I recently made the observation that consumers increasingly expect the brands that they interact with to answer back within the social media context. More and more, we find evidence of growing frustration and a new kind of social consumer expectation. I recently posted this to our company website. Whilst its not the sort of content that I normally deal with here, social brand monitoring is generally topical at present so I thought it might be worth posting here as well.

At Affiniti Digital we see tweets asking if major homeware retailers are listening (and find that they are), blog posts questioning the relevance of finance companies that don’t respond to negative blog posts and Facebook groups whose 7000+ members have one thing in common – a poor customer experience at the hands of a leading Australian telco. Its no surprise then that brands are beginning to look at various methods of social media monitoring to pick up on brand references as they appear across the social landscape.

With this in mind it is worth considering the following points if you are exploring the possibility of monitoring your brand…

1. Not all social media monitoring tools are the same

All social media monitoring tools have their specialties and their particular idiosyncrasies. We use a mix of free and paid tools. Some offer better blog coverage, others have broader news coverage whilst others are attached to vast data farms and allow for greater historic searching than networks like Twitter offer via their own search facilities. Some offer convenience by creating an aggregation platform of the native search tools of the various networks. Some crawl the web broadly like search engines and store what they find.

Others are dependent upon primary directories such as Technorati. Many tools are very Euro or US-centric which can be an issue for Australian brands. It is important to understand the strengths and shortcomings of the social media solutions that you select. Tools with blind spots can create a false sense of security.

2. There is no such thing as free

Even if the tools are free, the spongy organic matter that interprets it generally isn’t. You will need staff to monitor and respond to the brand references that you find. Bear in mind that tracking takes time – especially if its not a core activity and if you are using manual tools.

3. Machines don’t always get emotion

Be cautious of relying too heavily upon automated sentiment tracking. Australians – particularly angry or dissatisfied ones – love sarcasm. Machines generally don’t. Machines classify dominant emotion on the basis of keyword combinations. Most times this works – but consider posts like this…”I just love being screwed by my (utility) company”, “I enjoy nothing better than spending my Saturday night on hold to my ISP helpdesk”, or “Another example of the high esteem with which my telco views me”. Positive words – not so positive sentiments. Often it’s contextual and needs a human eye to tell the difference.

4. Some things can’t wait

If you think that social media monitoring is historical (like getting the day’s press clippings) just ask Dominos Pizza. Disgruntled customers can generate enormous momentum and issues can escalate quickly – especially when their calls for attention/action go unheeded. Be prepared to check your tracking frequently and act if you need to. Predetermine contact points at each of the relevant internal areas – legal, PR/Comms, Marketing, even Executive if warranted -who understand the need for swift response. Issues left hanging might return the favour.

5. Give your monitoring the resources it needs

Staff your monitoring like a good customer support desk. If you are going to seriously listen and respond to to the views of your customers, make sure you assign the task to someone with sufficient experience and maturity to take the task seriously and to understand that their actions and responses speak on behalf of your brand. Note that this is about maturity – not age. As Nestle recently discovered, moderating a brand’s Facebook brand page in the same way as some might manage their personal account reflects badly on the brand. While its important for brands to have a personal voice, that voice will reflect the real level of respect and importance with which your brand holds its customer relationships.

6. Plan your responses in advance

If you have come to this point then you understand the need to listen to your customers and to hear what they think about your brand. You’re probably wondering what happens if the news isn’t good? It’s worth beginning to consider now how you would respond to negative comments or, more importantly the process required to intervene to solve a customer’s problem. It will give you comfort to map the process in advance rather than have to create the process and solve the problem on the fly.

Remember that social media doesn’t rely upon your participation to exist – conversations about your brand are happening around you whether you are listening or not. Listening can be confronting – it takes courage. Good luck.

Those involved in social media – myself included – naturally view it as being of major significance. However, viewing it that way doesnt necessarily make it so. And in some quarters there is tacit scepticism surrounding the extent of that significance.

So I thought it worthwhile to throw out some questions (see below) and to collect views beyond the social media blockades. If you have suggestions about other topics that we might collectively explore, please leave a comment or let me know by other means.

They are simple but important questions – and I’d appreciate your thoughts.

Question 1:

Question 2:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ll update results along the way in future posts.

Image: CJohns – Fotolia.com

Fear of the unknown seems to be a handy leverage point for many companies in the social brand monitoring space.

