Social Media explained in less than 4 minutes by those clever people at CommonCraft

Interesting news about the NY Times (thanks to JD Lasica) planning to open its web site to 3rd parties.

As JD points out this opens up a whole range of possibilites for people to access and manipulate data to provide a variety of applications. Many of these will be free but some I am sure could provide such a valuable service that there could be a charge for them. Newspapers could levy a small licensing charge so helping their declining revenue streams. A win-win?

Brodeur and Newswire in the US have just completed a survey of journalists in the US into how journalists view social media.

Almost 500 journalists responded from the 5 subject areas ('beats') focussed on - technology, lifestyle, health care, travel and politics.

What were the top line results? From the Brodeur web site....

"....According to the study over half of all reporters from all beats said social media and blogs are having a positive influence on the editorial direction of reporting.  Reporters were also overwhelmingly positive on the influence of social media and blogs on the diversity of reporting with approximately 4 in 5 reporters indicating a positive influence.  However, views on tone, quality and accuracy varied by beat...."

Last year Brands2Life did a similar survey in the UK and again found that journalists were using social media as a 'story source' and a way of keeping an eye out for breaking trends and news. With the recent use of Twitter by 'citizen journalists' to break news before even the traditional news sources like Reuters and AP have got the news out it is interesting to see how many journalists now use Twitter.

For those wondering what is happening with social media globally Universal McCann have just completed their 3rd global survey (Thanks to Taly Weiss of Trendspotting for the heads up). It is interesting to see the trends over the last 3 years and the rapid expansion on digital images and video.

Report on UM site

Some highlights summarise by Taly

1. Social media is a global phenomenon happening in all markets regardless of wider economic, social and cultural development.

2. Asian markets (not including Japan) are leading in terms of participation, creating more content than any other region

3. All social media platforms have grown significantly over the three Waves: Video Clips are the quickest growing platform, up from 31% penetration in Wave 1 to 83% in Wave 3

4. Social Networks: 57% have joined a Social Network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content: 55% of users have uploaded photos, 22% of users have uploaded videos

5. The widget economy – 23% of social network users have installed an application – 18% of bloggers have installed applications in their blog templates

6. Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and a collective rival to traditional media (184m bloggers world-wide, China has the largest blogging community in the world with 42m bloggers) – 73% have read a blog, 45% have started a blog

7. Social media has strong impacts over brand’s reputation – 34% post opinions about products and brands on their blog – 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs

Great interview by Shel Israel of KD Paine on Online Brand measurement. As KD explains the software tools used (she mentions Radian6 and BuzzLogic) do a great job but cannot always track sentiment (how would software rate a phrases like 'cool',  'well wicked' or real bad'?). This is where her team of consultants comes in. Adding the human element of analysing and judging tone and sentiment from the blogs and online social media world. She also gives some great examples of companies using knowledge of the online buzz about the company to judge if stating a company blog would have value or not and which parts of social media should be targeted.

Shel Israel has another great interview this time with Richard Binhammer, Director of Corporate Communications at Dell.

Richard talks about how they had become detached from their customers and suffered the loss of their number 1 position. They have been working hard over the last two years to use social media to help engage with their customer base. They have made mistakes, learnt and come back again the stronger for it. Richard talks about how listening and then acting on customer feedback has reduced negative sentiment by over 50%. Listening he feels is key.

Whilst ROI measurement is needed it is not the only driving force behind their strategy. Having customer communication pipelines via social media tools and knowing who is saying what about you online could be considered basic business needs.

Richard also comments on how they identified, tracked and analysed what the online community was saying about them. Whilst they are looking at a richer set of online reputation tracking and management tools much of it is still 'cut,paste and manually analyse'.  

