Logic+Emotion

2013: The Year Everything Converged

From a media perspective—marketers like to align strategies and tactics along the lines of how things are done at scale. The popular framework goes something like: Paid (advertising), Earned (Word of Mouth), Owned (Corporate) and everything else falls in a somewhat more grey area and from my perspective this is where the action will be for 2013 and beyond. As outlined above, Altimeter calls this area of overlap "converged media" because it's a convergence of different media dynamics coming together. If you ask me—from a marketing perspective this is the future of what, to this point we've called "social".

You see an image in your Facebook news-feed shared by a friend. The image was generated by a brand. You saw it because your friend shared it. They shared it because they liked it. They liked it because the content resonated (and they saw it). They saw it because the brand paid Facebook to promote it.

Paid?
Earned?
Owned? 

All of the above. A social platform merely powers the engine and the above could have all been done in a mobile context. I'm doing a lot of thinking in this area as I build out my team because I don't believe that anyone has the "converged" part completely figured out yet. From a talent perspective I've already begun importing folks from the ad agency side of the house who get both social, digital and content. Mentally, I've been thinking about the dynamics of how different teams function:

Traditional:


A television centric marketing approach is still fueled primarily by the dynamic duo of a creative team composed of an art director and copywriter supported by an infrastructure of scale which fuels the teams with insights and has a small army of media service individuals who determine how the money gets spent so that the campaign oriented marketing message is seen and heard.

Digital

Similar to the traditional team but digital teams often "build" things (apps, sites, platforms) which add an experiential layer to the marketing initiative. Copy for the digital team is somewhat more complex as the things they build can often contain much more than what can translate through offline marketing tactics and so a comprehensive approach to content is required. 

Social-Digital

The newcomer to the mix. Many brands are now taking the nuts and bolts of social in house—but the above model whether in house or agency side (or blended) is designed to merge the basics of good marketing (valuable content) with the more real time nature of social news-feeds (timely relevant bursts of communication supported with dialogue). Again, looking at teams from a media perspective—a core social-digital team that targets the converged media space must bring creative, community management and a newsroom-like sense of editorial savvy together. 

I think 2013 is going to be the year that things feel like they are all blurring into each other more than ever and is going to create a lot of challenges for both brands and their agency partners as they work together to figure out how to address the overlaps. In addition to bolstering our creative, strategic and measurement capabilities—I've also put someone from my team in charge of thinking about the overlaps between paid, owned and earned and how this all evolves for our clients (a director of converged media services). I think that especially for digital, this is going to be where the action is.  

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Five Considerations For Branded Content During Sensitive Times

Like many of you reading this, I am horrified by the events which unfolded at Sandy Hook and as a parent—especially affected by the thought of parents who will be grieving during a season when they should be celebrated. The tragedy is incomprehensible on so many levels and it makes my heart heavy. But I am also more than a parent and as a professional who spends so much of my time working with companies who are grappling with new dynamics in marketing, communications and doing business in a real time connected environment, I can't help but think about how much this creates the need for organizations (and people) to be sensitive (and responsible) especially during times like this. If we are really moving toward a "content economy" as I've recently outlined, and all brands and organizations can now directly manage their own media—then they are going to have to do it responsibly. Here are five suggestions for managing branded content during sensitive times.  

1. Call a Meeting Between Staff & Partners

Most organizations now have staffers such as community/social media managers and agency partners who are running their social and owned properties (Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress etc.). When a sensitive story breaks which dominates the news cycle or at minimum their industry—they must themselves act like a news organization and huddle together the teams responsible for putting out content. Call an "all hands" meeting to discuss impact of story and devise a real time strategy for immediate steps moving forward. 

2. Determine Appropriateness of a Response

Once a sensitive situation is in play, your organization is now faced with a question: do you stay silent or speak out? I recently advised an organization on this telling them that it's always best to "do the right thing" however, if they acknowledge what's going on (in this case with Sandy Hook) they had to be prepared to steward any conversation good or bad that came along with it. When determining if it makes sense to make a statement during a sensitive situation, it's best to do the right thing but be prepared for what may follow. If you're not prepared, then your organization has a bigger issue. 

3. Temporarily Disable Automated Posts

Auto posts (scheduling content and posting later) are now a reality for how brands communicate at scale and the technique isn't going away any time soon. However during a sensitive situation there is no way to better damage your brand's equity and reputation than allowing auto posts to continue as if nothing is happening. There's a simple solution: direct your content team to temporarily disable them until further notice. It's ok to take a break and back to point no. 2, it's the right thing to do. 

4. Review Content Calendar

Many brands and businesses now run content calendars to help them plan in advance for posts, marketing, communications etc. If your organization does this—check your content calendar to see if there are any scheduled communications that could come off as tone deaf or inappropriate due to the situation at hand. Reschedule evergreen content for another time and remove "at risk" content. In short, proactively manage your calendar or it will manage you. 

4. Edit/Remove/Reschedule Sensitive Content

No matter how vigilant you try to be, there will always be situations where a communication is already out in public for whatever reason, maybe the publisher wasn't aware of the news. This is where the public can be your best ally, by alerting you to the issue and as long as you are listening, you'll have the opportunity to correct the mistake. Do it transparently and over-communicate over-communicate. If you end up deleting an offending piece of content which was not intended to offend—be sure to explain the steps you are taking. 

One could question the timing of this post and my intentions. As I've stated, I'm both a parent and a professional, and while I have trouble wrapping my mind around recent events, I feel called to share whatever I can to get us all thinking about how we can manage direct communication channels responsibly. Brands are now built in real time and they can be unbuilt just as quickly. 

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Six Social-Digital Trends for 2013

Originally published on Harvard Business Review

It's that time of year again — time to take a stab at what's going to matter in the year ahead as technology continues to influence how we work and live. In previous years, I've looked at trends under the "social media" lens because that has been the major disruptive force, creating both opportunities and threats. This year, I'm using the umbrella term "social-digital" to broaden the focus. First, a quick re-cap from the last year:

While I didn't specifically connect it to the election, social sharing was a trend I cited and one that many of us felt because of the election. You couldn't get away from Facebook posts and streams of tweets from friends who were all too happy to leverage their networks to talk politics, often sharing posts and memes in support of their candidate (Big bird, binders and bayonets anyone)?

And social TV, another trend I saw growing, has continued to gain steam, though interestingly enough it has been TV itself fueling the trend. For example the popular series The Walking Dead has been experimenting with simple Twitter hash tags for each episode in addition to the official one connected with the series. Social entertainment platforms however like Get Glue, which was recently acquired for 25 million in cash have yet to go mainstream.

What has gone mainstream, however, is the micro-economy fueled by once unknown entities such as Kickstarter. Individuals are now raising thousands and even millions of dollars without a middleman thanks to crowdfunding. On the flipside, gamification has lost some of its luster, taking a backseat to useful functionality. A recent Gartner study urges us not to "believe the hype." I may have been too caught up by the promise of making experiences sticky via serving up rewards, when this comes at the expense of raw utility.

The cult of influence continues to attract a following with new digital influence measurement services like Little Bird receiving funding, followed by studies crowning the most influential CMOs.

So what can we potentially expect to see next year? In no particular order, here are six social-digital trends to watch in 2013:

The Content Economy Content may become your company's most valuable asset in 2013. For years Google has been refining it's algorithm cracking down on unsavory tactics that compromise the quality of search results. The algorithms are good enough now that the most compelling content dominates search results. Organizations must create compelling content to exploit this. Some already have, including companies like Coke and Intel, who launched groups focused purely on content. Separately, Facebook is making it's own changes, forcing companies to rely on both creativity and spending (promoted posts) to ensure their content is seen and shared. Brands like Oreo may have unwittingly set the bar for content creation for other organizations by pioneering a form of "content marketing" putting out one piece of timely, relevant and highly creative content every day as part of a campaign. In 2013, content will not only be king, but queen, prince and jester, too.

Cyborg Central Think your mobile phone is making you part computer? Now it has accomplices. Gadgets like "fuel bands" and Google Glasses are just a preview of what we'll see more of in 2013 as we begin to mesh machines with humans. There are already ski goggles which display a tiny screen which lets you not only sync to your mobile device but helps you determine where you are and how fast you are going. As we move into the next year, the phrase "personal computing" will begin to take on another meaning.

The Smobile Web Social + mobile = "smobile." While there's no real insight in pointing out that both mobile and social are going to be big in 2013, I believe they're becoming co-dependent, and most businesses aren't ready for that. A smobile Web means your customers, coworkers and colleagues expect their digital experiences will be optimized for mobile/social sharing and as a result spend less time tethered to a PC or television.The technology for this is evolving rapidly. Near field communication, or NFC technology, for example, allows you to transfer data to your mobile device via a touch rather than scanning a QR code, which seems cumbersome in comparison. While Instagram developed for smobile before the traditional web, Facebook is still playing catch-up, but by the end of 2013 it may become one of the leaders. Will you be ready for the smobile web?

Six Social-Digital Trends for 2013 from David Armano

Sensory Intelligence Sensors will get smarter and become more pervasive. We already have cars that can help us parallel park and seats that vibrate if we're too close to another vehicle. We have thermostats that learn based on how you use them, eventually programming themselves. In 2013 there will be sensors built into athletes' helmets that measure the impact of blows and provide real time data outputs thus potentially preventing further injury. Sensors will be everywhere, in our homes, transportation, technology, and clothing. They will become a part of our lives and will tie into our existing devices and networks, If our plants need water, we'll get a text or tweet, and even a note of thanks. Now that's smart.

Social Commerce In many ways, social has mirrored the original digital revolution. And when digital took on transactions and financial exchanges, things really picked up. So it will go for social as we begin to buy each other gifts through social networks or even set up a storefront. The idea of social commerce isn't new, but signs indicate that 2013 may be the year it actually begins to coalesce.

Data Surplus, Insight Deficit As I write this, Facebook has already begin rolling out its "Photo Sync" feature which automatically downloads photos from your mobile device to Facebook (privately). Some see this as a land grab for data but it's not the only one. "The cloud," "social data," or the overhyped macro label, "big data" will dominate the tech conversation. While it's true that more of our data is being collected, mined and stored, that doesn't mean people know what to do with it. There aren't enough qualified human beings (analysts, sociologists, strategists, anthropologists etc) to mine all this data. But this won't last for long. 2013 may be the year we focus less on data and start thinking about how to understand, interpret and make good use of it.

Whether it's content, data, sensors, smobile, or feeling like we've become one with technology, 2013 should be an exciting year for the social-digital revolution as it continues to change the game. What do you think will be trends to watch in 2013?

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Friends With Benefits: Employees Are Social Too

Several months ago, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel at the Pivot conference in New York City. With me on the panel was Chris Heuer from Deloitte (and Social Media Club) and Phoebe Venkat, head of social at ADT. We discussed a less explored conversation when it comes to all things social—but every company has them:

Employees.

The reality is that while places of work want to separate employees and the work they do from their personal lives, they have really become intertwined, and technology usage even supports this (how many of us have used a personal device for work, or vice versa)? We discussed the phenomenon of a social workforce through the following lens:

Internal to internal (employees using social technologies behind the firewall)
Internal to external (employees talking about their work/companies out in the open)
External to external (employees engaging with multiple stakeholders externally—outside of the company walls). The folks in Edelman's Employee Engagement practice take a similar view:

Chris mentioned some interesting findings from Deloitte which found that high performing employees who leverage social technologies for work, stay with the company longer and continue to perform. Phoebe made the case that social activity at the employee level behind the firewall can make companies feel more like "families". And we collectively discussed the potential for companies to leverage the power of employees and their social networks by thinking of them as "diplomats" or "ambassadors" instead of a highly connected liability. 

If you have 20 minutes to spare—give the video a once over. This was a great panel from my perspective and a refreshing take on a topic that receives less attention in general but can impact a business both in reputation and the bottom line.

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Brands Will Become Media: Here's How

If your company doesn’t have the above model in place a year from now, you may regret it.

You’ve probably felt it for some time, but now the roadmap is becoming clear—companies must build their own media empires. And if they don’t, they risk missing a window of opportunity that provides myriad benefits, whether it’s telling their own stories or becoming more efficient with the media dollars they spend.

Trends in media consumption point to the convergence of savvy marketing tactics combined with a real-time newsroom approach for brands to be seen and heard in a collectively social, digital and mobile world.

Facebook: Engagement Isn’t Enough

First, let’s start with Facebook which, thanks to an alleged algorithm change, has been at the center of controversy in the marketing world. Though it’s cited as the reason brands have noticed their content reaching a lower volume of Facebook users, the caveat is that there is much a company can do to increase the odds of being seen and heard on Facebook. But, it relies on a brand doing a few things really well.

For starters, it’s not enough to solely engage on Facebook. A company now has to provide a steady flow of high-quality content, which then relies  not only on organic content sharing from Facebook users but also on subsequent media purchases with Facebook in order for that message to spread.

Sound familiar? It’s how advertising has been done in the past, only with a big difference. Much of the content that tends to do best is oftentimes associated with current news or highly relevant social issues. Take for example whatOreo has done with its Daily Twist initiative, where in honor of the cookie’s 100^th anniversary, agency teams get together daily to decide how to riff off of relevant, often newsworthy, subjects that, by day’s end, produce a new piece of clever, highly shareable visual content that’s sent out into the digital ecosystem. This type of approach makes clear what most pundits miss when challenging the notion of “ROI” in social media—the reason a company wants to amass followers in social media is to build their own marketing/communications network, which bypasses the middle man and goes right to the source.

The end game in social media won’t be accumulation of fans but rather your ability to reach them and potentially inspire action.

Marketing Meets the Newsroom

The middleman in question could conceivably be media agencies. Why spend millions on media purchases when you can consolidate some of that spending with Facebook? This is where it’s going to get really interesting because most big companies like to clearly divide their needs with partners who handle tasks at scale. Creative agencies do creative and media agencies do media. The problem with this model is that a real-time newsroom-meets-marketing model requires community managers who understand not only how to manage a Facebook page but also know when to put a dollar behind high quality and timely content that will spread. This model jumbles up what was once a clear divide between content, media purchase and engagement.

Becoming media companies may not be optional for brands. Felix Baumgartner didn’t do his stratos jump alone—he had the backing of a major brand (Red Bull), a team of ex-NASA scientists and Red Bull’s media team who covered the event, creating an infinite amount of media coverage that generated a nonstop wave of publicity. I’m not even sure how to estimate the value of this type of coverage, but suffice it to say that it’s significant and leaves a mark on a Google-friendly Web.

And how does all this media spread? This is where players such as Pulse come in.

Whether you are mobile or on the Web, Pulse allows you to have all of the media you can digest and share at your fingertips, served in a usable experience. And much like other media models, some content is promoted organically due to popularity and some can be bought for featured placement.

It’s all going to come down to this: content, quality, frequency and relevancy. If companies are to become media, they must master the art and science of merging marketing with a real-time news cycle. The content a company produces must be compelling and built for an audience with an itchy “like” finger.

And it’s going to take time. Most companies don’t have full-time editors and newsrooms that work hand-in-hand with their marketing department and partners, but in a few years they might.

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Technology Will Only Solve 1/3 of Your Social Business Problem

I'm behind on writing a bit as I've just returned from Norway and before that, Dreamforce in San Francisco. It was my first time attending and speaking at Dreamforce and to be honest, I was completely taken back by the extravagance of it all. With Keynotes from heavy hitters such as Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Imelt and even Colin Powell, not to mention entertainment provided by the Red Hot Chili Peppers—I can only estimate that the event cost tens of millions to produce.

Salesforce also made good on what many observers were already suspecting—it has begun to package and consolidate acquisitions of social platforms Radian 6 and Buddy Media into what's now known as "Marketing Cloud" moving forward. Shel Israel shrewdly views this as a pivot to catering to CMOs as part of the strategy to convert an enterprise to "social enterprise" and in short follow the money trail as companies grapple with how to integrate social at scale. 

