The Relationship Economy……

Given the rise of social media and user generated content it seems to be influencing brands and agencies to focus the message on us, the user.

Siddarth Raman writes :Yahoo’s changed a lot over the years, from it’s dynamic homepage, which they are now actively marketing to handing over their search to Bing. I still remember Yahoo as that e-mail service which I use occasionally. Yahoo, however is popular in the USA. And Yahoo is all set to change their image globally. We recently wrote about their $100 million campaign to focus on the whole It’s Y!ou theme.

It kicked off the USA on September 28th to a mixed response from different groups of people. In India — today was D-Day, the launch of their campaign. Those who’ve been following the Champions League would notice the promotion give to cricket.yahoo.com.

Ogilvy & Mather is the creative agency for Yahoo! India — the same agency that spawned the ZooZoo ads. In an interview, Nitin Mathur, Director — Marketing, Yahoo! India, explained, “We see this as a mid- to long-term transformation of our brand, which will have marketing programmes running over the next 12-18 months. This brand campaign is actually is a follow up on a lot of new product innovations, which we have launched over the last few months. Our strategy is to build products that are not only ‘open’, ‘social’ and ‘relevant’ to consumers, but also available across devices. The brand campaign is all about how we give you the best of Web and make your Internet more personal to you. It is all about you, the consumer.”

Who Gives Us The Web?

Notice the statement above which says “Our strategy is to build products that are not only ‘open’, ‘social’ and ‘relevant’ to consumers, but also available across devices. The brand campaign is all about how we give you the best of Web and make your Internet more personal to you. It is all about you, the consumer.” I wonder whether Yahoo, or anyone, gives us the best of the web or is it us who creates the best of the web?

Technology providers create utility aimed at enabling users to “create” something with the utility. Technology is exploding from everywhere. From the Giants like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to the thousands of independent developers who add utility to the likes of Facebook, Twitter and this world of  developers is where most of the innovation spawns.

So first comes the technology which enables users, you and me, to create something with the technology. Everything technology provides enables us to create conversational content in many forms. To express ideas, collaborate with hundreds or thousands and move our media anywhere and everywhere.

What the big players want us to do is use their technology to create our content so they can use our content to create their revenue.  The revenue they create is primarily from advertising dollars. In case you haven’t noticed those dollars are shrinking fast because we the people are rejecting the ads and accepting conversations instead.

There is a new order of business coming as it relates to monetizing the web. The new order is driven by the creation of value, currency and income from what we do with what we learn from the conversations. How fast is the new order of business emerging? Watch the video below.

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This is post number 1,000 for this blog.  That equals over 500,000 words discussing  many topics but all central to the disruptive nature of social technology.

Writing 1,000 articles is like launching 1,000 hot air balloons.  Some get attention and some don’t. Some come across as “hot air” while others create value in the content and context of the opinions expressed. Some are crafted well while others are filled with grammar and spelling errors that the “crowd” is keen to point out (and I am improving on this).  Some soar across the landscape while others fall to the ground gaining little distance. Overall launching 1,000 post over a three-year period has taught me a lot and provided me with more than expected.

What Have I Learned?

I probably could write another 1,000 post reflecting on what I have learned but instead I’ll give a summary of the most valuable lessons learned.

1. I am not a professional journalist and my readers don’t care
2. Social distribution of  content is an extremely powerful force that reaches more people than we know and creates an affinity to thoughts, ideas and valuable conversations.
3. The exchange and referrals from readers is the most important and valuable learning process and the experience accelerates more learning. Learning begets innovative thoughts on the fringe of new discoveries which attracts more readers.
4. Creating and distributing content is like laying pavement for a road that takes you into the future. You may not know exacting what the future looks like but the conversations will guide you there and  the future becomes clearer as does its directional forces.
5. People are thoughtful, kind and appreciative of conversations they can identify with and  the “virtual relationships” become as strong as traditional relations.  It is this strength that creates and motivates a never-ending desire to learn about yourself and the quality of the world we create online and off-line.
6. Conversations create opportunities. Opportunities to apply your skill set to creating value that justifies an economic exchange.  Your content establishes the quality of your thinking which reflects your true skill set that others may want to use. We live in a knowledge driven digital economy. Both the knowledge of and effective use of digital wares is what fuels this economy.
7. Sharing what you learn is a very rewarding experience that helps you learn more.

