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The 10 Stages of Social Media Integration in Business

What follows is the unabridged version of my post on Mashable, “The 10 Stages of Social Media Business Integration.

An overnight success ten plus years in the making, Social Media is as transformative as it is evolutionary. With every day that passes, we are presented with increasing reports that showcase the impact of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs within small and large businesses alike. As a result, we can now visualize the state of adoption, understanding, and implementation in different business ecosystems. What we realize as a result, is that individual examples vary based on the assorted stages of aptitude and proficiency in Social Media within each company.

In writing the next book, I interviewed many executives and marketing and service professionals as well as reviewed piles of case studies. I noticed that the path towards new media enlightenment was directed by the conditions of their respective market places and the consumers who define them. Furthermore, the timetable for integration and permeation was dictated by the politics and support system within the business infrastructure.

A pattern became very obvious. There are at least ten stages of Social Media adoption, strategy, and execution that determine their place in the attention economy of today and tomorrow.

The Evolution of a Corporate Renaissance 2009 – 2010

2010 is designated as the year Social Media proliferates mainstream businesses. Indeed this year will showcase the transformation of business acumen while also shifting the culture and the communication that embraces an inward and outward flow for listening, interacting, learning, and adapting.

Social Media Marketing is exhilarating to behold as it evolves “media” from a broadcast platform to a sophisticated network of connections and rewarding engagement. We learn that through participation, we ultimately eradicate the myths that initially fueled skeptics and prevented early experimentation. The perceived loss of control was in actuality, the ability to realize public sentiment and the gatekeepers who could help us actively steer perception. It is a chance to actually gain control rather than simply possessing the illusion of it.

As 2009 raced to an end, Social Media marketers realized that listening to the proverbial conversation offered very little in terms of influence. In fact, it was the listening that would eventually set the stage for intelligent participation.

It was the realization that listening would only engender empathy. But, in order to truly shape and guide market sentiment and hopefully one day empower advocacy and a new workflow, a supporting infrastructure would require construction.

We are only as relevant as our ability to not only realize the state of affairs, but also have the prowess necessary to define and also adapt along with it.

The next stage of Social Media Marketing will mature from one of listening and unguided participation to one of strategic observation, analysis and informed engagement. It is how we can shift from a state of awareness to one of intelligence, setting the stage for relevance and affinity. It is a new age of “unmarketing” inspired by purpose and vision.

As Social Media evolves, behavior and intention modifies, mirroring the depth of learning and confidence that develops with experience. In New Media, we are always learning and as such, we are forever in pursuit of the next stage.

The 10 Stages of New Media Evolution

Stage 1 – Observe and Report

This is the entry point for businesses to better understand the market behavior and interaction within their marketplaces. These initial tasks materialize the current state of affairs that defines share of voice and the potential for new opportunities to compete for attention.

Listening: The employment of listening devices such as Google Alerts, Twitter Search, Radian6, and PR Newswire’s Social Media Metrics to track conversations and instances associated with key words.

Reporting: Capturing related conversations tied to commentary into a report prepared for executives and managers. This early form of reporting is merely designed to provide decision makers with the information to demonstrate the need for continued exploration into social media and its potential impact on business.

Stage 2 – Setting the Stage + Dress Rehearsal

Upon amassing an initial understanding of conversational dynamics and stature, businesses will build the framework that sets the stage for social media broadcasting and participation. This is an interesting phase as it, in many cases, actually joins Stage 1 as a more sweeping first step. Instead of researching current activity to answer an important question as to why engage in social media at all and as such, how should we engage, many businesses create accounts across multiple social networks and unfortunately publish content without a plan or purpose.

However, those businesses that conduct research will find a rewarding array of options and opportunities of which to analyze and target.

Presence: The creation of official presences across one or more social networks, usually Twitter and possibly Facebook (Fan Pages), YouTube, and Flickr. This stage is also reflective of initial experimentation through activity, with or without the following analysis. But, this is less about strategic engagement in this early stage, resembling either chatter or the traditional broadcasting of messages.

Analysis: Reviewing activity for frequency (the rate of mentions), the state of sentiment allocation, traffic, as well as the size of connections (friends, followers, fans), etc., provides managers with a limited glimpse into the effects of presence and participation.

