Engaging in Social Media to Spark Conversations by Brian Solis, FutureWorks and PR2.0 , ...

Engaging in Social Media to Spark Conversations

by Brian Solis, FutureWorks and PR2.0www.future-works.com, www.briansolis.com

Social(izing) Media

"We are the people formerly known as the audience."

Jay Rosen

The Chain of Influence has Evolved

One to Many

The Chain of Influence has Evolved

One to One - Now Includes People

Markets are Now Conversations

It’s a cycle driven by the voices and connections of people and their networks

Brand

Markets are Conversations – Participation is Marketing

the cluetrain manifesto

What is Social Media

Short Version• Anything that uses the internet to facilitate

conversations

Longer Version• Social Media is the democratization of information,

transforming people from content readers into content publishers. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism to a many-to-many model, rooted in conversations between authors, people, and peers.

What is Social Media?

• It's about people• It's about community• It's about participation• The shift from monologue to dialog• It has changed traditional media and

marketing, it has not replaced it

• Social Networks• Photos• Blogs• Podcasts• Mircroblogs• Micromedia• Social calendar• Documents• Video • Livecasts• Social bookmarks• Crowdsourced news• Comment and community marketing• Virtual worlds• Wikis• New Media Releases• Lifestreams and workstreams• Tags

Social Media Landscape

Robert Scoble’s Social Media Starfish

People Are the New Influencers

• Gone are the days of talking “to” people and controlling the message from company to influencer to audience. Now companies are forced to let go as "audiences" have given way to the very people we chose to leapfrog for the greater good of mass marketing.

• Brands have become democratized. Audiences have evolved into factions of people linked together by common interests. Messages have deteriorated into a lost language that no one cares to revive, not even Mel Gibson.

It’s About Sociology & Anthropology

• It’s not about technology• Sociology is the study of human social

behavior• Anthropology is the study of human societies

and cultures and their development• Technology simply provides the tools to

facilitate conversations online• Humanize your story by matching it to the

culture and the people driving the communities you’re trying to reach

Answer These Questions

• Why are you interested in participating in Social Media?

• What are your intentions?• How will you measure success?• Why should you get invited to the party?• What will you do if your tactics get you and

your company slammed?

Find the People that Matter

• In order to reach people, figure out who they are and where they go for information. – There is no magic bullet for reaching everyone all at once

• Focused communications cultivates relationships and loyalty

• Less is more

It All Starts with Listening

• Technorati• Google Blogsearch• Google Alerts• BlogPulse• Individual Networks• Reading• Observing

Participation, Not Marketing

• Do not participate as a marketer, engage as a person• It’s about conversations, not messages• You’re working with people, not audiences• Know what the hell you're talking about

– Humanize the story

• Be a resource, not a sales person • Go “native” - become part of the community• Learn• Respect the communities you engage in and they will

respect you– Companies will earn the relationships they deserve

Social Tools

• Widgets• Profiles• Feeds• Tags• Apps• Trackbacks• Comments• Memes• Blogs• VNR 2.0• Wikis• RSS• UGC – user generated content• Crowdsourcing• Basic HTML

• SocialMediaClub.com - Start your own chapter!• Society for New Communications Research –

www.sncr.org• PR2.0 – www.briansolis.com• Now is Gone – www.nowisgone.com

Resources - If you get it, share it.