Ive been doing quite a bit of due diligence on various social media brand monitoring solutions of late. As a result, I recently posted an article on my corporate blog www.affinitidigital.com.au regarding what seems to be an emerging polarity in the way that brands are being “sold” the notion of social media – and of brand monitoring in particular. Sure, in any emerging media there will always be extremes. Zealots, like those espousing the virtues of the internet in the late ‘90s, will inevitably ring in yet another new order and tell established marketers that everything they know is wrong. Despite the extreme nature of this approach, it is atleast positive – and is infinitely preferable to the zealot’s evil twin who instills paranoia and fear.

Unfortunately, there are a growing number of companies who seem to view and encourage their clients to view social brand monitoring purely for damage control and without any intention of customer engagement. There is an inherent risk with this approach. It focuses attention upon tools rather than outcomes. Brand monitoring often falls victim to this. Whilst it forms part of a broader strategy, monitoring the “social conversation” is not an end unto itself.

The problem with a fear-driven approach is that it treats monitoring purely as a defensive tool and therefore encourages brands to simply find new ways to be evasive, protective and guarded. This conventional PR lock-down thinking is the antithesis of what the social ethos is about – and it gets brands into trouble.

Read the full post on www.affinitidigital.com.au.

Image: Fotolia:© Charles Dykstra

(Tip of the hat to Adam Singer’s Fear Nothing post for adding fuel to the fire whilst I was writing this.)

Brands and marketers who continue to treat information generated by online sources as isolated and inconsequential do so at their peril.

Yesterday I was talking with a marketing acquaintance. He didn’t consider social media to be particularly topical. In fact his exact words were “oh yeah – social media, blogging, twittering…its all cr@p…I don’t have time for it”. Regardless of what you might think of the delivery, the underlying sentiment is all too familiar and reflects a misconception which is common amongst those who have yet to grasp the implications of the social web. Typically, the thinking goes like this…

1. These people believe that there is a clear distinction between the information produced via “mainstream” media and the “unofficial” user-generated content of the social web.
2. As part of this distinction, they believe that most people (like themselves) view mainstream media as trustworthy and legitimate and consider information provided by online sources as lacking credibility and substance,
3. They believe that this distinction is commonplace and is shared by consumers and journalists alike,
4. As a result of this distinction and the value judgment that goes along with it, they believe that a hard barrier exists between mainstream and online information sources that prevents story ideas (if not the story itself) from passing from the social web to the mainstream media.

Essentially this thinking assumes that social content goes somewhere out of sight and stays there. Its convenient, its comforting – its wishful thinking. Its a dangerous wish for those charged with brand guardianship as it ignores the basic dynamics of the social web. Just ask Dominos.

As Sean Howard says “In today’s world everyone is a publisher, everyone has some level of influence, and everyone has a network of influence “. It also ignores a progressive shift in the relationship between offline and online information. The nasty surprises recently experienced by Dominos Pizza, Toyota Yaris, General Motors, United Airlines and KFC demonstrate the ease and speed with which online stories can find their way into early general news. And these are not a product of some random web search.

The use of social media amongst print and press journalists for research and story ideas is now systemic.

While bloggers have always relied upon “traditional” media for topic ideas and research, a recent report by George Washington University and Cision suggests that the door is now swinging more frequently in the opposite direction. According to the 2009 Social Media & Online Usage Study (http://www.gwu.edu/~newsctr/10/pdfs/gw_cision_sm_study_09.PDF) released last week, mainstream journalists increasingly turn to the user-contributed environment of the social web for story ideas, background and research. If you think that content published online isn’t crossing the species gap, consider this…

• Almost nine out of ten journalists reported using Blogs for their online research (89%). Only Corporate websites (96%) is used by more journalists when doing online research for a story.
• Approximately two-thirds of respondents reported using Social Networking sites and just over half make use of Twitter for online research.
• Blogs (64%) are the most frequently used social media tool to publish, promote and distribute what journalists write, followed closely by Social Networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook (60%) and Microblogging sites such as Twitter (57%).

If you actively post stories about your brand within the social media environment, then this is probably good news. If, however, you are the unsuspecting subject of an unauthorized or malicious piece, then the experience is likely to be far less pleasant.