But amid enjoying some of my favorite tunes belted out by the Peppers in an outdoor venue filled with well over thirty thousand people complete with free beer and wine I couldn't help but think this:

"all this money—and companies will only be solving one third of their social business problem" 

The problem with social technology solutions—even really great technology is that it's incomplete. It's no wonder why Salesforce is making a killing, because I've seen first hand how a business will freely invest in a technology platform thinking that they have purchased a turnkey solution only to realize shortly after that they've possibly invested in the wrong solution and most definitely underestimated the other two areas which require investment (people and process). 

The Three P's of Social Business 
People, Process, and Tech Platforms. Each is equally important and yet so many businesses are putting all their eggs in the platform basket because it seems like the most obvious solution. But it's short sighted and even emphasizes the need for the other two. The most common issue I see from working with large organizations is that once an enterprise social technology solution has been implemented it immediately raises questions about who will operate it, integrate it, adopt it and derive value from the investment. The dirty little secret in the technology world is that technology, even really good technology looks automated but in reality requires people to make it work.  

Life After The Big Buy
Assuming that you've been part of the professional population who have invested in the most obvious "P" helping to fuel the enterprise tech economy, you should be asking yourself what comes next. A social CMS (Content Management System) is nothing without content and teams/partners to manage it. The best listening platform is nothing without the ability to filter signal from noise and make sense of it. And even internally, a social collaboration system falls flat without the right culture to sustain it. 

Right now is a great time to pause and think about the other two "P"s of social business—your people and processes. It's not nearly as sexy as technology, but you need all three to complete the math. Technology alone will only solve one third of your social business problem and while critical, it's only part of the equation. 

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My Kind of Town: New Job, Same Company

Over the past couple of years since joining Edelman, I've gotten into the habit of writing up a short post every time I celebrate an "Edelversary". For the rest of you, this is Edelman speak for a one year anniversary at Edelman. I've found it to be a great way to look back at what's been accomplished while looking ahead at what is yet to be done and doing a bit of a gut check before moving forward. This year will be a bit different as I'm writing ahead of schedule—while my next Edelversary will be in December marking year three, I've been promoted to managing director of Edelman Digital Chicago starting this week. 

The Chicago digital team is one of the largest and most seasoned in the network with a head count around 80 and boasts a team of some of the most talented social strategists, content developers, technologists, analysts and community managers both inside and outside of the Edelman global network. To say I'm excited to dig in further with this group is an understatement as I've already done some ground breaking work with them with the US dairy industry and through launching Edelman's first Social Intelligence Command Center located (SICC) in the Chicago office. 


The new role is going to be quite different from previous posts I've held at Edelman. While I'll still obviously be pushing the boundaries when it comes to innovation, I'll be switching gears from a broader focus such as partnerships and M&A, to a more focused effort around growing and evolving our already successful digital operation in Chicago. This includes fiscal, operational and strategic responsibilities so it's kind of like running your own business (see my thoughts on being an "intrapreneur"). Lastly I get to work more closely with Rick Murray, the man who brought me to Edelman in the first place! 

In addition the the new role there are some other cool things going on for us as an organization. Last week we launched a brand new global corporate site for the firm (Edelman.com) which I describe as a "Media Brand Hybrid". And at the end of October, we are celebrating our 60 years as a company. Makes you wonder if Google or Facebook will still be here in 60 years. But back to my next steps—I'm in the process of handing over the editorial keys for Edelman Digital which I've managed since I joined the firm and very much looking forward to the new challenges which lie ahead. And on that note, if you are interested in working together or think there's a fit between my new role and what you're doing—please don't hesitate to reach out: (David.Armano[at]Edelman.com). Here's to new professional seasons and opportunities! 

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The Future Isn't About Mobile; It's About Mobility

Originally posted on the Harvard Business Review

While the globe grapples with uncertain economic realities, "mobile" appears to be gold.

Facebook is expected to announce their uniquely targeted mobile advertising model before the end of the month. Amazon is talking to Chinese manufacturer Fox Conn with ambitions of building their own mobile device to serve as a complement to Amazon's considerable digital ecosystem of products and services. China itself has surpassed the US as the world's dominant smartphone market with over a billion subscribers and roughly 400 million mobile web users. Advisory firm IDC predicts that by 2014 there will have been over 76 billion mobile apps downloaded resulting in an app economy worth an estimated thirty five billion in the same year. Mobile business will become big business in the not so distant future.

However, there will be blood as the business world pursues the mobile gold rush.

We've seen this movie before. In the early days of the web, it was the website that created a browser-fueled gold rush — until organizations realized that maintaining a website that provided real value was more difficult than launching something quickly. The same story is now playing out in social — getting something launched on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest is easy, but building an engaged and meaningful following isn't. And the same will happen in the rush to mobile if companies take a "channel" approach vs. a behavioral approach. In short, it's not about mobile as much as it is about understanding mobility.

In the early days of digital, the core behavior we needed to understand was that people wanted information at their fingertips and the convenience that came with digital transactions. In the social era it was all these things plus social connectivity. Mobility means information, convenience, and social all served up on the go, across a variety of screen sizes and devices.

Mobility is radically different from the stationary "desktop" experience. In some cases, mobility is a "lean back" experience like sitting on a commuter train watching a video. In other cases it can be "lean forward" — like shopping for a gift while you take your lunch break at the park. And in many cases, it's "lean free" when your body is in motion, or you're standing in line scanning news headlines or photos from friends while you wait for your turn to be called.

Mobility trumps mobile. The difference between mobility and mobile is like the difference between hardware and software. Mobile is linked to devices — it is always one thing, wherever it is. But mobility changes with context: cultures incorporate mobile technologies differently. For example, in Africa, SMS technology helps farmers pay bills electronically. In America, it helps teenagers keep up with their friends — an average of 60 times a day. Mobile itself is the nuts, bolts, and infrastructure, while mobility is the context which determines if it all works together or doesn't.

To avoid "bloodshed" in mobile, learn from past lessons in Web, digital and social. Improve your understanding of the nuances of mobility and mobile behaviors before you ramp up your investment in mobile. Resist the temptation to rely too much on a guru; hiring a guru will only take your organization so far. Many of the organizations who brought in "social media gurus" learned this lesson the hard way. A single individual cannot scale. However, if the organization is willing to put real teeth behind their mobile efforts, a single smart person can help form a center of excellence. Establishing a center of excellence that puts mobility at the core, and integrates it with other business initiatives, can get a business thinking about mobile more strategically.

Secondly, realize that going mobile is not the same thing as having an app. In fact, avoid the temptation to "app everything." A lot of content — whether video or text-based — can easily be optimized for mobile consumption. Popular apps such as Flipboard or Pulse point to a future of consumer "appgregation" — using one app to aggregate many sources of content. Instead of creating a whole host of apps that few are likely to download, invest in making your "digital ecosystem" more mobile-friendly.

Lastly, don't put mobile tactics in front of strategy. In the early days of the web, every site seemed to have an animated GIF or a clunky site-counter. In the early days of social, companies spent millions on costly Facebook apps with cute gimmicks but no real utility or sharing value. Today, companies are scrambling to come up with something "mobile" whether or not it makes sense for their long-term business goals, and whether or not users will actually want it. The outcome is the same in across all of these examples: a low number of visits/installs/downloads and ho-hum business results. Tomorrow's winners of today's mobile gold rush will boast significant (and sustainable) usage numbers due to the value of their content, whether it's sheer utility or impossible-to-ignore entertainment value.

Today's mobile realities are stark. Competition is fierce and users are demanding. If your company wants to put out a fitness app, you're competing not just with Nike FuelBand or Run Keeper, but with dozens of other apps put out by scrappy start-ups.

Before doubling down on mobile, any business should first ask themselves if they really understand mobility as a behavior and lifestyle, followed by tough questions about the role mobile plays in their business. From there, a strategy for mobile, built on an understanding of mobility, can take root.

Build on the expensive lessons learned from past bubbles and there will be less "blood" all around.

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Social Business for Complex Organizations

Several years ago, your CMO or maybe the corporate head of communications shot you an e-mail with a call to action around doing something with “social”. Since then, you’ve launched numerous Facebook, Twitter, YouTube initiatives and yes, you even have a company Pinterest page. Now comes the hard part. As an organization with a national if not global footprint, you find yourself in a chaotic situation as regions scramble to “do their own thing” at the local level. You find this out only after you’ve seen yet another unsanctioned social property launch. Integration becomes a massive headache. You have several websites and mobile apps with poor or misguided attempts at social integration. Employee social usage becomes a black hole–your employees are all over social media, but mainly you just don’t want them saying the wrong thing. Vendor management has become a nightmare–your organization is using every new technology vendor under the Sun and losing efficiency and dollars in the process. In short, you operate in a complex organization and there is nothing simple about integrating social, mobile, and the latest iteration of digital into your legacy systems.

These are the types of challenges we’ve been tackling over the past few years with clients–many who are large, complex organizations. If you can relate to these pain points you are not alone. The good news is that you can address them if you shift your mindset from social media (tactical) to social business (strategic) and look at problems and opportunities more holistically.

Here are a few considerations for those of us tasked with integrating social into a complex and sometimes complicated business environment:

 

Perform Stakeholder Interviews

Partner up with an objective third party and interview the critical stakeholders across your organization who will feel the impact of social integration. The interview guide should be designed to extract nuggets of insights which can prove to be immensely helpful if articulated correctly in a summary. Often themes tend to emerge when you talk to a variety of individuals.

Establish a Center of Excellence

Companies like Adobe* and Intel are well known for their social centers of excellence , but this construct is not limited to tech companies. When an emerging business trend hits the mainstream, a center of excellence becomes mandatory, not optional. When set up correctly, they can help guide a complex organization as it grows and scale efforts around the emerging opportunity.

Organize for Integration

You may not like it, but there is no way a complex organization can deal with change without changing itself. Organization design around social business challenges is becoming more commonplace amongst companies who are doing more than lip service when it comes to social integration. We’re not talking about “social media gurus,” we’re talking about roles, responsibilities and formal job descriptions with social woven into them.

Design New Processes

Does your organization have a process for launching a new social property? Maybe it should. No initiative can scale or be repeated without some degree of process. A true social business will always be flexible enough to launch pilots, but it also has to have enough process in place to ensure that programs can be executed with a certain degree of rigor.

Formalize Governance

Who approves what and what groups need to be in the know? Governance is painful, messy, difficult to construct and see through to fruition, but it also sets a foundation that will deter chaos from taking hold of your initiatives. 

Expand Globally

Whether your organization is national or global, if it’s big then you need to able to scale efforts around a methodology. Figure out what methodology works for your organization and roll it out globally.

Define a Role for Employees

Social media guidelines for employees are really a fancy way for a complex organization to “C-Y-A”. A social business understands that not all employees are created equally, and yet some of them are not only connected to multiple social networks, but they are actually great representatives of the organization itself. These companies match up employees with opportunities in social both internally and externally.

Social Business for Complex Organizations from Edelman Digital

Establish a Communications Protocol

There are literally millions of conversations in play thanks to social technologies and the desire of individuals to share and connect. These conversations happen inside your organization and of course out in the open. Having an established communications protocol provides helpful guidelines for how social interactions for business should go down.

Collaborate In Real Time

For the social business, e-mail has its limits. Working groups form “clusters” around project initiatives and often need more connected ways of sharing files, knowledge and project updates. And it’s not just about Chatter, Yammer, Jive or a host of other enterprise collaboration platforms, for example at Edelman multiple Facebook Groups started by employees have been popping up around topics such as trends, community management and even Pinterest. Instead of an e-mail alias, these groups allow employees from around the globe to gather around a more connected virtual water cooler to share tips, links and exchange knowledge.

Launch a Command Center

A “command center” does not have to be a physical space but should be the system a complex organization has in place to monitor and potentially respond to a host of scenarios generated by social media. A social command center is also a great way to make sense out of social data. Edelman’s SICC is designed not only to monitor and analyze social data but to craft content informed by social signals, not unlike how a newsroom operates.

Establish a Measurement Framework

How does a complex organization measure what it does in social, digital and even mobile? The starting point is to combine data points from across multiple digital properties and initiatives and align what gets measured to business KPI’s. A measurement framework can also integrate traditional Web metrics with emerging social metrics and set the foundation for creating standards across multiple brands and business units.

With business trends moving toward connectivity and adaptability, complex organizations may find dealing with change more challenging than ever–but it needs to be done. The above initiatives represent a sample of the types of programs organizations will need to undertake as they make the journey from operating as a business built on the legacy models of yesterday toward becoming the fully integrated social business of tomorrow.

*Adobe is an Edelman client

This post was compiled in conjunction with Edelman Consulting.

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Collaboration: Changing the World for the Better

The following is a guest post from Jacob Morgan, author of the Amazon best-selling book, The Collaborative Organization, which is the first comprehensive strategy guide to emergent workplace collaboration.  He is the principal of Chess Media Group, blogs at Social Business Advisor can be found on Twitter @JacobM.

I believe that Collaborative Organizations can make the world a better place.

According to a Gallup poll, around 71% of employees at American companies are not engaged in their jobs.  Engaged employees feel a connection to their company and work with a sense of passion.  How sad is it that so many employees (at least in American companies) are not passionate about the work they do and don’t feel connected to their companies?

For the first time in the history of business leaders are able to make investments in technology and strategy that not only positively impact the lives of employees in the workplace but also outside of the workplace.  We have the necessary tools and can develop the strategies required to make sure that our employees can stay connected and engaged with each other and with the information they need to get work done.  The consumer web has led to an evolution of new technology solutions which also helped change our culture.  We are now much more comfortable living in a public world where we share information and ideas on plaforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Wordpress, and many others.  Enterprises are strugggling to adapt to these changes in both behavior and technology which are changing the way we work.  Technology is improving and our needs are changing yet organizations are not able to keep up.

The challenges for enterprises around collaboration are very real and all too common, some of then include:

• disengaged employees
• employee productivity issues
• too much time spent in email
• stagnant innovation
• work-life balance issues
• finding people and information
• retaining and transfering knowledge
• organizational alignment

Although I believe that new collaboration tools and strategies can help solve these problems, I think what's more interesting are the broader implications.  If businesses are able to engage their employees and allow them to more effectively collaborate with each other, what happens?  

I believe the following:

Employees will:

• Feel more inspired or happier at work and about their jobs
• Become more productive
• Build networks of passion and interest
• Feel challenged and encouraged
• Feel as though they work with a sense of purpose
• Contribute more ideas which lead to opportunities that the organization can leverage (revenue generation and cost savings)
• Help each other at work

This is what happens to employees while at work, but think about what happens to these same employees when they leave work at the end of the day?  I believe these same employees:

• Will be less stressed out at home
• Will spend more time with family and loved ones
• Will live their lives with greater zeal and passion
• Will worry less about work related issues as they will have the ability to work from anywhere and know that they can get access to the right people and information the need

We have started to see organizations make the necessary investments in the enterprise collaboration space but we need more.  We need our businesses to evolve faster and I personally see this as a business requirement for organizations today.  I also believe that we should start spending more time looking at how collaboration more broadly positively impacts the lives of employees, that is where the real cool and interesting stuff happens!

 

 

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Confessions of an Intrapreneur

Several weeks ago I wrote an article for Forbes titled "Move Over Entrepreneurs, Here Come the Intraprenuers". The above video shot by Bryan Elliott as part of his "Behind the Brand" interview series was actually the catalyst for that piece. Here's a few things I cover in the video:

What Is An "Intrapreneur"?
An Intrepreneur is someone who works in an entrepreneurial fashion with the benefits of having a big organization back them.