The Right Kind Of Exposure Fuels Opportunity

Creating the right kind of content exposes you to the world of consumption. If your content is distributed to the right audience and consumed by the right people then opportunity will be attracted to or created for you. Lets look at the exposure created by this blog:

First the numbers. 1,000 post created over 180,000 visitors, over 7,000 comments, over 6,000 retweets, rankings in the top 50,000 sites in the USA and top 100,000 in the world. Traffic created from relative and relevant content creates exposure which begets opportunities.

Besides the numbers there are qualitative gains including: noted as featured blogger in Business Weeks Business Exchange, chosen as Blogger of the month by Social Media Today, ranking in  Advertising Age Power 150 and top 100 blogs in The Daily Reviewer, added as a contributing columnist in Personal Branding Magazine, asked to serve on Business Weeks Market Advisory Board, featured blogger at New Media Hires, Content Management Connections and AlwaysOn. Ask to speak at dozens of media events and  corporate conferences, produced dozens of videos with Social Media Connections, published two books and five white papers and each has been downloaded over 5,000 times.  All of this came as a result of this blog.

So What Is My ROI?

Ah, the ever pervasive question about ROI that seems  top of mind for everyone. Let me try and put this into perspective to my experience with this blog.

First of all the above quantitative and qualitative results  came from the content and context to specific audiences interested in my perspectives. The content and context created a “pull” which resulted in an ever-growing audience.  Subsequently came the qualitative results which produced the exposure this blog  received as a result of  many distribution points.  Thus it started with distributed content which fueled exposure and pulled an audience to the blog and the authors.  The process never ends and if it does so will any chance you have for a transaction.

My investment was time, a little technology cost and a lot of thinking about content and context. My return on investment was, is and will continue to be more than I expect because I am developing relations with excellent people and organizations and some of them actually pay me to help them learn what I have learned and apply it to their own business.   You ask how much? That’s for me to know and you to learn and create on your own. The rewards have been both  qualitative and quantitative. With the greatest reward being valuable relationship that help me continue to learn.

It doesn’t matter whether you offer the market  products or services getting results is dependent upon the content, context, the process and the relationships you build.

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I started examining the phenomena of social technology in 2006 and have watched it shift through different phases. Each phase has brought new meaning and as more and more people engage the dynamics have changed. With rapid adoption and interest people and businesses are learning what,where,when, why and how different markets segments are finding utility and value in its use.

From the early days of chat rooms, Prodigy, “You Got Mail”, Compuserve, Netscape, Instant Messaging, Napster then networks like MySpace, Facebook, Linkedin to blogs and micro-blogs like Twitter and the explosion of mobile technology  we the people have just begun to experience the power of being unleashed to connect and communicate like never before.  The pull of millions and the early success stories has entire markets trying to figure out how to harness this thing which today is called social media.

What “Shifts” Have Occurred

Shifts represent a systemic change that impacts the behavior of people, industry, institutions, governments and society. A change in behavior creates a demand for change in people, processes, commerce and interactions with markets aiming to serve the demand for change. When the behavior of a market changes everything tied to the market must change or be left behind clinging to the old ways. When the behavior of a market changes suppliers to the market have to adjust to the changes. When change becomes dynamic and frequent markets react rather than think about the implications of the changes and what is likely to happen next. Strategically speaking dynamic and frequent market changes  create chaos for the uninformed.

Thinking Ahead Of Change

Before you can apply critical thinking about what will likely change in the future you must put past changes into perspective. In an effort to put past changes into perspective we will provide the following ten summaries:

1. Market consumption has shifted away from mass media to conversational media
2. Commerce is moving towards conversational currency and away from traditional market currency
3. Meaningless and irrelevant chatter is shifting to meaningful and valuable conversations that create the most value
4. Cultural changes are fueling market changes. The culture of control has shifted to individual control by preference and privileges to communicate
5. Economics are being disrupted and redefined by the influence of digital economies. Digital economies are fueled by innovation created by the exchange of ideas and collaboration of the many rather than the few.
6. Business as usual is rapidly being replaced by the unusual. The unusual is driven by participation, freedom of choice and peer influence rather than control and command structures that steal  joy of  work and experiential learning.
7. Advertising and marketing methods of the past are no longer relevant. Signs (mass media) are being replaced by conversational influence. Convertising will replace advertising. Trying to converge the old with the new is a waste of time, money and reputation.
8. Knowledge is in demand. Information overload is clutter. Value creation enabled by knowledge shared is the currency that attracts markets to engage. Pushing your information that is not in context with your markets interest is considered anti-social.
9. Smart vs. dumb technology is the route to efficiency and effectiveness. Knowing the difference and how to use relevant technology separates the leaders from the followers.
10. Having and being able to quickly change strategic  directions in alignment with the market changes requires a change in strategic thinking. Strategy provides the direction for everything. Not knowing how to think about strategy differently and subsequently being able to execute efficiently means you cannot provide effective organizational direction. Without clear directions in alignment with the market you end up going in the wrong direction.

Each of the ten points above summarizes current shifts that fuel more change. Change in now a constant that is being fueled by the market of conversations. Not grasping these changes and learning to get ahead of them means you cannot find the right directions to get you ahead of the market. Make sense?

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McGraw-Hill recently decided to sell Business Week. The buyer is Bloomberg LP but the future of Business Week is in limbo as are the jobs of all that work there. The price has not been  disclosed but the value of  Business Weeks assets are more than the purchase price. Does Bloomberg LP view the value appropriately?

First Lets Look at Business Week’s History

Business Week is a global source of essential business insight that inspires leaders to turn ideas into action.  Through content, context, and collaboration,  Business Week  moderates global conversations and moves business professionals forward. Founded in 1929 and published by the McGraw-Hill Companies, BusinessWeek magazine is the market leader, with more than 4.7 million readers each week in 140 countries.

BusinessWeek.com (BW.com) was launched on America Online in December 1994, and on the World Wide Web in August 1996. BW.com’s B-Schools Channel won a prestigious National Magazine Award in both 2007 and 2008, for personal service online. BW.com  produces much original journalism, with new stories posted multiple times a day, as well as a dozen regular podcasts, 28 staff-written blogs, multimedia slide shows, video reports, and interactive features. BW.com also uses aggregation and Web 2.0 social media to engage its audience in a deep and meaningful way.

Business Exchange. In 2008, BusinessWeek launched the Business Exchange, an innovative online offering that aims to better serve the evolving information needs of business professionals. Delivering to a high-income and highly educated audience, BusinessWeek.com is the preeminent provider of decision-making global business news, information, and services. The site attracts 9.2 million monthly users.

The Attraction

Traffic represents attraction of a market which creates engagement of people and things, a transaction.

Google’s whole economic value is fueled by the hits economy, traffic.  While most of the major media has “gone social“ Business Week has went the extra mile with Business Exchange and its strategic alliance with LinkedIn.

As we can see by the above chart  Facebook’s traffic pattern demonstrates the highest rate of change compared to Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Twitter and Business Exchange. Facebook’s market cap is now over $10 Billion, Twitters is over $1 Billion as is LinkedIn. However, the value of traffic alone doesn’t show the economic value of  quality traffic. What will the Price be for Business Week?

It will be interesting to see how Bloomberg LP values Business Week. It will be even more interesting to see what they do with it.  Could Business Week become the “LinkedIn” of business content by vertical market? Should Bloomberg LP also buy LinkedIn and merge them with Business Week to create LinkedIn Business? Business drives commerce. Commerce is what fuels an economy. Business Week’s traffic is centric to business markets learning what is influencing markets and what innovation is on the horizon.

The qualitative value of Business Weeks traffic represents the economic power that fuels our economy. You can’t say the same for Facebook or Twitter.

Comparing Old Media vs. New Media

Lets look at Business Weeks initiative called Business Exchange, a portal of blogs added to a taxonomy of business subjects. Now look at the charts illustrating the growth of Business Exchange. Do you see the obvious? Statistically speaking the growth rate  of change for the Business Exchange represents significant value  the quality of the traffic creates. Rate of change is the factor of conversational currency.  A bank makes money based in the rate of change in interest using other peoples money. Conversational currency drives a rate of change in interest.

