Brands in Social Media? Consumers are Dumb (About What Influences Them)

Pull the plug on those brand programs in Social Media. They have no effect on consumer perception!

That is the conclusion of an Adotas.com article entitled "Social media’s overrated brand game," which sounds this cautionary note about the impact of brand efforts in Social Media: "Social networks are still not the best place to goose up brand perception." This assertion is based on overwhelmingly definitive consumer survey results, so I guess that's that--close the Twitter account, abandon your Facebook fans, and divert your budget away from Social Media!

Except for one thing: People--including you and me--are dumb when it comes to recognizing what influences their own beliefs and actions. The survey referenced in the Adotas article asked consumers to evaluate whether brands' presence in Social Media affected their perception of those brands, which plays directly into a psychological blind spot in human self awareness that is well known to researchers. It's called "third-person perception," and it is defined as the tendency for people to think others are more influenced by mass media than they are themselves.

Put less scientifically: The Workplace Media study is rubbish. They asked 753 office Internet users about Social Media, and "96 percent say that their opinion of a product or brand does not change if it does not have a presence on these sites." Asking people to assess the impact of a medium upon their beliefs and actions has been and always will be a bogus and useless way to evaluate a marketing medium.

Third Party Perception has been documented in several studies. In Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, Jennings Bryant and Mary Beth Oliver cite several such studies:

"The Third-Person Effect is a relatively new concept, as social science constructs go. It was invented in 1983 by sociologist W. Phillips Davison in a clever article that drew on intuition and public opinion theory...

"(Since then), the Third-Person Effect has been studied by asking participants to estimate communication effects on others and themselves. (For example), U.S. respondents estimated that the news media had a greater impact on others' opinions of the 1996 presidential candidates than on their own views (Salwen, 1998). More recently, research has found that individuals perceived others to be more influenced than themselves by the news of the "millennium bug" in Y2K and environmental problems (Jensen & Hurley, 2005; Tewksbury, Moy, & Weis, 2004)...

"Third person perceptions also emerge in judgements about advertising. Individuals perceived that other people were more influenced than themselves by commercials for household products, liquor and beer, and cigarettes (Gunther & Thorson, 1992; Shah, Faber, & Youn, 1999). Even young schoolchildren exhibit third-person perceptions. Elementary and middle school students perceived that cigarette ads have significantly greater impact on others than themselves (Henriksen & Flora, 1999)."

Of course, if you ask consumers if they want or are impacted by brands requesting they be "friends", we shouldn't be surprised by the answer. As noted on the Fresh Networks blog, research found that almost two in every three respondents to a survey were "fed up with the constant requests to join groups and try new applications."

Why shouldn't consumers be tired of and reject the obsessively self-centered, be-my-fan, let's-talk-about-me attitude of so much Social Marketing nowadays? A couple days ago I wrote about the Kohl's Facebook page where the company's Vice President of Digital Marketing attempted to pass himself off as a Kohl's fan eager to share deals. He hasn't posted since, but the Kohl's Facebook Wall has devolved into a platform for employee bragging. Eight of the last 10 posts are from employees giving shout outs to their stores ("1201 is number 1" and "1308 has the bestest employees"), while the only contribution by Kohl's official Facebook account is a brag about Britney Spears appearing on the Kohl's Web site. Where's the value for consumers? Where's the promise of one-to-one relationships with the brand?

Marketers need to be cautious about evaluating the value of Social Media based on consumers' self perception or consumer opinion of dubious Social Media strategies. Instead, look to the successes enjoyed by Social Media strategies that focus not on the brand but the consumer--Zappos on Twitter; Dell's reversal of brand perception fortunes; Ford's Social Media platform; Adobe's successful Facebook campaign; or ABSOLUT LOMO's UGC and blogger outreach success.