How do you combat the naysayers within your organization?
You don't. You try to make every interaction count. You try to be professional, generous and use your talents not just for yourself but for the organization. It's not what you say about yourself, but what others say about you. 

How do you convince your boss that it's a good idea to fund an Intrapreneur?
The company has to take ownership too and make it clear that if they are going to carve out roles like this, they will support it. 

What do you think? Have you ever worked with an Intrapreneur or as one? 

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From Islands To Ecosystem: Connecting Social, Digital + Mobile

From Web And Desktop To Anytime, Anywhere.
In the early stages of digital, businesses first dipped their toe on the Web by launching brochure like Websites which had to be located initially through a browser "URL" (WWW) followed quickly by search engines which organized the Web. Today, the Web and the digital landscape looks dramatically different compared to the Internet's frontier years. For starters, the Web has become mobile, with 1.2 billion of the world's population accessing the Web through a mobile browser. In addition, the internet is increasingly being accessed by tablet or mobile apps and aggregators such as Flipboard and Pulse. To add even more complexity to today's fragmented digital environment, social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have proven that a business must extend it's digital ecosystem into social spheres in order to remain relevant. Today’s digital ecosystem is composed of the following increasingly overlapping areas:

Owned:
These are the Websites, corporate blogs, intranets and extranets your business has full control over.

Paid:
These are media properties your business “purchases” in order to drive traffic and raise awareness.

Earned:
Properties which drive traffic/raise awareness but rely on organic distributions.

Social Networks:
Platforms where a business can build a social “embassy” (combines paid and earned tactics) that it partially controls.

Search Engines:
Primarily Google, Bing and regional search engines used to find information on the Web (Siri for mobile meets Ai).

Mobile:
Technology such as phones, tablets and the mobile social-digital behaviors they foster. 

In short, the Web era which was dominated primarily by stand alone slow moving Websites is gradually though systematically becoming a thing of the past,(this is why Facebook must master mobile). Today, a business must approach the Web from the standpoint of connecting its external and internal "digital ecosystem" which brings together "owned properties" such as websites and mobile apps with social "embassies" as well as a fleet of new platforms from third party providers such as customer reviews or popular social networks. Many businesses will face huge challenges in this area as their large global Website structures were built with dated legacy systems and not architected for the future state of digital ecosystems which the industry is moving toward.

Five Ways To Go From Digital Islands To Integrated Ecosystem
Ensuring that your business is building a digital ecosystem vs. disconnected "islands" means fixing the foundation while moving forward in areas where your business needs to be relevant (social and mobile). Media companies like The New York Times have begun to show the way here as they've had no choice but to optimize their content for a mobile, social, digital world. Professional organizations, brands and corporations are the next in line. The steps below are meant to provide high level guidance and is not comprehensive but designed to provide general guidance:

Perform A Digital Footprint Audit
A digital footprint audit takes stock of all digital, social, and mobile assets (both external and internal) and evaluates them against a set of criterion which is customized for your business and industry. Digital properties should be looked at critically. Are their properties which are outdated or not optimized for search or mobile? Are there properties with unrealized potential? Are some properties being kept on life support when they should be put down? A digital footprint audit takes a wide look at everything your business has out on the digital space  and identifies gaps, issues and opportunities.

Implement A Content Strategy
A comprehensive content audit should be performed to determine what content is valuable vs. what's not optimized for a social, mobile Web. A content audit compliments the digital footprint analysis and provides the roadmap for what content stays, what needs to be re-located and identifies gaps. From this, a content strategy should be developed aimed at producing optimized content for search, social sharing and mobile interactions.

Assess Signals Derived From Search And Social
A digital ecosystem is only as effective as it's ability to be found and it's relevancy to current conversations. A conversation assessment looks at what's being said about your business and relevant topics across the digital landscape. It also looks at how effective your digital ecosystem is in sending signals which are being shared across multiple social platforms. On the other side of the fence, a search audit looks to see if your properties are being found in search engines specifically guided by relevant terms critical to the business. Both exercises will provide clues to the question: "is my digital ecosystem both findable and shareable"?

Re-Assess Your Infrastructure
Large complex sites are never easy to maintain, update or evolve but this doesn't take away from the fact that they will need to become more effective at handling change faster. A comprehensive audit from an unbiased and qualified third party may uncover legacy issues rooted in IT which need to be addressed. Some issues may involve updating existing infrastructure and others could require a gradual overhaul of not only existing systems but also partners and vendors. In either scenario an exhaustive audit here would likely be the place to start. Without it, root issues will likely never be addressed no matter the quality of your digital strategy. 

Evaluate Current Resources & Processes
Moving from digital islands to a connected ecosystem means taking a look at your existing organizational design. A modern ecosystem requires staff and resources which can manage social properties, develop for mobile and produce valuable content which travels effortlessly across that ecosystem. An organizational process design exercise can be useful in documenting current state and visualizing future state providing a roadmap for how to navigate the changes needed in order to optimize the organization.

Ecosystems Take Time
Planning, building, maintaining and ensuring that you've grown a healthy and integrated digital ecosystem will not happen overnight. Be prepared for it to take time, resources and the stomach to deal with multiple stakeholders from marketing to IT to customer service. The above activities are more likely to be effective if approached globally but executed against with local and regional execution. Digital ecosystems for large businesses will also require the cooperation and coordination of multiple partners in order to realize the potential. The burden of this coordination will fall largely upon the organization driving the initiatives and it's key partners. 

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When It's OK To Put Your Klout Score On Your Resume and Other Matters of "Influence"

It was bound to happen. I opened up the attachment from e-mail and there it was, impossible to miss: at the top of every page of the individual's resume was their Klout score. I have to admit, my first reaction was to be slightly turned off, however the more I thought about it, the more I looked at it objectively. After all, I had identified "the cult of influence" as a significant social media trend for 2012 so it only made sense that Klout scores or other indicators of one's social graph prowess be documented in their professional credentials. If you're wondering, the individual's score was in the low fifties which is fairly respectable, though that's besides the point. The real point is there's a time and place to reference your "digital influence". Here's what I recommend:

When To Invoke Your Social Graph

Organizations do occasionally hire individuals who have cultivated significant social graphs and the expectation is that they will use their skills and the "influence" associated by their online (and offline) reputations for the job. There are probably few better examples of this than Robert Scoble (Klout Score 84) who in the past was hired by Fast Company and is presently employed by Rackspace as an evangelist and content machine. iJustine is another example though she's more of a gun for hire and has worked with a number of brands who desire to associate themselves with her online audience. But it's not always the social superstars who have equity attached to their impressive social networking prowess but also community managers or individuals hired to connect with a specific group and have the chops to connect meaningfully with them. In both scenarios I might be interested in checking out Klout scores, follower ratios and all other indicators of an individual's ability to cultivate a following because I'd be hiring them to do just that. 

When To Leave Your Social Graph at The Door

It's probably more common that for most jobs, even in the social business industry that a social graph on steroids won't matter that much. If I'm looking to hire a strategist then the most crucial skills are critical thinking and the ability to analyze intelligently. For project managers it's a proven track record of launching things on time and on budget. For the people who "create" things, it's the things itself that matter whether it was developed, written, shot etc. For those who manage accounts it's their book of business and their role in growing it (or not). In short, unless your job is to be an online personality (or part of your job) the net worth of your social graph becomes less relevant.

Influence Scores: A Gateway Drug

Recently I participated in a Google Hangout with Gini Dietrich (Arment-Dietrich PR, SpinSucks and Inside PR podcast), Andrew Grill (CEO of Kred) and Zena Weist (Expion) moderated Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson. In it we had a spirited debate on the state of digital influence, what it means and how it gets measured. I stressed the value of outcomes when we evaluate the meaning of digital influence because in order to claim to be influential, there has to be an outcome associated with it. Maybe that's when you should put your Klout score and other digital metrics on your resume--if you're expected to leverage your digital influence as part of your job and have the outcomes to back it up, then the value of your social graph is in play.

Enjoy the discussion below: we had fun recording it.

Five Considerations for Social Command Centers

Originally posted on Edelman Digital

It’s no secret that business has shifted to a real-time environment and social media tools are trying to keep up. As a result, organizations and brands must act in real-time. Some organizations have responded by building out what’s becoming known as “social command centers” in order to respond to this shift. Having built and operated our own command center (we call it the Social Intelligence Command Center or SICC), we’ve compiled five considerations for creating a similar space.

1. Start With a Purpose

Organizations can have various goals when looking to set up a “SICC” including event management (such as the Pop-up Conrad* Concierge at the Tribeca Film Festival or the Super Bowl), real-time reactive engagement and content creation (such as the American Red Cross), or gauging consumer sentiment in real-time around a given subject. Another possible objective for a SICC is to have a space for community management, analytics, strategy and content creation to occur simultaneously across a team. Once you’ve defined your purpose, you can begin envisioning the space.

2. Envision the Space

The term “space” is used broadly here because a SICC can be in a room, a pod of desks, a mobile technology configuration, and the list continues. But a space is only as strong as the processes that allow it to work seamlessly. Following the identification of a purpose, a process is created to achieve success. Components of the process include roles (analyst, community manager, content producer, traffic director, editor, etc.), workflow (approvals, escalation protocols, crisis plans), KPIs (what does success look like, how do we show it?), schedules (did you know social media doesn’t sleep? Will the SICC sleep?) and a handful of other components.

When envisioning the space, the components listed above will dictate the design of the space and how it functions. This isn’t just about a room with big screens and a nice logo – it is about planning, coordinating, training, designating and executing in a room designed with a purpose.

3. Build Your Team

The team involved in a SICC is scalable in number, but must function as a unit cohesively. Depending on the objectives of the SICC, your team could include multiple analysts providing direction on what is working and what isn’t, community managers and strategists guiding content based on the analyst’s insights, content creators with a wide breadth of talent (video editing one day, infographics the next) and a traffic director that keeps the process moving. Whether the agency is executing the SICC or it lives within a company, both parties play a vital role. Freedom to innovate and execute is an equally important role – without it, the insights and opportunities, the nimbleness of a SICC, is lost while waiting for approvals.

The team should have a firm grasp on the communication goals, tools, social technologies, the brand and the community. A brand’s social community is at the heart of any Social Intelligence Command Center. Without community, the SICC is like an airport – mission control, pilots, planes, security protocol, everything – without passengers.

4. Know Your Technology

SICCs are flexible and inclusive of many platforms at any given time. Prior to making a recommendation on a tool, we test it and others to ensure the best possible recommendation. From a physical technology perspective, we’ve found SICCs should have television for real-time events and news, large screens so teams can work together and as many white boards as possible. Dual-screens help team members use the numerous tech tools together and conference lines should be setup to facilitate communication with people in the room and others around the world.

5. Go Beyond Listening

The shift from social listening to social intelligence means using insights to inform engagement, drive content creation, build a community of advocates and, at the end of the day, cultivate meaningful relationships. Command centers are an evolution of call centers with a direct line to change the way business is conducted through customer feedback. Innovation in product development and customer service, increase in sales, decrease in call center volume, creation of efficiencies in supply chains; the intelligence from a command center is infinite, as long as you know how to use it.

As we execute programs leveraging Edelman’s own social media listening capability, there are core take-aways we apply to future activations. As we write this, we are actively working on a plan for a global SICC network to scale initiatives across geographies. In short, a social command center may not only be how a brand innovates in communications, but how it effectively integrates the old and new in a real-time and connected business environment.

 

Edelman's Social Intelligence Command Center (SICC)

View more presentations from Edelman Digital

Move Over Entrepreneurs, Here Come The Intrapreneurs

Originally posted on Forbes

In the wake of Facebook‘s IPO, and despite where the stock goes from here, one thing is clear: Entrepreneurs–especially successful ones–arethe new rock stars of business culture. Despite this trend, the reality remains that for every successful entrepreneur who builds even a modestly successful business, there are thousands who struggle and toil endlessly and may never see the fruits of their labor come anywhere close to commercial success. Add that to the fact that while entrepreneurialism seems to be enjoying a golden age of sorts, it isn’t for everyone.

Some individuals don’t want to go off on their own and build something from scratch wearing every hat (or hoodie) under the sun in order to find professional fulfillment.  There’s no shortage of books and media messages that paint the world in black and white in this regard. You are either a faceless corporate cog in the machine of a large, soulless organization, or you are fighting the good fight as a free and independent entrepreneur in charge of his own destiny. But I’m here to tell you from experience that there is a third way, and it’s called being an intrapreneur.

What does that mean exactly?

An intrapreneur is someone who has an entrepreneurial streak in his or her DNA, but chooses to align his or her talents with a large organization in place of creating his or her own. To the classic entrepreneur this may be puzzling, but to what I think is a growing class of 21st Century “employees,” it may sound like the best of both worlds. I didn’t come up with the word “intrapreneur,” but several years ago when I struck up a conversation with an older gentleman at a train station and I described what I did for a living, he said something I’ll never forget: “Oh, you’re an intrapreneur–so was I.”

And I’m not alone. Some of my peers who are doing work in the social business industry also are intrapreneurs whether they suspect it or not. Scott Monty of Ford, Ekaterina Walter of Intel, Richard Binhammer of Dell, Pete Blackshaw of Nestlé, Bonin Bough of Kraft and Frank Eliason of Citi, to name a few–and I could go on and on here. The start-up community has successfully demonstrated that the modern world needs entrepreneurs. For every app, social network, or new Web service you discover with delight–there are entrepreneurs behind them. But this only makes intrapreneurs more critical, because in a world filled with fast-moving change, a large organization that becomes complacent and loses sight of the benefits of having an entrepreneurial streak built into their massive global systems can find themselves disrupted in short order.

This is where intrapreneurs come in handy. Smart organizations will seek out individuals who like to invent, innovate and want to be on the front lines of change. These individuals can work independently but even more important can work seamlessly as part of an integrated team structure and also effectively embrace and embody the culture of the intrapreneur’s host organization. Intrapreneurs are most successful when management/leadership empowers and supports them and in turn the intrapreneurs represent the best interests of their organizations while earning the respect of corporate peers. So here’s to intrapreneurs everywhere: The corporate world needs us now more than ever, and you might just be one without knowing it.

Five (Intuitive) Reasons To Bet on Facebook

There's no shortage of commentary around Facebook as the smoke literally builds around it's engine while the social media rocket prepares for IPO liftoff. This piece won't be full of rational analysis but rather gut intuition. Here are a few things to chew on as you think about the global future with or without Facebook. 

Zuckerberg Isn't Steve Jobs, But He's Jobs-Like
Mark Zuckerberg gets social like Steve Jobs got design. Furthermore, both share a core foundational value which is irrationally committed to making products and experiences which please their own sensibilities first and the market second. Does this guarantee Facebook's success? No, but it does guarantee that there will always be a vison and if you look up Facebook's corporate governance structure, you'll realize that it's a company being set up to be purpose and vision led. Bottom line, you're not betting on or against Facebook, but really Mark Zuckerberg. 

Facebook Is Today's Telephone, E-mail & Internet For Many
Think about how you use Facebook, how your children use it (if you have them and they are old enough) and how your parents use it. It's already moving past "social network" status and moving toward something which looks more like a lifeline to the outside world. In conventional wars of the past, communication lines such as telephone would be cut so the enemy could not communicate. If conventional war broke out today—generals would plan to take the Internet out because of platforms like Facebook. Think about that. 

Ecosystems Trump Products
Facebook was never a product from day one—it started as a social network and it's been steadily building up an ecosystem ever since. It's on our mobile devices, it connects with our Websites, it offers it's own line of credit, it has apps and developer communities built around it and it's spawned hundreds of start ups that employ thousands of people who would not be in their line of work if it were not for Facebook. The company has already gotten to this point with a significant advantage in that it looks more like an octopus than it does a shark gobbling up everything in it's path. 

