Last month, my South African colleague David Graham asked me for typical skills and traits to describe a true social media manager. In my opinion, a social media manager isn’t someone who is responsible for managing a company’s social media accounts, like a LinkedIn group, Facebook page, or Twitter account. A social media manager helps a company transition into a social business; a people oriented organization, that creates value (and profit) for and together with the stakeholders within their own network. Maybe that’s why, I prefer the term social business strategist.

A true social business strategist is someone who is…

Social! If you’re not interested in other people, their behavior, and the things that motivate them, you have no business being a social (!!!) business strategist.

Curious about new technologies. The world has changed rapidly in the past couple of years. It’s pretty much impossible, to imagine what’s going to happen next. If you’re not curious about new technologies, staying up to speed and in touch with thought leaders through blogs, podcasts, or social media, you’re not meant to be a social business strategist.

Persistent and patient. Unfortunately, change doesn’t happen overnight. People are creatures of habit, and only few of them are open to change. Focus all your energy and effort on these early adopters and work towards a tipping point (around 16% of the people within an organization according to the innovation adoption curve).

A player. Yes, organizations are strange places. Your CEO might be the highest paid individual within your company. This doesn’t mean he or she is willing and able to call all the shots. A social business strategist is able to use this knowledge to his/her advantage, by knowing who are the true influencers and decision makers within a company. Playing the game sometimes means taking a step back, to leap forward later on.

A social media heavy weight. Why would you take driving lessons from someone that never drives a car? Exactly, you don’t. If your aspiring social business strategists don’t use social media themselves, don’t expect them to understand the underlying mechanisms, let alone teach other people how to use these networks.

A positive source of inspiration. A true social business strategist is able to transfer his/her knowledge and enthusiasm to other people within your organization. This requires quite some energy. Especially, when you keep in mind, (initial) responses might not always be positive. Some training, educational, and presentation skills come in handy.

Truly adding value to the organization. This addition by Clive Roach pretty much sums up my thesis. The days that money was invested in a nice looking Facbook or LinkedIn campaign, are long gone. A true social business strategist will make sure that his/her activities eventually contribute to the business goals of the organization; these being more income, less expenses, and/or greater customer satisfaction.

Consumers will become more demanding in the future. Within a few short years, the technical possibilities will be within every consumer’s reach. This will heighten expectations toward companies and consumer tolerance for bad products and service will become all but non-existent. Also, the initiative to come into contact with a brand will reside entirely with the consumer since technology will make it increasingly easy for consumers to shield themselves from commercial messages. On social media, too, consumers only wish to be linked with a limited number of brands.

As a result, companies will have to invest heavily in three dimensions in the years to come:

Extreme customer-centricity: customers will no longer be satisfied with an average treatment. Those companies with a policy of extreme customer-centricity will be the most successful.

Technology: marketing and technology will be two sides of the same coin. IT budgets will continue to shift toward marketing. For marketing departments all over the world, data and technological know-how will be prerequisites to success.

Selling without selling: convince customers through expertise instead of commercial messages. Win them over by bringing added value to their lives.

The Marketing organization of the future

However, making this new philosophy a success requires a new marketing organization. Without this organization it is impossible to score in each of these three dimensions. The new organization consists of three elements:

Conversational leadership: this aspect requires a leader with a perfect understanding of the new context; ideally someone actively involved in the conversational world. The management of the ‘why’ will be even more crucial.

Agile: flexibility is key to success. The efficiency of a marketing organization can no longer be determined by its own talent or limitations. The need for flexibility will downsize marketing departments and boost the marketing service industry.

Discipline: discipline is more than ever indispensable, both to keep supplying content and to consolidate the company’s long-term vision.

The need for conversational leadership

First of all, there is a need for a new brand of leadership. The new leader’s main objective is managing the ‘why’. Primarily, he manages the company’s reason for being as well as its long-term vision. In addition, there are three aspects that characterize the conversational leader:

Empathy: the new leader is a good listener. He is available both for staff and customers. His job is to provide support and counsel wherever possible.

Connecting: the conversational leader is a bridge builder; he connects people. He believes in the power of networks and helping other people, even when there’s no short-term gain involved.

Decisive: the conversational leader is capable of making decisions and executing his vision. It’s not just about listening; in the end it’s also about taking action.

Agile in action and thought

Agile is an ‘in’ word that has several definitions. Still, our internal organization must show a certain degree of flexibility if we are to achieve our external goals. This implies a new structure for marketing organizations. Until recently, everything was organized in-house. While this creates stability, it also results in rigidity. At a certain point, your people’s competencies are no longer in line with the company’s needs.

