Social Media Panelist in Training
We wrote this up last year to prepare one of our clients for a panel on social media and social entrepreneurship. The questions were sent from the moderator ahead of time. So if you ever have to serve on or moderate a panel about social media and social entrepreneurship, this might be a good place to start. We’ll be participating in a panel about social media and sustainability at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive festival in March. More details to come on that.
1. Good content: What makes for good content – and what role does good content play in helping drive interest and energy around a project? What kind of content drives interest (e.g. storytelling, educational, instructional, support)?
All companies and nonprofits, no matter how large or small, need to start thinking and behaving more like publishers…like media companies. Because the tools of creation and distribution are not only cost effective enough to do so, but the ability to tell their story through compelling content and to take advantage of this new media landscape will be key to maintaining a competitive edge.
Good content can serve as a powerful “beacon” for your project and essentially help it to be found or discovered in a number of ways. After all, content accounts for a majority of what people are searching for on the web. The mantra: be a beacon.
We divide content into two categories: branded and editorial. Branded content is like advertising in the sense that it has a brand message. Unlike advertising, though, it provides real value in the form of information and/or entertainment. The best types of branded content “go viral”. Editorial content, on the other hand, is valuable in and of itself and doesn’t carry the brand message. But it’s also highly relevant to the brand, and the brand is associated with it in some way. The mantra: be relevant.
A great example of the power of content is Change.org’s new blogging strategy. They discovered that mere social networking (connecting with like-minded people) was not sufficient motivation to get people involved in Change.org’s causes. So they re-launched with a network of blogs, each dedicated to a cause e.g. stop global warming, end genocide, etc. Key take-away: content trumped connecting as a way to engage people in the causes they care about. The mantra: content is king.
2. Social Networks: Beyond the big players (MySpace, Facebook, etc.) – what social networks (or types of communities) should people know about? What makes social networks successful (connection, relationships, etc.)? What do social networking audiences expect from organizations (hint: not advertising, self-promotion)? How should you go about participating in social networks? How do you measure success (quantitative and qualitative)?
The main problem with social networks for advertisers is that people are socializing. Which means they aren’t listening to or seeing your ads. It’s like being at a house party where everyone is in the kitchen, but your ads are being shown on the TV in the living room. No one is seeing them, but you’re still paying. So the question is, how do you get into the kitchen? In other words, how do you become a part of the conversation?
You can do this directly by going to the kitchen, but you don’t want to interrupt the conversation. That’s what advertising does by definition. It’s disruptive. So you can’t be an ad. You have to contribute value. And one of the best ways is through relevant content.
Measuring success on social networks is really case-by-case. The key factor is engagement, and this can be defined in many ways. A display ad impression is not an engagement. Adopting a widget or sending a note/video to a friend is.
Digg.com is a social news site that is also a social network, and 100% of the activity is around content. One of the things we’ve done with clients is to utilize branded profiles to participate in submitting content, voting on content, and commenting on content that is relevant to the brands, while networking with like-minded people. We add legitimate value to the conversations. We become valuable and respected members of the community.
3. User-Generated Content: What value does user-generated content have in communications and community building? How do you integrate user-generated content (and what do you need to realize about giving up control)? How can you help users create/submit good user-generated content? What motivates users to participate in campaigns? What tools exist for supporting users?
See the below deck from Forester and the new survey data, showing growth from ’07 to ’08. UGC comes from the top two tiers of the social technographics ladder: creators and critics. They account for a minority of people on the social web, but they also create the vast majority of UGC. If you’re building a community around UGC, it’s important to engage these people and nurture their efforts. They’ll be your most valuable assets…and your key brand evangelists. Which is why good “community managers” are still in demand.
It’s anyone’s guess what motivates them. They’ll initially be attracted by your value prop, which they may discover by way of your brand beacon, and from there it’s up to you to nurture the relationship. To give them a vested interest in the brand/community and reinforce their behavior. You can upgrade their status in some way with a badge, which they may also earn by taking a survey so you can better understand what motivates them. You can award points for participation. You can let them earn branded promo items.
4. Other: And then there are some other natural topics that might come up on their own or in the context of the discussion, such as blogs, mobile, wikis, games and simulations, stuff (and ecommerce), and of course “how much does it cost” (which is a tough question to answer because it really depends on each organization and what they are trying to accomplish).
We need to move past the idea of the “social media campaign” and start to integrate social media into the fabric and DNA of our companies (or nonprofits). Social media should be viewed as an ongoing part of the company that serves the needs of marketing, PR, customer relations, customer service, brand management, product development, business development, etc., etc.
All companies should have a blogging strategy. It’s not one size fits all because blogs can be used for everything from gaining product feedback to humanizing a company or its CEO. You have to set specific objectives and goals and then develop a blogging strategy around them.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Ryan Milani // Feb 3, 2009 at 11:19 am
Thanks for another great post, can’t help but think of the classic Tupperware party, or the more present “pleasure” party’s, when you talk about social networks.
“You have to contribute value.”
Indeed.
2 Troy // Feb 3, 2009 at 11:23 am
There are a lot of articles on this subject. This one has a key distinction that I believe is worth commenting on. Good job.
“non profits (and brands) need to think of themselves as publishers indeed”. I think they might also do well to think of themselves as party guests.
3 ricky // Feb 12, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Do you have any details on the SXSW panel? would like to hit it up (Austinite here)
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