So how are US CxO's using social media tools and digital technology? (Thanks to Steve Ruebel via his twitter account)

A new research report from IPSOS MediaCT details the information. The full pdf is here. Highlights from the report:

• 71% own cellphones with cameras and multi-messaging,
• 68% own laptops.
• 40% own iPods.
• 36% have Blackberries 
• 68% have downloaded videos or clips from websites or received email newsletters/alerts on their computers.
• 49% have streamed or watched broadband videos from websites on their computers.
• 78% make flight/hotel bookings online
• 57% regularly buy products or services online.
• 72% believe keeping up with the latest technology is vital to the success of their businesses 
• 30% read blogs
• 4% contribute to blogs.

Shel Israel has a great interview with Radian6. They have a web based 'dashboard' solution for monitoring blogs, flickr, twitter etc.

All companies need to be concerned about their online brand reputation - what is being said about them and by whom. As Marcel LeBrun says in the interview companies get lots of praise for actually monitoring and responding to comments. Dell is quoted as an example of a company that is very actively engaging with the online community of customers and influencers and has succesfully reduced negative comments.  

If you care about influence and where traditional media and new media are going check out what Colin Byrne of Weber Shandwick says about this report (I checked but not yet available from Amazon - as Colin says the official launch is tonight so maybe available tomorrow).

Business people need to look carefully at how the public are choosing to obtain, use and distribute information. The 'Blogoshere Daily' has a far higher circulation than any publication. Any PR or communication plan that fails to include blogger outreach and social media elements risks missing an increasingly important channel. If wanting to communicate to younger people it maybe the only way judging by their use (or lack of it) of print and broadcast media.

If you want to see what a Web 2/Social Media/blog enabled/employee engaged/customer communicating blog looks like then drop into SouthWest Airlines. This is the first update to a site they launched 2 years ago.

You will see along the bottom on the blog links to YouTube, flickr, facebook, LinkedIn and twitter. If you go to facebook page you will see how many images have been uploaded by customers. There is also a poll option so SouthWest can get even more feedback from customers. As you would expect with my background I love the use of audio and video feeds.

The site really encourages active customer participation - way beyond just comments on a blog. I am sure the YouTube and flickr pages will be well used so helping to make it a real 'community' so re-enforcing the brand and brand values of the company. You will already see what customers are thinking and saying about the new design in the comments on their announcement post. You will also customers helping to improve and bug fix the blog. Check out how customers are using the comments section in posts as a platform to cross-communication between themselves.

AdAge reports that US TV shows are still struggling to regain momentum after the recent writers strike. Coming on top of reports of increased consumption of online video it does make you wonder if this is now longterm.

For companies wanting to reach mass audiences online delivery is now a viable alternative. With forums and bloggers now creating communities of interest it is possible for organisations to create content targeted at specific groups of consumers. Social networking means that unlike TV people can pass on content or links to content freely. Whilst the total numbers watching a programme on TV maybe higher it is the relevance and targeting of online content that is of interest to advertisers. Equally of interest is the engagement and interactivity with the community that an online social networking campaign brings that TV cannot. TV despite attempts at iTV and the 'red button' still is a passive medium. You watch. That is the only option. With online you can comment. You can re-author or mash-up if you want. You can forward to friends. If companies are smart they will even respond.

As companies continue to ban Facebook and other social networking software as a 'waste of time' for staff and 'not useful as a business tool' I will remind them of a well known quote in the IT industry...

At the time DEC, as it was known, was the number 2 IT company in the world and dominated the non-mainframe world with their mini-computers. They had the technical skills to develop their terminals into intelligent standalone PCs but choose not to.

Many businesses cannot see the value in using social networking and Word of Mouth communication techniques. I wonder if they will go the same way as DEC by missing out on an emerging technology?

For more fun predictions see here

Research reported in the Wall Street Journal into blog readers and the fact that reading a blog can become habit forming. Many people tend to follow a routine. When travelling to London I always stand on the same spot on the platform. I used to buy a daily newspaper. Now I do not. I take my information via online news services, blogs and recently Twitter.  

Interview with Guy Kawasaki and the authors from Forrester Research and their new book ‘Groundswell’. Groundswell is not available in the UK yet but from reviews in the US looks a great book looking at the rise and rise of social media and organisations can use it to enhance internal and external communication.