Big Business Is Built On Addictive Behaviors
Facebook is extremely addictive and one can find themselves spending a good chunk on their day there either working, playing or doing a combination of the two. Gambling became big business because of this. Drug trafficking, while illegal in most cases is big business and so are food industries built on menus with addictive items. As long as Facebook remains addictive to use, it will find a way to build business around it. 

Global & Local Are The Future
While Facebook is still working on markets like Russia and China—there's no dispute that it's well into the process of being a global phenomenon and in addition, it can be especially relevant in local markets. Any local business which is self sustaining or part of a larger company can have a presence and run it with the local knowledge of their own markets. It is this combination which positions Facebook as something of a "virus" with the ability for it to "infect" markets through the people who use it. 

Personally, I would not bet against Facebook. Even GM which announced this week that they were pulling out of Facebook advertising spending concedes that they are committed to other ways of integrating it (via content etc.). GM isn't betting against Facebook as much as deciding display ads weren't working for them. Of course, I could be wrong on all of the above—but intuitively my instincts are telling me, "don't bet against Mark Zuckerberg". 

Social Business: Where It's Been & Where It's Going

"Chasing the past, I stumbled into the future". - T A Sachs

I've always been a firm believer that in order to look to the future, we must look back to and fully grasp the past (and the present). Having had several recent engaging conversations with smart people who I respect, I've picked up a hint of exhaustion around usage of the word "social". Could it be that some who saw the "change" coming years ago are weary of having carried that torch for so many years as we move into the heavy lifting? It's natural to want to move to the next thing—but I'm convinced that today we are largely still talking about the "social media" era. The best of "social business" is yet to come in my opinion and we have a lot of work to do in between. Let's take a look back before we begin to look forward. 

Digital: The Interactive Revolution
When I entered the workplace—the world was already in the process of going digital. E-mail was just being introduced and I had gotten a job immediately largely because I entered the business world with a valuable skill—I was taught desktop publishing (ie computer aided design) in addition to design fundamentals. The digital revolution initially begun by replacing the analogue world. Things like music converted into digital formats and computers offered an interactive medium to produce upon. Digital began seeping into personal and professional lives and organizations, businesses and industries had to evolve along with it. Most did and the ones that didn't were outperformed. 

Digital Media: Information Goes Online
The second wave of the digital revolution began to gain steam as the internet became move pervasive. The "Web" became first accessible through browsers and then it became the search engines which organized what we then called "the information highway". A new digital economy was born as companies rushed to stake their claim online. The "corporate" Website was born—essentially a glorified brochure for your organization however the business world began to wake up to the fact that not being on the Web was perhaps risking being irrelevant. This sentiment is important to take into account as we currently wrestle with the current state of social media. Looking back to the "Digital Media" era provides some insights as we look at how social media has evolved. 

Digital Business: The Transactional Era
As the Internet, fueled by digital media and a wealth of information became more pervasive, the Internet evolved yet again creating new ecosystems resulting in new companies (Amazon, *eBay etc.) and creating opportunities for existing companies to extend their business models. Banks introduced online banking. Insurance companies supported online quotes. Cars could be customized and even purchased online. Large organizations grappled with back end integration as infrastructure was re-engineered. Digital had become not only interactive and informational, but it became transactional—offering organizations new ways to connect with customers or even employees (intranets). In short, digital became business and the flurry of activity in the form of mergers, acquisitions and the growth of system integrators reflected this.  

Social: The Human Web
With digital now established as transformational business tool—the Internet and the world began to evolve again. Early incarnations of a "social Web" such as message boards and forums gave rise to early social networks and the "blogosphere". Networks such as My Space or Friendster introduced the concept of managing a social profile on the Web while blogs began to disrupt the media landscape by empowering anyone to act like a journalist or publisher. The 'Digital Media" era was largely powered by technological connections—computers being connected to a global network. The Social era was powered by people connecting to each other forming a "human web". The word social becomes key during this era, because we begin to shift behavior during this phase. No longer are we just interfacing with digital systems (human to computer) but we begin to interface directly with each other (human to human). 

Social Media: Global, Local, Mobile Connectivity At Scale
Today, we live and interact with a digital world which is not only about finding information but is about being "connected". These connections are no longer limited to the personal computer, the primary vehicle which allowed for the original digital revolution to take hold years before. Mobile technology and an "always on" mindset for many individuals now blurs the line between the real world and digital—we no longer "log in" at our desks from nine to five but we are part of a digital and human "power grid". For many organizations, local Facebook pages show high levels of activity vs. global corporate Websites and organizations find their employees asking why internal tools can't be social and mobile. Networks now drive much of the Web's traffic as billions of people share links and opinions about the world around them. As a result of all of this activity—huge amounts of data or "social data" is currently flooding the current global digital ecosystem. This sets the stage for an era that's already begun, but is still in it's infancy (social business). 

Social Business: Connected, Adaptive & Intelligent
Despite much of the chatter around "social business", the reality is that most organizations are currently dealing with the realities of social media and only a few truly recognize the potential of social business. Not unlike how digital media evolved into digital business—social business takes the foundation of social media and begins to build new economic models on top of it. Proof points include models such as Kickstarter which disrupts old economic models by empowering any venture to become a funded venture. Existing business models however, are also presented with new opportunities (and threats). Business models where new connections are formed to the benefit of both the business, customer and even employee and shareholders are a core tenet of "social business". One could make the argument that Apple, while infamous for it's secret culture acted as a social business when they chose to connect to would be developers instead of trying (in vain) to design apps themselves. It is this kind of connected ecosystem which is linked to the idea of social business as well as the ability to adapt to conditions based on the intelligence a business can interpret. In the immediate years to come, the amount of data available to the average business will be infinite, however the data will be meaningless without the ability to interpret and act upon it. 

Winners & Losers: Navigating Today And Tomorrow's World
Having lived and worked during the "Digital Media" and "Digital Business" era, I think we're scratching the surface as we straddle the worlds between social media and social business today. While there are many similarities to the past, there are also several key differences. Today, digital has become embedded into the lives of millions of people and a generation who has never known life before it pours into our workforce and gradually rises in the ranks. Also, it's worth noting that the above chart doesn't suggest that any of the eras replace each other—rather they build upon one another. We are now in a social-digital environment where things increasingly move in real time. Tomorrow's business models must not only be able to adapt to change, they must help drive that change. These are a few thoughts I've had percolating for some time. As a follow up to this post, I'm going to do a review of a very promising book by former colleague Peter Kim and co-author Dion Hinchcliffe (Social Business by Design). From what I've seen of it so far—it shows a lot of promise in terms of how a business should be thinking about these kinds of things. (below graphic pulled from the book). Would love to hear your thoughts as well.  


*eBay is an Edelman client

Own The Data, Own The Future

Now that some of the dust is settling around Facebook's massive acquisition of Instagram this past week, we can all take a step back and think about the bigger picture. Yes, Facebook understands the critical role mobile will play in how billions of people interact and communicate but they also understand that interactions, engagement, consumption or whatever you want to call it generates one thing.

Data.

Facebook wants it. Google wants it. And all businesses will want to understand it. There is huge, big business to be built around all kinds of data. Targeted marketing is the first salvo and it's a pretty big one. But that's likely the tip of a gargantuan iceburg. I had some fun recently chatting with Richard Quest from CNN on some of these issues. It's only a few minutes, but you get the idea. The Web is going social, mobile and local. All of this will generate a lot of data, and that's going to be valuable in a lot of ways. What do you think? Where is all of this going?

Thoughts on the Future of Social-Digital Agency Services

*The above does not reflect actual or estimated market share

Now is as good a time as any to be thinking about the future of digital (and social) as defined by those of us who provide services or even products around these. If you work for any agency or consultancy—this article is relevant for you. If you're on the "client side" consider it relevant as well as ultimately it is your business model and needs which dictate the market conditions that affect your partners, vendors and professional service providers. I'm writing this piece from the perspective of having worked at several digital agencies—some of which are still taking market share and others which have slowly faded away or been digested into other formations.

Today, I work for a large privately held company (Edelman) with a "practice" consisting of roughly 600 individuals globally who offer services in the "social-digital" space (Edelman Digital). Given that the word "innovation" is in my title, I am always thinking about how we service the market today vs. how will will need to service it tomorrow. I obsess a little about things like comoditization and have seen it happen in other places I've worked at during my career. Below are some things which have been keeping me up at night, with a few ideas around how to address them. They are specific to the "digital-social" space largely, but can be more broadly applied as well.

Talent Importing & Exporting
The ground war starts here. If you work for an agency or professional services firm which operates deeply on the digital and social side of things, you are competing with everyone for talent. From start-ups to brands to the big three (Facebook, Google & Twitter)—it is essential to "import" the best talent while they are still emerging and "export" them into different opportunities across your firm to ensure retention. I am convinced that the Darwinism which happens regularly in this business is connected to acquisition and retention of talent who not only possess the right skills but deeply understand "the culture of service"—an art in and of itself which is critical for any client relationship. In addition to service culture, talent must be able to speak "the language of business", especially when it comes to understanding how our clients build theirs.  

Adaptation of Skillsets
Our world is changing daily. One of my recent tasks was to co-write a detailed point of view on how Facebook's latest changes affects the skillsets of the people who provide the services we make money from. For example, featured posts essentially converts brand page administrators into media buyers and real time analytics means community managers must become junior analytics consultants as well. There's no training course in the world designed to prepare your firm for the pace which our space runs at—you must have passionate, adaptable teams who are constantly challenging themselves to grow supported by leadership infrastructure which demands and rewards this. Simply put, we adapt or die.

Supply & Demand: The Keys To The Castle
As I mentioned earlier I think a lot about the services needed (as well as the ones which will be needed). For agencies specifically looking to gain market share in "social"—the "keys to the castle" so to speak are linked to how deeply we can embed ourselves in the platforms both internally and externally of our client partners. Translation—if you don't have direct access to a client's social properties and/or work closely with their teams, you are in trouble. The digital shops who both survived and are still thriving learned this lesson and are still here as a result. It's difficult to replace a partner who has helped create and maintain your infrastructure. The services we provide today must match market demand and be conducted flawlessly—for example if market demand suggests a need to run global social properties at scale, then you should be better at that than anyone else. Meet today's market demand and execute flawlessly while working on tomorrow's services today.

Ecosystem Development: Establish Your Alliances
Today's digital ecosystem is even more complex than yesterday's with new players emerging who attach themselves to the dominant platforms. From social CMS providers like Buddy Media, to data and analytic platforms such as Crimson Hexigon, Sysomos or Radian Six. Relationships with key partners (emphasis on plural) is critical to leveraging each other's strengths relationships and complimentary services. Should a digital or social agency develop their own ecosystems? The answer depends on the objective as well as the execution. Many "back end" platforms can be customized leveraging the API's of third parties. Today, build vs. assemble is a significant decision. Either way, I am convinced that for social and digital firms or those who wish to grow market share here—relationships built now will lead to success or failure later.

Integration: Multiple Roads
I could probably write more and perhaps I will at a later time, but this is a good start. While I haven't dwelled much on "integration"—It's also key, however there is more than one road which leads to that particular Rome. Ultimately integration of services (and agency partners) is linked to client business structure. Some are more hands-on, managing integration tightly and look for multiple partners while others seek to consolidate and empower certain partners to lead integration. But, while integration is complex and messy—I believe it's less critical than results. Websites that don't work, apps which aren't used and social execution which ends up in the media (in a bad way) are more significant indicators of success or the lack of, than having an agency structure which looks neat and tidy. In the end, it always has and will come down to execution and results.

Thoughts On Altimeter's Digital Influence Report

Altimeter's most recent report titled "The Rise of Digital Influence" revolves around the theory and practice of "digital influence". A trend that will not die despite the industry's counter movement against platforms such as Klout and the scores of imitators which have subsequently followed. (Full disclosure, I was interviewed in depth for the report). Altimeter rightfully begins the analysis of "digital influence" by calling out the distinction from how we view influence traditionally and offering a brief definition:

"Traditional influence is defined as the act, power, or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways. For the purpose of this report, we will use the following as the definition for Digital Influence: The ability to cause effect, change behavior, and drive measurable outcomes online."

The last line is really important as it gets to the crux of the complexity and controversy of looking at digital influence: the difference between measuring the potential to influence action and the actual outcomes of that potential—connecting the two is where the rubber meets the road.

Pillars of Influence

Altimeter does a nice job of articulating "Pillars of Influence"—a similar construct to one I had worked on last year, but I really like how they've fleshed out a way of looking at the building blocks of how you build upon the potential to influence decision and actions. They are:

Pillar 1 — Reach: Relationships form the union of the social graph and define how far information can travel across the social graph and communities at large. Reach is a measure of popularity, affinity, and potential impact.

Pillar 2 — Relevance: Topical relevance is the glue of the interest graph and the communities of focus. Individuals aligned through subject matter create a series of linked relationships that send information along communities of focus.

Pillar 3 — Resonance: The culmination of reach and relevance serve as the foundation for “the score.” Here, resonance is the measurement of the duration, rate, and level of interactivity around content, a topic, or conversations. High resonance ensures that more people will see each post or update. In theory, this number determines the reach of activity and how long it can stay alive in the social streams of online consumers.

Notice that there is no mention of tools in these pillars. This is because, tools and platforms do not dictate what the pillars are and are only helpful in supporting the intent of an outcome. Measuring influence in the digital realm is always a means to an end and never and and itself. 

Social Capital: The Soul of Digital Influence

Probably my favorite part of the report and what Brian and I spent a good deal talking about was the concept of "social capital" and it's correlation to an effect. When looking at programs which are fueled by tapping digital influence, it comes down to the social currency of individuals which is much more critical than network size. A large group of individuals who have built up social capital over time can be just as influential as a small highly connected group with similar capital built up. Combine these dynamics with the size and quality of their social graphs and you have the basic chemistry to create an effect. When we raised nearly 17 thousand dollars for a family in need (effect) I observed that it was less about the size of people's networks (it took large and small ones to move the needle) and more about the quality of them.
 

Influence Metrics: Measuring Impact

Surprisingly or perhaps less so, Altimeter's report lays out a set of high level metrics which can be used as a starting point when building your own measurement framework against programs which involve digital influence. What I noticed most is that nearly all of the below metrics are consistent with many external social programs, and even more broadly consistent with traditional metrics which have always resided within either public relations or marketing business functions. The biggest take away here is that while digital influence tools and techniques may have evolved at the core it's being embraced as an upgrade to both traditional marketing and public relations. Altimeter's metrics include:

•    Brand Lift/Awareness — Benchmark where the company is today in social networks, and set goals and KPIs to improve brand awareness and reach.
•    Brand Resonance — How often is your business discussed in the social web today? Define how resonance will keep your business top of mind and to what extent can be driven through influence programs.
•    Reach Through Advocacy and WOM — Existing advocacy and WOM initiatives can be designed to influence customer behavior and decisions.
•    Sales/Referrals — Through special offers and promotions or exclusive incentives for engagement, brands can drive leads, sales, and referrals.
•    Sentiment/Shift — Negative or indifferent perception can be shaped toward positive or favorable views.
•    Thought Leadership/Authority — Tapping into the communities of expert individuals can help your brand tap its social capital to contribute to the stature within the community you hope to earn.
•    Demand — Invest in demand creation through exclusive programs and intentional outcomes.
•    Trends — Changing behavior is possible once you understand what it is today, how you see it evolving, and identifying the right people and value to help you get there.
•    Audience — Investing in the size of your community and its quality is a function of design and purpose, and its value grows through strategic alignment and engagement.