This is not to suggest that mainstream journalists run unverified stories. On the contrary, the Cision report suggests that journalists approach online stories with a higher level of skepticism than those developed by their colleagues in traditional media. What it does suggest is that the social web provides a myriad of sources for stories and information – and journalists don’t seems to share the viewpoint of my cavalier acquaintance mentioned earlier.

A good story is a good story – and good stories move with ease between the worlds of social and traditional media. It is therefore a mistake to underplay the impact that social media content may have on your brand or to underestimate the likelihood of its emergence into mass media.

The increasing importance of social media as source of story ideas means that brands should begin to formulate plans for identifying and managing issues before they become viral – and well before they appear in tomorrow morning’s paper.

Image: Fotolia: © Franz Pfluegl

On the morning of Jan 6, the New York Times New York edition ran an article claiming that the world’s 3rd largest fashion chain had intentionally and systematically damaged and dumped unsold stock outside its 34th street outlet.

In a city where the economic crisis remains a painful daily reality to many Americans, a third of the population is poor (according to the New York Times) and temperatures are particularly harsh, a story about corporate greed, senseless waste and neglect of the poor and homeless will always galvanise opinion. It also sells newspapers.

Not surprisingly, the story spread swiftly through the social media networks, picked up by bloggers and online news services looking for content. The story began to generate its own heat, and by the end of the day H&M was in the midst of a social media-fuelled public relations crisis.

But H&M are no strangers to social media. Actively developed networks on Facebook and multiple twitter accounts mean that H&M have more than 1.4 million individual Facebook fans – each with their own network of friends – and around 22,000 Twitter followers globally.

To put this into perspective, H&M’s primary audience dwarfs the New York Times daily circulation. Notionally, H&M’s Facebook page has a larger population than Dallas. Whichever way you cut it, H&M have some serious social media clout at their disposal.

But its not just about the numbers. Its also about the relationship. In times of crisis, it is this relationship of trust between the brand and its fans that gives brands with social networks enormous opportunities. It allows senior personnel to talk directly with the brand’s loyal customers, to discuss and address their concerns, and to put H&M’s case rationally, intelligently and without fear of media distortion. They can humanize the issue and engage customer support in a way that was unimaginable in a web 1.0 world.

As the issue gained momentum and the term “H&M” became Twitter’s number 2 trending topic, H&M were well placed to tap into their vast network of established relationships, arm their brand advocates with correct, timely and regular information, present H&M’s story honestly and openly and enlist their fans assistance to help champion their side of the story.

But that’s not what happened.

Things started off well enough. When the issue found its way to H&M’s Facebook page, the response was swift and direct…

“H&M is committed to taking responsibility for how our operations affect both people and the environment. Our policy is to donate any damaged usable garments to charity. We’re currently investigating an incident in a NY store that is not representative of our policy. We will follow with more information as soon as we are able. H&M’s US sales operation donates thousands of garments each year through Gifts In Kind Int’l.”

This post pre-empted the concerns of H&M’s fans, reinforcing the values of the brand, defining and limiting the scope of the issue to one isolated store and acknowledging H&M’s obligation to keep their loyal fans informed. Armed with this expectation, H&M’s highly valued, socially connected brand loyal customers waited in the midst of increasingly negative sentiment for “more information”. And waited. And waited.

They waited for H&M to do what is expected of a brand that actively develops its social networks – to engage in honest dialogue with their fans and communicate openly about issues that affect their relationship with the brand. Unfortunately, this was to be the last post that directly addressed the issue for nearly 22 hours. Despite the brand’s formidable social media resources, meaningful dialogue between H&M and their fans stalled.

It seemed that somewhere inside H&M the social media team seats were quietly removed from the table as H&M switched to the old PR terrain of guarded wording and indirect communication.

After the initial holding statement above, H&M made three related posts. They also posted 3 marketing promotional posts like “Want to be featured on an H&M t-shirt? Visit hm.com/blackbook for your chance” that stood out starkly amongst the growing number of posts from outraged fans and sent a message about priority to those waiting for more information. Meanwhile, the issue continued to gather momentum.

The next post, which appeared 3 hours after the initial post directed visitors to a “statement” on the CSR section of H&M’s website…

“H&M is committed to taking responsibility for how our operations affect people and the environment. Visit www.hm.com/csr for an updated statement. Please contact H&M via www.hm.com/csr to specifically address this situation.