Sally Falkow on the latest research into maximising PR coverage online – don’t just distribute your release online but optimise it for search engines. There has been a lot written about the social media version of the press release. Sadly many PR agencies are strong on the people and communication skills but have less developed IT skills. This research shows how SEO added to a traditional press release can have real added value online.

David Wilson reports on the latest research from the USA on how women are reading and commenting on blogs because of their relevance and authenticity. A great quote “Several recent surveys indicate that our trust in institutions is declining. We are losing trust in the government, politicians, the media and many corporations. But as it turns out, we trust each other,” said Elisa Camahort Page, BlogHer co-founder and COO. “The blogosphere is increasingly becoming the digital ‘kitchen table’ where individuals can sit down to have an authentic conversation about all the topics that affect their daily lives - from household products to presidential candidates.”

Mike Butcher and start-up technology companies are in the US visiting IT companies and VC’s as part of WebMission08 to see how it is done over there. Follow their progress on Mike's blog and Twitter account to see who has gone.  

Shel Israel interviews the Twitter guys. After seeing it as a total waste of time I have been using Twitter for a few weeks now and found it invaluable and great fun. I saved getting caught by a rail delay by someone Tweeting that there was a problem further up the line. That alone made it worth using as I was not late for my meeting. I have also been able to find new data sources and research resports because the people I have chosen to follow are knowledgeable in areas I am interested in. Looking for somewhere to eat the other evening in London I posted a question on Twitter and got a response within 15 minutes advising me of a local place. Last week I linked up two people at the same conference using Twitter.

Number 10 will be creating a microsite to cover the PM's tour of the USA. They will be blogging and uploading images plus Twittering. A great way to keep the public and media informed (Note: Research has shown that journalists use blogs etc to get leads for stories)

What could be the business applications for an integrated social media campaign:

• Product 'roadshow' travelling from location to location across Europe with regular updates via blogs, Twitter and podcasts
• Trade shows - daily social news reports including video and audio interviews with customers on the stand
• Senior management employee updates especially where workforce is geographically or time zone based (think NHS - 24 hours/365 - would managers ever be able to see all employees 'face-to-face') 
• Board meeting news reports (now just what does senior management get up to?  Note: I remember a video from circa 1987 of all the US senior Lotus managers in a board meetinmg trying to figure out how to adjust the brand new boardroom chairs. Some of the best brains struggling to read and follow the instructions. I wonder where that ever went? As we were under a critical spotlight at the time - who remembers Vaporware? - it may have made us seem more human at the time or opened us to more mirth in the media.)

I am sure there are lots more practical examples that would apply to your own organisations. 

AdAge (thanks to WOMMA for source) has a summary of the ZenthOpimedia survey on the most effective source of information to consumers. TV has the highest recall. Friends & Family is the most influential.

The question has to be asked 'What is a friend?' Can a Social Media (cyber) friend be as influential as a 'physical' friend? We know the effect of TV stars endorsement. If Delia (Smith - the cook. See her web site) recommends a product its sales will increase. Richard and Judy had a TV Book Club (online version) and a recommendation from them can drive an author to the top of sales list. Can that be replicated in either an online community with no media stars or by the cyberspace equivalents of Delia or Richard and Judy?

There has been a lot of research into 'flocking' or crowd behaviour. The latest is from Leeds. Their research showed that a small percentage of people can influence large groups. Like a herd of sheep we will follow. Whilst the research was looking at crowd behaviour in physical situations (follow my leader) it does have application in the cyberworld.

Now how many social media friends do I have? How many do I follow? How many of those are themselves influential?

In the light of recent research from Ofcom showing that 49% of 8 - 17 years are using social media sites in the UK this comment from an interview with Shel Israel is worth companies pausing to consider for marketing and HR...

Question: What is the biggest finding from the many interviews you’ve done on the SAP Global Survey, what’s the one trend you’re finding?