Why It Matters: People Don't Change, But Digital Behaviors Do

The report is worth reading not only for it's concise constructs, but also for it's collection of real world case studies as well as it's overview of tools. (Disclaimer: Tweetlevel is an Edelman platform and I am on the advisory board for Appinions). However the report is timely as it underscores a reality—while the basics of communication and interactions remain the same, our digital behaviors are constantly evolving whether it be the newly empowered consumer class or the ability for individuals who have never met in person to weave powerful and influential online networks. Understanding, measuring and tapping digital networks is fast becoming the equivalent grassroots efforts meets rewards programs. As individuals continue to build up their networks earning and spending social capital, businesses will seek to align themselves with the most relevant and connected groups.

A full version of the report can be found on Slideshare: (below).

The Rise of Digital Influence

View more documents from Altimeter Group Network on SlideShare

Klout Targets Agencies Via "March Madness" Competition

Klout has dialed up their marketing efforts, this time placing agency individuals in a March Madness bracket style competition they are calling "Agency Insanity".  Critics will scoff at it as another attempt to get individuals to pump up scores, but in actuality the effort is a straight forward marketing initiative aimed at raising awareness, generating buzz and getting Klout to show up in people's social streams. A while back, Klout's founder Joe Fernandez and I discussed something like this as part of a brand initiative and it's interesting to see it in action under a different context.

I'm playing along as are my colleagues Steve Rubel and Michael Brito. Speaking for myself—if I end up winning, I'm going to figure out how to give the grand prize away (a Vegas get away) perhaps to a couple who could really use it. Our team will still get the free Pizza party. Don't like the tactic? Get used to it. Social marketing techniques are increasingly designed to get others to compete while leveraging their networks in the process (gamification leverging social currency). It's actually taking an old model and updating it for a social era.

Four Ways I Participated @ SXSW

Photo by Geoff Livingston

The interactive portion of SXSW is over—and by all accounts this year was the biggest (wettest) and probably the most "mature" of the event as more senior individuals from companies across the globe make their Mecca to Austin to network and learn about the convergence of technology and business. Here's a quick roundup of a few things I participated in and what I thought about them:

The Social Business Summit Soars

One of the highlights for me was the Social Business Summit hosted by The Dachis Group which kicked off SXSW. The event is intimate and invite only and I thought it was one of the better "signal to noise" ratio events connected to SXSW. IBM's Sandy Carter did a really nice job setting up the day with her social business construct and the folks at Dachis Group did an exceptional job orchestrating the speakers ranging from big strategic thoughts, to the nitty gritty practice as demonstrated by folks from Discover Card and US Cellular to wrapping up with views on "what's next" highlighting trends such as social shopping. The event caught the attention of Forbes Magazine which did a write up titled "What Do the Extinction of Dinosaurs and Social Business Have in Common?"

SXSW Winners & Losers: Panels vs. Big Data

Legend goes that SXSW panels are hit and miss—and sometimes they even present opportunities to catch up on much needed sleep! I didn't attend many panels this year due to a fairly packed schedule of business meetings, client lunches and dinners and of course our own events, but I did see the interview of Dennis Crowley billed as "Making The Real World Easier To Use". The session was decent overall, nothing groundbreaking—however one thing Dennis talked about that I thought made immediate sense was how location based services like Foursquare can become more utilitarian as they get smarter. For example, as Forsquare remembers places you visit, it could make recommendations on similar places in different locations and serve them up to you. "Big Data", was a re-occurring theme in not only this panel, but perhaps the entire conference. I'd even say "Big Data" was this year's Twitter for SXSW.

Allhat Rides Again 

This year marked our fourth "Allhat" event at SXSW—a tradition which started as a simple "tweet-up" several years ago. By all accounts it was the most well attended event we've hosted and my co-host Richard Binhammer and I were relieved that the weather cooperated. The Sun literally came out minutes after we opened the gate at Guero's. One of the coolest things about the events are the photos people take. You can view some great ones here, here, and here.

Measuring Media (Not Social ROI)
I also participated on a panel titled "Media Measurement: Science, Art or a Load of Crap" where we discussed the intricacies of what to measure when it comes to digital and social data, how to measure it and what it means. Bottom line, this is an area in infancy especially when it comes to the social side, but for whatever reason—our panel didn't cause the same stir as the panel on Social ROI before us. Below are some highlights from our measurement panel:

As usual, SXSW was a flurry of activity and for some an exercise in being both seen and heard. This year, you could see huge efforts from big brands like AMEX with huge activations including celebrities. Even agencies like R/GA got in the mix by driving a big white bus around with their logo prominently placed. At Edelman we sent over fifty staffers and hosted our second "Nightcap" event. To me, SXSW has evolved from a scrappy tech festival where geeks and start-ups gathered, to a high powered networking event which blends social and business seamlessly. It's increasingly important to be at this interesection.

Visual Notes From The Social Business Summit @ SXSW

Rather than write down some notes I thought I'd share a couple of pages from my notebook after the AM session from the Social Business Summit at SXSW. No more updates for a whie as my schedule is packed with business meetings, dinners, events and in person networking. Great summit though.

Weaving The Social Layer Across Your Organization

Next week I am joining thousands of innovators, digital pioneers and social strategists for the interactive portion of SXSW. A highlight of the trip will be joining my former colleagues from social business consultancy Dachis Group who are organizing their third installment of the Social Business Summit—a global series of events which kicks off in Austin. I'll be speaking along side folks like Clarah Shih author of the Facebook Era and who now serves on *Starbuck's board dedicating to navigating social. Other notable speakers include Sandy Carter who has taken the lead on IBM's push for social business integration, Bonin Bough who recently departed *PepsiCo to lead social efforts at Kraft and of course Jeremiah Owyang who has helped define this space.

We Are Here: The Novelty Is Over
I'm starting my premise with the fact that many organizations (especially those who have led in social initiatives) are now past the "experimentation" phase of social disruption. Some are even beginning to take a step back to evaluate what they've done in the past—what worked and didn't and how things need to more forward at scale. For many organizations who have gotten past the unrealistic expectations first experienced when social got traction in their organization, they now understand that the changes needed to take place will be long term, gradual and not exactly glamorous. That said, we have a long way to go, and my take is that social business is really only getting started.

From Silos To Layer: Weaving Social Into Your Organization's DNA
Despite the progress that many organizations, businesses and brands have made over the past few years—the reality is that for many, social integration isn't integrated. It's happening, but typically within silos and some are moving faster than others. Take for example the most recent changes announced by Facebook last week which affect business pages. Some companies responded to the changes immediately while others are still grappling with what they need to do and how they need to do it. Even in the cases where an organization has high proficiency using social in one silo (like marketing and communications) they are grappling with how to apply it to others. There are few examples emerging however which illustrate some convergence—Dominos Pizza for example has recently integrated product development with social marketing in their "Think Oven" initiative which invites customers to submit ideas or predefined participate in projects all via a Facebook app which is built into their business page. What Dominos is doing may be the tip of the iceberg, but getting your customers to work with you for mutual gain is a core value of what social business is supposed to be about.

Weaving The Social Layer Will Take Time
Still, the Dominos example isn't a success story as much as it is a mere signpost on the very long and winding road that is social business. Even with the ability to mine ideas from enthusiastic customers via social networks which are part of their lives, there are still operational challenges which include coordinating activities between the marketing department, agency partners, product development, and even legal. Right now, most organizations are making progress in pockets vs. the whole and it's going to take significant time for social to be woven into the fabric, culture and operations of any company. And, it's likely to not happen to all, but will definitely happen to some. The next ten years will be critical for a business in how it handles these disruptions and opportunities. We've now entered the threshold where the "weaving" of social into the fabric of an organization will take vision, time, resource, money, dedication and most importantly—patience.

*Starbucks and PepsiCo are Edelman clients

Ten (Awesome) Things To Do At SXSW

Something our team cooked up for SXSW. I'll be arriving early to speak at the Social Business Summit, hosted by Dachis Group. Also, some of the events I'll be attending are on Pinterest here and here. If you're going, see you there!

 

Social Business In Action: Field Notes

I just finished up participating in one of our events for Social Media Week, a global conference taking place in several major cities around the world. Our panel moderated by colleague Robin Hamman included Euen Semple who previously ran social efforts at the BBC and Vincent Boon from Giff Gaff, while it's still fresh on my mind, I wanted to jot down a few key thoughts:

Social Business Is About Applying Purpose & Intent At Scale
The above diagram is something I started off with and an attempt to describe social business in one visual. At it's core, it's about connecting stakeholders who are critical to the success of your business. And as I've stressed before—it's about executing initiatives leveraging the "3 P's"—People, Process & Platforms. I stressed starting with people.

Social From The Inside Out
Euen said the following:
"There's no point aspiring to be 2.0 outside the firewall when you are still operating at 1.0"
While I would not go as far as to say there's no point, (an organization can learn from external initiatives) I concede that Euen's point is well taken as so many organizations don't internalize social behaviors externally. If you can't walk the walk, how can you talk the talk?

Members Only
Vincent stressed that Giff Gaff customers are viewed as "members" and I simply loved this perspective. It is exactly in line with how "social" has altered our behaviors. Marketing departments always viewed their target as "consumers" but thinking of them as members and co-creators is a really nice way to acknowledge how empowered they are and how this can benefit themselves as well as the business.

Shiny Objects Be Damned
As I write this, I'm looking at a leaderboard created for Social Media Week London which uses Kred to rank "movers & shakers" AKA individuals creating noise this week at the events. It's clever but also a distraction. I referenced some of the efforts Verizon takes to include feedback into their services via forums—as well as levering experts who actively produce content and engage. Often times a social business is one that doesn't attract the most attention, but generates results. Beware the bright and shiny objects that capture attention but don't deliver long term value.

 

Below is a short video of the panel before it started just to give you an idea of what we covered.

Permission To Fail

I love my job. Seriously.

The skeptical among you may read this as shameless corporate cheer-leading, or a PR ploy (given I work at a PR firm). It's not. You have to understand that I work for a very unique company—in fact, it's been the most unique career experience in my life. A sixty year old company—technically family owned (not public) with over four thousand employees globally and the CEO of the company wears the last name of the founder, his father.

Which brings me to the video above. I had the opportunity to interview our CEO, Richard Edelman on the topic of trust as it relates to our annual study (Edelman's Trust Barometer). We teamed up with the Chicago chapter of Social Media Club and opened up our new floor in the Chicago office.

If you don't have time to watch the entire video (though I recommend it as it's a great discussion) I'd encourage you to fast forward to the last five minutes. Richard says what every "employee" wants to hear. As a CEO, he believes that the top can do their part by cultivating a culture where failure is not shunned, but embraced as part of the innovation process.

"...that's the one thing the top can do"

Amen.

Will The Real Social Business Experts Please Stand Up?

 

Stop what you're doing and check out this thread (on Google Plus of all places) started by Francine Hardaway. She started it off with a simple question.

"Who are the best experts in social business?"

What followed was a robust discussion on what social business is, isn't and who's driving the agenda forward in the space both in thought and action. If you're interested in the emerging definition of social business (aka the convergence of enterprise 2.0 and social media) I highly recommend you taking a look. Some of my favorite thoughts:

"the thread that social business is not the same as social media, or social media marketing. Social business is about BEING social, inside and outside the organization. Social media is about DOING communication differently. The former is holistic (ideally). The latter is decidedly less so, but that doesn't make it unimportant."
Jay Baer

"I think we're getting a little cute with the wording or definitions; I think that most of the people who've earned respect in this business have long been advocating that the smartest application of social platforms is to integrate them across the organization, including employees and the entire supplier and partner chain. I agree with everything in the definitions of "social business," I just don't think it's that big of a departure from what serious social practitioners have been up to for a while."
Christopher Barger

"The value that social interactions bring here are on several separate levels. In the most basic form it adds value by capturing all that unstructured knowledge that we still try to manage (classical knowledge management); then comes value from inter-collaboration and relationship networks; then comes value by applying analytics to those collaborations and knowledge capture; and finally the transformation and dynamic/flexibility to managing what used to be very fixed processes"
Rawn Shah

"I think to do social media right, you have to know customer service, human behavior, trends, business (finance, forecasting, marketing, high level strategy, departments, inter-department working, crm) and then you need to understand how people use and receive social channels tools. You have to be able to sit on top of a perch and then connect it all to the rest of a company. Not a lot of people do this."
Alex Beauchamp

As for me, I do see some distinction between social media and social business. Social media is communications focused. Social business is communications, r&d, legal, sales, customer support, operations, collaboration etc. All at enterprise scale. Internal and external. It's applying a social layer across an organization. Who are the experts here? That's not the real question. The real question is who is ready and willing to do the hard work over the next ten years. That's about how long I think it will take most large organizations to fully integrate "social" even if, by then we are calling it a different name. 

People, Places & Events

A few significant events happening over the next few months—here's where I'll be:

Chicago: February 6th, Social Media Club, An Interview With Richard Edelman
Our I'll be interviewing Richard Edelman our CEO in our new office space as we host the Chicago Social Media Club. We will be discussing this Year's Trust Barometer findings. If you can't make it to Chicago, we will be live streaming video the interview at 5:00 CST.

London & New York: February 13-16, Social Media Week
Our London office is hosting a panel titled "Social Business In Action". A topic I'm very passionate about—then off to New York for an invite only wrap party in Edelman's NY Penthouse space. If you'd like to find out more about that event, please contact Libby.

Austin: March 8-12, SXSW
Will be participating in a panel at SXSW, titled "Media, Measurement: Science, Art or a Load of Crap" organized by Trulia's Ken Shuman. In addition, Dell's Richard Binhammer and I are returning to co-host the fourth installment of "Allhat" (more tickets to get released next week). And, Edelman Digital returns with our late evening, Nightcap event to kick things off. 

If you'll be at any of these events, please say hello!

How To Be A Social Media Self-Righteous Jerk

The scale above shows the many stages one has to go through in order to become a bona fide self-righteous jerk in social media. Still, there are many people who aspire to reach this peak, but fall short in executing against it. Given this observation, I thought it would be worthwhile to piece together a few best practices which will ensure your status as a social media self-righteous jerk (or SMSRJ). In no particular order:

1. Join The Klout Gestapo
All social media SMSRJ's know that Klout is simply evil incarnate and requires a organized force to take on this evil axis of influence wherever it resides. A true SMSRJ will never-ever create a Klout profile and lash out against anyone who dares do so. If Klout is the Devil, then Klout Perks is the Devil's spawn. Perks are to be shunned, banished and those who recieve them should be branded with a scarlet "K".

2. Unfollow Offensive Twitter Followers In Public
Only seekers un-follow people or companies who they no longer derive value from quietly. It is the true SMSRJ who announces it out loud in some fashion or another. Tactics here can range from a thinly veiled post or an all out campaign. Make sure you get a few social media gurus on your side to link to your public posts and shout your discontent from the rooftops. A SMSRJ really knows how to make a public spectacle of their personal dissatisfaction.

3. Target Social Media Gurus
While on the topic of social media gurus, ignore the fact that while almost no true social media gurus actually call themselves that—they are the conduit to becoming a guru yourself. Take them down, one by one. Call them social media gurus every chance you get. Make sure all your social networks know you are doing real work. Tweets like "I'm still at the office knee deep in spreadsheets" will establish your credibility as a non guru. On your non-guru social media blog, write at least one post a month taking on a clearly identified guru in any subject you wish to establish authority in. If you're really lucky, they might even link to you.

4. Analyze Social Media Influencer Lists
A new social media influencer list comes out about once a week. Make sure you find them and when you do, interrogate the creator on their methodology. Be sure to use your own made up metrics to throw them off the fact that you're actually upset that you're not on the list.

5. Use The #Humblebrag Hash Tag At Will
If it looks like a humblebrag and acts like one—it's a humblebrag and any SMSRJ has the responsibility to use the hash tag to combat this perverse social media behavior. After a few good uses, be sure to celebrate on your next vacation by relentlessly publishing pictures of beaches, mountains and gourmet food on Facebook. Hey, everybody's doing it #humblebrag.