Stage 3 – Socializing Media

The next stage in the evolution of a new media business is the proverbial step towards “joining the conversation.”

As companies take the stage, they will eventually pay attention to the reaction of the audience in order to respond and improve content, define future engagements, and humanize communication.

Conversation: Representative of an early form of participation, this stage usually evokes reactive engagement based on the nature of existing dialogue or mentions and also incorporates the proactive broadcasting of activity, events and announcements.

Rapid Response: Listening for potentially heated, viral, and emotional activity in order to extinguish a potential crisis or possibly to fan a flame of positive support.

Metrics: The documentation of the aforementioned activity in order to demonstrate momentum in a particular direction – usually captured in the form of friends, fans, followers, conversations, sentiment, mentions, traffic, and reach.

Stage 4 – Finding a Voice and a Sense of Purpose

This is a powerful milestone in the maturation of new media and business. By not only listening, but hearing and observing the responses and mannerisms of those who define our markets, we can surface pain points, source ideas, foster innovation, earn inspiration, learn, and feel a little empathy in order to integrate a sense of purpose into our socialized media programs. We open the door to new possibilities.

Research: Reviewing activity for not only sentiment allocation, but to embrace negative and also neutral commentary to surface and observe trends in responses and ultimately behavior. This allows for a poignant understanding of where to concentrate activity, at what level, and with what voice across marketing, sales, service, and PR.

Strategic Visibility: Introducing relevance and focus, we realize that we don’t have to be everywhere in order to create presence, just in the places where our presence is missed or unfelt. Understanding that the Social Web is far more extensive than Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, brand managers search across the entire Web using listening services or the methodologies rife within the Conversation Prism to locate where influential dialogue transpires.

Relevance: The realization that “chatter” or aimless broadcasting is not as effective as strategic communications and engagement. This stage reflects the exploration of goals, objectives and the exploration and implementation of value. As we learn that interaction is based on exchange and the exchange is measured by loyalty and trust, our interaction is thus defined by benefits and significance.

Stage 5 – Putting Words into Action

Actions speak louder than words and therefore we are committed to putting our words into action. While we opened the door to the emotions that awoke social consciousness, they eventually permeate the spirit of the company and inspire us to set into motion a change in everything we do and say.

Empathy: Social media personifies those with something to say, allowing us to see who it is we’re hoping to reach as well as what motivates them. Listening and observing is not enough. The ability to truly understand someone, their challenges, filters, objectives, options, and experiences allows us to truly become the people with whom we hope to connect.

Purpose: The shift from response to strategic communications, purpose, powered by empathy and resolution, facilitates meaningful and mutually beneficial interaction. Affinity requires an emotional connection, a sense of purpose if you will. It is in this stage that we truly visualize the motivation necessary to captivate one’s attention. In order to hold it, we have to give them something to believe in, something that moves them in a way that they can connect as well as bond.

Stage 6 – Humanizing the Brand and Defining the Experience

As Doc Searls says, “There is no market for messages.” Indeed. Through the internalization of sentiment, brands will relearn how to speak. No longer will we focus on the attempted control of the message from conception to documentation to distribution. We realize that we lose control as our messages are introduced into the real world. Virtual control migrates to the actual control of the shaping and protection of our story as it migrates from consumer to consumer. This chain forms a powerful connection that reveals true reactions, perception, and perspectives.

The conversations that bind us form a Human Algorithm that serves as the pulse of awareness, trustworthiness, and emotion.

Branding – The Humanization of the Brand: Once we truly understand the people who influence our markets, we need to establish a persona worthy of attention and affinity. The state of a brand in social media is largely tied to the awareness that a Socialized version of a branding style guide is necessary. It is during this step that brand managers assess the state of the brand persona, realizing that it is derivative of the actions, words and mannerisms associated with interaction. In this stage the persona of the brand and the personality of those who are representing it are calculated and defined by how it is they wish to be portrayed and perceived.

Experience: Our experiences in dynamic social ecosystems teach us that our activity online must not only maintain a sense of purpose, it must also direct traffic and shape perceptions and experiences in the process. We question our current online properties, landing pages, processes, and messages. We usually find that existing architecture for civil engineering leads people from a very vibrant and interactive experience (social networks) to a static dead end (our Web sites). As we attempt to redefine the experience of new customers, prospects and influencers, we essentially induce a brand makeover.