Or, on a small scale, check out the experience of Jessica Gottlieb, as reported on MSNBC.com. Jessica saw her children off on a trip and waited in the terminal to watch their plane take off; an hour later their plane was still stuck on the tarmac. What's a concerned parent to do? Twitter, of course! Jessica tweeted, “Dear Virgin Air, My children have been on the tarmac for one hour with 90 more minutes to wait. I am at JFK gate b25. Pls RT.” Her followers retweeted, and "within minutes, Virgin had phoned Gottlieb to reassure her that her kids would be fine."

We can debate whether or not brands can afford to respond to every aggrieved consumer tweeting a complaint, but this much is certain: Jessica Gottlieb had her opinion of Virgin America change because the brand was present, listening, and wanted to connect in Social Media. ("The guy who I spoke to at Virgin out of San Francisco was amazing. I think they're going in the right direction.") Perhaps if the survey participants in the Workplace Media study had all enjoyed an experience like this, they might recognize that brands' presence in Social Media does impact brand perception--but only if it's done right and with a focus on consumer needs and not just brand goals.

Caveat Emptor: Do You Know Enough to Buy or Hire Social Media Expertise?

Caveat Emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware." It is a call for purchasers to become informed and use due diligence before completing a transaction. If you're a marketer, this is a call you should take very seriously before contracting with a Social Media agency or hiring a Social Media specialist. Care is required if you don't want your brand to end up in the headlines for the wrong reason, as has European furniture maker Habitat.

We've been through this before. A decade ago, with the power of search engines surging, the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) became evident to marketers everywhere--and they had no idea what to do about it. The Internet was still new and some were yet debating its importance, so the ways of managing a brand's searchability and findability were unfamiliar and strange to marketers accustomed to print ads and FSIs. They, of course, turned to "experts" (either external agencies or new hires), but many had no basis upon which to evaluate that expertise. Disasters ensued.

This brings me to one of my favorite stories of my Internet career. Many years ago, a client asked my agency for an SEO proposal. Their goals were lofty--they wanted the top spot for several very common search terms. We responded with an appropriate proposal based on the best practices of the day; it was not inexpensive, nor did we promise the top spot on Google.

We lost the contract to an "SEO agency" we'd never heard of that was cheaper and made promises to match the aggressive (and unrealistic) goals set by the client. You can probably guess the rest of the story--within months, the black hat tactics used by the other firm (such as hidden text and link farms) resulted in our client's site disappearing from top search engine databases.

This story returned to mind as I read about the trouble in which Habitat has found itself with Social Media spamming. As described on Mashable, the furniture maker was caught seeding Twitter's top trending terms as hashtags into tweets promoting a sweepstakes for those who would join Habitat's email list. If you are reading this post and didn't understand that last sentence, then this should be a very clear warning sign to proceed with caution when contracting for Social Media services or hiring a social media expert, because this action proved to be a PR disaster for Habitat.

With dozens of blogs with tens of thousands of readers complaining about Habitat's spamming of Twitter, Habitat was forced to apologize. The company's note to bloggers said, in part:

The top ten trending topics were pasted into hashtags without checking with us and apparently without verifying what all of the tags referred to. This was absolutely not authorised by Habitat. We were shocked when we discovered what happened and are very sorry for the offence that was caused. This is totally against our communications strategy. We never sought to abuse Twitter, have removed the content and will ensure this does not happen again.

In this case, the error in judgment was not made by a johnny-come-lately fly-by-night Social Media agency (although it could've been) but by an intern.

One of my biggest gripes nowadays is the mistaken belief that I have heard repeated time and again in a form similar to this: "Young adults are so clued into Social Media, so we're going to hire an intern to handle Social Media for our brand." Again, if you are reading this blog and have found yourself thinking an intern is the solution to close the Social Media gap in your organization, this is another warning sign to proceed with caution and seek expertise where you need expertise. Social Media is the most important change in human and marketing communications in a decade, and trusting your brand's presence and reputation to the maturity, expertise, knowledge, and judgment of a 22 year old is as dangerous as it sounds.

Habitat found this out the hard way. Not only did they leave an important marketing channel to an intern, they also completely failed to monitor this channel or their employee. It is evident no one was subscribed to and keeping tabs on the company's own Twitter feed, or if they were, they lacked the Social Media wisdom to recognize a truly horrible and painfully apparent Social Media mistake.