6. Take Up The Cause Against Personal Brands & Corporate Cheerleaders
A true SMSRJ creates social media feeds which reek of authenticity. However, shameless promoters are out there at every corner. They need to be dealt with. Let them know when their personal brands have gotten out of control. Or even worse, if they talk about their jobs and promote the companies who support their families. Take a zero tolerance stance pointing out that neither is acceptable. A handful of SMSRJ's have even built successful personal brands pointing out how dangerous personal brands really are. Learn from this and you too can be internet famous in an ethical, respectable and admired fashion.

7. Call Out The Book Promoters
Let's face it. Every author out there is using social media to promote their books. Unacceptable. Out them, blacklist them and once you have enough material to write a book yourself, make sure you mention your book in one out of every five social media posts. Just enough to promote it, but not enough to arise suspicion from non-author SMSRJ's.

8. Engage (And Let Everyone Know How Engaging You Are)
So many people are out there using social media as a broadcast channel—they never even talk to anyone else. Blasphemy! Make sure that you spend most of your activity engaging with others. Make sure they know you're engaging them. Remind them to engage back. Engage to the point where you risk work deadlines or real world relationships. Social media requires sacrifice. Bring your offerings to the alter of engagement and make sure everyone knows it.

9. Embrace Two Colors: Black And White
Nuance is for the weak. The SMSRJ sees only two shades—black and white, right and wrong. There is only one way to do social media right—see steps 1-8 for instruction.

10. Direct Your Energy Toward The Unenlightened
Spend the majority of your time watching others. Obsess over their social media habits and dissect their transgressions. It takes ten thousand hours to perfect any craft and this goes double for the committed SMSRJ. Don't be distracted by your own initiatives but stay focused on what others do and allow their behavior to drive your mission in social media—to rectify social media injustices around the world.

*This post designed to make you think. Social media guru not required.

Launching a Social Command Center (Without The Center)

"Social command centers" are all the rage today and it's not without some merit. Many organizations now find themselves in a real-time business environment where news travels faster than sound, and information is set free. As a result, some forward thinking companies have put "monitoring" in place either in-house or in combination with partners. This isn't enough. And to make matters worse, I've seen companies make the classic mistake of buying a tool BEFORE putting any thought into the design that goes into effective monitoring and response, forgetting the 3P's (People, Process, Platforms). Tech platforms are only one third of the problem.

The media hasn't helped. "Social Command Centers" as physical spaces ripped from the playbook of NASA have been documented via Dell, Gatorade and most recently, the Super Bowl. Now, to be clear—a physical space can make listening, engaging and responding in real time effective—but it's not a requirement. In fact, for the organization who wishes to be able to function in real time for the long haul, it's the wrong place to focus on. So, how does any organization who wishes to be better equipped for real-time business move forward? Based on some of the work I've been doing with our analytics teams at Edelman Digital—below are some high level recommendations for setting up your social command center, without the center.

 

1: Set Up The Infrastructure
If your organization is not currently equipped to take in large amounts of social signals and process that data in real time—it's imperative to start with the three P's:

People
Most organizations forget that any initiative is dependent on people no matter how effective the tool and they forget to start here. Don't make that mistake. First, decide how much your organization can invest in terms of training people to both use the tools and have "listening" become either part of their job or the job itself. Go to the organizational design drawing board and begin to map it out. See who has done it before and if you don't know who has—find help here. Many organizations will find out that they need assistance in the form of professional service providers. Even here, work on the org design to determine how resources, both internal and "outsourced" work together for maximum integration.

Process
Another area where many "command center" initiatives fail is that they gather the signals, but don't have the internal process in place to share the insights and intelligence. If your organization has spent money on tools or even people but haven't figured out how to effectively communicate (internally) what you're hearing, it's wasted investment. A process must be designed which connects multiple stakeholders together who can quickly get information and perhaps more importantly be able to connect with others on intepreting what it means. Internal social networks which act as collaboration hubs, can play a role here—but again, without a process (and the right culture) in place, the tools won't matter. A system must be designed here which can quickly get information out to key stakeholders across multiple silos, but those groups must commit resources and leadership to support the process.

Platforms
Not all tools are created equal and some perform better functions than others. There's no shortage of tools which started as listening and are moving into the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) space, or social publishing platforms that are extending into the monitoring and response category. There are tools which will work with existing enterprise platforms and those which claim to be end to end. There are also technology platforms who will offer services around their tools and those who don't. The golden rule when choosing a platform is to remember that a technology company at the end of the day always views their technology as the best solution. We typically recommend comprehensive audits here—as well as bringing together both internal decision makers and key partners together before pulling the trigger on a technology solution. It's also recommended that SOME thought be put into both people and process before making a decision on tools. The most common scenario I've seen is the reverse—which leads to more cost and less efficiency, retrofitting people and process to work with a tool which may have not been the best pick in the first place.

2: Analyze For Meaning
Data. It means nothing without analysis. In order to even get to any kind of meaningful analysis, you mist first set up the right filters and taxonomies. Your company for example may have a product name which also comes up in other industry conversations in total unrelated context. Once the right taxonomies and filters are in place, it requires brains to detect patterns and extract any kind of meaningful insight from the data. These brains are not just the data analysts but also people across your organization who should be pulled into the "command center" and tapped for their area of expertise. Individuals from R&D, customer care and even HR can be relevant here.

3: Optimize Content & Engagement Tactics
There are really only two immediate actions any organization can take from having a command center infrastructure in place. The first is to optimize any form of communication asset which goes out. The second is to optimize any form of engagement (example, talking to anyone in a forum, social network, or commenting on a publication). Both content and engagement tactics are informed by the social intelligence captured, disseminated and digested by the designated individuals who are part of the command center ecosystem. Content and engagement tactics can happen across a number of digital and real world properties. Traditional media, (mainstream), Hybrid (blogoshphere), Social, (networks and forums) and Owned (apps and corporate sites).

4: Monitor & Measure New Signals
If you're going to invest in a social command center (without the center), you'll need to be able to measure and report progress, not only intelligence. Every piece of content and every interaction should be designed to create a ripple effect or reverberate a signal which your command center should be able to pick up and track back to the source. The source should be connected to your efforts whether ranging from correcting inaccurate information, to levering social channels to rectify a bad customer experience. Everything we do in the digital space sends a signal. Some are faint and some get picked up. As part of a command center construct, an organization should design it so it can not only trace signals back to their origin, but connect them to business objectives.

It's worth noting that as with everything else attached to the word "social"—a command center construct is not a magic bullet nor a solution for your business problems. However, it can be an effective move your organization makes in calibrating it for real-time scenarios which is becoming all too frequent as a result of social technologies and the behavior it influences. Today, your customers, employees and competitors can send signals in real time. My hypothesis here is that within the next 5-10 years, nearly every organization will have some kind of system like this in place which works to their benefit.

Trust Shifts From Institutions To Individuals

 

Today I had the opportunity to present to academics and industry experts from the international poultry industry (you can listen to a re-cap via a short podcast from "Agwired" here). During the presentation I was able to share some results from the recently released 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer, in which the overarching theme is a general skepticism toward institutions such as government and big business with signs of hope when it comes to empowered individuals.

A Person Like Yourself
In last year's study, it was the expert and even the analyst who enjoyed some degree of trust from the public according to the survey, but this year it is "a person like yourself" who sees the most gain. What I stressed to the group of experts at the event was that this is an opportunity for them to share the stage with "regular" people who have a voice via a variety of social channels and also a responsibility to be "in tune" with the topics and issues they care about and discuss. Last year I speculated that the decline in attention given toward people like ourselves—our friends and peers may have been related to social media fatigue. This year, it's possible that many of us who make social networking part of our digital routines have gotten a bit better at filtering the signal from noise, thereby being both more generous but focused with our finite attention spans.

Regular Employees
In this year's survey, CEO's took a nose dive compared to last year reflecting a somber and skeptical mood which likely connects CEO's with the institutions they work for. Only government officials fared worse. But it is the individual "regular" employee who moved from the bottom tier to the fourth most credible and trusted resource. This signals a significant opportunity for organizations who have cultures in place where employees themselves are trusted to behave responsibly and are active in public spaces.

 

Fragmented Media Consumption (And Production)
A recent Mashable article reported that digital ad spending had surpassed that of print—bringing an era to a close and emphasizing the new reality of media fragmentation. The increase in social media (illustrated above) is partially fueling the shift—with social networks driving much of the traffic through sites replacing e-mail shares with buttons that blast out content across your networks amplified by others. Nobody knows this more than the traditional news media outlets who are scrambling to ensure that content is designed for social sharing.

Trust In The Digital Age of Empowerment
With trust in government, big business and at a broader level institutions down—there remains experts and individuals both who are in a prime position to take their platforms into digital spaces and elevate their position. For institutions, there's an opportunity to improve sense making out of what's being said not only by the mainstream but also talked about via networks, message boards and anywhere a comment button can be pressed. For CEO's, a chance to take a second look at their workforce—instead of seeing worker bees, the connected CEO may see employee ambassadors who when motivated can be the most effective spokespeople for their company.

For the complete findings on this year's Trust Barometer—the data can be viewed and downloaded via Slideshare (below).

2012 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Deck

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What's A Picture Worth?

Just updated my "Visual Thinking Archive" on Flickr. It provides a variety of frameworks, visual thoughts and non text based strategic thinking would could apply to a variety of business cases. What's a picture worth? It's up to you to determine the worth. For me, it helps the thinking process.

The Year of the Change Agent

We've always lived and worked in a state of flux but one can make the argument that recent developments in technology, society and business seem to have accelerated the pace of change we have to contend with. Our mobile devices would have been considered fairly high powered computers not that long ago. We live in a hyper-connected state of existence, constantly sending out signals to friends, family, work associates, peers , etc. If this year belongs to anyone, it is the change agent. 

You may be thinking—"that's exactly what I am," but chances are, if you aren't frustrated or feeling like you are constantly hitting wall after wall, you may not be the change agent you think you are. It's a thankless job, but a necessary one, now more than ever. Change agents aren't sprinters, they run marathons—and this will be their year whether they know it or not. But in order to do the job (and really, it's everyone's job if you're interested in innovation) there are a few key areas where the seeds of change will need to take root.

Thoughts 
Change cannot happen without first influencing the thought process—the way we think about ourselves, our jobs our business and most importantly our missions. Change starts with the core of how we think about everything before we ever take action. It is thoughts which drives strategy and strategy which drives execution (when done right). Change can begin with a whisper—often times as a thought formed in our minds. 

Behaviors
If thought is the seed then the living organism which springs from it is the behaviors which take root upon them. Without action, thoughts and ideas serve little purpose other than to inspire—which can ignite change, but not sustain it. A change in behavior can range from a shift in daily ritual, to the adoption of new technologies to reacting to environments in new and unexpected ways. When what we do is aligned with what we think, anything is possible. 

Perception
When we realize that we are more in control of the way we are perceived than we think—change is possible. Sometimes altering the perception of ourselves whether we be individual or organization acts as a catalyst to influence thoughts and behaviors and other times it is a result—but either way we change when they way we are perceived is altered. 

Outcome
Without a meaningful outcome which indicates the measure of change that has either occurred (or not) there cannot be change. An outcome can be an attitude—or it can be financial, but it's tangible. Not so long ago, the world thought Apple computer was dead. Having owned my share of overpriced and underperforming beige machines—I lived through that sentiment. Then change took root—thoughts, behaviors and perception of the company shifted and one of the indisputable outcomes is reflected in valuation of the company. Ask Apple's shareholders what they think of change. 

2012 belongs to the change agents. But real change takes a complex formula of vision, perseverance and stubbornness to pull off.

Here's to all of the above.  

Holidays

Ended the year with a flurry of activity. We went public with our newly elevated offering around social business—have delivered significant milestones with several clients and wrapped up my frequent air travel for the year. The next couple of weeks will be spent catching up with family, friends and even some snowboarding. Here's to you and yours in 2012.

Demystifying Social Business

Originally published on Edelman Digital

If you Google the phrase “social business” you’ll get a variety of results returned. One of the first and perhaps oldest is a Wikipedia entry, which describes “social business” as “a non-loss, non-dividend company designed to address a social objective within the highly regulated marketplace of today.”

The Wikipedia entry states the following: This article is about a business with a social objective. For organization designed around social tools, social media, and social networks, see Social media. The number one position (at least on my search) serves up a web page from IBM, which describes social business by saying, “People don’t do business with companies. People do business with people. Here is why―and how—to become a Social Business.”

While both are correct, the definition that IBM outlines not just the idea, the theory of social business, but the practical application that we are seeing in the industry today.  What Yunus envisioned, IBM has put a structure and focus around and broadened to include doing business in a connected age. In light of this, here are a few considerations for how “social business” might break down for you and why it’s related to social media, but not the same.

1. Social Brand + Social Enterprise = Social Business

Remember this simple formula. A social brand is what your customer feels (perhaps being engaged on social platforms as part of the customer experience), while a social enterprise internalizes social as part of the way employees collaborate and how the business interacts with partners. The two, add up to doing business in a social and connected way. It means being plugged in from the start and incorporating feedback loops. In this regard, many businesses that run forums where they listen and engage with their most active customers already understand the foundation of social business.

2. Believe In Life After Likes

Social business is bigger than Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and (insert social network here) combined. It’s about applying a social layer across the entire organization—connecting a company to all of its stakeholders (customers, employees, business partners, shareholders, etc). What we’ve seen in the past few years was an explosion of social across mostly marketing and communications departments, but what’s coming in the next several years is social integration at the enterprise level. A great starting point to assess if your company is moving in the right direction is to count the heads of the people working on social integration initiatives full time. If you don’t get past counting to one, you’re in trouble.

3. Think Beyond Media

There are opportunities to leverage social media as a new way to spread a message, be heard, tell a story or get a story amplified. The media industry has, notably, been disrupted by social media as blogs and real-time communications have gained traction among audiences and eaten away at attention newspapers, radio and television news properties once exclusively served. In response, media companies were forced to integrate social media into their operations, empowering journalists early on to create their own blogs, and over time to become deeply integrated into social networking platforms.  This was not a mere media tactic, but a shift in how media companies functioned and conducted business.  Born out of necessity or not, the media industry showed how to become a more social business.

4. Get Social By Design

Social media projects are typically constructed of experiments, skunk works and unsanctioned projects, which launch and take shape before most people across a company even realize they are happening. Some of these experiments are successful; many are not—but organizations find out after the fact that there is something powerful happening within their audience. Social business benefits from a more thoughtful and disciplined approach.  Social business requires planning—taking stock of every social-digital embassy, property and initiative (both internal and external) and assessing what should stay, what needs formal investments and what goes to the chopping block. The entire business strategy for an organization must be considered through this lens of social business. This “design” process—an intentional and purposeful approach—allows for social media, and truly social thinking, to be integrated and scaled.

5. Learn To Become A Matchmaker

Nobody owns “social business” — – but everyone feels its influence.  Social business planning must be championed by leadership, built into the efforts to flatten management structures and bridge the gaps between organizational silos. The CMO and CIO must join forces, and invite the heads of HR, R&D and customer service to be a part of the same conversation. Social business change agents must also become matchmakers, because getting a video to go viral will seem easy in comparison to getting people in different departments to come together around social.

Remember that Google search result I mentioned a few paragraphs back?  The number three result for social business links to an article from Fast Company titled “Move Over Social Media, Here Comes Social Business”. Its prime search rank is proof that social extends beyond marketing and media.  When Microsoft decided to open their SDK (Software Developer Kit) for Kinect to developer communities, they made a calculated decision that value would flow back to the company as it simultaneously benefits developers. Even organizations such as NASA have reaped rewards from the decision to be a social business. This is a sign that in being a social or connected business—the end goal is value for multiple stakeholders, and for both business (and society) that’s a good thing.

