Ustrategy

Social Media, PR, and Business: Horn Group, Google, Altimeter, SAP, and C-Change Weigh In

In November 2008—in the eye of both the economic debacle's and the Social Media tornados—the Horn Group, a leading communications firm headquartered in San Francisco,  held an event titled “Is Social Media Killing PR.”  As part of the event, an expert panel including Kara Swisher, Jeremiah Owyang, and Susan Etlinger shared their perspectives on where that new thing called Social Media was going.  (Remember, this was November of ‘08).

The Horn Group’s space, on its three levels, was near-packed and the air was thick with anxiety. I was live-blogging from the event and the response was surprising: People appreciated the update, the tangibility around the topic, and access to others who are at the same confused state as they were. Social Media, back then, was still the“wild west”; grounding was weighed in gold. And for PR professionals who were losing their jobs by the bushels, the conversation was paramount.

That was then. This month, the Horn Group held another event—this time focusing on Social Media and Business. The space was three quarters empty, people were tweeting and blogging, a tweeter feed displayed above the panel, and the general feel was, as in most of the Valley’s networking events, cordial with low level interest, focused on connecting and listening rather than on intensely engaging.

On the panel were John Byrne, formerly at NewsWeek and now founder of C-Change Media, Karen Wickre, Google Communications and Public Affairs, Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group, and Don Bulmer, Vice President of Global Communications at SAP.  

Below are some highlights from the panel’s discussion, starting with Karen Wickre.

Wickre: Content surfaces content.  Part of our job as communicators is to surface more, different, new news information.

New media is no longer about putting content out there but about the interaction of people and content. Media becomes relevant when you appropriately target. Mobile is a big push but companies shouldn’t mobilize all their content: it should be relevant to people’s needs and content consumption patterns.

Li: Companies should focus on building relationships, not transactions. SAP is a good example of that.

Byrne: A story is an intellectual campfire around which you keep people. If you orchestrate it so that it doesn’t die out, the content has even greater value than the original.

Bulmer: Social Media is a great opportunity for Thought Leadership for a B2B company. It has to have focus, depth, and continuity. Thought Leadership done well in this environment can yield ideas and insights that can transform an organization. 

Thought Leadership = Social Currency (here at Ustrategy, we really like this statement!)  If a company can provide information its audiences can’t get anywhere else  they provide Thought Leadership. Businesses prefer to do business with either the creators of content or those who participated in it.

Li: You can choose to do nothing and stay in the bubble: you won’t get hurt but you also won’t build relationships.

B2B structure, and the B2B executives aren’t set for Social Media. They need to control every bit of interaction and to avoid negative exposure. Uncontrolled conversation terrify execs. Mindsets are hard to change: change happens through small steps and demonstrated success. Traditional B2B executives aren’t “sharers” by nature.

Bulmer: I own 25% of budget and influence 75% of value delivered . When people see success they take ownership. I try not to get concerned by money but focus on value.

Wickre: (Speaking about success metrics) I’m not worried about the number of followers. The people who want that bit of info find it and forward it.

Byrne originated The Engagement Model for ROI on online produced content and user-generated-content on NewsWeek.com.  “We started with a goal of 15:1 return on content from others, got to 37:1, wanted to get to 100.” Got the journalist committed to taking part in the conversation, asked readers what they wanted to read about, picked stories and assigned to journalists.  The stories that were generated by readers were often more popular and generated highest traffic on NewsWeek online.

Li: Analytics aren’t metrics. Metrics tie to objectives. The ones that have meaning to you.  Analytics are the results (survey, google, etc) I don’t care about traffic and clicks- I care about engagement quality.

Three pieces of advice to an anti-social CEO who just doesn’t think he or his company needs to invest in Social Media:

1. Realize that you are not in control and you know it. You need to acknowledge that before anything else.
2. What’s really important to you today? Pick one of the strategic goal and see how Social can help with that.
3. Activities that are happening without you. If you’re doing nothing—that’s a problem. If a lot and you’re not part of it—that’s a problem too.

We have to be very disciplined about this. It’s a social disciplin. Even in google where people have a great deal of freedom, there’s also discipline. You create Sandboxes, and inside these, people can do whatever, as much as, they wish.