Habitat's reputation has been stung. There have been thousands of tweets and blog posts accusing them of being spammers and exploiting some of the most sensitive and timely situations in the world--including the Iranian elections--for their own gain. Tweets in just the last five minutes as I type this include, "We've seen your apology, but telling us who didn't post them doesn't tell us who did post them. Why did Habitat let this happen?" and "Are u kidding me? @HabitatUK gets an intern to work on the Twitter acc. with no clue and then get rid of him?"

Much like brands stung by improper SEO tactics in years past, the use and abuse of Social Media can result in the kind of disasters that cost money and harm brands. How can a marketing organization with little or no Social Media expertise prevent this from happening? The solution is actually very simple; it's just not necessarily cheap:

• Get smart now: Social Media isn't hype and it's not going away. Social Media isn't just important to your business, it is your business. Just like today, when every employee and leader is expected to be conversant in the Internet, it will soon become required that every employee understand the best (and worst) practices of Social Media. The quicker you and your organization can get there, the better. This will require both a personal and professional commitment to learn for many marketing professionals.
  
  
• Recognize what you do not know: Knowing what you and your organization do not know is the first, important step in determining how to address Social Media challenges and opportunities. Many organizations have embraced Social Media and are prepared to do it themselves or to apply their knowledge and experience to buy or hire the skills they need, but other organizations are still in the shallow end of the Social Media pool. If you find yourself thinking that the biggest need your organization has is to launch and participate in Twitter and Facebook, then you should take a step back and take time (or find assistance) to define your organization's need before jumping to vendor or candidate evaluation.
  
  
• Recognize the importance of Social Media: A company that recognizes how important Social Media is today and will be in the future does not leave it to an intern or an agency that was founded six months ago and consists of three people. The significance of Social Media to your brand's future and the caliber of the strategy and support needed by your enterprise may become evident when the organization's leaders understand Social Media's growth and future potential.
  
  
• Finally, hire what you really need: I mean no disrespect to the many young people who are active in Social Media both personally and professionally, but most brands wouldn't hire a young adult fresh out of school to manage their media strategy, their brand strategy, or digital strategy. The same should be no less true of Social Media strategy. Mistakes can be costly, and the way to avoid mistakes is to find professionals who not only understand Social Media but also have the appropriate seasoning to know the marketing, legal, PR, brand, internal, and competitive implications of their decisions and actions.

Mistakes are costly and unnecessary, so it is vital that marketers make smart decisions. Finding someone with the ability to tweet is easy; finding the right agency or employee to furnish insight, judgment, and experience in Social Media is not. Securing the maturity and experience your enterprise needs might be the difference between a Social Media presence that builds your brand's influence or destroys it.

Twitter's Big Heart: #thankyouaaron

The next time someone says to you, "Twitter is for narcissists," feel free to tell them to shove it. Last night, the people who make Twitter the phenomenon that it is again confirmed the way they can open their hearts, demonstrate their concern for others, and spread the word about things that matter. The Social Media site, which often can be set abuzz by trifling topics, became a place to pay respects and consider those who gave their lives so that we can celebrate our independence.

On the Fourth of July at around 3 pm PST, David M. Masters, a weight loss guru who uses twitter to promote his business (@davidmmasters), sent a gut-wrenching message to his 2,000 or so followers: "They killed my son, Aaron!"

He soon followed that up with tweets that explained his son was killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. And then he sent two more tweets that became a call to action for those on Twitter:

On Independence Day, a few hours ago, they killed my son, Aaron in Afghanistan.

I'd like to see "Thank you, Aaron," show up on the Trending Topics for giving his life on Independence Day in Afghanistan.

The news of Aaron Fairbairn's death in Afghanistan spread very quickly as Twitterers shared the story and offered condolences to David. Within a couple hours, the terms "On Independence Day" and the hashtag #thankyouaaron became trending topics on Twitter, and as I write this on the morning of the 5th, over 2,000 people have responded with the hashtag #thankyouaaron. Perhaps 2,000 people doesn't sound like a lot, but keep in mind this happened the evening of a holiday and many people aren't tracking Twitter like they do during the workweek; I believe we will continue to see the number of people who learn and care about Aaron's death grow in the next couple of days.