This standard statement was then posted repeatedly as a brand response to some of the increasing number of negative comments appearing throughout the day.
One fan picked up on this curious practice…

“You know whats funny? that you are just simply pasting the same response to every comment about this shameful situation you are in. Why dont you post something where you actually admit and explain…

Instead of providing a genuine update – if only to let fans know that they had not been forgotten and that the investigation was continuing – the statement on hm.com.csr (below) was so general that it left some readers wondering if the “statement” was actually a response to the clothing destruction issue or a generic press release about H&M’s community initiatives.

H&M donates clothes to charity
“H&M is committed to taking responsibility for how our operations affect people and the environment. We donate garments that do not meet our quality requirements to organisations such as UNHCR, Caritas, the Red Cross and Helping Hands. When possible, we also donate faulty garments that have been returned to our stores. However, we do not donate clothes that do not meet our safety requirements, chemical restrictions or are damaged. We have agreements with reputable aid organisations in most of our sales countries. In total, more than 500,000 pieces of H&M garments were donated during 2009.”

Readers were left to extract the relevant information – presumably that the clothes in question must have somehow been damaged, unsafe or somehow chemically compromised.

If this was the intended message then there was a problem.

During the course of the day, a spokesperson for H&M contacted the New York Times. Toward the end of the day, the NYT City Room released an updated story containing quotes which seemed at odds with the distributed statement.

According to the New York Times, “H & M promised on Wednesday that it would stop the practice of destroying new, unworn clothing that it could not sell at its store in Herald Square…, and would instead donate the garments to charities”. “It will not happen again,” said Nicole Christie, a spokeswoman for H & M in New York. “We are committed 100 percent to make sure this practice is not happening anywhere else”.

Whilst the condition of the damaged clothing wasn’t all that clear, what was becoming clear was that whilst H&M were discussing the issue with journalists, information was not being passed to their loyal fans – who were left to discover this recent development for themselves. As a result, the issue surged again that night as awareness of the NYT update grew and fans became increasingly frustrated with H&M ’s apparent unwillingness to engage directly with them.

H&M’s next post did nothing to ease this frustration. H&M changed its blanket response slightly – instructing Facebook fans to “Please e-mail info.us@hm.com for questions or comments concerning our H&M stores in NY”. Cynical Facebook fans viewed this as an attempt to take the conversation out of the public eye. One fan asked why comments and questions were not being dealt with openly on the Facebook page. Senior H&M personnel had still not sought to engage directly with fans within the Facebook environment.

But someone else did. In the void created by H&M’s continued silence, H&M staff took up the cause. Many responses provided information that H&M arguably should have been providing officially. Others, whilst well intended, did little to help the situation. This may have been avoided if H&M had been prepared to engage with its fans.

28 hours after Tim Lynch’s post first brought the article to the attention of the Fan Page admin, the long awaited outcome of the “investigation” was posted…

“We have examined the situation surrounding the garments found outside of our 34th Street store. It is important to note that these garments were already damaged, and did not meet our safety standards or had been used for in-store display. Going forward, we are reevaluating what we categorize as “damaged” garments and we continue to be committed to donating as many of these items as possible to aid organizations. H&M annually donates hundreds of thousands of garments to charity and aid organizations, and will continue to do so. For a list of organizations and more information regarding our corporate social responsibility, please visit www.hm.com/csr.”

H&M fans processed this response with a skepticism borne of more than two days without meaningful information…

“I Dont Believe That For A Min…..If it took u this long to come up with an excuse, U should have made it MUCH better than the one u have given us. If u think anyone will believe that, then they are just as dumb as your company

It’s hard to trust that “reevaluating what we catagorize as “damaged”" doesn’t just mean, “In the future we will try not to let members of the public find all the clothes we throw out.” Former staff members from various stores across the country have confirmed it was standard to cut up and throw out garments.

I think everyone should speak their voice by removing themselves as a fan.

H&M appeared in the media later the same day, providing their detailed response to the issues raised by the New York Times to Fashion Week Daily. Whilst drawing largely from content previously released, this was the most detailed response to date. However, H&M did not post the same detail provided to Fashion Weekly to its waiting Facebook fans. Instead, H&M provided a non-specific post with a link to the Fashion Week article…“H&M responds at fashionweekdaily.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=6644822.”

Thereafter H&M responded periodically with “ H&M responded at fashionweekdaily.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=6644822” to negative posts related to the issue.