Bulmer: SAP just launched the www.everycompanyisamediacompany.com open forum blog. People are still under the perception that the term Media refers to advertising and PR while Social Media refers to Facebook, Twitter. People should keep in mind that Social Media is more than a front line issue. There’s a lot of value that can be derived from its core business operations.

Tips and insights for getting beyond where you are now”

Wickre: “I’m choosing to be retro”: Read the ClueTrain Manifesto and Dave Weinberger’s Small Pieces. They were written over 10 years ago but read them now with an eye toward social media.

Byrne: Use twitter smartly. I’ve been able to find the experts in any given field, benefit from what they’re reading, thinking, in real time that’s not possible anywhere else

Li: Cluetrain Manifesto and think about how every company can be a media company.

And my takeaway?  

Social Media is no longer a threat. Professionals and brands know it’s now a required channel in their overall marketing plan and PR and Marketing professionals now look for new tools, methods, frameworks rather than for a referee to call Penalty. 

Finally, I liked Tom Foremsky’s comment after a few long minutes  discussing the word of the evening: “authenticity.” Tom said: “Not everything needs to be authentic. (Sometimes) a press release is just a press release.”

Enterprise B2B Social Media: To Twitter or Not To Twitter?

Invariably, in the last 6 months, each and every one of my clients, has asked me this question: “should we get on Twitter?”  It doesn’t matter if they are a 1-person copy-writing shop, a 26 people marketing firm, or a 200,000 computer manufacturer corporation—everyone wants to know whether they should be on Twitter.

But most pressing have been enterprises providing B2B solutions. I find it fascinating that a company providing data storage to large corporations wants to get on Twitter. Or that a large public sector division (and I’m deliberately vague here) who’s providing solutions to other divisions would consider Twitter.

When it comes to B2B Enterprise solutions, here are 5 things you should think about.

1. Twitter is not a strategy. It is a tool that is used to deliver on your outreach and inbound information gathering strategies. Before you even consider getting on Twitter, ask yourself these questions:

• One: Do you know what you want to accomplish by getting on Twitter? Have you set clear goals with measurable outcomes?
• Two: Do you know where those you’d like to reach out to are spending time online? Are they on Twitter or do they go someplace else, like forums and wikis?
• Three: Have you considered what information you can and cannot share online?  Do you have a policy around publically sharing information?

If you’re still not clear on these, or think you will through your use of Twitter, think again. Twitter is not for you.

2. Twitter is a conversation tool. Will you be able to have a dialog? Have you thought about what you will do when people start asking you questions? Who will answer them? What is the tone of conversation that is right for your company? What will you be allowed to talk about? What will you NOT be allowed to talk about? All these need to be clearly defined ahead of time or you’ll quickly gain a bad reputation.

Bottom line: if you’re not ready to converse with anyone who wants to converse with your brand, Twitter is probably not for you.

3. Twitter takes time and resources. Once you’ll get on twitter you’ll need to think of the following resources to start:

• Someone who’ll design your branded background
• Someone who’ll scan for relevant people you should follow
• Someone who’ll respond to followers’ questions and comments
• Someone who’ll inform your division/group/company of all activities and together, you’ll devise a plan on how to move forward
• Internal people with whom you’ll be able to discuss negative feedback and use it to get better

You’ll also need to think of these critical elements:

• Regularly adding content. Valuable content. Important content. Content that your followers care about and that propels your brand forward. This doesn’t mean spam
• Regularly monitoring your brand mentions online. You want followers? You’ll get followers. But with them you’re likely to get a great deal of mentions—and you’ll need to monitor, listen, and respond
• Getting everyone else in the company to listen to what your community on Twitter is saying and evolve the company message accordingly

There’s nothing worse than a dormant Twitter account. Or one that cannot answer questions. Or one that gets killed by the executive level just as it gets interesting. If you can’t commit to the right resources, content, and buy-in, Twitter is definitely not for you.