The marketing organization of the future will make increasing use of flexible experts. The core strategy and a limited number of projects are managed from inside the company. Everything else involves specialized skills hired in accordance with the company’s immediate needs. Partners are selected based on concrete ambitions.

In addition, we must also start to question budget mechanisms. Most companies still use annual budgets but in reality a lot can change in 12 months’ time. My first book, ‘The Conversation Manager’, makes a case for a flexible budget of 20%. I am now convinced this is not enough: companies must strive to make their entire budget flexible. The fixed expenses are integrated in the annual expenses. All extras are allotted through a project-based approach. The required budget is only earmarked for projects that appear profitable or relevant. Apart from keeping you sharp, this approach also gives a company the flexibility required to tap into current trends.

In closing, we need a new philosophy: fire bullets before you fire grenades. Try new ideas on a small scale. If they catch on you can always increase your investment. If they don’t, you simply end your investment. Once a new approach has proven its potential you can go full steam ahead.

A samurai’s discipline

The successful 2020 company maintains a samurai’s discipline. When a samurai commits to a project, he puts his little finger on the line. If he breaks his promise, the top of his little finger is chopped off. That is the samurai’s promise. Modern marketing also requires this kind of iron discipline. To succeed in your mission, you must follow your plans to the letter and keep to the agreed rhythm.

People like Gary Vaynerchuk owe their success to iron discipline. Gary built a name for himself by putting live content online for years on end. Whereas most people would have given up for lack of results, Gary’s perseverance is the reason for his current status.

Marketing 2020

Preparing for Marketing 2020 will be no laughing matter. On the one hand we need a new marketing philosophy, while on the other hand we also require a new marketing organization. Both steps are crucial if we are to succeed.

Oh, and if you want to see a short movie about the consumer 2020, take a look at this:

All these details are described in my new presentation ‘Marketing 2020’. You can watch it here.

What are your views on marketing organization in 2020? Which aspects are key to success? I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the subject.

Many managers wonder how Facebook likes bring in additional business. It is a valid concern to question the impact of likes on business results. Digital objectives should always be linked to business objectives. To build a bridge between a digital strategy and a business strategy, there are five dimensions to include in your digital infrastructure:

1. Own interactive platform (used to be called a website)
2. Smart usage of social networks
3. Content long tail
4. Ability for real time marketing
5. Data strategy

The heart of your digital strategy? Your own interactive platform (aka website).

The best place to achieve your business objectives is probably your own interactive platform. Let’s not use the word ‘site’ too much anymore. Most companies still see a site as something you invest in every three years without any need for in between content refreshment. Looking at the latest trends, a sites should not be static, but should evolve towards a digital magazine.

To link digital and business goals, there is a need for a platform where content can be shared, conversations can be started and data can be captured. Recent research on Emarketer showed the important role of a site in influencing the consumer their buying behavior. A brand and retail site have more influence than Facebook content.

Smart usage of different social networks

Once you have an interactive platform, you still need visitors. Social networks can help to drive traffic to your platform. Use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to engage large audiences and guide people to your site. Only posting content on social networks is like fishing without a hook attached to your bait.

Social networks like Slideshare, Pinterest, Flickr and YouTube are perfect to store your presentations, video’s and pictures. Users of those sites can find your content there. Next to that, embed this content on your own site and share the link of the site on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It increases the impact of this content. To read more about increasing the effectiveness of social media channels, check out this white paper I shared earlier.

Create a content long tail

By placing content on your own platform, you have the possibility to create a content long tail. Content on Facebook and Twitter disappears after a while or is very hard to find back.

Content on your own platform helps with search engine optimization. People that don’t know your company, by searching the topics you are producing content in future clients may find you on Google.

Further, you can use hyperlinks to link your content. Relate back to previous content to guide users to your strong stories from the past. Embed content from YouTube, Pinterest and Slideshare in different content pieces. By re-using this content, the reach and the impact of your content investments increases.

Be smart with real time marketing to boost traffic and conversation value

Follow the news and search for stories that can be linked to your business. Release content about the news that is happening in the world. The goal of this real time content marketing is to increase the reach on your different digital channels. The first three dimensions are all about creating your own stories and building reach/impact with them. This dimension is about hijacking other people’s stories to get the attention to your brand. However, choose your battles in this field. Don’t try to be present in every news story. Choose news stories that match the DNA of your brand.