Quality traffic precedes relationships and business transactions follow relationships. Business Exchange has grown exponentially because of the quality of media created by business people discussing business issues and not by useless chatter.  The journalist from Business Week and elsewhere are learning from the Business Exchange model.  Learning is an attraction that pulls markets. Business markets are where transaction happen. Useless chatter doesn’t create economic transactions.

John Byrne’s, Editor in Chief of Business Week, and his team engineered Business Exchange as well as a strategic relationship with Linkedin.  The value of Business Week comes from the quality of thinking provided by leadership, management and the staff that supports the enterprise. The quality of Business Week’s content, both on-line and off-line is what provides markets with insights and knowledge.

The debate over the future of publishing and how to create revenue, besides advertising, continues.  Since content is an influence over markets maybe a new model will emerge which monetizes information, influence, ideas, talent and conversations.  The actions taken by an audience as a result of content that is in context to their wants and needs creates value for a marketplace of consumption.  The value of content consumption has yet been quantified, qualified or monetized.

The future of Business Week will defined by the people who lead and manage the “social capital” created by what Business Week has done in the past.  Innovation that creates a new economic model for content  consumption will likely come from the markets that consume it and the people who manage it.  Business Week has the right market, the quality traffic and the right people who can lead it to the next generation. Lets hope that Bloomberg LP sees and understands that it’s the people who create the value. Time will tell.

What’s your opinion?

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There is a lot of buzz about online social media and organizations are jumping in to ride the wave hoping to get something, anything and everything. However few people think in terms of social media off line and subsequently do not comprehend what it really is.

I was on a call with a client representative who was trying to sell a prospect on social media. The prospect was talking about using social media to market their business. The representative said “social media is easy and doesn’t cost much and began to leave the wrong impression with the prospect”. After the call I suggested that the client representative not try and sell something that they have no reference to nor enough understanding to effectively inform prospects as to what social media is and isn’t. The client representative responded with “I know what social media is. It is peer to peer endorsements on line used to sell products and services. You try and make it too complicated and your discussion of it is too academic for most people to understand. I can sell social media because I distill it down to a non-academic and understandable level.

Arrogance And Ignorance Are Not “Social”

The client representative with whom I was dealing with has 25 years experience in marketing and has worked for many of the Fortune 500 firms. He believes he  understands all things marketing. A likely profile of many marketers trying to use social media to sell something. The illustrated conversation above was off line and the content and context of the conversation illustrated how people who think they know something try and make something understandable without really knowing. Subsequently when trying to sell something you don’t understand you end up misleading others who don’t understand.

The essence of any good conversation, off line or online, is relevant and relative to listening, learning and applying value for the benefit of those engaged.  Selling is a relational process and should be aimed at understanding a prospects need before you try and sell them something that doesn’t fulfill the need. Marketing, on the other hand, is a process of leveraging mass media to attract an audience of prospective buyers.  Marketing and selling a two distinctively different processes. One focuses on building a relationship based on value while the other focuses on delivering a message to a large audience.

Social Media Is Both Online And Off Line

Social media is both online and off line when you think in terms of building relationships and not in terms of marketing your message.  Marketing is a one way messaging channel and social media is a two way communications channel online and off line. The objective of communications is to exchange “conversational value” which both parties, or many, benefit from. Our communications offline can reflect value or not. The same applies to online with the only difference is in reach and impact of communicating.

The current market of “online social media” is rejecting advertising and marketing messages of the past. If 98% of off line ads don’t get any response then why do we think using the same method online will work? If your off line communications doesn’t create value from knowledge then  you are not likely going to create valuable relationships that last. If you mislead people about how to use social media by copying what others are saying or doing with it then they and you will become part of the crowd that is being rejected.

Social media is communications. It happens off line and online and the value you create is directly related to what, where, when,how, who and why you communicate. Results come from doing things right and for the right reason. What used to be limited to off line has now converged with online. Don’t believe it?  The world does and is trying use it for different purposes. The purpose of communicating has always been and always will be relational, good, bad and indifferent.

