Matt's Blog

Social Networking vs. Social Media

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:32:00 GMT

Social networking and social media – both have the world “social” in them, but they should not be confused as the same thing. In fact, unless you understand how they are different and how they interact, your attempt to use them in a digital campaign strategy is probably going to miss the mark.

In simplest terms, social networking is the “what,” and social media is the “how."

Let’s start with the “what.” Social networks are made up of peers seeking and giving advice to make better decisions. Advanced social networking science can even tell us which people give out the most advice in the network and have the most influence. These people are called opinion leaders. Some social networks are very large but they tend to get smaller when decisions are more risky.

Now comes the “how” – as in how the social networks communicate. Social networks connect through traditional means, like face-to-face conversations, but we also use new-fangled approaches, such as blogs, syndicated videos, social bookmarks, and more, which we call social media. Unlike social network theory, which involves decision behaviors based on patterns of advice seeking, social media pertains to how this information can be shared online.

In a campaign, we often want to rush into the “how,” for example: “How can we use social media in our next campaign to sell more products?” This approach puts the “how” in front of the “what,” which is the incorrect sequence in virtually any strategy.

First, you need to evaluate the viability of leveraging existing social networks for your business objectives. There are many instances where online social networks do not exist, and if you apply social media to that type of environment, no one will be listening. As a general rule: the greater the gravity of the decision (i.e., the greater the risk), the more likely that social networking is in play and can be leveraged. Therefore, we need to begin by asking ourselves, “Do my customers want to reduce risk in making decisions?” and “Do they rely on peer networks to reduce this risk?” If the answer to these questions is yes, then we’ve settled the “what” portion.

The next question is whether social media can help us tap into this behavior. The answer is maybe. Social media are thriving hubs of social networking behavior and are naturally very desirable channels. But influencing them isn’t so simple. The very reason the person is there is to make an informed decision on your industry without commercial interference on the decision process. Sometimes it makes better sense to take advantage of social networking behavior without social media.

In my next blog post, we’ll discuss using social networks with and without social media.

At a glance

Social networks and social media are distinct but connected
Social networks are patterns of advice seeking and advice giving used to reduce the risk of decisions.
Social media is a popular platform for delivering the social message.
You need to establish whether the social networking exists in your target market and whether social media is viable channel of influence.

Ten Things to Consider When Designing a Google Adwords Campaign

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:50:04 GMT

Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing continues to evolve. Some companies have been at this awhile but many are just starting to turn up their efforts. We thought it might make sense to put out a small list of items integral to search and I wanted to share the list on my blog. Some of these will act as a refresher and some of them will be new. As this is undoubtedly a never ending discussion, we encourage you to post your comments, experiences and/or any additional thoughts.

Click the link below to view our list:

Ten Things to Consider

This list was included in our most recent monthly email newsletter. To sign up for R2i.nform, click here. Along with Search Marketing, Social Media is also a topic on the forefront. Social Media Round Up is R2i's weekly digest of interesting links from all over the Web. Sign up for the Round Up by visiting our social site.

A Holiday Greeting from R2i

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:15:57 GMT

Some of our Flash design work was recently featured in USA Weekend.

The Relevant Corporate Web site

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:15:11 GMT

I recently wrote an article for the Web 2.0 Journal on the Social Web. I have published the article below. In future articles, I will discuss designing "with the end in mind" and how to develop and market Web sites for communities.

Jeremiah Owyang, of the popular Web Strategy by Jeremiah blog (and now an analyst at Forrester), wrote a post several months ago entitled The Irrelevant Corporate Website. And in typical Owyang style, it is thought-provoking and has been translated into several languages, including Greek, Swedish, and German. As one of the owners of a digital marketing and communications company, I'd like to extend Owyang’s argument that the corporate Website is irrelevant, and present a framework that just might make it more relevant than ever.

Let's consider the pages of a traditional corporate Website. They include an “about me” page, a contact page, a careers section, and probably a page with news and press releases. The words look good on paper, and, more than likely, a committee gave the final sign-off on the site's content. Visitors frequented these pages because they wanted to learn about the company's products and services, contact the company by phone to request more information, or find a job.

The Web is very different now. Some call it Web 2.0 or even 3.0. Perhaps we should just call it the Social Web, because that is exactly what it is. Communities have formed. People are socializing around products and writing reviews, leaving job tips for one another, and even filming do-it-yourself commercials for the products that they are passionate about.

