I love this style of illustration – it taps into my nostalgic sense of wonder. But what I like most about this infographic from Tab Juice is that it nicely captures some of the changing behaviours that are impacting the way that consumers approach their purchasing. And the lesson for marketers? Understanding your social customer will change what you do and why you do it.
Will 2012 be the year that you really start to grapple with the challenges of social media within your business landscape?
About two years ago I wrote that Social Media is Not Sexy. This post was about the business challenges of social media and just how complex, challenging and incremental it can be within large scale, enterprise sized businesses.
About eight or nine months after writing this post I took on a new role with SAP’s Premier Customer Network. I’d already launched an online platform for SAP’s education team with a heavy social media element – and this new opportunity to work closely with the world’s largest companies in a social media focused role sounded fantastic. But what would it really take? How far could we go? Would it be as unsexy as I thought?
I can recall speaking with Mike Hickinbotham who suggested that there WAS a deep down sexiness to getting big companies to engage in social media. And he should know, working with one of Australia’s largest companies, Telstra – but his point was not necessarily about the glitz and glamour that comes with flashy campaigns – it was about the slow burn that comes from changing the nature of the relationships that we have with our customers.
Over the last 12 months or so, we have been working with some of SAP’s most strategic customers in this way – creating a secure, closed community called PCN Connect. It is still early days – but it is exciting – and maybe even a little sexy – to see this site come to life.
Here’s a taste of our journey so far. But like any social business initiative – there is still a way to go – and it gets more interesting with every step.
Are you involved in marketing or social media from a business perspective? If so, I’d love to have your input on the outlook for social media, marketing and social business in Australia for 2012. It is a very quick survey that should only take about FIVE minutes of your time. I will publish the results here on the blog, together with some analysis and maybe even some insight.
AND if you participate I will send you a nicely produced PDF version of the report that you can use in your marketing presentations next year!
As we reach the fag-end of this long year, many bloggers turn their attention to the year that was and the year that will be.
Sometimes there is hope and optimism – and sometimes there quiet reflection. But each of these five must-reads from last week will give you one more reason to spark your imagination.
Can you remember when you first left home? Do you remember what it felt like – that first week – being solely responsible for all aspects of your life? For me, it was thrilling, but also daunting. It was really only in the silence of that first night that the reality set in – childhood was seriously over, and this new life was entirely in my own hands.
I finished school during an economic recession and walked into a competitive and shrinking job market. I’d done well enough at school yet still found it hard to secure that vital first job. I can remember feeling the pressure, the desperation and exhaustion of doing interview after interview. It took longer than I ever expected to retire from the ranks of the unemployed.
But in 2011, times are better, right? We are more economically stable – secure and growing than we have been in decades. Some would even say, we are “booming”. But the Foundation for Young Australians’ new report How Young People are Faring 2011 suggests that this prosperity and wealth is not “trickling down”. In fact, key findings indicate that young people are more vulnerable than the rest of the population to economic instability:
In my view, this means that we need to redouble our focus on catapulting young people into the workforce. It’s about ensuring they have the support, confidence and capability to transition into the world of work in such a way that it benefits all.
This is precisely why the work that I do with local non-profit Vibewire is important – it’s pointless having opportunity available if you aren’t able to understand it, grasp it and accept it. The team at Vibewire work everyday to build resilience, capacity and skills through a vibrant internship program, this year generating over 20,000 hours of experience for young people. You can support Vibewire, become involved as a mentor or even as an intern. Please do – you won’t regret it.
The full FYA report is available for download here.
The Pivot Conference, to be held October 15-16, 2012 is shaping up in a very interesting way. The focus is to move from “social brands to social business” – which I find exciting – but it also makes me wonder. Do we really feel that we are in a world of social brands as yet? And I am also wondering, can you have a social brand without first becoming a social business? What comes first, chicken or egg?
In the lead up to the Pivot Conference, a research report has been released: The State of Social Marketing 2011-12. You have to register for it, but it is a great summary and well worth it.
Throughout the report, there is a consistent theme – the gap between the business and your customers is wider than you think. My experience bears this out and is reinforced by IBM’s recent Social CRM report (2011). The gap, which IBM terms “the perception gap” is a real and persistent challenge for organisations and needs to be seriously addressed in the coming months.