Facebook fans aren’t the only ones left wondering what happened. With such a formidable social resource at its disposal, one can only wonder what motivated H&M to inform the press but not its fans, why senior H&M personnel chose not to communicate directly and frequently with its facebook fans and why 1.4 million loyal customers were treated as a liability to be managed instead of an asset to be engaged.

Image: © microimages – Fotolia.com NHAP3AZMGRAU.

A lot of social media discussion about blogging assumes that readers have a common understanding of what blogging is in 2009 (nearly 2010).

I know that from a personal perspective the term “blogging” evokes mental images of my favourite niche blogs – all of which are best of breed publishing websites in their own right. So, it came as a shock recently to find that the term “blog” often generates far less positive perceptions in broader corporate circles.

I find myself frequently detailing the virtues of various social media components as part of a well-rounded digital strategy. The discussion generally includes the creation and management of blogs; in part as a means of handing control of the website content back to the comms team, introducing dynamic distributable content back into the website, and introducing an engagement mindset for the brand.

Now, its still relatively common for larger brands to have static web 1.0 websites. And it’s not uncommon for content on these sites to be locked down by draconian change management cycles that require a strong belief in reincarnation. So you would think that clients desperate to unshackle their websites would embrace blogging with gusto, yes? No. Instead, the momentum of the conversation starts to falter.

I started to wonder if the term “blog” evoked a different understanding amongst those who have better things to do than follow the evolution of social media. So I started asking what “blogging” meant. I asked friends who were brand managers. I asked media agency contacts. I asked SMEs who were starting their social media journey.

I discovered that the word “blog” consistently summoned mental images of post-puberty journals, emotive Dear Diary litanies and complex, detailed accounts of less than complex lives. Any wonder that some corporate clients reach for their blackberries and start checking their email whenever the topic comes up.

Whilst there is no doubt that Blogspot and WordPress.com play host to terabytes of personal musings that may have been better left as passing thoughts, the craft of blogging has itself evolved into something quite different.

Most of the blogs at the upper end of the Ad Age Top 150 bear more similarity to dynamic niche magazine publishing websites than they do to the traditional “weblog” from which the blog derives its name. It only takes a cursory glance at mashable.com,problogger.net, sitepoint or any number of top tier blogs to sense the vast distance that the apple has now fallen from the tree.

Unfortunately, the perception amongst the broader business community has yet to catch up with these changes – and makes me wonder if the “blog” terminology short-sells its legitimacy.

Since most of my clients are very familiar with mainstream media I decided to borrow from magazine terminology. I discovered that when posts became articles, bloggers became columnists, features editors or publishers (depending upon the style and application of the blog) something interesting happened. Blogs became something very different and far more deservingly legitimate in the mind of the client.

I’m sure that some of you will say that clients should get it without having to change the terminology – that marketers should keep up with developments. Maybe they should – but they don’t. I read an article earlier this week that suggested that any marketer that didn’t have a strong understanding of digital should not be in the job.

My experience is that plenty of very competent senior marketers rely on external parties for guidance and maybe don’t always get the advice they need. Understandably, some are reluctant to ask possibly embarrassing questions.

Either way, not all clients have the same understanding of what blogging is. I have found that drawing parallels with what is familiar and comfortable changes that understanding and introduces the appropriate level of legitimacy.

If you sense that you and your client are thinking different things, using the publisher comparison is one way to create some common ground with non-digital marketers and create an area of comfort in which the client can ask questions – and hopefully embrace new opportunities.

According to a PostRank study released recently, the level of engagement experienced by published articles has increased significantly over the past three years.

According to Ilya Grigorik from PostRank, “In absolute terms, when we sample over the top 1000 of the most engaging feeds for the past three years, we see approximately a 30% year over year growth in engagement – sign that more people are participating in the social web

They go on to say that “increasingly, social hubs such as Facebook, Twitter, and Digg are found in the top 3 traffic drivers, and their influence is only likely to increase over time.”

But the report goes further than simply attributing the growth to the increased popularity of the social hubs. The research report maintains that this growth is largely attributable to the “share, and like this” phenomenon, which is sweeping through Facebook, Twitter, and dozens of other social hubs…”

There are a lot of great insights in this report but there are four considerations that are worthy of further discussion – particularly for brands looking for incremental ways to engage with their customers and begin the social media journey.