On a daily basis, I am reminded of the pioneering book on networked marketing, The Clue Train Manifesto, whose premise was that markets were conversations: You and me, over a cup of coffee talking about great (maybe even bad) products, except that we are separated by thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable. I'll be honest – it’s an exciting time to be in marketing.It is important to remember, though, that your market isn't stupid. They are the ones who really know about your products, and they use natural language to tell their friends about them. So when the coffee is too hot at the drive-through, they’ll use simple and poignant language when describing the experience. When your cable technician falls asleep on their living room sofa, they’re going to talk about that – perhaps with a video to help tell the story. When they try to cancel their Internet access and can't, your market is going to talk about that, too. And these conversations have been taken to the Web.

Social networks, social media, and online communities have received a lot of hype; however, they are not a fad. These tools complement how people naturally interact with one another. People are social. Not only are people social, but they are naturally curious. Imagine a customer performs a Google search on your company and the results include a reported problem with your product. If this person investigates the issue and the trail goes cold in the comments, what does this say to the searcher? Now let’s imagine the same situation, but the comments includes a representative of your firm providing some clarity on the issue or even demonstrating how they have incorporated changes for the next release. Of the two scenarios, which would you rather see as a social and curious person?

At my company, we have designed a social media distribution framework (www.r2integrated.com/social). After several conversations with my team, I realized that we weren't necessarily distributing social media; rather, we were aggregating it from the outer edges of the Web where the conversations were. Because we know that customers are out on the Web socializing, our thought process behind the framework was that we would create content for these communities in order to connect to the market. The following framework illustrates how you can use social media as part of your comprehensive Web strategy. We like this framework because it presents an opportunity for all companies to experiment and work within their comfort levels. For this scenario, we have framed these examples within the context of a product release.

If you are new to social media, in terms of the tools and technology or how to integrate them into your product release strategy, consider the following activities.

Sign up for a del.icio.us account. It’s a free social bookmarking service. As you release your product, find some interesting articles or blog posts on the Web and bookmark them. Because your prospects and customers typically search the Web for reviews and recommendations, you can help them save time by rounding up some of the more interesting ones. Even when the articles that you find aren't necessarily positive, you should bookmark those, too. Your customers will find them anyway (you did), and you'll earn their trust by presenting a different viewpoint. Furthermore, your R&D department will appreciate the fact you did some of their work for them. By using some of the tools that come with a del.icio.us account, you can even integrate those links directly into your Website.

If you want to try some more intermediate or even advanced techniques for using social media, you can move from collecting third-party content to producing your own. There are two principal ways that you can do this. First, as part of your product release strategy, you can develop some video content. Because we know that customers and prospects are searching the Web for reviews and testimonials, you have a lot of in-house knowledge that you can tap and distribute on the Web. For example, as part of your product release strategy, you can interview some of the engineers and quality assurance personnel who ensure product quality or safety. Start with an inexpensive video camera and conduct some informal interviews. Ask them about your product and how their role at the company directly shaped the product that we see in the marketplace.

ust as your del.icio.us account provided the tools for embedding its content, popular video sharing platforms, such as YouTube or Blip.TV, also provide this functionality. If you’re not sure where to put these bookmarks and video on your Website, you can always start a blog. WordPress is a popular open source blogging product that is easy to install and configure, and the framework allows multiple content items from various sources. As your product gains or loses traction in the market, consider posting some additional videos. If you really want to be out on the edge, interview your customers and ask them what they think, what they like, and what they dislike.

If you’re ready to move beyond bookmarks and video, you can always release your product in a blog post and experiment with comments. If the thought of not having control over the content comments is worrisome, we recommend having a solid set of guiding principles in place that illustrate what behavior is suitable. Because comments can always be placed in a queue, you can always review them for quality and value.

Social media isn't for everyone. If you are the type of company with enthusiastic customers, it might just be the type of content that you need – not only for R&D, but also to earn trust. If you are committed to innovation and customer loyalty, consider adopting some of the tools that we have discussed here. If you are as honest with your customers as they are with you, your products and services will only get better. So, Jeremiah, we think the corporate Website is as relevant as ever.

Conversations with Web 2.0 Journal

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:34:42 GMT

I recenly contributed an article to Web 2.0 Journal about email, collaboration, and how Web-based tools are an alternative to familiar communication tools like email.

When several authors need to cooperate on a document shared through e-mail, team members must wait for the document to become available before they work on their portion. These versioning issues can be avoided with another Web 2.0 tool called the wiki.

One of the ideas that we wanted to include but didn't because of deadlines was that a new wave of knowledge worker is entering the workforce that uses Web-based tools to communicate with their friends and arrange meetups. In essence, its how this group collaborates.

This presents a real challenge for firms that want to attract top talent from this wave. If firms don't have the tools that are familiar to this group, some likely events might occurr.

1. Candidates will approach companies that have the right tools.

2. Employees will go out on the Web and use many of the freely available Web based tools in order to get their work done.

If you have any thoughts about this, or any of the topics in my article, let me know in the comments.