Trying to apply old knowledge to knowledge you don’t have can be dangerous.

I hope this was understandable and wasn’t too academic.

What say you?

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Organizations are jumping into social media without being  ready for what might happen. You ask what might happen? A lot of things could happen and many you are not ready to handle.

In order to get ready before you leap you really need to assess whether your organization would be consider “social”. The people who could answer that question best are your employees then your customers. However if you’ve never really asked those people whether you are good at building and keeping relations then you might consider assessing that before you jump into social media.

To assess whether the organization is ready means to check three things that will give you keen insights into whether or not you are ready. These three things include:

1. People: How do they really feel about their relationship with the organization. People being suppliers, employees, customers and prospects. You might be surprised at what they might say and that is if you are ready to listen.
2. Process: Your organization has many processes that either enable or constraint people from communicating. How well are those processes performing? How would you know? Your organization also has processes, spoken and unspoken, which say trust, collaboration and the tone of your communications. Do you know what these processes are? What do the processes say to the issues of trust, collaboration and relations?
3. Culture: The BIG UMBRELLA of stuff that reflects the organizations trust, relations and mind-set that speaks the sentiment of managements view of its people, internal and external.
4. Tools: Does your organization have the right tools to efficiently and effectively communicate? Does your organization provide people with tools to improve processes, relations and make changes that enhance the culture and its market sentiment? How would you know? Do you know? Not knowing is a clear indicator of not being ready.

Besides understanding the issues of people, process, culture and tools the overriding issue is one of methods.  By what methods do you manage, communicate, measure and make needed adjustments? Methods reflect managements knowledge and if you are using the wrong methods well you’ll get the wrong results. The method of management has evolved and is constantly changing with the aim of improvement. When markets shift methods have to change because the old method simply cannot respond or satisfy the market demands.

New Methods Require New Knowledge

You cannot adjust to revolutionary change by applying old thinking. Social technology is changing everything because everything is fueled by communications. Social media is communications but a new method that requires new knowledge if you want to tap into the power of effective and efficient communications. Who and what is communicating to you and about you. Everything and everyone.

This new method  is more powerful than any other communications medium in the history of mankind. Why? Because it has reach and influence beyond traditional media and is grounded in trust, relations and honesty. It appeals to the very fabric of human nature and avoids anti-social behavior. Anti-social behavior is when your organization constrains people with bad processes, a closed and controlled culture, a lack of tools to do things right and management methods that lack knowledge and common sense.

You may discount all this and ignore its importance to your performance meaning your bottom line. Then again if you don’t understand these simply things then you are likely to discount them as irrelevant and unimportant to getting you the results you so desperately want. By the way, how are your results?  If you want them to improve then you’ll have to change the methods otherwise nothing will improve. Get it?

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Organizational culture as been studied, talked about and criticized for years. It seems that the very subject of managing culture is a significant challenge for any organization regardless of size. The very nature of “culture” is representative of the people, process and structure of any organization. Now any organizations culture just became transparent because of the reach and empowerment offered from social technologies..

Luis Suarez writes: “To me, social computing within the enterprise is about everything, but the tools. It’s a philosophical and social corporate movement, a lifestyle, a new way of connecting and interacting with people, both inside and outside of the firewall; one where the main focus is not on the technology itself, but on the people behind it.

Yes, I’m talking about culture. Indeed, it’s all about a cultural shift, one that is starting to take the corporate world by storm at multiple levels, going from a grassroots bottom-up approach all the way to a top down executive level. If you ask me, I would even venture to state that is unstoppable at this point in time. We are probably far too immersed in it already to just want to back out of it altogether. So if it were just about technology itself, we probably could have done it already, but since the change is much more profound, like I said, I don’t think there is a way back. And that’s a good thing.”

Back To The Future?

Luis makes some very good points in his article and his statement of “since the change is much more profound, like I said, I don’t think there is a way back. And that’s a good thing” speaks volumes to the challenges ahead for management. In an earlier article titled “Social Media And Management” we said “Business leaders need to consider whether management should understand and use social media to impact organizational performance. The current market sentiment suggest that management would rather delegate the function of social media to others and not assume the responsibility themselves.” This sentiment is dangerous grounds for organizations either using or considering use of social media. Dangerous because they don’t understand the cultural impact which will unfold before their eyes.

