Wet Paint, New York City, 2006
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I am heading out for a little vacation and will resume postings the week of Sept 10th.Let me get back to you.
After all, for most of the past two decades, conservatives have dominated another technology – AM Radio. As I gleaned from Wikipedia, Pew researchers found in 2004 that 17 percent of the public regularly listens to talk radio. This audience is mostly male, middle-aged and conservative. Among those who regularly listen to talk radio, 45 percent describe themselves as conservatives, compared with 18 percent who say they are liberal. In this talk radio world, the discussion is heated, fueled by controversy and generally reflects an “angry white male” mentality.
Attempts by liberals – most notably Air America Radio -- to challenge the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage have been disappointing.
Now along comes YouTube and its irreverence. Videos like Mentos candy exploding in Diet Coke bottles and Saturday Night Live’s Chronicles of Narnia and Lazy Sunday have caught the public's imagination. These videos are part of an easy to use, inexpensive distribution channel that can bestow overnight celebrity status to relative unknowns. While the quality, subject matter and tone vary considerably, the most notable and most buzzworthy are often quirky, funny, and created and watched by Net savvy twenty somethings.
Talk Radio Versus YouTube
I am not making value judgments about which technology or ideology is better, only recognizing that different technologies appeal to different constituencies and serve different needs. Sites like YouTube are playing a greater role in political dialogue and the cultural landscape, and conservatives and liberals alike have to determine the best way to leverage them to reach the generation of Internet users born after it was invented.
It won’t be easy. Just as liberals have needed to figure out talk radio, conservatives need to understand the power of irreverence if they want to reach the YouTube generation. Simply put, how can you defend the status quo and make fun of it simultaneously? Or how do you protect your brand and let others repurpose with it ala Mentos and Diet Coke?
Of course, the use of humor in politics and advertising isn’t new. What is new is the changing role that humor plays in shaping opinions and forming loyalties. Younger generations expect a higher degree of irreverence and informality from those in authority. And social media only fuels this expectation by redistributing authority to multiple channels and sources. Anyone can now be an expert or pundit using informality as currency.
The lesson for politicians and CEOs -- it’s not enough to embrace new technology. Anyone can put a video on YouTube; it is equally important to understand its social context – how it is used and by whom.
As John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid wrote in their book, The Social Life of Information:
“The rapid innovation endemic to technology can be destabilizing, even for large organizations with copious resources….For all information’s independence and extent, it is the people, in their communities, organizations, and institutions, who ultimately decide what it all means and why it matters.”
We expect our leaders to “get it.” Humor enhances authority, but we don’t want them to be clowns. Irreverence can enhance authority; if abused or misunderstood, it can also undermine credibility.
Whether you are presidential candidate or a company CEO, success rests on knowing when to take things seriously and when to “just lighten up slightly.”
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Talk Radio; YouTube; Snowman; Mitt Romney; CNN; Rush Limbaugh; Sean Hannity; Michael Savage; Air America Radio; John Seely Brown; Paul Duguid; The Social Life of Information; Social Media; Half Hour News Hour;
Wedding Party, Virginia, 1999
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Companies are only beginning to understand the dynamics of online communities. We certainly can’t ignore their growing importance in attracting, engaging and retaining customers.
As John Ragsdale, director of research at the Service and Support Professionals Association wrote to me about the future of online communities:
“You have an increasing percentage of customers looking to forums to get problems solved, and more external experts offering opinions and advice in public forums. If companies don’t act quickly to establish online communities to corral and leverage customer expertise, that expertise will just get documented in a forum not sponsored by the company, and companies will lose credibility as the experts on their own technology.”
Working with customer and employee communications as well as product managers, corporate communications can not only spread the word; they can identify pitfalls as well as incentives for employees and customers. Through this collaboration, corporate communications can help define the strategy needed to make that community useful and sustainable.
