michael Osborne from Bazaarvoice. "That's right. The conversation IS the conversion point."

So the big challenge that defines success for social media is "Are you listening?" Because at every level, if you are working your business right, they are talking about you. If you put up your listening tools and there is ZERO discussion about you or your products, you might need to rethink your marketing strategy.

Listen, Talk, Learn!

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/the-long-sale

[As a response to some of the comments here, and more so the comments I got as part of the LinkedIN viral discussion, I have launched a NING community site to rally around the best ways to deal with TROLLS who attack. And more importantly the Trolls who threaten. Please join us at Social Media is Not Hate (Ning) You might be member #2!]

The whole post thread. Watch for Trolls along the path, cause they are hoppin mad today!

Nice Shot – How long's it been since you've seen the Matrix?
Social Media Proves Successful as ROI for Business, LinkedIN Group Flames On
Challenge ROI, Challenge the Model, but Social Media Means Real Business
Social Media Being Challenged: CRAP? For Business? Really?
A Bit 'o Humor at the Experts Expense: The SEO Expert said to the SM Expert
The Red Badge of Courage: Haiti Needs Everyone's Help (JAN 19-10 update 5)
My MLK Manifesto 2010: I have a dream… I wish social media could be used to…
A Pirate's Life for Meeeee: Now about this Duck Song Thing? (Waddle Waddle Waddle)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love: If You Can't Say Something Nice… Well, Shout It
Drawing the Circles Around LinkedIN Contacts – Social Media for Business of Any Size
Does LinkedIN Create Business via Social Media Networking?
LinkedIN Gets Social: Is it Viral or CRAP? You Decide.

Tags: @wesley83, account executive, are you listening?, bazaarvoice, bob pearson, business space, communication platforms, communities and conversations, computers news, conversation is conversion, decision makers, dell and twitter, dell story, dollar technology, driven model, fte, getsatisfaction, getsatisfaction.com, how can we help, ibm rational, learn, level executives, listen, listen talk buy, listen talk learn, listen talk sell, long close, mainstream media, management finance, Michael Dell, michael ozborne, NING, outreach team, respond to complaints, respond to questions, roi for social media, santilli, social media club, social media is not hate, social media ROI, socialmedia, storage platforms, Talk, technical engineering, technology purchase, the conversation IS the currency, twitter, twitter sells a million computers, twitter succcess stories, web 24

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Jan 09 2010

Caring About Healthcare in a New Way: Is Social Media OK for Big Pharma?

Category: community building,social media,teaming & leadership,trust & reputation — jmacofearth @ 6:41 pm

Because of the company I work for I might be at risk saying I'm a bit dubious about *some* healthcare marketing. Also because of the company I work for I can say with 99.9% confidence that as long as I am clear with who I am and what I am doing, I can ask questions about healtcare marketing without fear of repercussions.

Social media is being questioned at the highest level when it pertains to pharmaceutical companies and the *promotion* of drugs and therapies that may or may not be in the best interest of the individual being *marketed* to. What I can also say is I don't know near enough about the subject to even offer a valuable perspective on the topic.

However, I am extremely alert to the topic now that it is my JOB. ;-)

In fact the company I work for, WeissComm Partners is playing a big role in setting the transparency requirements for social media in healthcare marketing. As the FDA begins setting laws and regulations about online endorsements, blogs and social media advertising campaigns, the leaders of WeissComm are testifying before the senate committees, providing expert testimony to the value and risk of huge multinational drug manufacturers having unfettered and unregulated access to social media writers, publications, sites, syndication networks.

A former colleague at Dell, Bob Pearson, former VP of Communities and Conversations, has pretty much written the *industry opinion* that is being examined by the FDA as they move forward with their plans. And for more than 3 years Bob P was growing and nurturing Dell's online response from the painfully negative voices of the likes of Jeff Jarvis (see DellHell) to the positive influence of sharing the truth about some of Dell's supply chain issues (If a specific SDD drive was not arriving ontime) or paint problems (when the Inspiron launched in multi-colored hues, there was a paint curing problem that was causing the paint to chip and be returned to Best Buy and Dell directly.

Fast forward a couple years to today's Obama HC agenda and the economic recovery that is calling drug prices and drug advertising into the spotlight of scrutiny. There is a fine line between promoting a drug and providing useful information that can actually *help* patients and potential patients make educated (read: honest, non-biased, transparent) decisions about their own healthcare choices.

Moving on from my own inexperienced ideas, let me share a trending idea that is making it's way through the social media networks of Facebook, Twitter…

Last night a friend at WeissComm said something about adding the work PINK to their Facebook profile. The idea expressed was that this expression of a color had some implications to campaigns mainly unrelated to people's Facebook pages. And the connection between the colors and campaigns was not completely understood. A couple of them, PINK for example, could obviously be connected to a mainstream movement, like the Susan G Komen's pink ribbon. YELLOW seemed to be connected to Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG.

But actually my friend did not know how the 'meme' (or web-theme) started. It was something unrelated to the awareness campaigns however, of this my friend was certain. So today I put the word PINK on my Facebook profile. That's it, just status: PINK. Here's what showed up as comments on my status within a few minutes.

I'm pretty sure my Facebook friends are okay with me putting their responses on my blog. (If not let me know!)