Capture data and achieve business objectives

If you bring good content, people will want to hear more from you. Give them the opportunity to share their data with you. The moment a consumers gives you data, you received permission to send them stories. When a consumer shares his personal data, see it as a precious gift. It is not something to take advantage of.  Use this data as a precision weapon and not as a weapon of mass destruction. Only by using the data in a hyper relevant way, you will have impact. The data allows you to manage the relationship with the client in a direct and personal way.

Still, there’s something else that’s often forgotten: making a list of ten details that symbolize the implementation of the strategy. More and more, I’m starting to believe in the impact of small, tactical but symbolic things to tweak the way a company is positioned with customers and its own staff.

The big issue today is customer-centricity. More than ever, companies try to put the customer front and center, only to be faced with limitations. Subsequently, the focal point of the discussion switches to the adjustment of processes and flows, but it’s also fun to have a little brainstorming session on how to make the customer the center of attention by making small adjustments. Little things that change the way both customers and staff perceive your company. In this article I’ve listed five examples which, in my opinion, will do the trick. As always, please feel free to add comments and share your ideas on ‘minor changes with a major impact’.

1. Start every meeting with a story about a customer

When you walk into your next meeting, start off by telling a story about a customer. The story can be either positive or negative; the important thing is that it’s a story that you yourself have heard, seen or witnessed. Have everyone present share their own customer story and continue the meeting with the customer in mind. When making decisions, try to imagine how they will impact the customer.

You will find that such a small detail is enough to change the vibe of a meeting. Focusing on the customer at the start of the meeting makes it more likely that your decisions will be in line with the customers’ desires. During meetings we tend to focus too much on the internal consequences of our decisions. And you know what they say: ‘If the eyes are facing the inside of the company, the ass is facing the customer’.

2. Identify those annoying little aspects of your company

Every company has them: small but irritating details that can make for a negative customer experience. And it really is in the details. Make a list of five things that you know customers don’t like but that you haven’t addressed yet for purely internal reasons. Then try to determine how you can solve these problems. Identifying a few of those little aspects every month and eliminating them slowly but surely will optimize the customer experience. This is the kind of thing that can really boost word of mouth about your brand. The trick is seeing those aspects. If you don’t, just ask your customers: they will be happy to point them out.

3. Put a new customer in the spotlight every day

Focus on a new customer story every day. Your customers and consumers are often involved in important projects. Try to keep track of what they are doing. Congratulate them on their achievements and, if possible, put them in the limelight on a public forum. This will have two consequences: first of all, you’ll be compelled to keep track of what your target group and your customers are doing so you’ll get a better feel for their environment. Secondly, you will make the customer/consumer in question happy and proud. This will strengthen your relationship, which ultimately benefits your company.

4. Ask one customer a day for feedback

Making a daily habit of asking consumers for feedback creates a continuous influx of feedback and ideas. Your customers will also be very appreciative of the opportunity to give feedback. You can ask your customers questions on social media from time to time, but it is just as relevant to simply give them a call: ask them what they think of the service you provide or invite them for a cup of coffee… You’re not trying to sell them something; you’re simply trying to improve your service. This is a rare opportunity for a customer and they will be more than happy to help you.

5. Congratulate customer-oriented staff in public

All staff must be prepared to pamper the customer in order to create the ultimate customer experience. Good examples are the perfect way of illustrating the desired behavior for the rest of the team. Look for staff who do an exemplary job and make a point of congratulating them in public. The other staff will be quick to realize how much you value customer-centricity. Step by step, this new attitude will pervade the entire organization and your company’s customer-centricity will soar to unprecedented heights.

These are just five simple suggestions on how to make your company more customer-centric. Please feel free to make your own suggestions. It’s an interesting brainstorming subject, by the way, and it will be fun to put these suggestions into practice as of tomorrow. The return is immediate. Just give it a try.

In view of these recurring questions, I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of the 10 most frequently asked questions and their answers. The contents are open to debate and new arguments can certainly be added to this summary. Please feel free to add your own contribution.

For most of you, the answers on these questions are well known, but there are still a lot of people to educate in this field. See these answers as possible tools to convince your colleagues, friends or managers about the role of social media in a modern organisation.