"That’s easy. in every country, youth is driving social media adoption. That means that when the Club Penguin generation comes into the marketplace, most traditional marketing simply won’t work. So companies really need to start understand what SM tools work for them."

Note: Club Penguin is now owned by Disney.

 

If you are still coming to terms with Web 2.0 and Social Media check out these great online slide resources...

What is social media? and The evolution of communication

Social media metrics

What should companies be doing? Taking at least 10% of their customer services, PR and marketing budgets and putting them 'on (the) line' to engage in the ongoing conversation. Ensuring all employees are fully up to speed on using social media (infact many are already doing so) to improve internal and external communications.

Interesting post from New Media Knowledge on the use by major studios of social media to help promote new films.

As it can take a long time (many months) in post-production to edit a film there is plenty of time and materials to create a campaign. Studios have woken up to the fact that DVD sales - especially with out-takes, interviews and background stories - can be as popular as the film itself and help to boost total sales. (If you have a franchise you can be clever and look at brand merchantising that will boost overall sales many times over - think Star Wars)

Can this sort of 'fan' behaviour be created by other businesses? Absolutely. There are lots of examples of businesses big and small who are using social media to engage with 'consumer communities'. It could be bespoke mens suits (www.englishcut.com) to organic wormeries and flowers(www.wigglywigglers.co.uk) to car fan sites (www.gomotoring.com/about).

The important thing in all is that many people like to engage in a 'conversation' with the brand and fellow brand travellers.  

A really excellent video interview by Shel Israel over at Fastcompany.tv. Shel interviews Fran Stephenson, Director of Comms at SeaWorld San Antonio and Kami Huyse of MyPRPro on how they used social media communication to successfully launch a new ride.

Their problem was that the ride was due to be ready a month earlier than the original date and so the planned promotion would not help. How could they quickly and effectively market the ride for that gap period?

They decided to use a social media campaign. Kami and Fran explain to Shel what they did to engage with communities that would help influence others. They actively engaged employees in video and text blogging to create excitement and targeted forums to maximise awareness.

What can other companies learn about using social media campaigns from this interview?

• Results can be measured
• Researching and targeting audiences is important (even theme park rides have an established fan base)
• Trying to restrict access to materials (corpororate logo police) is self-defeating (notice that Fran says they were happy for bloggers and forum members to use their materials in anyway they wanted in their own blogs)

Really neat way PM is using social media and Web 2.0 to engage with the public.

I subscribe to Number 10's Tweets. That alerted me to the microsite calling for input to this weekends summit. On there is a YouTube video with Mr Brown asking for input.

The summit is also promoted on the Number 10 website 

I know the goal is 'joined up Government' but this looks like 'joined up social media'.

Interview with Robert Scoble on social media tools and their use in monitoring and supporting online brand reputation.

Number 10 is increasing its use of social media tools. (This is not some clever April Fools joke I hope!)

You can now access a Flickr photostream. As Gordon is in the photos I guess he is not personally taking them. They are also using Twitter to send out micro-blogs. They also have a YouTube channel and down the right hand side of their web site they have options for webchats and a petition section.

The Institute for Public Policy Research has just released details of a report it is publishing next month called 'Behind the Screen: the Hidden Life of Youth' by Kay Withers with Ruth Sheldon. It looks at the use of the internet by young kids aged 13 - 18.

What it reports is:

• Internet usage is 3 times higher than previous official reports (20 hours v 6.2 hours per week)
• 80% of 5 – 15 year olds have access to the internet at home
• 49% of 8 to 11 year olds have their own mobile phone
• 80% of 12 to 15 year olds have their own mobile phone
• 40% of 8 to 11 year olds say they mostly use the internet at home
• 71% of 12-15 year olds say they mostly use the internet at home

Most internet usage is unsupervised.

It would appear that a large part of the growth in usage is being driven by social media sites like BeBo, MySpace and Facebook.