4. Twitter is not about you controlling your customers. It’s about letting go of all notion of control and being willing to observe what unfolds before you take action. Very often I get asked about controlling negative feedback. You can’t, is what I tell my clients, and you don’t want to either. What you DO want is to engage in an honest, authentic, conversation with your customers, partners, and other stakeholders and get real reaction to your products/services and to you as a brand. That’s the only way you’ll get better.

Your customers are talking about you online whether you like it or not. Isn’t it better to have them talk directly to you rather than everywhere else?

But, if you still feel you need to control Twitter- Twitter, is, most definitely, not for you.

5. Twitter will not replace your marketing activities. It’s true that recent research from Forrester demonstrates increase in budget directed towards social media activities compare to traditional marketing—but it is still miniscule in the large scheme of things. With time, an over-arching social media strategy may substitute some elements of your marketing campaigns—assuming your customers do spend time online—but it is not a solution to all your marketing cost reduction needs. It is merely a way to reach customers where they spend time now…online. If you expect Twitter to solve all your marketing budget and reach problems, take your hands off the Twitter—it’s simply not for you.

Fun aside, while it is not a strategy but a tool, Twitter represents both great potential and a moderate risk. Before you do anything, assess your company objectives, audit your existing marketing strategy, evaluate your customers and their customers—where do they spend time now online? Do they even go on Twitter? You have many other options to reach out to your stakeholders online…each involving time, money, commitment, and some level of organizational change. So do your homework, prioritize, choose wisely, ask the right questions, bring in the right people, measure, measure, measure…and only then start the conversation.

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For Enterprieses: 5 Building Blocks of Social Media

Last week, a piece I wrote about social media and enterprises was published on ReadWriteWeb. Here's the reposting. We've had some discussion in the comments on RWW (I love RWW readers--always very thoughtful comments). If you'd like to join the conversation, please go here and add your thoughts.

Enterprises and Social Media: 5 Must-Haves

Corporations know that their relationships with customers are drastically changing as a result of the new capabilities made possible by Web 2.0 and social media. Customers increasingly expect to engage with brands instantaneously and satisfactorily. They no longer tolerate long delays in response, live operators buried down the 1-800-line call tree, or the ever-mounting irrelevant spam.

Gradually, but extremely well, customers are learning to sound their voices for everyone to hear. Gone are the days when a customer needed to write a letter to an anonymous clerk at a random PO box address, leaving response to chance and corrective action to a Hanukkah miracle. Customers today can sound their likes and dislikes at anytime across multiple media, uncensored: no smart nephew, neighbor with a printer, or attorney needed.

Corporations are recognizing this shift as well. To survive, brands know they must interact with their customers in new ways across all channels: from outbound marketing to product feedback to sales to support. They also know that as undefined as the space is at the moment, they must take a highly creative and strategic approach to connecting with their customers online and offline. There is no corporate manual yet, no large consultancy slideshow to refer to. Customers themselves are setting the rules, which is a challenging model for most large corporations.

But some enterprises are starting to figure it out. They try different approaches, push the boundaries of experimentation, and continually test themselves, asking their customers to play judge. BurgerKing's WhopperSacrifice campaign is one example. When else has a large corporation asked people to sacrifice 10 of their friends? The campaign resulted in a whopping 233,906 people interacting with the brand in a new way (and to great controversy, always a good sign). Starbucks tried a safer approach after customer backlash against the automated coffee brewers it introduced in its stores. The MyStarbucksIdea campaign brought back some customers and put baristas back behind the coffee machines.

So what makes some brands more successful than others when interacting with customers online? What sets them apart? Here are five fundamental requirements for brands that want to form relationships with their customers in a Web 2.0 world:

1. Be a Panther, Not a Dinosaur

Size, complexity, and distance from the end customer play a substantial part in any enterprise's ability to effectively connect with customers. The closer a company's employees are to end customers and the more direct contact C-level executives have with customers, the faster the company will be able to adapt to new means of customer interaction, to allocate budget, and to get everyone on board with an actionable plan.

Zappos' CEO, Tony Hsieh, grew his company into a $1 billion a year retailer with his unmitigated commitment to customers. Hsieh applied a dynamic method early on, changing Zappos' offerings constantly and agilely (free shipping, new product lines, 360-day return policy) until they fit customers just right. Corporations today must learn agility, be able to adapt and change quickly, and commit to making all decisions based on customer benefit. The corporate dinosaur will not survive for long.