1. Aren’t social media exclusively for B2C and not for B2B?

The basic philosophy of conversational thinking is pretty simple and as old as the hills: the best kind of publicity is an existing client convincing someone else to work with your company. For years, manufacturers were able to exert a strong influence on public perception through intelligent and creative publicity. In those pre-social media days, publicity produced an endless stream of information about everyone and everything, thereby diminishing the impact of word of mouth. B2B marketers got to benefit much less from this luxury and, as a result, conversations have always been important in a B2B context.

Besides, I’m convinced that B2B marketers hold several advantages over B2C marketers:

• Knowing clients: a good B2B marketer knows who the company’s clients are (certainly the top clients).
• Co-creation is ingrained in the mentality: a lot of B2B companies habitually involve clients in R&D projects.
• Customer feedback has always been a first-hand experience. In a B2B organisation, direct customer feedback comes with the territory. Since sales and service people work hand in hand with customers, they get feedback on the company’s operational processes and service straight from the horse’s mouth.
• Smaller volume of conversation. A final advantage is the fact that B2B companies average a smaller number of conversations.

2. What is the profile of a Conversation Manager?

When we analyse the many vacancies for conversation managers, it’s apparent that two profiles are in demand. There’s the strategic approach on the one hand and the operational approach on the other. Both jobs are valuable and both are essential to effective conversation management. I found the inspiration to describe both routes in the various papers of Jeremiah Owyang.

Choice No. 1: The conversation manager as a reactive helpdesk

A large portion of the job descriptions for conversation managers remind me of the profile of a modern webmaster. These guys start up the conversation for the brand by sending Facebook and Twitter updates. They represent major brands and help companies find their way in conversation management. Every one of these tasks is of crucial importance but they are very operational in nature.

Choice No. 2: The conversation manager as a facilitator of strategic change

Let’s consider why so many companies are looking for a conversation manager. The answer is simple: we are living in a time of change. There isn’t a company out there that doesn’t realise we need a new form of interaction with the consumer. They want to engage the consumer in conversation so they go in search of someone to manage that conversation. Logical, isn’t it?

What companies are really looking for is someone to aid them in that transition. In order to facilitate that change, a strategically competent conversation manager is the best choice. In this role, the conversation manager is proactively involved in determining the strategy. The conversation manager heads the most important projects but also involves the other departments in his plans. He makes sure that the learning effect ripples throughout the organisation. In his ideas, he takes a proactive approach to other departments. He thinks a year ahead and goes in search of the most relevant content in order to maximise the effect of the conversations about his company. He designs a conversion strategy: how can all these conversations lead to conversion and consequently impact our turnover?

Most companies simply look for the operational people. However, operational people need ‘the (wo)man with the plan’. Combining both profiles is what generates true change.

 3. What if the boardroom doesn’t buy into social media?

The answer is simple: If you want to convince management of the use of social media, then don’t talk about social media. Instead you should talk about things that managers find important. One of the challenges for top managers is improving customer satisfaction at a lower cost. Another challenge consists in consolidating sales results in a world where customer contact is becoming a rare commodity. Base your arguments on the challenges they face. Explain the long-term advantages of your plan. Contribute to one of the company’s main goals through your social media plan.

Also, it’s always a good idea to submit a concrete step-by-step plan. Such a plan brings clarity and sets people at ease. The plan consists of a number of pilots. Pilots with a long-term plan have the biggest impact. A successful pilot survives the initial test phase. The ideal pilot is a pilot with the ability to keep evolving with time.

Try to include a broad spectrum of factors in the plan. It shouldn’t merely outline the external communication strategy but also the role that staff will play. Take the structural changes into account and be transparent about the investments required for the plan to be successful.

 4. What is the role of the product in social media?

It goes without saying that the quality of the product is essential. Analysis of consumer conversations clearly shows that customer experience is the topic of conversation in more than 50% of cases. This experience is always a combination of product quality and the quality of the service. When these two elements are satisfactory, you’re off to a flying start on social media: thanks to the quality of the product, consumers will already be exchanging their product experiences of their own accord. The product has already created a positive buzz, regardless of what you yourself are doing.

If your product is lacking in quality then you will be confronted with that fact in a hurry. Faster than ever before, careful observation tells a company what’s wrong with its products. We can help consumers by taking part in the conversation, but even more than that, it’s crucial to bring the observations into the R&D department and make actual improvements to the product.

5. Is operational conversation management something we do ourselves or should we call upon an outside company?

In a perfect world it’s better to implement conversation management ourselves. Managing the direct relationship with the customer yourself is undoubtedly an asset.