*Microsoft is an Edelman client

Six Social Media Trends for 2012

Originally posted on Harvard Business Review

Each year at this time, I look forward and predict trends in social media for the coming year. But first, I look back at my predictions from last year. How'd I do? Not bad.

Social media continues to move forward toward business integration, a trend that I identified last year. In a joint study from Booz & Company and social platform developer Buddy Media, 57 percent of businesses surveyed plan to increase social media spending, while 38 percent of CEO's label social as a high priority.

I was also partially accurate in predicting that Google would "strike back" in 2011. They did, with Google Plus, a formidable initiative that acts as Google's "social layer" to the Web. Part social network and part social search, Google Plus has industry observers scratching their heads, wondering if Facebook will be given a run for their money or if the service evolves into something complimentary in a highly social Web.

I had one big swing-and-miss on Facebook's intrusion in the location-based services war. While Facebook still supports location tracking in a number of ways, it has not put Foursquare out of business. Foursquare still enjoys a niche audience of highly active participants who enjoy telling the world where they are and post pictures to prove it. It is however worth noting that Facebook recently acquired location based network Gowalla, so continue to watch this space.

So what can we expect in 2012 in a world that seems to grow ever connected by the hour? Here are six predictions to ponder, in no particular order:

Convergence Emergence. For a glimpse into how social will further integrate with "real life," we can look at what Coca Cola experimented with all the way back in 2010. Coke created an amusement park where participants could "swipe" their RFID-equipped wristbands at kiosks, which posted to their Facebook account what they were doing and where. Also, as part of a marketing campaign, Domino's Pizza posted feedback — unfiltered feedback — on a large billboard in Times Square, bringing together real opinions from real people pulled from a digital source and displayed in the real world. These types of "trans-media" experiences are likely to define "social" in the year to come.

The Cult of Influence. In much the same way that Google has defined a system that rewards those who produce findable content, there is a race on to develop a system that will reward those who wield the most social influence. One particular player has emerged, Klout, determined to establish their platform as the authority of digital influence. Klout's attempt to convert digital influence into business value underscores a much bigger movement which we'll continue to see play out in the next year. To some degree everyone now has some digital influence (not just celebrities, academics, policy makers or those who sway public opinion). But for the next year, the cult of influence becomes less about consumer plays like Klout and more about the tools and techniques professionals use to "score" digital influence and actually harness, scale and measure the results of it.

Gamification Nation. No we're not taking about video games. Rather, game-like qualities are emerging within a number of social apps in your browser or mobile device. From levels, to leaderboards, to badges or points, rewards for participation abound. It's likely that the trend will have to evolve given how competition for our time and attention this gaming creates. Primarily, gamification has been used in consumer settings, but look for it in other areas from HR, to government, healthcare and even business management. Perhaps negotiating your next raise will be tied to your position on the company's digital leaderboard.

Social Sharing. Ideas, opinions, media, status updates are all part of what makes social media a powerful and often disruptive force. The media industry was one of the first to understand this, adding sharing options to content, which led to more page views and better status in search results. What comes next in social sharing is more closely aligned with e-commerce or web transactions. For example, Sears allows a user to share a product or review with their networks directly from the site. Sharing that vacation you just booked, or recommending a product, or service from any site to a social network is where sharing goes next. We probably don't know what we are willing to share until we see the option to do it.

Social Television. For many of us, watching television is already a social act, whether it's talking to the person next to you, or texting, tweeting, and calling friends about what you're watching. But television is about to become a social experience in a bigger and broader sense. The X Factor now allows voting via Twitter and highlights other social promotions, which encourages viewers to tap social networks while they watch. Another way media consumption is becoming social comes from a network called Get Glue which acts as something of a Foursquare for media. Participants can "check-in" to their favorite shows (or other forms of media) and collect stickers to tell the world what programs they love. Watch for more of this this year as ratings rise for socially integrated shows.

The Micro Economy. Lastly as we roll into 2012, watch for a more social approach to solving business problems through a sort of micro-economy. Kickstarter gives anyone with a project, the opportunity to get that initiative funded by those who choose to (and patrons receive something in return). A crowdsourcing platform for would be inventors called Quirky lets the best product ideas rise to the top and then helps them get produced and sold while the "inventor" takes a cut. Air BnB turns homes into hotels and travelers into guests, providing both parties with an opportunity to make and save money. These examples may point to a new future reality where economic value is directly negotiated and exchanged between individuals over institutions.

These are a few emerging trends which come to mind. As with anything, looking to the past often gives us clues for what may come in the future. Please weigh in with your thoughts: where do you see "social" going in 2012?

Social Business Planning in 2012

Originally posted on Edelman Digital

Today marks my two-year anniversary at Edelman, or what we affectionately like to refer to as an “Edelversary”. So much has changed in the industry since joining the team here—we are truly working in a real-time business environment. We’ve seen “social” move from an item to be checked off the list from major brands to something they are genuinely grappling with in terms of integrating at scale across the enterprise. At Edelman Digital, we’ve always approached social a bit differently from others—focusing on the fact that much if it revolves around human-to-human interactions (we now call this community management), but if social is to scale—it must begin to spill out of the marketing silo and truly influence how we do business. We believe a connected business is better positioned for the future than a business, which remains disconnected and non adaptive.

Today, we’re announcing a partnership with Edelman Consulting led by Mike Kuczowski, in which we are actively elevating our services around social business to meet what we believe will be the opportunity in the years to come. In order for a business to truly extract value from social initiatives, we must consider not only marketing but how it impacts research and development, human resources, innovation, business intelligence and other facets of an organization which help drive a business forward. Michael’s team has deep experience solving complex business challenges while our digital team possesses incredible savvy and a global perspective for how social-digital operates at scale (folks like Michael Brito, Zena Weist, Robin Hamman, Dave Fleet, & Chuck Hemann to name a few).

Social Business Planning

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Together, we’re looking forward to elevating the game for companies who truly wish to push their social initiatives beyond acquiring fans and followers. As an initial gesture, we are openly putting our approach out on the social web, which outlines not only our joint philosophy on social business planning but also, the methodology we use when working with clients. We believe that over the next ten years, most businesses will move past the ROI question of social—and get to work on doing business in a connected age. This will require gradual if not steady change and a commitment to evolving business practices.  We’re looking forward to partnering with likeminded organizations and individuals who see the world in a similar fashion.

You can read more information on this initiative here.  We’re excited to play our part in moving the discussion of social business from philosophy to action.

Forrester's "Three Social Thunderstorms" At LeWeb

I didn't attend LeWeb this year, but judging by the chatter, one of the more discussed talks was given by Forrester's CEO, George Colony who outlined three "thunderstorms" approaching the tech & business world. I just finished watching his talk, and thought it would be interesting to outline portions of his talk with my take layered on it:

Thunderstorm 1:  The Death of The Web
You'll have to watch the video (above) to grasp the full intricacies of what George is putting forth, but essentially he's making a call that app economies which have the potential to tap both processing power and the cloud, will change the Web and move it away from a network/browser model to something which leverages devices, apps and the cloud in a more powerful way.

My Take: Scale & Sustainability vs. Experience
I get what George is saying and claiming the death of anything gets headlines, but really what this will likely come down to is user experience vs. sustainability and scale. Apps already show promise of providing better experiences than browser/network, but a question remains how scalable it is for enterprises vs. consumers. While HTML 5 is already working on a more stable browser experience, apps are often dependent on OS systems. What's more probable is that the Web as we know it doesn't die—but loses dominance in the consumer area specifically. For businesses specifically, the demand will be formed around what model scales and can be sustained globally over time. 

Thunderstorm 2:  Social Saturation
Social is running out of hours and people meaning there is finite demand to meet the current glut of social start-ups and networks competing for our attention, usage and loyalty. As a result, we are moving into a "post social" world in which we see the demise of platforms like Foursquare which don't offer enough value to survive. The post social web will see new or evolved players who offer efficiency and value.

My Take: Value Is In The Eye of The Beholder
I think George is right on the bubble assessment but claiming that social platforms will move away from the Foursquare's of the world to platforms which offer concrete effiiencies and value is debatable. Both Twitter and Facebook emerged and evolved as different tools from which they started. Essentially the free market will demand what happens here, but it is likely that the ones who succeed will look more like a Kickstarter over yet another photo/location sharing network.

Thunderstorm 3: The Enterprise
George cited that 72 percent of enterprises are either interested in or already implementing social technologies as part of how their business operates. He cited a number of players in the enterprise space such as Salesforce, IBM and Microsoft and hinted that these could evolve and new players could emerge as well. He also noted that one of the core reasons enterprises are interested in social has a lot to do with their customers (the primary focus of enterprise social as he puts it).

My Take: Social Business
George isn't just talking about the internal social enterprise, he's talking about extracting business value from social, like more efficient employees, better business decisions made from data and data analysis, and improved products and services informed by customers to give a few examples. Most organizations are in their infancy of figuring out how to get real value from a newly connected environment and I agree that it's going to take a changing of the guard over time but there are massive opportunities. He's essentially describing social business, which over the next 10 years will need to be executed upon.

Great talk overall, highly recommend viewing it.

What's On The Horizon For Social Business?

I was recently invited to our Toronto office to talk about social business—both what it is and what's in store for organizations who seek to integrate social as part of how they do business. This is probably the best way to define social business vs. media. While many organizations seek to leverage social media as part of communications, (such as marketing) social business seeks to extract value from doing business in a more social way. When we talk about social business planning, our focus shifts from merely thinking about the media universe to adding purpose and intent behind how we harness "social" for business purposes. And all of this is still the tip of the Iceburg. We'll be talking more about social business planning in depth in the months to come.

Making Business Decisions Through Data

Co-produced with Chuck Hemann on Edelman Digital

What’s the next big thing after “listening”? It has something to do with data—but more importantly the decisions a business makes after sifting through the data and understanding what impact it can have. The social-digital sphere as it turns out is full of data. Some of it is conversational data, some of it is search related, but all of it leaves a digital trail of clues for us to follow, only it’s up to us to decipher those clues. (hint, Facebook loves your data.)

As social media has made its way into almost every communications program, we have also seen the need for more advanced approaches to monitoring intensify. In fact, monitoring as a discipline is being replaced by listening. What’s the difference? The term monitoring implies a passive action. If we’re monitoring, we watch for mentions of our brand for the purposes of acting in case our reputation is threatened. If we’re listening, we’re using that data for more aggressive action either in terms of real-time content development or the eventual use in the communications planning process.

Lets explore both of those models for a second…

Listening for Program Planning

The most common model for listening is using the data for program planning. It’s a very linear process, and typically takes several weeks to fully execute. With this model we gather data on our brand, competitors and category, and develop insights that inform a strategy and tactics. It’s important to keep in mind that insights derived from social conversations have application well beyond social. Those key learnings can be applied to hybrid media, owned media and traditional media properties. After we’ve used the data for program planning we execute and then measure.

Listening for Real-Time Content Development

With this model, our goal is to use information we’re gathering from social media conversations about our brand, competitors and category to inform the development of content in real-time. The additional layer with this model is that we’re listening to social conversations with the intention of spreading the insights we’ve gleaned to other parts of the organization. It’s our belief that social conversation data has application across several different parts of the organization, including product planning, CRM, strategic planning and human resources. After we’ve determined where the information should be sent within the organization, we determine where and how we communicate. When that piece of communication has been issued, a new signal has also been created for us to analyze and measure. This cycle is much more condensed than the previous model – typically spanning days instead of weeks to months.

Which of these models is best for you? The answer is you probably need a combination of both, especially if you’re engaging your community in real-time. The key to both is insights that help the entire organization. If we’re mining consumer conversation data, we need to be thinking about the organization more holistically. If we see a conversation that our product planning team could benefit from, we need to be looping them into the data mining process.

While we are focusing on looking at and deciphering data (signals) in the communications space, It’s our view that listening is going to continue to evolve and that we’re already starting to see the beginnings of true social intelligence systems within larger companies. That means we’re listening to conversations in real-time, and making business decisions based on the insights we can glean from the data. Walmart Labs for example is experimenting with analyzing conversations and trends on Twitter to impact how they stock their shelves. This experiment gives us a glimpse into the future of integrating social data into business intelligence.

Are you leveraging either of the above models? Do you think social data has a role both within and outside of the communications realm? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

*Walmart is an Edelman client.

How To Think And Communicate Visually

Originally posted on Edelman Digital

Visual storytelling is nothing new. We only need to look to the earliest signs of humanity for proof—simple paintings on the walls of caves tell the story that people are a visual tribe. Today, it seems, communications must be visual in order to be compelling, as well as to compete with the massive amount of information available to us at any given moment (even Google acknowledged this in 2001 by introducing image search). Whether it’s a web video, infographic, or illustration, visual assets can communicate a wealth of information rapidly, and in ways that our brains process differently than other, more traditional mediums.

The secret to producing these compelling, yet bite-sized morsels of information is having “visual literacy,” or being able to think in pictures. Don’t confuse this with being an artist or designer. Anyone can think visually—or learn to look at the world through this type of lens—and then work with a visual communicator (a designer or producer) to craft a digestible visual deliverable, which earns our time, attention and encourages us to take action.

As someone who thinks visually, I want to share five tips that I believe will work for anyone who is looking to communicate and influence through a medium that transcends the written word:

1. Empathize: See the world as a child

Most of us drew pictures before we began writing. But now that words dominate our communications, it’s possible we have to do some neurological re-wiring to take our brains back to that point where simple, elegant pictures help us tell stories. I recommend three steps: 1) Observe everything, especially the minute details. 2) Ask questions; especially the ones that make you feel unenlightened. 3) Resurrect your sense of exploration; in other words, re-ignite the curious portion of your brain. Children have a way of noticing the little things we take for granted. They are immensely curious and never lack for questions. Putting yourself in a more “child-like” mindset will set the stage for all kinds of thinking, including visual.

2. Memorize: Commit thoughts to memory

Words can be fleeting—they can at times be like the wind, but images often sear into our memory. To start the visual thinking process, it’s helpful to capture thoughts not just in words but also by simple pictures. Stick people and basic shapes are your biggest allies in this stage of transforming yourself to become a more visual communicator and we should never allow our fear of “drawing” get in the way. My friend, Dave Gray, a great visual thinker, draws better than I do, but I still scrawl down messy shapes when I do my most strategic thinking. What’s important is capturing a visual thought in the moment, not the artistic quality of what you are documenting visually.

3. Analyze: Take a step back

The first two steps are meant to open your mind and get you capturing visual thoughts while getting some creative juices flowing. If you’ve done this right, you’re going to be attached to your visual subject. This is where you need to take a step back. Look at the visual story you’re developing objectively. Are you focusing on form over function —is it compelling and worth sharing, is it objective or opinionated enough? Take a step back and think of yourself as the end audience–get feedback from others, but analyze that objectively as well.

4. Synthesize: Filter signal from noise

If you’re a word person, you might relate to this process as “editing,” but for really effective visual thinking I think a better word would be “synthesis.” Good synthesis involves taking a lot of information and distilling it down to a core set of thoughts fueled by an insight into what will connect with your viewer. This is where the “art”—for lack of a better word—comes into play. A word of warning: this takes practice. Being able to synthesize complex thoughts and boil them down to an essence means finding that “nugget” which will resonate. The only advice I can give here is that you’ll know it when you see it, and sometimes it’s more obvious than you think.

5. Visualize: See it, then do it

The final step is to think of the right visual model to help tell your story—and to execute it well. Focus on visual metaphors to tell your story. See the idea in your mind and then direct it so that that it comes to life. If you need help, hire a creative team and work with them to improve your visual thinking.