2. Evolve Your Organizational Culture and Structure

While some brands, like Disney and Zappos, have always put the customer at the center of their organizational culture, others, like Wal-Mart and Panda Express, are just now figuring out the importance of aligning their internal culture with their customers' culture. This evolution is easier for brands that are already structured around their customers, but for others it will be trial and error.

No matter how it gets there, every enterprise -- whether B2C or B2B -- will have to evolve its culture in the coming three to five years to survive. This evolution means re-examining traditional approaches to inbound and outbound customer outreach and being willing to shift ownership and re-structure so that each and every employee is responsible for the customer experience. Organizations will likely become flatter and return to cultivating leaders from within who can move the organizational culture forward.

3. Understand that Loyalty Is Key to Revenue

For most people, the mere thought of switching online banking providers and having to re-enter all of their information in a new system is dreadful enough that they just don't do it. Cell phone carriers in the US have contract termination fees that are higher than the cost of most phones. These companies rely less on loyalty than on "customer hijacking."

Other companies, including software and hardware manufacturers such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo, cannot constrict customer choice. These companies compete for mostly similar markets -- offering similar products, services, and prices -- and are after customer loyalty most of all. Ask any of these three corporations what it would like to be when it grows up, and it will point to Apple. Apple is the gold standard for generating customer loyalty -- no ransom required.

As Web 2.0 breaks down the walls among customers and between customers and brands, the tie between loyalty and revenue will grow even stronger, and brands that hold customers hostage will be deserted for those that provide real value. A corporation's ability to demonstrate value and secure loyalty will now be measured by their presence and customer relationships online.

4. Bring in the Right People

Traditional consultancies like McKinsey and Bain were once valuable to corporations because of their subject matter expertise. They provided top-down know-how that was adopted by executives and pushed down the chain of command. This approach is completely useless for expanding a corporation's connection to customers online. The right people today possess two key qualities. The first, which is the more easily found of the two, is "in the trenches" experience. People with this quality regularly interact with others online, use various social media conversation tools, are passionate about communities, and can mobilize others with a 140-character line.

The second, much more difficult to find, is the ability to articulate and translate this in-the-trenches knowledge in a way that makes sense to corporations. The right people for an enterprise's interactions with customers have to be able to connect the new psychology of customers with the traditional way in which corporations work. They must know how to help corporations create new strategies, foster change management, and create action plans that lead to clear and measurable results. Corporations will have a tough time finding people with just the right combination of qualities and capabilities; but once found, these emissaries will deliver crucial and uncompromising value to the customer-oriented corporation in the Web 2.0 world.

5. Have a Strategy!

Brands today that have an effective online presence didn't just stumble on the right formula. Getting things right takes work, commitment, experimentation, and genuine care. Whether they realize it or not, brands that are successful in social media have always acted on strategies. They have always set clear goals, developed a plan to reach those goals, and put budgets and people behind them.

Before Web 2.0, Southwest Airlines was the poster child of great customer service. Today, Zappos does for online retail what Southwest did for the discount airline industry. Wal-Mart may not pay its merchants to blog, but the merchants' time is paid for with their salaries. Corporations today, more than ever, need to reassess their strategies and ensure that those strategies are an expression of their desire to move forward rather than fear of losing momentum or control.

Having a Twitter or Facebook page is not a strategy. Nor is it very effective to hire community managers and charge them with reducing marketing dollars. The corporation today must first figure out its goals in the Web 2.0 world, set relevant metrics, invest in understanding customer needs, and map out an actionable plan it can implement. Only then will its full potential in the online social world be realized.

With 68% of online adults using one or more social media tools and 42% of online adults reporting an interest in at least one type of social application from brands they like, enterprises cannot ignore the changing landscape of customer relationships. In the coming years, corporations will not survive on product lines and competitive pricing alone. For corporations to remain competitive, they will need to become more flexible, put people at the center of their culture, and remain dynamically attentive to human needs. It is time again to realize that change should be embraced, not feared, and to put in place the right structures, strategies, and people to support this change.