In some cases, though, it’s better to use a partner:

• If round-the-clock availability is required but the terms of employment don’t allow it.
• If the company lacks the in-house knowledge to take part in the conversation.
• To provide assistance at peak moments. For instance, if a company can handle the daily flow of conversations but needs outside help for a product launch, they may call upon an outside partner to help them deal with the peak in activity.
• In case of a pressing need for specific competencies that are not available within the company.

The conclusion is that apart from the ideal case scenario, there’s also the everyday reality to take into account.

6. Are Facebook likes and Twitter followers important?

Many social media experts would say ‘no’ but I beg to differ. However, two conditions must be fulfilled: first of all, the fans and followers must be genuine fans instead of ‘purchased fans’.  And secondly, you have to get those followers involved. An entirely passive audience has little worth.

If these two conditions are fulfilled, building a wide reach is a great asset. This is true for several reasons:

• The main reason: while the investments in campaigns and content remain the same, their impact increases. In turn, this generates a bigger impact on investment.
• Managers like figures and success indicators. As a conversation manager, you will have to report to your superiors from time to time. A growing online reach may help you secure additional means.
• The perception of the outside world is still determined by volume and reach.

7. How do I get a lot of followers and likes?

Three conditions must be fulfilled to build reach:

1. Strong content: the most important way of building reach is sharing relevant, creative and enjoyable content with your network. Not only should the actual content be good, but more than anything else it should also be visually convincing. Our communications are slipping back toward the age of hieroglyphics: text is slowly but surely disappearing from the online world and photos and videos are taking over.

2. Discipline: doing something fun once a year just isn’t enough. You have to settle on a rhythm for making and sharing strong content. Keep to that rhythm even if not much is happening in the short run. Discipline coupled with patience is a second condition.

3. Be human: don’t fall into the trap of one-way communication on social media. Keep it human. Play an active role in the conversation, react to other people’s input, joke around… Make the personality of your brand tangible.

8. How do I react to really negative people?

There are two kinds of negative people. The first kind had a bad experience with your company and the second kind is negative by nature. The first are relatively easy to convert. The second are the so-called grouchy smurfs that are impossible to please. Both groups require a different approach.

Negative reactions after an incident: open a dialogue

This group often spreads negative content about your company. They feel you should do better (as opposed to positive criticism from those who think you COULD do better). Open a dialogue and listen to their feedback. Maybe you can make some actual improvements that will change their opinion of your company. Make sure their negative comments are processed in a positive, empathic manner. Even if their opinion doesn’t change, at least you’ve neutralised the negative conversation.

Haters: ignore their hate but understand its source

This group has lost all trust in your company. They are convinced your company simply can’t do any better. Everything you say and do comes across the wrong way. The thought of having anything to do with your company makes them shudder. You won’t change their minds, not even through dialogue, so there’s little sense in reacting to their negative comments. Anything you say will only fuel their anger and it’s a discussion you can’t win. Don’t pay any attention to them. Do not delete their negative comments but simply ignore their remarks. By reacting, you are giving the impression they’re succeeding in their mission. The only interesting thing is to determine (listen) the cause for these extreme feelings. You can learn from the past to keep other people from developing the same feelings towards your company.

9. If I become active on social media, do I run the risk of stimulating negativity?

Consumers don’t need your permission to talk about your company. Conversations will take place regardless of whether or not the company itself is involved. If you’re not, then you don’t know what they are saying and you can’t react; by participating in the conversation, you are aware of what they are saying and you can react.

Also, your presence will have a psychological effect in limiting the number of negative conversations. After all, people are reticent to make negative comments when the target of the remarks can hear them. It is very easy to be angry with someone who isn’t in the room. Arguing with someone who is actually there takes more nerve.

Not being active on social media means turning a deaf ear to your customers’ feedback and that’s obviously a bad idea. After all, marketing is still about understanding your customers and reacting appropriately. In other words, it all starts with listening to what consumers have to say.

10. What use do I have for conversation management if my customers aren’t on Facebook or Twitter?

Conversation management goes beyond Facebook and Twitter. It’s about establishing an emotional connection with customers that results in positive conversations. These positive conversations are the basis for growth. I’ve never heard of a company that doesn’t care about positive conversations, regardless of the channel being used.

Needless to say, the new media also play a role in conversation management. While it is true that not everyone uses these channels, they are still important to every company. Digital marketing goes beyond Facebook and Twitter. Company’s often underestimate the importance of their own website. Establishing your own channel for interactive communication with the customer is also part of a conversation strategy. This involves a larger target group, viz. the entire internet population.