When I created the “agency ecosystem” (above) several years ago, the visual thinking started as circles in a four way Venn diagram. I thought that the circles looked like leaves, so I used the metaphor of a plant, which made the story even better because the roots served as a powerful metaphor to communicate foundational needs.

Final Thoughts

By now, the little voice in your head might be saying, “That’s great, but I’m not creative, I don’t think that way.” Ignore that voice. You may be on a path in life that has rewarded other parts of your brain, but we are all born with the ability to create. If you want to communicate visually, you have to think visually. You don’t need to be able to execute those ideas yourself, but you can practice the above steps to start the visual thinking process. I am not going to recommend you read any books to get you started—the reading may distract you from actually doing. My suggestion is to start by “drawing” out the things that you see as obstacles to thinking creatively (i.e., think clock if you don’t have the time), then develop a strategy for overcoming them.

Who Influenced Blogworld?

Last week I spoke at Blogworld in LA and today came across this post done by Radian 6 who leverged their platform to provide some analysis of the conversations generated by the event. The graph above reflects the following accoring to Radian 6:

"The top influencers driving conversations Saturday are shown in the graph below. With the exception of the BlogWorld handles, these were conversations that were driven by reactions to the presenters and their panels."

Now, I'm flattered that I somehow ended in good standing here, but it's worth noting that what we're looking at is volume of digital conversation and not digital influence, though one could say that volume of conversation is an indicator of digital influence when it comes to measurement. Metrics aside, I thought I'd offer some insights as to what put me in this spot since I was involved.

Attendees Were Hyper Connected & Hyper Engaged
I didn't have the largest session at the event, but looking at the crowd who attended—I noticed that many of them were practitioners in the industry with high quality followings even if they were not the size of a Robert Scoble or Chris Brogan type network. Also, the attendees of my session were hyper-engaged and they displayed this by tweeting up a storm.

Soundbites & Mental Models Stick
My presentation was full of short, sticky phrases and frameworks—designed for tweets and social note taking. This is no accident—I would not be worth my weight as a communicator if I were not able to break down communications into memorable bits worth sharing.

Style & Substance = Conversation
Being the event was a blogger heavy conference, I felt that I had to entertain a bit in addition to providing enough detail and meat to make it worth the time, attention and digital conversation of the attendees. I started off the presentation with a few provoking and even humorous slides, played a mini inflatable guitar and then dove into a series of detailed concepts followed by examples and case studies.

For whatever reason, I had the right mix of content, audience, timing and most importantly—people who were more than willing to talk about whatever it was that I was talking about. It's worth noting that as much as I would have liked to leverage my own social networks of 70+ thousand friends and followers that I couldn't because I was up there talking. In short, driving conversation online takes two things: something worth talking about and a distribution network. In an event crammed with many great speakers, I was fortunate to have both that day.

Social by Design: Design Thinking & Business

Social by Design: Design Thinking & Business

View more presentations from David Armano

From a recent Keynote I delivered at the Constellation Connected Enterprise. "Design" is more important than ever, but greatly misunderstood as a business tool. In addition to the numerous business process design models in the deck—I used Facebook's browser experience as an example of a design problem. Facebook is in the "feature-itis" stage of their ecosystem design and I suspect they know this and will work to fix it before the experience becomes too complex for participants to tolerate.  Enjoy the slides—a collection of work and other examples to illustrate how design and business strategy work together.

We Are Indivisible: Can Starbucks Ignite a Movement?

I've just gotten off three business related conference calls and am writing this from a hotel room in Los Angeles as I'm about to head out to Blogworld (speaking here tomorrow). Blogging on the fly is probably the last thing I should be doing. But yesterday I noticed several tweets and I've also had a number of e-mail exchanges with people who are motivated by the "Indivisible" wrist band which is part of a Starbucks initiative I wrote about recently.

Again, while Starbucks is an Edelman client, I have no affiliation with this initiative whatsoever other than as a citizen. Here's why: while walking through some of the Occupy Wallstreet protests in Manhattan and also seeing them in other cities and on the news—I couldn't help but feeling somewhat alienated. While sympathizing with the reasons why people are hitting the streets, I just don't relate to the tactics. Seeing someone carry a sign asking the government to pay for their college education doesn't resonate with me.

But Indivisible does. It's how I was brought up. I lived in a neighborhood where people helped each other when others were down. It's the same reason we took action to raise nearly 17 thousand dollars when we encountered a family in need. Indivisible to me means that we can do anything when we stand together.

So. If any of this stirs you as it has me. I'm asking you to do four things.

1. Get the wristband.
2. Tweet about what "indivisble" means to you—and use the #indivisible hash tag (it's not official).
3. Use any social network, e-mail, face to face...tell others how you feel.
4. Post pictures here (or anywhere).

Can a brand start a movement? Only people can, but people are everywhere—behind brands, companies and out in public. Again. This is a personal pet project of mine. Because I care about what's going on too. And I believe we can do anything.

Starbucks Reminds Us What We're Made Of

Over forty years ago my parents came to the United States without much to their names to describe it generously. They struggled, started a family without secure or decent jobs and ultimately started a small business which was enough to sustain their family and see three children through college and even grad school.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was skimming my feed on Twitter and came across a Tweet from Umair Haque, a well known voice and contributor to the Harvard Business Review who had some less than complimentary tweets, some related specifically to the Create Jobs For USA initiative launched by Starbucks (be sure to watch this video interview with Howard Schultz on CNN). It was Umair's tweet and his take on the initiative which led me to check it out—but shortly after I was interrupted by one of our boys who had gotten sick and I had forgotten about it.

Earlier this morning, I saw another Tweet which linked to the story on CNN and for whatever reason, felt prompted to take the elevator down to our building lobby to see if they had the five dollar wristbands affiliated with the program (the word indivisible is inscribed on it). I bought one immediately. You can look up the details of the initiative yourself but for me, there's something about this that strikes a chord and I want to be a part of it. My parents were entrepreneurs, I have a job I love with a great company because of an entrepreneur, and if we're going to make a comeback, it will be because of entrepreneurs—people who invent and reinvent themselves.

In the spirit of full transparency, Starbucks is a client of the company I work for (Edelman). But that has nothing to do with this post or the reason I bought the bracelet and the reason I'm going to buy more. The first two will go to my parents and I'll tell them why I got it for them. The others... I'm not sure. I'll figure it out as I go along and if I donate that will be my business. But sometimes hope comes in unexpected places and we need to be reminded of the resilience which makes us who we are.

Google+ Ripples Visualizes Social Sharing

Back in 2006, I attempted to visualize how digital influence spread through the blogoshpere using a metaphor of "ripples". Fast forward 5 years and there's a really cool new feature you can play with on Google Plus called "Ripples". See below:


I really love what Google is doing with this visualization. Here's how it works as best I can tell. In this visualization you can see the source of the share indicated by large type. In this case, Jeanette Halgreen was the first in this particular digital influence ecosystem to start the sharing. You can follow the ripples which spill out in multiple directions. Ripples shows larger spheres where there is a lot of sharing happening and it shows you who is sharing from who and displays direct shares and total number of re-shares.

You can even play back Ripples to watch the spread of a particular post which tracks the movement of the media over a timeframe and visualizes it allowing you to see who, and where reverberation was generated.

So what's in it for business? For starters it gives media professionals a test area to see how media spreads, who is spreading it—what makes something sharable and how connections work. Of course it's only a small sample (Google Plus) but it's a nice little tool to use if you're interested in media and network effects. Nice work Google.

The Science Behind Making Your Posts Shareable

This blog post was written by Marcus Taylor, co-author of the book Get Noticed and head of social media at SEOptimise. You can follow Marcus on Twitter here.

I’ve always been fascinated watching what content gets shared by the masses and what doesn’t. I don’t believe in the myth that ‘content is king’, I also don’t believe that it’s the timing of a post, or the credibility of the author that makes or breaks a blog post’s ability to spread like wildfire. In reality, it’s the combination of these factors that intensify a blog post’s likelihood of being amplified in the blogosphere.

If content were king, then great posts wouldn’t go undiscovered every single day. If author credibility was the be all and end all, Chris Brogan would be able to post the lyrics to a Justin Bieber song on his blog and we’d all share it (Chris, please don’t test this…).

Highly shareable blog posts tend to create a compounding effect of sharing, whereby the initial people who read the post share it with their audiences, who then share it with their audiences, and so on. With this in mind, there are just two ways in that we can improve the odds of increasing a post’s ability to be shared:

1. Increase the rate of readers who share the post
2. Increase the initial number of readers

These two methods are obviously very broad and each contains a large number of sub-factors that can improve a blog post’s ability to be shared. Before we talk in more detail about what these sub-factors are, lets look at a very simple example:

Blog post A is shared by 1/100 readers

Blog post B is shared by 1/500 readers

In either case, you could increase the initial number of readers, which theoretically could create a compound sharing pattern. However, Blog post A will be five times more shareable than blog post B because there is a higher rate of sharing. Now lets look into how you can increase that rate.

A blog post’s ‘rate of sharing’ has a lot to do with the emotional reaction that is triggered in a reader that makes them want to pass the post along to friends. This ‘need to share’ emotion kicks in when a person feels a noticeable change in thought process or emotion.

What Impact’s a Blog Post’s Emotional Impact?

• The uniqueness of the post
• The timing of the post
• The relevance of the post to the reader
• The tone / style of the post
• The angle & idea of the post
• The intrigue created by the post’s headline
• The level of trust and credibility of the post (blog design, author reputation, accuracy of statements, quality of writing).

In almost all cases, any blog post can be made more likely to be shared by making it more unique, better timed, more relevant to the probable audience, more trustworthy, more intriguing and better written.

However, a blog post can also be made more likely to be shared by increasing the scale of people initially reached.

What Impacts the Scale of Initial Exposure?

• The connections & network the author / blog has established
• The accessibility and ease of sharing the post
• The budget available to reach a large audience through advertising

In other words, the larger the network of the author, the easier to share the post is, and the more money that is available to advertise the post to a large audience, the more likely a post is to be shared.

 

Measuring How Shareable Your Blog Post is:

There really is no way to do this accurately as ultimately it would require applying numbers to intensities of emotional reactions, but just for fun I decided to grade this post on each of the factors listed above:

Factor	Out of 10	Reason
Uniqueness	6	It’s a new methodology, but people have been talking about how to make a post more likely to go shareable for years.
Timing	5	There are a lot of bloggers looking to write shareable content at the moment so the timing is good, however, it would have been much more powerfully two or three years ago.
Relevance	9	This is a website read by bloggers looking to promote blog posts and learn blogging tips.
Tone	5	This is quite hard to self analyze, but I think the tone of the post is probably somewhere in-between good and bad J
Idea / Angle	6	I think the idea of analysing what makes things go shareable is always a good one!
Intrigue	4	The title of the post has some level of intrigue to it  but it could be improved.
Trust	5	This is a well-trusted website
Network of Author	5	My network is not huge, but with a little bit of help it should be enough to get the ball rolling.
Ease of Sharing	8	This website is really well designed making it very easy to share content.
Budget Available	0	I do not intend to pay to advertise this post.
Total	51/100

A few things worth noting about this table: first of all, there is no weighting. Everything is scored out of 10 suggesting that every aspect has equal impact, which is not true. Also, the value of doing this table is not to find out exactly what number you end up with, but to spot the areas that you personally feel could do with improvement.

In this case, I felt that the headline of the post was the weakest aspect that would limit the blog post’s likelihood to be shared.

Try it. Write a blog post, grade it on how shareable it is and then see if you can add 25% or 50% extra ‘shareability’ to it using this grading technique.

 Image Credit: furiousgeorge81

"Share-ability" By Design

Can you design things to be shared? Of course you can. While "sharing" is ultimately up to the end participant, it's up to the "designer" of the "thing" (this could be content, a platform, a product) to build the option and ability for sharing to occur. The media industry had no choice but to innovate in this space as my colleague Steve Rubel likes to refer to as "the war for page views". As, I've written recently—there are still untapped opportunities to enable and even kick-start social sharing behaviors.

Digital Influence: We're All Somebody

Photo by Ric Dragon

Recently I had the privilege of hosting a stimulating panel at Pivot 2011 with Joe Fernandez, founder of Klout, Larry Levy, co-founder of Appinions and Elisa Camahort, co-founder of BlogHer. The idea of digital influence or how influence works within the social-digital space is on the mind of not only marketers, but policy makers and anyone in the business of communications and or influencing stakeholders to achieve desirable outcomes. While measuring digital influence and doing something with it is still in its infancy, I believe strongly that there is a large opportunity in understanding the dynamics of networks and how ideas, opinions, stories and narratives spread. For an example of this, take a look at the NYT cascade pilot which visualizes how a story spreads on Twitter. 

Visualizations aside, our panel covered some interesting ground. Here are a few highlights:

Digital Influence & Real-World Influence, Related But Not The Same
I asked Joe Fernadez of Klout if he thought there was a difference between digital influence and real-world influence and he mentioned something he called "the Warren Buffet problem" referring to an individual who is clearly influential (and whose influence extends into the digital world) though is not personally active when it comes to their own "social graph'. From my perspective we can measure Warren's influence online via mentions, sentiment, coverage, volume of conversation etc. But where we have to get better at is understanding the "nobodies" who help spread Warren's message. These are individuals (and there are a lot of them) who nobody ever heard of but are critical in spreading ideas. To use Edelman's language—Warren Buffet is an idea starter and there are thousands of individuals, properties and media outlets on the social web who act as his amplifiers. Some of them have more digital influence than others—but it all adds up.

Topical, Temporal & Identity Based Influence: Find Your A-list At That Moment
Larry Levy of Appinions chimed in to state that they are working hard on the Warren Buffet problem by looking at the data. Topical influence means you start analyzing networks for influential data based on WHAT and not WHO (you can eventually end up with several WHO's and not just individuals. Temporal influence can indicate what person or digital property is influential in either a topic or related topic at that moment in time. These kinds of data sets through a wrench in the thinking that influencers can simply be "listed" and ranked. Elisa of BlogHer threw in a third consideration which is influence based on "identity" meaning if you can identify with the values and lifestyle of the person or media outlet you are exposed to that you are more likely to be influenced by what they tell you. An "A-list" of those who wield influence may be for a period of time or associated with specific topics and conversations—it may not always be the usual suspects.



Automation Desirable But Not Fully Realistic Yet
As Larry noted, sentiment and things like language differences can be addressed by software and extracting data, but it takes people to look at the data and extract insights from it. And this is where I think the digital influence game is heading. Understanding what influences individuals or activates certain "nodes" on networks is really what this business will be about. It will also be about data. Accessible databases of not only who, but what and where (for example, being able to store and serve up high quality conversational data in a dashboard). Understanding who has influence when and how they use it will be critical to tapping a virtual army of advocates or on the flip-side having deep knowledge of "badvocates" or those who mobilize against you. Right now, no tool does this with great precision—but platforms such as Appinions, Sysomos, Radian 6, Peer Index, and many others are all vying to produce the most actionable data when it comes to understanding and acting upon digital influence. (Edelman also has Tweetlevel and Bloglevel tools which play in this space).

With platforms like Klout evolving their Perks program, digital influence will only rise in popularity due to the fact that social is shaping up to be the other side of the coin of search—and the two will influence each other. Since Google's Panda changes to the algorithm—it's not only number of outbound links that matter but the quality of those link sources. Influential entities often drive high quality links as well as volume, and this is why we're all going to be so focused on who is influencing digital conversations, when, where, how and why. On the social Web, active participants are all "somebodies" with some degree of influence—but understanding how to harness the right data and act upon it will likely take some time.

(Disclaimers: BlackBerry is an Edelman Digital client. I've recently joined advisory board of Appinions)