AdWeek has an article on measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing. Every marketing and PR person has to be able to justify the cost of any campaign. Social media marketing cannot be an exception but what and how do you measure it?

GM are big advertisers - spending about $3b. AdAge has just announced that GM plan to move half their advertising budget online over the next few years. They already spend almost $200m on banner and online ads. The online budget will grow almost 8 times to $1.5b. Traditional TV and radio ads will decline.

Sources close to the company have said

"....The goal is to go well beyond the banner....to encompass gaming, search, mobile and a broad array of interactive applications, according to several executives close to the automaker...."

GM already are very active users of social media, blogs and podcasts but this appears to be a significant increase.

As companies are finding the traditional forms of communication (ads, direct mail etc) are declining in effectiveness they are exploring the social networked approach.

The Forester blog site for the forthcoming book 'Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies' they have access to a very interesting technographics tool which shows different European countries adoption of the 'Ladder'

Starbucks is the latest large corporation to open itself to 'Ideas' from customers.

What do they think of the response so far? As they say on the site....

"....We are completely thrilled at the number of ideas (thousands!). We are stunned by the level of conversation (half of the top 20 ideas have 50 or more comments each -- 50!). We are stoked by the amount of participation (tens of thousands of votes).

When I first announced MyStarbucksIdea on stage at the annual meeting on Wednesday (two days ago), we instantly starting seeing traffic jump in leaps and bounds on the site. At a little after noon, just for curiosity's sake, I counted 10 ideas that were time-stamped in a 2-minute timeframe. We kept refreshing for the next hour and it never dropped off...."  Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks 

Why would one of the worlds top brands bother with social media?

To listen to what Duncan Wardle their Global Head of PR thinks check out this podcast interview. He sees mass advertising as a declining force as consumers move online and become engaged with brands through interactivity.

Shel Israel is doing some great things with video. Check the interviews out at Fast Company TV

An interesting interview with Jim McCarthy, CEO of Poundland in RetailBulletin.

Via my work with BOTTLE PR we have been helping Poundland with their social media strategy. So far in 14 weeks the blog has attracted over 14k visits (1k per week) with over 43k pages being viewed. In addition to this direct readership an additional 20k+ people have visited the Poundland web site via 3rd party sites compared to the same period 12 months ago before the blog started.

Taken together this means that almost 35k people have been engaged with via the social media campaign. Looking at Cost Per Click we are running at about 17p. The average time spent on the blog by each visitor is 2.8 minutes.

(Disclosure - I helped develop Poundlands media strategy)

In May 2005 Business Week published an article 'Blogs will change your business'.

It has just updated it to take account of the last two years developments in the blogospehere. The new updated article is called 'Social Media will change your business'.  It is worth reading.

I spoke yesterday at the Unicom Social Media conference called 'Web 2.0 and Beyond: Applying Social and Collaborative Tools to Business'.

Due to a prior business commitment I was unable to attend Day 1 on Wednesday. The good news is that all the presentations have been audio taped and are already available from a website. In fact they were uploaded with 15 minutes of each presenter ending their speach.

At the last count at 5pm on Friday 178 people had visited the pages and 20% had played an audio file.

Last years conference was also audio recorded for podcasting. Over 2k people listened to the podcasts. All through word-of-mouth marketing.

(Disclosure: I work for Focus who produce the podcasts for Unicom)

There was a time in my career when getting a Ziff Davis 'Recommended Buy' award was as powerful as having Delia Smith use or mention your product on her TV show. A good or bad ZD review could almost make or break a product.

In fact it was so powerful in my time at Tektronix that we used to put the Gold Award or Recommended Buy logo on all our advertising and even ran an ad of all the awards we had won in Europe under the headline 'Great colour but don't take our word for it'. Our 'Grand Slam' was to get the top slot in the reviews in the French, German and English editions. We did that on more than one occasion I remember.

Now the news via Podcasting News that ZD is bankrupt due to falling demand for advertising.

The fall off in advertising revenue has been huge from a high of $215m in 2001 to last years figure of $40m.