The first is that it is clearly important that brands take steps to ensure that it is easy for readers to distribute their content. This is a relatively easy process and (with any luck) one that should not require endless meetings, risk assessments, technology reviews or invasive technological surgery. Hopefully. For those sites that carry the standard “bookmark this” links, its probably time to upgrade to a collective solution.

Whilst the PostRank study points to Facebook, Twitter and Digg, there are more than 120 social media and bookmarking websites that may appeal to your readers. For this reason it is worth considering services such as addThis or shareThis. These bookmarking services are easy to build into your page footers and allow readers to share your content across a mind-numbingly broad range of sites. From a purely personal perspective, I like shareThis in particular as it provides some handy reporting functionality and caters for managing multiple websites.

Secondly, content needs to be worthy of extended distribution. It is worth remembering that despite the increased ease with which customers can refer your content to others it still requires some effort. Readers will only do so if they a. feel that the content genuinely helped them, and b. that they likewise feel that it will do so for others.

Don’t forget that distribution is a personal endorsement of sorts and that despite the inherent anonymity of the web, there is often an association with the referrer’s online identity. Readers will not refer content that reflects poorly on them. As such, it pays to identify the intended stand-alone value of your content at the outset and remain focused on delivering tips, hints or information that will have relevance beyond the context of your website.

Thirdly, engagement can take many forms. The easiest is to provide your dynamic and valuable content in a format that allows readers to comment and/or rate your information. The easiest way to do this is via a blog format where much of the required technology is provided for you. Scary? Yes. But it is standing signal that your brand is ready for, and open to customer dialogue.

Finally and not surprisingly, the report identifies Facebook and Twitter as primary environments where brands with limited resources should look to establish a presence. Whilst this comes as no surprise, the report puts some substance behind the buzz surrounding these social hubs.

It is worth noting that the establishment of a brand presence within either of these environments should not be undertaken lightly. A broader digital strategy should underpin this type of activity and take account of the management safe keeping of the long term customer relationships which will result from this type of activity.

With all this in mind, the report supports the view that corporate and individual brands can benefit from ensuring that their content adds real value and that is easy to share and distribute to and within the main social environments.

Yesterday I indulged one of my favourite hobbies – eavesdropping. God I love it! The conversation centred around Twitter and to a lesser degree Facebook. Without doubt it was a marketing discussion.

The important thing about this conversation was that the notion of strategy and relationships didn’t make it into the conversation.

Each of the social media components were referred to as though each was an end unto itself.

It occurred to me that this approach is fairly common – especially with larger brands. I have heard of a number of marketers lately who have been presented with isolated social media campaigns.

I can’t help wondering if some agencies are including Facebook or Twitter activity on media schedules in the same way as they would the trial inclusion of a new magazine – drive the rate down the card to lessen the impact, call in some favours & let’s see how it goes.

Without an underlying relationship management strategy underpinning any social media activity this approach presents some problems. I wonder what happens when the activity finishes?

If social media is intended to establish and nurture genuine relationships then a flighted campaign approach is the social media equivalent of a show romance – intense and focused for a short period of time…and then abruptly no one returns your calls.

Seasoned marketers grasp the implications of this immediately – they understand the brand message it sends if the conversation stops when the media flight ends. They also see that an obligation exists to maintain these relationships once they are initiated.

Here are a few things that you might consider before embarking on a stand-alone social media activity…

• Is there a relationship management strategy that outlines:
• The purpose of social engagement – what value does it add to the consumer and the brand?
• What skills and resources will be required to manage the relationships your create via the various social media initiatives that you undertake? Do you have them?
• Do you have a social engagement policy – who can / will speak on behalf of the brand?
• What is the voice of the brand? I know this sounds like “if your brand were an animal what would it be”, but the real decision is whether our brand “voice” is going to be practical, friendly, formal, casual, etc. Whatever the answer, make sure it is genuine and consistent with the brand.
• How will you respond to negative comments / feedback? Fixing issues publicly and quickly can build a lot of positive equity. Do you have a plan in place to ensure that you can intervene and resolve issues swiftly?
• Does the proposed activity fit into the broader strategy for engagement ?
• Does it fit into the resourcing plan within your strategy?

If our answer to any of the above was “no” then you may be in danger of “show romancing” your customers. This type of isolated activity can create an incorrect (or correct) impression of utility friendship.