In addition, the indirect effect of social media is often much bigger than the direct effect. More and more, news is being shaped online. Once the classic media pick up a story, it grows and may eventually become a fad. The quickest road to offline visibility is scoring on social media. The opposite is also true: the quickest road to online success is your offline behaviour. In other words: thinking in silos is not a good idea. Everything is interconnected and every channel has its own part to play.

A real social conversation company goes beyond an online customer care team that only solves issues. A real social company not only wants to solve the (reputation) issue, they alsowant to solve the real problem that causes the issues . As you can see in the table of contents above the focus of the guide is not just about customer care or a campaign. The goal is to convince your executive that your company needs to become a social company. The guide outlines 20 principles that lead that change. A short summary to get you started with the guide.

Lay the Groundwork for Social Success: Convey clear benefits to your business, customers, and employees

The first phase is certainly not easy, but it lays the foundation for success. Determine what the added value of social is for your business, your customers and your employees. “Give your colleagues a reason to believe” is a good quote for this crucial phase. For these significant changes to take effect in your organization, you need allies. So make sure you get support. It’s definitely also needed for the last step in this phase the creation of a Social Taskforce.

Know you customers like never before: Gain social insights to understand what really matters

Negative sentiment about your company in social media is no fun for a marketeer. But the real marketer realizes that social media is almost realtime market research and sees social as a wonderful way to get to know the customers and see what your company needs to improve. No more waiting for a report from your market researchers. With social you have direct feedback from (some of) your customers. “Social media isn’t a nuisance, it’s one of the greatest gifts your business could ask for“.

Connect and collaborate with colleagues instantly: Flatten your organization, uncover expertise, and improve productivity

This phase is about the internal organization of your company. It’s about passionated and engaged employees who share information with each other by using internal social media. Make social engagement—internal, external, or
both—a criteria to become a top performer. Tear down does silos. All employees share, communicate, are open and willing to make new connections social media.

Build deeper relationships by engaging customers in new way: Collaborate in real time with customers, prospects, and partners

The previous chapter was about tearing down silos within your company. This chapter is about breaking the barriers between your company and your customers. It’s about true collaboration, turning customers and partners into stakeholders. Almost Steven’s definition of customers in his book the Conversation Company “Customers are employees that are not on your payroll”. A previous post can help to get more insights in how to implement a successful collaboration strategy: 5 pillars for a successful evolution towards structural collaboration.

Listen and lear from public social networks: Get insights to shape unique experiences for your communities

The last chapter starts with setting up a listening center. My article about Social Media Monitoring Tools & Listening Centers and the Altimeter 2012 report Social Media Management Systems might by useful in this phase. A Listening Center, Social Intelligence Center or Command center not only manages your companies conversations. The center also turns the avalanche of social data into valuable information. Information that helps you to make your company more customer centric, change processes or service if needed and improve your online conversations. Ending in creating remarkable online experiences as a social company.

Overall a nice set of principles to get you and your executive started. Do share the guide with someone in your company who can help. It’s your first fellow thinker. One additional advice from me that I missed in the guide: Set up a reporting system that shows your progress towards the KPIs and the organizational goals. Remember, executives are focused on the overall goals of the organization!

Everybody has influence

Of course, some people have more influence than others depending on the size of their network, their drive to influence others and the type of conversations they have.  And still, the biggest impact for a brand comes from a large group of people that recommend your brand, not from a select group of so called influencers. Yahoo’s Duncan Watts spent two months analyzing influencers on Twitter and found that a large group of people who influence an extremely small group are a more effective (and cheaper) way to share a message than enlisting a celebrity Twitterer. So instead of focussing on 10 people that can influence the rest of the world, it is better to have 100.000 people that try to influence their own personal environment.

Of course, there are influencers as well

This point of view does not mean that there are no influencers in the world. It is clear that every sector or topic has a few opinion leaders. These people set the tone and lead the conversation. Their impact within their field can be very big. As a marketer you should know the opinion makers in your category. Working together with them, may certainly help. It is however important to leave them in their own domain. An influencer of the financial industry will not be impactful in promoting a new lifestyle magazine, for instance.

5 ways to manage ‘influence’

There are a lot of articles and blog posts about influencers marketing. Everybody knows the tools and ways to find the influencers in a country or about a specific topic. There are not that many strategies to manage influence. These 5 approaches will get your started.