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Q&A Forum; Support 2.0; Customer Service; Forums; Yahoo Answers; Lithium; Lithium Technologies; Joe Cothrel; John Ragsdale; SSPA; Service and Support Professional Association;
Swings, Atlanta, 2006
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Yesterday, I wrote about a conversation I had with Robert Scoble that looked back on the lessons from Naked Conversations. Today, I offer up Shel Israel, the other half of the dynamic duo that co-authored the book, to get his perspective.
Dan Greenfield: What is the biggest development that you did not forsee when Naked Conversations was first published?
Shel Israel: The number of conversational tools that would become available on the Internet.
Greenfield: With the advent of social networks, podcasts and vlogs, are blogs yesterday's news or is corporate blogging still in its infancy?
Israel: There is no contest between the items in the social media toolshed. The blogging craze is subsiding and the tool’s use is normalizing, just like email did a decade ago or a hammer did when it replaced the rock as a pounding/building tool.
Greenfield: Is a blog still a blog if it is more video and audio than text?
Israel: The more ways that people can have conversations, the better off they are, business is, government is. You seem to be focused on blogs as in some sort of competition with other tools. I am more interested in the cultural changes that happen when people have the power to talk back, when people have the ability to simply bypass organizations that want to deliver and insert messages into their foreheads. The tool is not what is important. Someday people will look back at today’s blog and say, “how quaint” they were back at the turn of the century. They will not be replaced. They will evolve into something much better.
Greenfield: What do you think about the concept of microblogging that Twitter is making more prominent?
Israel: One more neat conversational tool. A great many people love Twitter and other microblogs. Businesses have a new way of distributing information to those who want it. I don’t Twitter, because it is not a tool for me. But I am a strong proponent of any conversational tool.
Greenfield: If you were writing Naked Conversations today, how would it be different? same?
Israel: The book was about Conversations. We would cover a great many more tools. We would have new and different stories to tell. Maybe we should write a Naked Conversations Volume II.
Greenfield: With all the changes in technology, how can communications professionals keep up?
Israel: They should stop trying to insert messages and just join the conversation. I hope they start understanding the value of taking messages back to clients, rather than just trying to deliver messages from clients. And if I am allowed a little bit of my curmudgeon-side to come out. They should read my blog long before they approach me. I will have a conversation with anyone who takes he time not to waste mine. When they don’t know who I am, what I write about, what I’m passionate about, they have shown a lack of respect for me before we even begin to speak.
Greenfield: I think I get the message, Shel. And thanks.
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A year ago, Naked Conversations spurred my interest in blogging. Today, the new communications tools are very alluring. Just yesterday, Robert was remarking on how much more proficient he was getting with video. The pressure is on for higher production values. But in the end, the essence is still the conversation. I look forward to getting their Volume II...on video or at least on a podcast.
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Robert Scoble; Shel Israel; Naked Conversations; Social Media;
This past weekend was my introduction to Gnomedex and its founder, Chris Pirillo. I was joined by EarthLink colleagues Jerry Grasso and Dave Coustan. It was nice to trade Atlanta’s 103 degree heat for Seattle’s cooler clime.
During the 3 day conference, I met some interesting folks and heard some interesting presentations. Over at the Seattle Aquarium for a evening event, a conversation with Robert Scoble about Naked Conversations led to a discussion about – somehow appropriately – starfish as a metaphor for new media and corporate adoption. Now the little starfish has recently gotten a lot of play due to Rod Beckström’s and Ori Brafman’s book, The Starfish and The Spider.
Where the book’s authors use the spider and starfish to look at centralized and decentralized organizations, Scoble was kicking around the image of a starfish to talk about how new media has evolved since he and Shel Israel wrote their book. Where Naked Conversations focused on blogs, today companies need to embrace blogs as well as podcasts, vlogs, Twitter, FaceBook, etc. Based on the starfish metaphor, two years ago, a new media starfish would have had one arm; today it has many more, representing the many tools now at our disposal. But like the theory in Beckström’s and Ori Brafman’s book, the starfish represents decentralized knowledge and communications that still need to be distributed throughout the organization.