Now, you might say that you can over plan these things. Absolutely.

Everything we read tells us that brands need to embrace social media and everyone needs to start somewhere. The case for social media as a means of extending the reach and understanding of a brand and engaging customers in dialogue is a strong one.

With that in mind, first impressions are important. Please…start with a relationship management plan – not a media plan.

A friend of mine recently lamented the amount of time that he spends Tweeting. For him there is a sense that he had become strangely enslaved to the harmless blue bird.

I endeavoured to find out whether he had started out with a plan but I couldn’t seem to get a straight answer. That tells me something in itself.

The conversation got me wondering how many other companies and brands have embraced web 2.0 in the hope that it would help their brand and somehow make life easier – only to find themselves chained to the wheel. Make no mistake – I’m a big wrap for social media. In its many forms it stands a good chance of restoring some humanity to the communications process and offers a list of benefits that is too long to list in this particular post. But once engaged it can be an extremely needy companion.

Of course, it used to be the same for websites, micro-sites and relationship-based email campaigns back in the web 1.0 days but the nature of the customer relationship has changed. Don’t be deceived by the air of friendly informality – the expectations placed upon brands that wade into the social media waters have increased considerably.

With due credit to Jaws 4, this time it’s personal.

Don’t forget that the whole web 2.0 thing has come about in part because people are looking for more than what they got under web 1.0 – more immediate information, more participation and ownership, and more responsiveness. These expectations are implicit in a readers agreement to be a fan, follower, and/or subscriber.

The personal relationship is initiated which is underpinned by two basic tenets:

• You have undertaken to provide an ongoing service, and
• You will provide a generally consistent service in terms of frequency, currency, depth and responsiveness.

Now before you close this email and bin your request to have WordPress loaded onto the corporate server – hold on! I am not saying don’t do it – I’m just saying that is important to have an understanding of the expectations that underpin social media before you set sail, work out if and how you can maintain the relationship and then formulate a plan.

In terms of formulating a plan, here are a few things (from a hundred possible points) to consider before embarking upon your chosen social media journey:

1. Clarity of Purpose

Do I have a clear purpose for your socal media activity (blog, FB, TW,etc)? Do you know what value it is intended to deliver to your readers? What will it deliver to company or brand?

A word of warning…if you are working for a large company or old-world brand, be sure to clearly articulate and document the benefits to the company internally and seek senior (ideally written) buy-in. Get agreement also that the brand can be personalised and that this is your role. Otherwise you may find your voyage cut short or plunged into content hell where your blogs are delayed and sterilised by risk-averse company policies that belong to the 1980’s.

2. Define the content proposition

Define the tone, style and theme of the information that you are planning to deliver. What can recipients expect to receive and why will it be of value?

3. Express the content proposition

wherever you can so that potential subscribers understand

4. Be genuine but not overly familiar

The genuine aspect of this is a resounding theme of advice from problogger.net. The familiarity point is mine and will undoubtedly draw comment. My view is that as in conventional relationships, closeness is earned rather than assumed. As such, just because I like what you say in your blog doesn’t mean that I want you or your brand to assume a level of fraternity that I reserve for close friends. I’m not advocating frozen corporate speak – just a comfortable level of respect.

5. Find your voice

I personally find this incredibly difficult and I know from personal experience that it can sometimes create great angst at post time. For what its worth my clients have had some success from setting a question that is relevant to the topic and then answering the question in a fictional email to a trusted colleague. This seems to provide a “reader” and ensures that the tone remains warm and human yet respectful.

6. Map your channels

If you are planning to use more than one social media channel work out which is the destination point. This is typically a blog or similarly content-rich area. Please don’t use a dynamic channel like Twitter to send users to a static home page and then leave them to navigate to the tweeted information for themselves – they won’t. This may sound obvious but this is exactly what happened to me twice in the last week.

7. Work out how you will deal with comments

This is especially important if you are the voice of a brand – and more so if the brand has a heritage of non-response. This is the sort of thing that can catch you off guard and is best contemplated before the fact. Remember that collaboration and comments are an integral part of the landscape.

A bit of pre-planning can save considerable pain down the track. If along the way you encounter material resistance from inside your company think seriously about whether the time is right to engage customers in a social media environment.

Whilst we all know that the day will have to come, some company cultures are simply not ready to open the door and will not thank you for doing so pre-emptively.