1. Create positive symbols in your customer experience

Make sure that you have a few symbols of great customer experience. The 365 day return policy of Zappos or the laser show on board of the Tomorrowland planes are just two examples. A symbol is a statement that you are serious about customer satisfaction. Symbols should be very visible and very conversation worthy. These conversation worthy symbols make it easy for the average consumer to talk about your company and to use their influence in their own environment. Be aware: symbols only work if the basics of your customer processes are in line with customer expectations.

2. Avoid service schizophrenia

Offer the same service level to all of your clients. It sounds logical, but reality is often different. Many companies tend to answer faster and better to online complaints compared to their offline service channels. Some even give faster and better answers to people with a lot of followers than to people with a smaller network. That is service schizophrenia. Only by offering the same service levels to everyone, the influence of every individual will be optimized. If not, you are still thinking that the world exists of a few influencers.

3. Capture data

Try to capture as much data as possible from your customer and prospects. Once they have shown their interest in your company, try to keep the relation going. Managing influence is about getting targeted content to the right people. If you know the interests of your audience, you can send them very relevant content that they can use and share. Without data, it is very difficult to use content in your influence program.

4. Make everything shareable

Make sure that everyone can use and share your content and knowledge. By putting as much knowledge and information online as possible, the chance that someone will use it to convince others increases. You need to help your audience to use their influence on their environment. Giving them something to share is an important pillar to succeed.

5. Listen to everyone

Show the world that you are listening to everyone. Listening to a few individuals will never create the same perception as listening to everyone with an opinion. Every customer has an interesting story to share, as a company we need to be open to all these conversations.

The moment you understand the importance of the influence every individual has, you start to manage the conversation with a different mindset. Feel free to let me know what your thoughts are and how you look at managing influence.

From first steps in co-creation to bold idea

In the past twelve months, Center Parcs has made several small inroads into co-creation. One of the first ideas was the search for the name for a new slide at De Vossemeren. Based on a series of pictures, Facebook fans were asked to come up with a name for the new slide. The request resulted in some 1,500 suggestions, which were then whittled down to a shortlist of six finalists. Following a final vote, the name ‘Monkey Splash’ came out the winner. No matter how “small” a step this may seem, a slight change in mentality among marketeers was still necessary. Keep in mind that the name was actually chosen by a consumer, regardless of any other alternatives the marketing team might have preferred.

Consumers make the new brochure: the need for a new procedure

Earlier this year, the suggestion was made to involve the guests in the making of the new brochure. This meant a departure from the traditional and successful recipe. The people from Center Parcs and their agency, Duval Guillaume Modem, decided to go for it and create a brochure together with the Center Parcs guests.

The first step consisted in selecting the guest families. On Facebook and in Close-Up magazine, families were invited to put themselves forward. Over 600 families answered the call and completed a form detailing their motivation. From these forms, Center Parcs selected a number of families that suit the atmosphere and the target group of each park. For example, Erperheide welcomed a family with very young children, whereas Park Zandvoort selected a senior couple.

Next, the families were invited to come to the parks, where they were briefed by the people from Duval Guillaume Modem as well as by the Center Parcs team. The families were told that they could make the new brochure, but they had to keep in mind that the brochure would be read by more than 2 million people. In other words, the guests were asked to look beyond their own personal opinion and preferences. Incidentally, they fully understood what was expected of them.

Work on the brochure began the following day. The guests were asked to describe the unique aspects of the park and they selected those pictures which they felt were representative of the park’s atmosphere. In retrospect, Paul Geraeds, Marketing Director Center Parcs Europe, claimed that 80% of the end result was different from what the Center Parcs marketing team would have come up with; this means the consumers had a great deal of input. According to Paul, “the brochure is a bit less ‘polished’ and perhaps somewhat more cluttered, but that also makes it more personal. In return, the new brochure is more relevant and more credible”.  No final editing was undertaken to modify or correct the brochure compiled by the guests. The actual brochure is based entirely on the input received from the consumer.

A novelty: individual covers per country

The final step was the choice of the cover. The guest families made some suggestions but the actual covers were chosen by the Facebook fans and all guests, with the Center Parcs employees acting as a kind of second opinion. This approach revealed major differences between the various countries and for the first time, Center Parcs decided to adjust the cover to the culture of the individual countries. There used to be just one cover but now the consumers’ input decided which cover was used.

