walk on: exploring the digital experience

Managing Your Social Profiles

As the number of social networks grows, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the effort to maintain each one independently. Each network may serve a purpose to your personal or professional life but it is easy to lose track of the networks you've joined, are managing or are interested in.

For individuals, there is a great How To from Ben Parr at Mashable that provides a good approach to identifying and managing your networks. There is also a desktop solution that I will be experimenting with called Sobees. Sobees claims to "offer an easy unified user experience to get, organize and share information from the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, Digg, Flickr and YouTube directly on the desktop". Sobee sounds similar to Collactive which is a company that offers a robust social media management platform for the corporation.

Finally, for those who support Corporte social media programs, I would recommend reviewing the Forrester Wave Report on Listening Platforms as well as the agencies they recommend.

How do you manage yoru social media profiles?

Reading Corner

I generally read a couple of books at a time. I'm not sure if it's a form of ADD or if I consumer information better in bits at different times but usually the mix includes a marketing book (my career focus), a book for leisure such as a novel and a topical book to learn something new. Right now, I've got four books in the hopper, one of which I just finished and three which are in full swing. Here's my current reading list:

Marketing
Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
I received this book as part of the blogger outreach program and was asked to read and review it on my blog, amazon and every where else I could. This book was very well written and easy to read and identify ways to integrate the practices into my daily work. This book is an excellent jumping off point for individuals interested in social media and looking to take their company into the waters. It provides clear explanation as well as valuable case studies for framing ideas about your company's move into this medium. It also provides a valuable how-to approach for planning purposes. I'm looking forward to leveraging my learnings from this text into my new position in the healthcare field.

Tribes by Seth Godin
To my surprise, a copy of this book showed up in the mail on Saturday as an early release present. Earlier in the year, I pre-orderd the book and joined Seth's experiment at Triiibes. The book was delivered as a pre-release gift, an additional copy to read, so that I can share my purchased copy when it comes. I'll provide more information on Seth's approach and on the book in a future post but needless to say. I'm cranking through this because it's an insightful and engaging romp on leadership.

Pleasure Reading
The Lord of the Ring: Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
I love these movies and decided I needed to read the books to get the full experience. I'm through part one and am excited to see the world of Middle Earth unfold with additional content that didn't make the movies. Many things can be taken from these books and applied to every day living. I appreciate the works of authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

New Skill
Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik
One of the challenges I face in my new job is to establish a process to make informed decisions on digital communications social media applications for the organization. I'm reading Avinash Kaushik's book so that I can bring a formal analytics program to our web sites and digital programs that will help us know what our users want and how to create an experience that will reward them. Compliments to Mitch Joel for recommending this book as well as to Avinash for writing a book on something technical that engages the marketer in me.

Look for tidbits of wisdom and thought that inspire me from the pieces in the near future.

Word of Mouth Guarantee

In a move to generate interest for the word of mouth medium, BzzAgent is offering a guarantee that their campaigns will outperform traditional media by 20%. The catch is that an advertiser must spend at least $300,000 on a campaign with BzzAgent using word of mouth and other media. An independent third part vendor will be involved with the measurement to help support the offer.

One of the challenges related to social media and tactics like word of mouth is measurement and what is considered success. It's difficult to measure conversation and more so to translate that conversation into sales. It seems that BzzAgent is willing to take the challenge to it's clients and put their money where their mouth is.

Are you confident enough in your business and brand that you're willing to offer a $300,000 guarantee?

Technorati Tags: Beneath the Brand,Jamey Shiels,BzzAgent,Word of Mouth,Social Media

Social Media as a Career

I've come across several very interesting posts that have begun to track the emergence of Social Media as a legitimate position in the communications departments of many organizations. These organizations are taking up the challenge that is being presented by consumers and the use of new media tools and committing themselves to the conversation.

Several of the brands that I work with are beginning to embrace social media and the opportunity to engage with consumers and build relationships. It's an exciting time to be a part of digital communications.

Here's a few links for review if your organizations is considering developing a full time position for a Social Media Director/Strategist.

Social Media Headhunter with Jim Durbin.

Social Media Strategist is a Real Job by Des Walsh

Social Media Today article by Romain Pechard

Groundswell Thoughts from Josh Bernoff

Technorati Tags: Social Media,New Media,Communication Strategy,Jamey Shiels

Social Media Takeaways from Avenue A Razorfish

Shiv Singh of Avenue A/Razorfish hosted a client summit this past week and posted seven key takeaways related to social media. They are great highlights that can be considered within all the conversations digital agencies have with their clients who are exploring the social media space. I've outlined the seven below. The details are over at the GOING SOCIAL NOW and I encourage you to read his synopsis of each.