What you need to know about this PINK concept is it was started as sort of an odd viral protest. Here's a post that captures the entire sordid story, "What Color Is Your Bra? Facebook's Pointless Underwear Protest." Where the journalist opens with, "Last night I told the entire Internet what color bra I was wearing. Usually I try not to overshare, but it was ostensibly for a good cause."

The rest of the story is history. The color status thing is generating a buzz that has nothing to do with Komen or Livestrong or the Texas Longhorn's loss to Alabama. (Did you like how I brought that in? I'm going with BURNT ORANGE as my status in a minute.)

So is social media okay for Lance Armstrong's marketing of his foundation? They are doing great things and empowering a lot of people. But note this, they are also SELLING a lot of stuff and FUNDING a lot of large salaries under the non-profit flag. LIVESTRONG'S yellow wristband was one of the biggest viral campaigns of all time. People still have the yellow ribbon tag across their bio pictures on Facebook and Twitter. But is ANY part of what they are doing, is ANY of their MARKETING in contradiction to the spirit of serving the public good? (I really don't propose to answer or offer an opinion on this subject. But I can ask the question, as a general consumer, somewhat suspicious of some of the social media for healthcare.)

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/FDA-healthcare

What Color Is Your Bra? Facebook's Pointless Underwear Protest

Do any of these promotional/selling concepts pushing your buttons?

Victoria Secrets sells pink bras and donate money to Susan G Komen.

Lance Armstrong's Livestrong.org sells products to fund their non-profit AND generate awareness.

Susan G Komen sells products sells products to fund their non-profit AND generate awareness.

Tags: bob pearson, bra colors gone viral, color campaign, communities and conversations, dell hell, dell inspiron, dellhell, facebook pages, Facebook profie, Facebook profile, Facebook status, Facebook update, Facebook viral campaign, FDA looks into social media, FDA social media, healthcare marketing, healthcare reform, heathcare choices, industry opinion, investigating social media, jeff jarvis, lance armstrong, livestrong, non-profit, obama's healthcare reform, PINK, pink ribbon, pointless protest, pushing your buttons, selling a cause, selling merchandise, sells bras, sells products to fund their non-profit, social media for healthcare, susan g komen, underwear protest, victoria secrets goes pink, viral bra colors, WCG healthcare, wcg partners, WCGworld, weisscomm global, weisscomm partners, what color is your bra, YELLOW, yellow wristband

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Dec 01 2009

What Is Social Media Thought Leadership? And My Next Gig!

Category: about me,community building,executive learnings,social media,teaming & leadership,tech opinion,trust & reputation — jmacofearth @ 2:54 pm

It's easy to point at Chris Brogan, Seth Godin and a handful of others and get the idea of "thought leadership on social media." And in this tender young enterprise the definition would be spot on. Both Chris and Seth WORK it and then they THINK about and LEAD conversations for the rest of us. But what about "the rest of us" hoping to add value and make some insightful observations about social media? What does "thought leadership" mean exactly?

By exploring and actively participating in social media, the practitioners begin to get some ideas of how things could be done better, ideas about what would make the social media for business proposition more fruitful. Does that make us social media thought leaders? Simply by writing about social media I would guess we are trying to "become" thought leaders, but what if the observations are proven false? Is it better to put it out there and get it wrong, to engage in the discussion about social media and then watch as the crowd goes another direction?

Brogan is great because in addition to evangelizing social media he practices what he preaches. He has WORKED in the business of social media for years. Perhaps now he is speaking more than participating. Perhaps he's even "thought leadering" more than he is helping companies execute on refined social media strategies. But a certain amount of time in the trenches trying to figure it out, trying many different things, learning from failures, does, in my mind, qualify Chris Brogan as a thought leader on social media.

So what about the rest of us? I certainly have spent 4 – 5 years working to build "communities" and add "web 2.0 features" to corporate websites. Heck I even got to work within the famed Dell Global Online team and work with the Communities and Conversations group to define, build and launch Telligent's Community Server platform. And boy did we learn a lot in that process.

So maybe I AM a social media thought leader. Or maybe I'm just a social media thinker. And perhaps the "leadership" part of my thoughts comes from insights that are echoed, challenged or refined by others. It's in the doing and the participating in social media that I have learned my greatest lessons. And I continue to attempt to lead by putting these ideas out there, on uber.la and several other blogs where I contribute.

What I do know is that I am a social media participant. An excitable learner, early adopter, a vocal advocate and critic. I am attempting to put it out there by being real and being involved. If this is leadership then that's great. but that's not my goal. My goal is to continue growing and learning. And my business is to help companies and colleagues try and get the communities and conversations part better.

I am excited announce that I will be joining Bob Pearson on his social media team, as part of WeissComm Global. For as Bob lead the majority of Dell's social media programs, and guided me on several projects, he is a voice for rational business objectives and how we can better accomplish them using leading edge technologies and innovative community ideas.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/weisscomm

Tags: bob pearson, chris brogan, communities and conversations, community server, dell, dell communities, dell's social media, jmacofdell, jmacofearth, john mcelhenney, participation, seth godin, social media, social media leader, social media leadership, social media strategy, social media thinker, telligent, thought leadership, weisscomm, weisscomm group