Social Networking 201

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:23:48 GMT

In my last social networking post entitled social networking 101, we introduced the concept of risk reduction as one of the main drivers of why social networks are formed. Yes, social networks like myspace and facebook cater to a broad audience and many of the members are not really thinking risk when participating (my sisters food fight application for example). But if you have been following the explosive growth of facebook as a business to business collaboration tool the concept of risk reduction is starting to emerge for all to see. Why are these groups forming? To connect with other people so they don’t fall behind in their industry. To get advice on what products to purchase for their businesses so they don’t choose the wrong thing.   To collaborate on specific topics so the best ideas come to the surface and people can avoid second guessing themselves. In other words, they are forming to reduce risk.

In most business to business social networks, people are talking and sharing information in an effort to reduce the risk of their decisions. For this post entitled social networking 201, we are going to explore the subject a little bit further and focus not on why the networks are forming, but how people in the networks are interacting with each other. The main subject of this post will be the concept of opinion leaders or tastemakers – certain people inside networks that seem to be the most credible and the ones most often turned to for risk reduction.   Companies that truly understand the characteristics of opinion leaders and how they affect the dissemination of ideas will better understand how social networks operate. And more importantly, will better understand how these networks effect the purchasing decisions around their products.

Myra Gorman, the CEO of Community Analytics is an expert on social networks and how Opinion Leaders affect purchasing decisions by reducing risk. To best educate everyone during this blog I asked Myra to participate in a Q and A with R2i. This Q and A can also be seen in a video version on www.r2integrated.com/social   The transcript is below.

1.    What role do Opinions Leaders play in influencing purchasing decisions?

There are countless definitions out there for Opinion Leaders. I think of them as trusted advisors – the individuals you call when contemplating an issue, wrestling with a decision, solving a problem or just looking for new ideas. The role they play in purchasing decisions varies depending on the product or service involved. For instance, one of your trusted advisors relative to fitness might say to you, “Matt, you have got to join this new gym – it is the best fitness program I’ve seen and has made a huge difference in my energy level and productivity.” In this case, you may not even be in the market for a new gym, but because you trust and admire this person’s opinion on fitness, you are now excited to look into a membership. On the other hand, you probably have trusted advisors whose advice you seek for very specific decisions you are facing. For instance, I recently had to make a decision about whether Community Analytics should purchase or build a particular piece of technology. There were four people I talked with about this decision. I chose those four because I trust each of them personally and I have experienced the positive impact of their knowledge in this area before.

2.    Are Opinion Leaders and Thought Leaders the same thing?

This is a great question – and an important distinction. Again, there are numerous definitions floating around out there. But the critical difference is that Thought Leaders don’t necessarily have a personal relationship with the audience who listens to them. For instance, Robert Reich would be considered a Though Leader in the area of labor economics, and I might read his writings to inform my knowledge on the subject as part of a decision-making process relative to growing the human capital at Community Analytics. But, he is not the person I will call or meet with to get advice. I would meet with three of my trusted advisors here in Baltimore about specific issues or decisions that arise as part of developing and implementing a strategic plan to achieve that growth.

3.    How are these people different than everyone else in the community?

I don’t like to think of Opinion Leaders as “different” from everyone else. The truth is that different groups of individuals are Opinion Leaders for different topics/issues. And based on the topic/issue, the characteristics of the Opinion Leaders within a community vary. In our work across a variety of industries, we find that the characteristic which cuts across these diverse groups is a willingness to share knowledge and a certain intangible quality that speaks to trustworthiness and integrity.

4.    Do these Opinion Leaders have certain characteristics we can look for?

I wish the answer was “yes”. The truth is that the characteristics are all over the board depending on the nature of the community as well as the topic/issue of interest. Our clients find that the real value is not merely in knowing who the Opinion Leaders are within a given community. The real value is found in understanding the relationships through which a community vets ideas, evaluates products and makes decisions. With an understanding of this existing network of trust and advice-seeking, you have the unique opportunity to become a meaningful part of the conversations and relationships that are built within the network.

5.    Can businesses attract Opinion Leaders? Where are they?

I hate to be a stickler for language, but I don’t think the right approach is to try to “attract” Opinion Leaders. Rather, businesses should meet the Opinion Leaders and their communities where they are – in the context of the relationships, dialogues and information sharing activities that matter most to them. To truly grow a loyal customer base (i.e. improve customer retention) while simultaneously increasing the rate of new customer acquisition, businesses need to participate in the communities that matter most to their target audience rather than try to create an artificial network – more listening and less “telling”. As we’ve seen in the popular press, artificial networks are not as valuable as most had hoped.