For me, this was a reminder of Twitter's power, not to the world but to me personally. I had just come home from a Fourth of July picnic. My mood was happy and carefree--I'd enjoyed the company of friends, ate well, and lit the fuses on more than my share of fireworks. Then I saw a tweet from someone I follow and it changed my mood instantaneously. Aaron's sacrifice, his father's anguished tweets, and the concern of those who are complete strangers to Aaron and David put the day and its meaning into perspective.

Of course, this is far from the first time Twitter has shown it is a tool for more than spam and self promotion. When, in the aftermath of Iran's contested election, Iranian twitterers became the primary source of information for news outlets like CNN, thousands of Twitterers changed their location to Tehran and colored their avatars green to support and help obscure the identities of Iranian twitters from that country's officials.

And a lighthearted approach to a serious subject was taken with #blamedrewscancer, which asked people to support Drew Olanoff by tweeting that Drew's cancer was to blame for everything from the war in Iraq to bad hair days. Thousands of people have voiced their support in humorous fashion, and the result was that Drew raised close to $3,000 for the American Cancer Society and $500 for Make-A-Wish.

Yes, Twitter is plagued with spam, prone to manipulation by marketers who tread a fine line between viral marketing and spam, occasionally threatened by malware, and sometimes full of inane chatter, but so is the Internet and the world at large. Twitter reflects the world, and increasingly the world reflects Twitter. This doesn't make Twitter shallow and narcissistic; it makes it human.

That human side is again being shown this morning, with hundreds of people thanking Aaron for his sacrifice every hour. For those who may think that a proper condolence cannot be offered in 140 characters, consider what Aaron's father might be thinking this morning if and when he checks Twitter. He asked for people to thank his son who sacrificed so much for our country, and thousands have done so.

Aaron has caused so many of us to stop and think this weekend about the significance of the holiday, and that more than anything shows the power of 140 characters.

#thankyouaaron

Social CRM & Creating Demand in a Hyper-Connected World

How do you create demand in a hyper-connected world? How is Social Media changing the discipline of sales? And what is "Social CRM"?

Brent Leary, a partner at CRM Essentials and author of Brent's Social CRM Blog, will be discussing these topics in an upcoming Webinar--Driving Demand in a Demanding Market--sponsored by Oracle and hosted by the TheCustomerCollective.com. Details about the Webinar can be found at the end of this blog post, but Brent also took some time to share his thoughts on these topics with Experience: The Blog readers.

Brent sees firsthand the way Social Media is changing Client Relationship Management (CRM). Of course, we all know that Social Media offers new and better ways to create and foster relationships, but it also presents some new challenges. As Brent notes, "'Selling 1.0' doesn't work well at all with social media."

Here is my online interview between Experience: The Blog (ETB) and Brent Leary (BT) on the topics of Social CRM, metrics, and how to drive demand in a hyper-connected business environment:


ETB: Brent, your blog focuses on Social CRM. You also wrote an article for Inc. entitled "Traditional CRM vs. Social CRM." (Note: Because the Inc. Technology page is broken, I have linked to Google's cache of the article.) Can you perhaps start by briefly defining "Social CRM"?

BL: Social CRM is the integration of social media tools and strategies into a company's traditional CRM processes of marketing automation, salesforce automation and customer service. It's about creating content that turns Google information searches into conversations, which eventually transitions into long-lasting business relationships.

ETB: When many people hear "CRM," they tend to think of Client Relationship Management software, but of course the concept is far more holistic than that. How is Social Media changing the understanding and execution of CRM programs?

BL: Increasingly, business relationships are beginning online with a search for information or a query to friends and colleagues on social networks. Blogs, podcasts, video and other forms or social media are being used to create opportunities to engage customers and prospects in conversations that can lead to more formal business relationships.