The challenge is helping companies manage those many arms and making sure each arm integrates with all the others. The use of social media is more than just promoting conversations; it’s about conversion – converting all possible traffic to customers via social media. More than building a brand and generating impressions, corporate communications' function is to help with this conversion. This no easy task. Management needs to see the utility of these tools. It needs to see how a starfish’s arms will feed the starfish.
Anatomically, I am not sure what part of the starfish’s body is corporate communications. I will leave that designation to Robert, but I think he is onto something.
So how does corporate communications get management’s buy-in? For that, consider Guy Kawaski.
Guy presented on the first full day, mixing humility with self promotion – no easy feat. He listed ten ways to evangelize a product. Evangelism is key because the product will die on the vine without passion and purpose. I would like to appropriate his ten step program and apply it to what corporate communications needs to do to get management buy-in to a social media program.
Guy Kawaski’s Ten Key Features of Product Evangelism
Make meaning -- Nike is not about two pieces of leather and a strip of rubber.
Make mantra – a mantra that explains why you exist. Don’t need a multi word statement. The mission of Wendy's Restaurants is NOT “to deliver superior quality products and service for our customers and communities through leadership, innovation and partnerships” It should be healthy fast food.
Roll the DICEE -- (Deep – lots of power) (Intelligent – somebody was thinking) (Complete – not just the product but all the accompanying infrastructure to support it) (Elegant) (Emotive)
Niche thyself -- the ability to provide a unique product and service with accompanying value
Let a hundred flowers blossom -- Look beyond those whom you think are going to use it; reach out to those whom you hadn’t considered
Make it personal -- how does the product affect each customer?
Find the true influencer -- not always at the top or senior management
Enable a test drive -- give customers the chance to experience the product before purchase
Look for agnostics, not atheists -- Go after those who are open, not those who have already made up their minds. In political terms, focus on the “undecided,” not those committed to the other side.
Provide a slippery slope -- baby steps – don’t force wholesale change at once
(Bonus) Don’t let the bozos the grind you down -- don't be discouraged by naysayers
Though the case for social media is getting easier to make these days, there are still pockets of resistance to new business models, decentralized communication, and freedom of expression. With each step, corporate communications needs to demonstrate a reason for social media, express it in simple terms that everyone will understand. It needs to contain DICEE. It needs to serve a unique, understandable purpose and function.
As evangelists, we need to look beyond our traditional base; we may find advocates in other parts of the company and demonstrate how social media will add meaning for those who will use it. We can't assume these influencers and allies are at the top of the organization. They may be found in customer support, engineering and product development. We need to give folks the ability to test our ideas and build support by focusing on those who are open to our ideas; not those that have already made up their minds against them. Lastly, we must provide the ability to gradually embrace social media and not let the naysayers bully or defeat us.
Change is not easy, but evangelists are not dictators or ideologues. They need to listen, adopt and respect their audience. Without this flexibility, the chances of achieving adoption and ultimately Scoble's concept of conversion is highly questionable.
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Robert Scoble; Shel Israel; Naked Conversations; Gnomedex; Chris Pirillo; Guy Kawasaki; The Spider and the Starfish; Rod Bechstrom; Ori Brafman; Social+Media;
Playground, Atlanta, 2006
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Meet Intuit’s Scott K. Wilder
Case studies are a valuable way to build best practices. Scott K. Wilder with Intuit’s Small Business Divisions has been cited for his work building a successful online forum for Intuit’s customers. Intuit's QuickBooks online community, for example, is very easy to use with a nice blend of employee and customer input. Intuit's online site blends numerous forums and blogs with an extensive database of tips, widgets and reports. Users can locate experts by geographic location and access videos and tutorials.
Dan Greenfield: How did you build a community using forums and social networks?