Cultural change is a knowledge domain which requires keen insights into organizational behavior and what drives it.  It takes special training and knowledge to manage through the maze of issues needing consideration and a roadmap about how to make changes effectively. The biggest barrier to change has always been and always be management. Today’s management disciplines lack the knowledge and skills required to change. Without help they cannot change. Maybe the first change will be either new management or enlightened management.

What say you?

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The impact of social technology on business as usual is and will continue to be profound. Profound in that social technology fuels never-ending change caused by the markets of conversations. These markets represent intelligence that is transparent, fluid and engaging by crowds of suppliers, employees and consumers.

Change is now fueled by the rate of interest and the rate of change caused by interactive conversations from everywhere and everyone.

Instead of the old model of change, from the inside out, the new model of change is from the outside in. Markets are shifting at the speed of a mouse click. These markets represent the rate of interest change (both economic interest and consumer interest) and the interest is changing based on the consumption of information and knowledge.

The voice of the customer used to be analyzed based on old feedback mechanisms and survey’s which were poorly designed and time-consuming. Today the voice of the customer is instant, transparent and designed by the content and context of open and transparent conversations. The new world of instant communications controlled and influenced by the end consumer is the outside force forcing fueling organizational changes for those businesses wishing to thrive or survive.  However, the pace and strength of these outside forces is changing the very change models used before by the leading management consulting firms and guru’s on organizational change.

McKinsey, one of the top management consulting firms in the world, is even changing their own approach to the creation and implementation of organizational change models. The video below illustrates their commentary on changes fueled by the current technological revolution. The irony is that the current rate of technological change is not static but, as they show, revolutionary.  The irony of a “revolution” is that is not only fueled by change but its outcomes create even more change and it doesn’t seem as though the rate of change and interest in new technology will ever become static.

Organizations will have to learn change is now a permanent process and the only thing that should be managed is the rate in which you adjust to it. Not adjusting or accepting that change is permanent means you’ll be left by those that do. Get it?

What say you?

Lenny Mendonca: How Can You Make The Most Of Technological Revolution?

Lenny Mendonca

Chairman, McKinsey Global Institute

The chairman of McKinsey Global Institute analyzes how technology is catalyzing business successes—and failures.

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I received the following message from a connection through Linkedin.  Hello, My latest position at an ad agency came to a close this week, as the company went out of business. I am forwarding you my LinkedIn profile in hopes that you or someone you know may be aware of job opportunities in advertising, marketing or social media. This request made me think about the “Agency business” and why is might be failing for those unaware.

Advertising agencies are known for the creative skills in creating images and messages that get people’s attention. They are also known for creating integrated ad campaigns using every kind of media imaginable. A lot of talented folks have created some of the best ads known on the planet.

Then Social Media Disrupts The Process!

There is a clear shift from mass media that creates attention to conversational media that keeps our attention. The difference is in the form and context of media, content in every form. You’d have to be living in a cave not to know how social media is changing market dynamics for every single industry. The dynamics have flipped from push to pull as have the thinking behind each underlying methods.  Agencies who do not understand and master the methods will quickly fail to exist. Why? The anwser is simply because the market is demanding new methods which requires new thinking.

Is The Thinking Old Or New?

Renee Cassard writes “With social media, the importance of  interaction has resurfaced. SM provides a vehicle in which the local, more personalized business transaction can be reintroduced into the mix. Previous mandates of telephone scripts and corporate liability statements have rendered these transactions dormant in more recent years. The introduction of social media gives corporations a wonderful opportunity to find someone who believes in them to represent their company. This is good for internal morale and for bringing the human element into the mix again. It engages consumers in more authentic, less scripted conversation. Mind you, this doesn’t mean a business should overlook the development of a social media strategy. Quite the opposite, actually. It simply means that in today’s world, social media gives companies the chance to value those who work for them and have passion about their company, products, and what they do. Who better than these people to interact with your consumer, or former “receiver” turned “sender” of your company’s message? “

“In the end, simple and classical business interactions are what lie at the foundations of social media, and ultimately will ensure its ongoing success. So when a client asks you about the “new” thing – social media – you might prompt them to consider whether it really is something scary and new, or something tried and true!”