6.    Can you give us an example of how Opinion Leaders have influenced the dissemination of ideas for one of your clients?

Absolutely – let’s consider one of our clients in the financial services sector. This company wanted to identify and develop relationships with a larger number of investment advisors in a certain part of the country. After Community Analytics revealed the Influence Networks at work among this audience, the company was able to take both strategic and tactical measures to improve its reach and drive performance. Strategically, the Influence Networks demonstrated that this community relied heavily on academics for advice and guidance. This company had never developed relationships with the academic community, and has since started develop these relationships to positive effect. Tactically, the company has been able to develop a recruiting strategy for advisors that truly resonates with this community by soliciting the input of their Opinion Leaders and becoming part of the dialog among the community. This has led to increased recruitment and retention of advisors.

Conversations with Computer World

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:14:27 GMT

I recently had a great opportunity to speak with Mark Hall at Computer World. If you haven’t already checked out his blog, you should. Mark’s blog is always filled with unique topics and great insight. When I spoke with Mark, we discussed the impact of communities built around social media as it relates to consumer and business brands, products and services. Marketing professionals are trying to better understand the impact of these communities on their overall brand and many wonder how they can control them. Others are taking it one step farther, asking the question: should I try to create a community of my own? Very interesting material when you really dissect it…which is what I am going to do right now. To read an excerpt of my conversation with Mark, click here.

Building Social Communities ~ Risks vs. Rewards
It’s no surprise that communities of people talking about products and services already exist. In fact, you can probably find an online community that will rate virtually any product or service out there, from sites that focus on vacation spots to restaurants to you-tube material. More and more businesses are beginning to realize the reality within these communities: people will talk and no one can stop them. Again, no surprise. Because everyone has an opinion, you can count on people talking about your product and service.

Where it starts to get interesting is when you decide to build your own community. This approach is much different than simply viewing a message board about your industry, using blog monitoring tools, or seeing how your hotel rates on Trip Advisor. When building a community of your own, you are actually creating the message board and letting all of those opinions, good and/or bad, filter into the center of your business brand. Again, we know people will talk, but should we encourage it?

I know what you are thinking; this sounds too risky. What if someone lies about my product? What if that one customer that had that one bad experience decides to talk about it? What happens when an unethical person decides to pollute the community? These are all very serious concerns. I would argue that in a world where controlling the message is almost impossible, and the opportunities associated with creating a community so great, all we can really hope for is the discussion about our product contain truthful and accurate information.

You CAN handle the truth
But will the truth be told? The answer is yes, but only when certain criteria are met. At R2i we refer to something we call the “Good Person Phenomenon.” This governing principle is simple: the majority of people ARE truthful. Most people are honest and genuinely passionate about imparting their positive and/or negative opinions and experiences for the general good of others. They may not say nice things about you. But they will tell the truth.

The Good Person Phenomenon tells us that people do tell the truth but it doesn’t mean your community information will be accurate. In order to achieve accurate information you need a combination of good people and many of them.

Bigger is Better
The truth will come to the surface, but only when the community is large. Size of the community (we often refer to this as sample size) is critical. Here is a very simple example. If you had two people rating a restaurant and one liked it and the other didn’t, you’d be confused as to whether it was a good restaurant. In fact, one of those people could be lying about their experience. The sample size is not large enough to determine accuracy. If that same restaurant had received 50 reviews and five of those reviews were negative, you could safely assume that it was a decent place to eat. After all, there were 45 positive reviews. Would all those people go to the trouble of lying about their good experience? The Good Person Phenomenon says they would not.

How large is large enough? That varies by industry, demographics etc. Our SEO team (they love algorithms) is having fun trying to determine how large the sample size needs to be for self cleansing (accuracy in user generated content) to occur. Think of it as the accuracy “tipping point.” More importantly, we need to understand that businesses run a greater risk of inaccuracy due to smaller sample sizes in their communities.

The key to accuracy and the number one objective for a business considering creation of a social community is this: LARGE SAMPLE SIZE. And remember, if your product stinks, the truth will come out. Anytime you are building around social media and leveraging communities, bigger is always better!

Social Networking 101 – Part 1 of series

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:05:19 GMT

There is an insatiable curiosity associated with social networks. I encounter it everyday. As more and more companies attempt to harness and capitalize on the power of social media, this topic continues to surface at almost every meeting I have with clients and marketing and business development experts alike. Sites like myspace.com and linkedin.com have made social networking mainstream, but social networking signifies different definitions to different people. Sometimes it is hard to understand what people really mean when they discuss this topic….Is myspace.com social networking? Yes. Is Flickr.com social networking? Yes. Is the local chamber of commerce social networking? Yes. Over the next six weeks, I will concentrate on a variety of concepts and philosophies related to social networking.