It's December -- and that means plenty of blogging and chatter about the year that's been in social media, as well as what's potentially in store for 2009. (In fact, had Mother Nature not interviewed last week, I would have been doing just that at a Social Media Breakfast 5 in Ottawa.)
This morning, Peter Kim published Social Media Predictions 2009, a crystal-ball-gazing collaboration from 14 marketers.
Here are some of favorite takeaways:
David Armano reminds organizations Web 2.0 marketing programs need "qualified and passionate people to make them successful."
Rohit Bharvaga predicts that marketers will shift from expensive focus groups to social media "listening programs."
Pete Blackshaw, Charlene Li, and Greg Verdino expect online social networkers suffering from "indigestion" (Blackshaw) to shrink their social graph and focus more on the quality of their connections than quantity.
Chris Brogan eyes a social media shakeout ("lots and lots of consolidation and shuttering") in 2009, as flimsy business models collapse.
Todd Defren worries that the already reluctant Fortune 1000 companies may keep their marketing spend away from social media "if negative examples outweigh positive examples."
Jason Falls calls for Google to scoop up Twitter, giving some juice and kick-in-the-pants stability to the "single-most useful communications software and social utility in recent memory."
Ann Handley suggests that "dwindling budgets suddenly make low-cost social media look like the pretty girl at the ball."
Joseph Jaffe hails community as the "killer app" for 2009.
Scott Monty and Andy Sernovitz argue that top-notch customer service will be a requirement for brands that want to rise above mediocrity.
Jeremiah Owyang predicts that new e-commerce widgets will connect consumers to reviews from "people they actually know and trust."
Ben McConnell thinks Matt Bacak is headed for a new line of work.
So writes Charlene Li in the introduction to "ENGAGEMENTdb," a new report from the Altimeter Group (Li's consultancy) and Wetpaint analyzing and ranking the social media efforts of the world's leading brands.
Li's study indicates a correlation between the financial performance of brands and their level of engagement in and across social media channels.
A direct cause and effect? No, but certainly a healthy sign for brands who believe in the value of listening to and connecting with their customers online.
How brands can step up their social media engagement
"ENGAGEMENTdb" divides the world's top 100 brands (as identified by BusinessWeek/Interbrand in 2008) into four categories--Mavens, Butterflies, Selectives, and Wallflowers--based on 1) the number of social media channels in which the brands have a presence and 2) the level of engagement by the brands in each of those channels.
Topping the rankings are the Mavens, or brands such as Starbucks, Dell, and eBay (a LiveWorld client) that "sustain a high level of engagement across multiple social media channels." From branded communities and corporate blogs to message boards and Twitter, these Mavens have made online social engagement an integral component of their communications programs.
But what of those less-engaged companies in the survey, as well as those brands outside the Top 100? How can they make strides in social media?
Charlene offered some pointed advice this afternoon when answering a few of my questions by e-mail:
LiveWorld: Some of the top-performing brands in your report, including No. 1 Starbucks, have built strong social media programs in a relatively short period of time. That suggests that even the Wallflower brands can ramp up their social efforts quickly. What are two or three quick steps they can take to start that process?
Charlene Li: Pick a goal that is central to the success of the organization. Start small if you don't have executive buy-in, or aim high if you've got an executive like Howard Schultz (Starbucks chairman, president, and CEO) behind you (which will be rare). Assuming that you have to start small, start NOW. Even if it's simply trying Yammer with your workgroup internally, you'll be making headway.
More importantly, you have to have a plan on how you will spread social media beyond your core group. Make listening to your customers the responsibility of everyone. Create a social media policy that sets up the guidelines on how every employee can/should and should not engage with customers on company and non-company sites (like Facebook or other blogs).
LW: When brands have to decide whether to expand their presence across new social media channels or to deepen their engagement across existing ones, what factors--cultural, financial, etc.--should they consider?
CL: The biggest one is, interestingly, cultural, not financial. That's because cultural barriers and mindsets about when and how to engage customers is the biggest determinant of engagement. Once a company decides it's important to engage, and second, has an idea of HOW they want to engage, then it's a matter of who and juggling their responsibilities.
Starting with financial considerations will usually end up in doing nothing, because you haven't made the commitment that it's important to engage in the first place. LW: You note in the report that social media engagement is a more natural fit for media and technology companies, while businesses in other industries, such as finance, tend to embrace social more cautiously. Do see that social media gap between industries widening or closing over the next 12 months?
CL: I see it closing, partly because the media and technology companies are already pretty much present in all channels and are focused on going deeper. The other companies need to balance going deep in a few channels and widening the breadth, but they WILL advance and improve, mostly because their customers will demand it. But they will also see successes like Wells Fargo in the financial services sector, and they will put aside their concerns and fears and start to really engage.
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