Scott K. Wilder: All good things take time. So our success did not happen overnight. Fortunately, it is in Intuit's DNA to get as close to the customer as possible. When Scott Cook founded the company, he wanted every employee to do Follow Me Homes -- which entailed following our customers from the retail store (where they bought the product) and seeing how they used it in their environment (their home or in their office). So 'Social Networking' for us is just an extension of our Follow Me Homes. Only now, we have created an environment where users can interact with others easier (vs. employees connecting with users). We were also fortunate because managing a small business is an emotional thing -- so emotional that users (small business owners seek advice of others like them -- of other Small Business owners).
Some key take aways:
When we launched the community we started simple and let it grow organically over time, letting our users tell us how they wanted the community to grow. They told us explicitly (we have a number of user groups who tell us where to put our development dollars) and implicitly (we see certain trends and try to build forums, blogs, etc. to facilitate discussion about those trends)
Greenfield: How do you incentivize customers to want to help others?
Wilder: We don't incentivize them. We recognize if they are part of a special group. But we do not give them any money. We do recognize individuals who answer more posts than others, and we do have certain groups that users can become part of. For example, we have our accountant ProAdvisors and our developers. Users of both groups have a unique icon that lets users know their expertise.
Greenfield: What are the pitfalls/challenges of using social networks in this manner?
Wilder: Once word gets out that you are incentivizing users, a company could be accused of playing favorites. It also violates the Word of Mouth Association ethics that states you should not pay someone to talk about / blog about your product unless they admit to receiving compensation upfront. Imagine having a community where everyone is eligible for a bonus -- and have to share with others that they are receiving this bonus. Our goal is to focus on facilitating interaction by building a great infrastructure for users to interact.
Greenfield: Do you have any metrics you can share that define success?
Wilder: Here's a snap shot of some of the ways we define success:
Greenfield: Any sense of the percentage of your customers that are registered to use your online forums?
Wilder: Between 5-10 percent of our customers use our QuickBooks, Quicken and Accountant communities
Greenfield: Have you seen a decrease in calls to customer support?
Wilder: Community has had a positive impact vis a vis inbound calls. It is less expensive and users like to interact with other business owners -- someone who is like them and who has been in the trenches.
Greenfield: What advice would you give other companies that are considering customer forums/networks?
Wilder: Here are some concepts to think about:
Greenfield: Thanks Scott: Anything else you would like to add?
Wilder: Social Networks provide a great opportunity for businesses' to facilitate interaction among their users. And to help get relevant and useful information. And of course, Social Networks connect people of like minds. .. in our case, they help connect Small Business owners together.
It is too challenging for any company to try and answer every type of user question. For example, two people could be using the same product in different industries -- so they will probably have different questions. How a consultant uses QuickBooks is different from a company that manufactures products. The challenge for us, then, is to build a customer support team that has experts in every industry (possible) that is using our products -- in industries, such as consulting and manufacturing.
That would require a lot of training... and truth be told... someone who works for a manufacturing company or has manufacturing experience will always know more than someone who just gets a month of training on that industry. Someone whose livelihood depends on them working in the manufacturing industry will always know more than others (outside the manufacturing industry).
Therefore, Social Networks provide users with a great opportunity to become an expert and to share their knowledge and experience with other users. Social networks provide a great opportunity for users to learn first hand from experts and other users like them.
Social Networks are certainly popular. I think people should look at some of the smaller more niche social networks to see how they benefit users (Don't just look at MySpace and FaceBook). The power of small groups -- the Wisdom of Smaller Crowds increases all the time. We have small groups on our site -- some private and public -- that benefit greatly from collaborating and learning together.
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Intuit has used social media to develop a very robust online community. They are a model for other companies interested in using social media to foster customer engagement and brand extension. I am currently looking at other companies that are successfully using social media to enhance customer support and who are enlisting corporate communications to assist in these efforts. If you have examples of either, I would be interesting in hearing from you.
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Customer Service; QuickBooks; Intuit; Scott K. Wilder;
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