1. Social Media has gone mainstream and there's no doubt about it.

2. User Generated Content enhances a company's reputation.

3. We're still just beginning to understand user behavior.

4. Social Media is not just in the browser.

5. Internal Social Media can be taken outside.

6. Its all about integrated marketing across platforms and devices. 

7. Social Media can be used to target brand new audiences.

Technorati Tags: Jamey Shiels,Shiv Sing,Avenue A Razorfish,Social Media

Gen Y Guide to Web 2.0 at Work

I've been out of the loop for a while, cranking with work and family. I've been able to consume content but haven't had a chance to spend time thinking and working on anything to post. I'm going to work on getting back on track and posting regularly.

I'm in the process of working on developing strategies for social networks for a client. I've been doing a lot of research and working out tactics. Somewhat related to social networks was this piece I came across from Sacha Chua, via Beth Kanter, via Gavin. It's an interesting look into Gen Y and a recommendation on how to leverage their skills and familiarity with Web 2.0 tools to make a name for themselves.

 

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Technorati Tags: Jamey Shiels,Generation Y,Web 2.0,Social Media

Starbucks and Social Media

Starbucks has opened the door to the community. They have taken their first step into the social media space and have invited the community to share at My Starbucks Idea. The site creates an opportunity for fans to share, vote and comment on ideas to improve and benefit the company.

The foray into the social media space is similar to the Dell's approach of engaging the community. This followed the Dell Hell experience and has actually resulted in products being delivered based on customer requests.

The key to watch is how aggressively Starbucks supports the site and participates in the conversation to keep the community engaged. Another critical item will be what they do with the information that users provide.

For additional information and thoughts on this item check the seed of conversation that Jeremiah has planted for things to watch as this unfolds. John Moore at Brand Autopsy has a very detailed write up on Starbucks efforts to create change and engage the community.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. Maybe a cup of coffee while we wait?  

Technorati Tags: Beneath the Brand,Jamey Shiels,Starbucks,Social Media

The Influencer Debate

I've finally read the article in Fast Company about Duncan Watts and his disagreement with the Influencer theory made popular by Malcom Gladwell in the Tipping Point. I think it proposes an interesting debate, especially for the marketing community, about how ideas spread.

The discussion revolves around the value, or lack thereof, of individuals known as influencers and their ability to cause ideas to spread wider and farther than those ideas from the average Joe. Gladwell puts forth the value and critical role of the influencer and Watts proposes the power of the average Joe. Marketing has bought into Gladwell's theory and is resistant to Watts ideas. I have yet to form my own personal opinion but am looking forward to watching the discussion and testing evolve. 

What I think is interesting, is that the discussion is being distributed by a magazine that positions itself as an influencer. The commentary in the blogosphere is also being driven by a group that I would classify as influencers. It's a bit of a contrast to the theory that Watts puts forth. Here's a list of recent discussion:

Seth Godin, David Armano, John Moore, Guy Kawasaki, Gavin Heaton, Experience Curve, Boing Boing, Brains of Fire, PyroMarketing, Stephen Deny.

It's an interesting debate that I think will be tested continually in the near future now that the discussion is hitting the mainstream. I have a client that I'm working with that is investing resources in the Word of Mouth approach with these influencer. I'm going to watch the experience closely as I form my opinion for the long run.

 

Technorati Tags: Jamey Shiels,Tipping Point,Malcolm Gladwell,Duncan Watts,Influencers,New Marketing Concepts,Word of Mouth

Age of Conversation Returns

The Age of Conversation is returning for another round. I was honored to participate as an author. It was a unique experience for me personally and professionally that allowed me to participate in a community of thought leaders.

I'm happy to say, Drew and Gavin have decided to go it again. This time around, they've added a unique twist. You now have two ways to participate:  Be a contributing author and vote on the theme of this years book.

Drew's provided further details. Check it out and join the conversation. 

Technorati Tags: Jamey Shiels,Age of Conversation,Join the Conversation,New Marketing

The New Generation of Board Games

I think I played Zooreka from Cranium six times this weekend with my kid. It's a game where you work your way around the board to collect, food, shelter and animals to build your own zoo. The game is fun with intuitive gameplay that can be picked up quickly. It moves quickly but keeps you engaged.

If you ask me, Cranium has its 'game' on. They have taken a relatively low growth area, board games, and created a unique position. They are constantly developing games that are based on a creative approach to family interaction. Looking in our entertainment center, I think we have at least six games from the company. I give credit to a brand that looks at a staid industry and decides not to be shaped by what is there but by what they can be. They have established a vision and focused on the development of games that cause people to interact in a new way.

Does your brand have focus? Do your marketing efforts cause people to consider your brand from a new perspective? Does your marketing cause your consumers to interact in new and exciting ways?

We should all take a page out of Cranium's playbook.

Technorati Tags: Jamey Shiels,Cranium,Product Innovation,New Marketing,Consumer Experience,User Experience Design