ETB: How is your organization, CRM Essentials, utilizing Social CRM to drive prospecting and sales?

BL: I've been blogging for over four years and podcasting for almost three. Social media has allowed me to share my thoughts and opinions on the CRM industry, which opened me up to a totally different audience of people. So I can honestly say social media allowed me to build relationships with people I would have never had access to any other way. It allowed me to move from an implementation-focused business to a thought-leadership-driven practice.

ETB: Do you see significant differences in Social CRM for B2C versus B2B organizations?

BL: I think it really breaks down more to the cost of the product and service and the complexity of the sale. The more expensive the sale is, the longer it may take to build the relationship needed for a prospect to feel comfortable enough to enter the formal sales cycle. Likewise, the greater the number of people involved in the process, the more complex it becomes, which means more "know-like-trust" building via social media/social networks may be necessary.

ETB: On your blog, you shared a link to an article that reported on a survey indicating that "companies are struggling to locate enough social-media-generated revenue to justify the time and resources expended on them." I'm curious if you believe the survey results to be accurate--meaning that Social Media is not yet proving an effective tool for B2B sales--or if you felt the survey was affected by perception issues, lack of definable metrics for Social Media, or poor utilization of Social Media by sales personnel.

BL: I think it's hard to measure social media success on traditional ROI measures. Additionally, social media should be viewed as a relationship-creation and -extension tool, not as a traditional sales tool or to deliver traditional sales messaging. In fact, "Selling 1.0" doesn't work well at all with social media. People want good information and an opportunity to dialogue, not to be sold to in the traditional sense. So if you measure social media with traditional methods, and you use social media to deliver traditional messaging, chances for success are minimized dramatically.

ETB: So, how should those interested in sales create demand in a hyper-connected world?

BL: Listen to others via blogs and social networks that your customers and prospects listen to. Share valuable information that will help those customers and prospects succeed - and don't lead with sales information. Participate in the ongoing conversation that are already taking place. Be viewed as a valued member of the online communities in your industry, which will make people much more likely to listen to you when you do speak.

ETB: There has been plenty of attention give to the benefits of Social Media to the sales function within enterprises. What about the risks? What risks do you see in our hyper-connected world and how can sales leaders mitigate these?

BL: Once again, leading with sales-speak will turn people off. People are more interested in having the problems solved and not why your product is great. Using social media to share information and be viewed as a valuable resource can spread like wildfire and create business opportunities more naturally. But building the wrong kind of online reputation can spread even faster.

ETB: On July 15th at 1 pm PST / 4 pm EST, you will be a speaker for a TheCustomerCollective.com Webinar entitled, "Driving Demand in a Demanding Market." Aside from you, speakers include Dave Brock, President and CEO of Partners In EXCELLENCE, and David Bonnette, Group Vice President of Oracle's North American CRM sales organization. Who should attend this Webinar and what do you hope they'll take away from the experience?

BL: I hope people who attend will walk away feeling a little more comfortable about finding opportunities to engage customers and prospects with social media. The past week has seen people send 65,000 text message a second to share the news Michael Jackson's death. And we're still learning from the Obama campaign's use of social media on his way to the presidency. It's pretty apparent that social media is having a tremendous impact on all aspects of our lives, including business.


If you find this blog post of interest, be sure to check out the Webinar, Driving Demand in a Demanding Market. You can register on TheCustomeCollective.com for the event, scheduled for Wednesday, July 15th at 1 pm PST / 4 pm EST. Information to be shared includes:

• Tips to get your sales team smarter and more productive
• How to identify the right deals and avoid wasting time on dead ends
• Tools that help manage and measure critical sales performance metrics
• The role Technology can play in making an impact on your bottom line

Blogger's Note: I was asked to help promote this seminar. I agreed to do so only if I could generate some interesting and unique content for my blog. No money changed hands; this is not a "sponsored conversation" or other euphemism for advertising in Social Media. I believe the seminar and the information furnished by Brent are worthwhile and pertinent to those who read Experience: The Blog. Please let me know if you agree or not!