Renee says it well. The essence of social media is relational rather than institutional. Relational communications has been the fiber of human interaction since the beginning of time. What has happened is that the market, and the thinking behind the market, has gotten away from relations and chased “tricks of the trade” aimed at getting our attention.

Our attention has shifted back to what is natural, relational and meaningful. Sometimes going “back to the future” means having to learn what makes relationships work.  While being creative is part of the equation a meaningful conversation is the entire equation.

Agencies that don’t get this will die a fast death as will the companies they serve. Maybe agencies need help understanding this.  Most agency web sites do not reflect any understanding of social media. Most agencies cannot even begin to explain social media. Most agencies have little experience using social media for themselves or their clients.  That being the case most agencies are in trouble.

What is your opinion?

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How many times have you been asked “Can you explain social media to us?“  Then you have to think about how to explain the entire (r)evolution of the internet and its present state.  Try doing that and you’ll lose most people’s attention.

It has been said that “pictures speak a thousand words“. As a consultant I have always found that if you can provide a picture illustration and a simple story to explain something very complex then you have helped a client understand something they need.

Given the consistent questions we get asked we decided to try and  provide  pictures  that hopefully convey the message and help people “connect the dots“. The illustrations in this post and the following dialog are aimed at explaining why the web is critical for business success.

The Story And The Illustrations

Everyone seeks solutions to problems. Problems represent opportunities for businesses whose product or service provide solutions to problems. When people have a problem or desire to fulfill  where do 95% of them go to find the solutions? On the the web or to friends and family for advice and recommendations.

Every day of the year there are over 250 million searches done on Google.  In other words people are looking for solutions that address a multitude of issues. The greatest library of solutions is the web. If you are in the back of the library you are not likely to be found.

So when people seek solutions if they can’t find you  they are not likely going to consider you as a solution to use, whether a product or service.  If your web presence is weak (not properly built) and worse if your content is anti-social you are not likely to not only not be found but to be considered clueless if found.  Last but not least if you are not  engaging the market with relevant and relative conversations (content)  then those seeking solutions will not find your value because no one is discussing it (peer to peer).

Thus the critical path to commerce is to be found and be noted as a solution provider or an organization whose products and services people talk about.  However, in order to do so you must understand what all this social stuff is about. Using social media (the internet) effectively demands mind-sets and capabilities that are unfamiliar and sometimes even counter intuitive to previous management, marketing and advertising methods.

David Gillespie writes: If both the web & media are inherently social, & if business must have a presence online, then business must have a social element. To not have that is to fore go both logic & opportunity.

Now your challenge is figuring out the how, what, where and who you want to reach and providing them value they can use  and share with others. The consumer market has shifted from mass media to media that provides the most meaningful value. Meaningful value is relational while traditional mass media is not. For your business to survive and compete it must learn how to build relational value and use the internet to propagate that value effectively.

So What Should You Do First?

The first step for any business is to learn and apply new thinking about its relationship with the market it aims to serve, both internal and external. To learn one must have relevant and relative data that provides insights as to how well your business relates to  the market it is trying to serve.

The illustration on the left outlines critical research that must be conducted in order for your organization to gain an understanding and learn the critical skills and thinking needed to better serve your market. In other words first you must listen to understand before you try and engage with any market.

Without having the relevant data concerning how, where, who and what are your markets interest, needs and desires you cannot effectively provide a reason as to why the market should pay attention to you.

Once you have this data and insight you can then begin to learn what meaningful value you can create for the market and give them that value for free. Use free to pull the market to a higher value proposition they will pay for. Giving free knowledge that is meaningful  is considered meaningful, valuable and relational.

If the knowledge you give is in context with your markets interest then you just increased the probability of a transaction which is what you ultimately want. The difference today is how  you get what you want is by giving others what they need, when they need it and enabling them to find it at the click of a mouse or from their friends.   If they can’t find it or their friends aren’t suggesting it well then you lose.

The internet has now become the place to be found and to create value people are seeking. To not understand and use it effectively is akin to saying “I don’t care how our market behaves”.

How is that for an explanation?

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