Take a look, for example, at the business focus for social media for 2012. The State of Social Marketing report indicates that sales, consumer engagement and lead generation are at the top three priorities.
Yet how many businesses have closed the perception gap? How many can deliver on their customer’s expectations – or worse – how many have even begun engaging with their customers about these expectations? The report states that only 34.8% have asked their customers. That’s not a gap. It’s a gulf.
Social Business Comes First
At the recent Social Media Plus conference, I described the challenge that we are facing as being similar to the difference between playing 80s arcade game Space Invaders and Angry Birds. On the business side, we are happily engaged with the invading hoardes – identifying the opportunity then firing off a response. The problem is, is that the game itself has changed. We may be playing Space Invaders – but our customers are playing Angry Birds. It is a profound mismatch.
The idea of a “social brand” sounds good – and there are plenty of examples of successful social marketing now available. But my view is that we have the cart before the horse. Before we can truly claim to have a social brand, we need to engage in the hard work of transforming our business processes and practices first.
We need to become social businesses first – and the social marketing will naturally follow.
We must be getting towards the end of the year … as it seems that there is a lot of recycling of ideas going on.There are plenty of blog posts rehashing ideas or simply stating the obvious. Maybe we are all just a little Sick and Tired.
Having said that, there are still some great posts that appeared in the last week and are well worth your attention. Savour them!
I am participating in a TASTY experiment – sharing one recipe with random people via that old social network, email. It was started by one of the original Age of Conversation participants – Bob Glaza – and guarantees me 36 new recipes in my inbox just in time for Christmas.
My recipe – Vegan Pancakes
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
(Note: 1 cup = 8 ounces)1. Combine flour and sugar in a bowl
2. Stir in soy milk a little at a time so that the mixture doesn’t get lumpy
3. The mix should be slightly runny
4. Add the olive oil and then place the bowl into the refrigerator for 20 minutes
5. Before cooking, make sure the mixture hasn’t over thickened. Just add a little more soy milk if necessary
6. Cook quickly over a fairly high heat
7. Stack multiple pancakes on a plate in the oven (just keeping them warm)
8. Serve with your favourite toppings
I love these type of activities. They are simple, easy to join, and expose you to ideas and people from the networks of your friends. And these are often the most powerful connections within a network – they are the strength in social media’s weak ties.
If you’d like to participate, here are Bob’s instructions.
We are participating in a collective, TASTY experiment. As such, you have been invited to be part of a recipe exchange. We hope you will participate. We have picked those we think would make this fun.
1. Please send a recipe to the person whose name is in position 1 (even if you don’t know him/her). It should be something quick, easy and without rare ingredients. The best one is the one you know in your head and can type right now. One you make when you are short of time.
2. After you’ve sent the recipe to the person in position 1 below, copy this letter into a new email, move my name to position 1 and put your name in position 2. Only my and your name should show when you send your email. Send to 20 friends BCC (blind copy).
If you cannot do this within 5 days, let us know so it will be fair to those participating. You should receive 36 recipes. It’s fun to see where they come from! Seldom does anyone drop out because we all need new ideas. The turnaround is fast as there are only 2 names on the list and you only have to do it once.
I’d add one more thing to these instructions. If you have a blog or a Tumblr or even a Facebook account, share your recipe and put #TASTY in the title so that it can be tracked.
Enjoy!
According to Gizmowatch, it seems that Angry Birds really did change the world – “if we rewind the total Angry Bird playtime, we will go back to the time when humans evolved”. That’s 200,000 years of game time. Seems the birds won.
I recently spoke at the Social Media Plus conference in Philadelphia. My topic was “social selling” – but rather than just taking a simple route and providing a case study, I thought it would be more interesting to try something different. I wanted to tell the story of my work with SAP’s Premier Customer Network – an unfolding story of our efforts to become a “social business”. But how best to do so? What would resonate?
My colleague, Anand Ramachandran had recently created a presentation using Angry Birds as a metaphor – and on reviewing this, I knew I had a hook. If social media/social business is a “game changer”, then clearly that game is Angry Birds. And the deeper I looked, the more I found.
Here is the presentation – together with a speaking track to fill in the gaps. It looks at what it takes to move from the business simplicity characterised by games like Space Invaders to a complex multi-stakeholder sales process – which is closer to Angry Birds. Along the way I discuss sales process, people enablement and the benefits of connecting open networks with closed communities.