Next year: rely even more on user-generated content

Now that all initial doubts regarding this project have been dispelled, Center Parcs has decided to go with this approach next year as well. A number of ideas have been put forward to take it one step further next year:

• Participants will be better briefed beforehand, so they can prepare even better. In turn, this will leave more time for the brainstorming sessions when they visit the parks.
• This time the pictures were selected from a database of existing photos. Next year, Center Parcs is hoping to have consumers choose from all user-generated photos that have been posted on Flickr, for instance. Center Parcs is hoping to exploit the enormous amount of content available on the parks.

Four steps to increase social media effectiveness

In order to boost social media effectiveness, brands and companies should discuss four steps:

1. Channel & content strategy: define the content-conversion point
2. Build online reach: create a community to increase the return on content creation
3. Create engagement through fantastic content & interaction
4. From likes to ambassadors: change a group of silent people into an active group of brand ambassadors.

Each of these phases are described in an earlier post.

KPIs, Media type & Content type

I am convinced that most companies could use their social channels more effectively. The problem is that most companies only focus on steps 2 and/or 3 of this plan. Most brainstorms start with the question ‘what should we share on Facebook?’. By taking that discussion to a higher level, you will change the way you look at social media touch points.

When using the approach outlined in this paper, it becomes obvious that the KPIs, the media types and the content types differ in each of the steps.

Use this table to plan your social media success. Most companies start without a plan and without knowing what the next step is. This leads to disappointment and low return. It is clear that each of the four steps are not completely separate. There is a lot of overlap between them. By putting them apart, it helps to make a more comprehensive plan. Working with different KPIs in each of the phases, helps to set the right mindset in your organization.

Read the full paper

Check out the entire paper to learn more about this philosophy

From stand-alone social silo’s to an integrated approach

Most managers think of social media channels as stand-alone silos. Content is spread through each of these channels without a clear plan on how to reach business objectives. The truth is that all online channels are interrelated. Consumers can even be routed from channel A to channel B. The challenge is to design a plan to optimize the impact of your social media investments.

A content-conversion plan includes every touch point where a (potential) customer can come into contact with your content. Then you need to determine at which of these touch points conversion to your objectives (reputation management, community building, lead generation…) is likely to occur. All other social channels support traffic generation towards these conversion points. Instead of having a set of silo channels, this creates a set of interrelated online channels.

For example, the converting touch point might be the corporate website or blog. A corporate blog can be the touch point that leads people from the content area to the sales area. Your other social media accounts ensure that sufficient traffic is channeled to the blog every day.

For companies working in the knowledge sector, SlideShare can serve as a useful converting touch point. SlideShare is a social network site where people can share presentations (PowerPoint, etc.). This is the ideal place to showcase what you can do and what you have to offer. On this platform, it is easy to directly convert a reader into a sales lead. In case your key objective is community building, your Facebook page may be the best content-conversion point. When mapping out your conversion touch-point plan, define the trigger for each touch point that makes it possible to move on to the next. Furthermore, try to keep the lines as short as possible. The more steps are necessary in order to reach the touch point where your business goals are realized, the harder it is to achieve high conversion rates.

Questions to ask in building your content-conversion plan:

1. What is the key objective of our content marketing?

Some companies focus on creating brand awareness and others on becoming an expert or on creating business leads. Depending on your objective, there are several content-conversion points to choose from.

2. Which online touch point provides the best odds of reaching this objective?

Define the best place on the web to reach your objectives. Below you will find several examples of content-conversion points. Since so much depends on the context, the contents of this table should be viewed as examples and not as the only possible outcome of the discussion.

3. Which channels can create traffic to the content conversion point?

Once you’ve determined your content conversion point, the challenge is to bring people there. All social media channels can be helpful in reaching this goal. In this phase, the tough part is being able to use your content intelligently. For instance, suppose you’ve launched a great YouTube video and you want to share it with your followers. If you have chosen your blog as the content conversion point, you should embed the video in the blog and share the link to the blog post that includes the video. Mention your blog and the URL in the description on YouTube. Also, don’t forget to mention the name and URL of your blog. Every time someone embeds your video on their blog, this helps increase the traffic to your blog. If one of your employees gives a presentation outside your company, put the name and URL on the last slide: “For more info about our company/subject of presentation check out our blog at …” Create relevant cross links to your conversion point e.g. in your Twitter profile background. The more roads lead to the conversion point, the better.

Download the full paper

This post zooms in on one aspect of the paper ‘increase the effectiveness of your social media channels in four steps’. If you would like to read the entire paper, you can download it here.