Beyond Social Media:

from tools to trust

ERIC WEAVER
AD CLUB
NOVEMBER 2008
Since our last chat…
  On average, one in four of you has a new employer.
  Bloggers are regularly cited in the media.
  Facebook (124MM users) has surpassed MySpace
(114MM)
  Brands have taken to social sites
  Starbucks, Dove, AllState, Virgin America, Comcast, H&R
Block
  The Obama campaign has proven that social
networking has incredible power.

PAGE 2 
 Forrester’s
Technographic
Model

PAGE 3 
 IN THE LAST
YEAR: "
Fewer non-
participants,"
creators the
same, and "
far more
spectators

PAGE 4 
 So what was initially a way to connect with
friends and others with shared interests...

PAGE 5 
 …has become much more impactful.

PAGE 6 
 LAST YEAR:"
seventh-
highest
Google
result for
“Comcast”
was a
sleeping
technician

PAGE 7 
 THIS YEAR:
customer
service via
Twitter

PAGE 8 
 LAST YEAR

PAGE 9 
 THIS YEAR:"
soliciting
operational
ideas

PAGE 10 
 THIS YEAR:"
online
community for
social good

PAGE 11 
 So I should be advertising on social sites…?

PAGE 12 
Let’s look at consumers.
  Attention-deficit
  Fragmented by niche
interests
  Feeling time-starved
  Girl Scouts merit badge
  Cell phone in the john
  Distrustful of advertising
  Spoiled by customization and
media options
  “Snack-media” consumers

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Power has shifted.
  SEARCH lets consumers
find people, products,
information and media of
interest & relevance
  EXPRESSION through blogs,
podcasts, opinion sites,
online communities
  SHARING items of value or
interest – globally

!
  Items they (we) love…. and
hate THE REALITY:
To get what they want, consumers
generally don’t need marketing,
advertising or PR.
PAGE 17 
 Working toward his goal, he was confronted by a
daunting array of skyscrapers, interstitials, video pre-rolls
and pop-unders.
PAGE 18 
 NEW
OLD SKOOL:
SKOOL: a Pyramid
the Sphere ofof
Cross-Talk
Influence

Opinion-Forming Elite

This means the

days of
“controlled voice”
are over.

PAGE 19 
With so many voices, who do you believe?

People turn to peers for

recommendations
They also do this when:
  Risk is higher
  More choices to review and filter
  They have less time to research

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Social endorsement trumps marketing

60%
believe what “a
person like me”
says about an
organization (up LEAST CREDIBLE: corporate or
from 51% in 2007) product advertising (22% of ages
25-34)… hey, that’s us!
SOURCE: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer

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Endorsement isn’t just influential. "
It’s widely shared.

56% of those aged 35-64 and 63% aged

25-34 were “likely to share their opinions and
experiences about companies they trust or distrust
on the web.”*

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*SOURCE: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer 
Ultimately, social endorsement drives trust.
78% of those surveyed
aged 35-64 and 83% aged
25-34 were “likely to trust what
they have seen, read or heard
about a company if someone
they know has already
mentioned it to them.”*

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*SOURCE: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer 
And trust drives preference.

88%
of opinion elites
choose to buy from
companies they trust.
85% refuse to buy The boFom line: 
from companies they
distrust.* Trust drives transac.ons. 
PAGE 24 
*SOURCE: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer 
Build trust through Social Marketing.

The use of peer-to-peer engagement, dialogue

and connective tools to help your offering be
found, be relevant, be authentic and be
promoted.
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1. Be found.
 Optimize presence and content for search
 Place it in many relevant venues, fully tagged and
described (“social media breadcrumbs”)
  Podcasts on Utterz, videos on YouTube, bookmarks
on Delicious, valuable updates on Twitter
 Join multiple communities - wherever your brand
makes sense
 Be in the end zone

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2. Be relevant.
 Listen and engage
 Participate only in communities where your
offering would be of direct value
 Join as a person and member, not as an
advertiser
 Avoid the urge to push message

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3. Be authentic.
 Avoid glitz and high production values
 Demonstrate transparency and honesty
 Update frequently with less-than-perfect
content, rather than less frequently with highly
vetted material

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4. Be promoted.
 Make content easily shared
 Provide content or functionality with true value
rather than self-interest
 Don’t fight time starvation: keep content short
and sweet.

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Which tools to use?
BLOGGING AUDIO (podcasts)
  Product manager insights   Company storytelling
  CEO media/investor relations   Thought leadership
MICROBLOGGING (Twitter) WIKIS
  Special offers   Event planning
  Event buzz   Product development
VIDEO (one-off virals or recurring   Shared learnings
podcasts)   Distributed work-in-progress
  Product how-to’s SOCIAL & TOPICAL NETWORKS
  Personality pieces   Brand awareness
  Company storytelling   Community/CSR discussion
  Humor   Community building
WIDGETS   Feedback/testing/trials
  Content distribution/sharing

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And a final note: consider your “lens”
Boomers/Tweeners Gen X/Millenials
  Trained in formalities   Formalities ignored
  Don’t offend anyone   More interested in finding
  Be the most acceptable to those with like minds than
the largest number of worrying about turning off
people others
  Privacy highly valued   Less privacy means more
  Interested in tech ability to be found
functionality but often   Digital natives – tech is
overwhelmed by speed of ubiquitous and easy
change

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Power has shifted.
  EMPOWER CUSTOMERS TO BECOME ADVOCATES
  EXTEND YOUR BRAND WITHOUT HIGH COST
  YOUR CONTENT APPEARS IN MORE PLACES
  Lives on your sites, on enthusiasts’ sites, on cell phones,
PSPs
  INCREASE GOOGLE RANKINGS
  BE FOUND WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT TO
GO
  LEVERAGE THE EXISTING TRUST BETWEEN
PEOPLE rather than trying to buy it
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THANK YOU.
facebook.ericweaver.com
branddialogue.com
twitter.com/weave