Stage 7 – Community

Community is an investment in the cultivation and fusion of affinity, interaction, advocacy and loyalty. Learned earlier in the stages of new media adoption, community isn’t established with the creation of a Facebook Fan Page, Group, or any online profile for that matter. Community is earned and fortified through shared experiences. Hosting a community isn’t a prerequisite in the cookie-cutter templates of social media of which so many programs are patterned. Community is a commitment and must be done so without compromise. As Kathy Sierra once said, “Trying to replace ‘brand’ with ‘conversation’ does a disservice to both brands & conversations.”

In this stage, businesses learn and visualize through experience, the nucleus of connections and the interests, pains, hopes, and benefits that bind us.

Community Building/Recruitment: While essentially we are building community through engagement in each of the previous stages, as we now possess intimate knowledge of our stakeholders and influencers, we will proactively reach out to ideal participants and potential ambassadors to personally recruit them. We become social architects to build the roads necessary to escort them to a rich and rewarding network to help them receive valuable information and connections.

Stage 8 – Social Darwinism

Before we can collaborate externally, we have to improve collaboration and communication within. Listening and responding is only as effective as its ability to inspire transformation, improvement, and adaptation from the inside out. Survival of the fittest is not in any way tied to whether or not a company engages in social media. Remember, social is but one part of an overall integrated strategy, all of which will point leaders in the direction to effectively compete for the future. It’s how we learn and adapt that ensures our place within the evolution of our markets.

Social Media as embraced in the earlier stages is not scalable. The introduction of new roles will beget the restructuring of teams and workflow, which will ultimately necessitate organizational transformation to support effective engagement, production, and the ongoing evolution towards ensuring brand and product relevance.

Adaptation: In order to truly compete for the future, the actions that govern genuine and artful listening, community building, and advocacy align, in parallel, with the ability of any organization to adapt and improve products, services, and policies according to the laws of the now Web. In order for any team to effectively collaborate externally, it must first foster collaboration within. It is this interdepartmental cooperative exchange that provides a means for which to pursue sincere engagement over time.

Organizational Transformation: The internal renaissance and reorganization of teams and processes to eventually support a formal sCRM program becomes pervasive. As Social Media chases ubiquity, we learn that influence isn’t relegated to one department or function within the organization. Any department affected by external activity will eventually socialize. Therefore an integrated and interconnected network of brand ambassadors will collaborate internally to ensure that the brand is leading and responding to constructive instances, by department. However, at the departmental and brand level, successful social media marketing will require governance and accountability. Organizational transformation will gravitate towards a top-down hierarchy of policy, education, and empowerment across the entire organization.

Stage 9 – The Socialization of Business Processes

As companies and brands learn through participation and analysis and transform teams and processes to support critical opportunities, the stage of organizational transformation surfaces the channels and themes that map accordingly to the internal structure of departments and divisions affected by outside influence and in turn, can also participate in the direction of said influence to benefit individual goals and objectives.

Multiple disciplines and departments will socialize and therefore the assembly or adaptation of a technology and methodology infrastructure is required to streamline and manage social workflow.

Social CRM (SRM): Once opportunities register, scalability, resources, and efficiencies quickly necessitate consideration and support resulting in a modified, or completely new, infrastructure that either augments or resembles a CRM-like workflow. Combining technology, principles, philosophies and processes, social CRM (sCRM) establishes a value chain that fosters relationships within traditional business dynamics. As an organization evolves through engagement, sCRM will transform into SRM – the recognition that all people, not just customers, are equal. It represents a wider scope of active listening and participation across the full spectrum of influence mapped to specific department representatives within the organization using various lenses for which to identify individuals where and how they interact.

Stage 10 – Business Performance Metrics

Inevitably, we report to executives who don’t wish to quantify transparency or authenticity. Their goal, and job, is to steer the company towards greater profitability, relevance, growth, and new opportunities. In order to measure the true effects of social media and eventually guide people to desired locations and actions, we need insight to the numbers behind the activity – at every level.

While many experts argue that there is no need to measure Social, much in the same way that some companies don’t explicitly define the ROI of Superbowl Ads or billboards, make no mistake, social is measurable and the process of mining data tied to our activity is unbelievably empowering. Our ambition to excel should be driven through the inclusion of business performance metrics with or without an executive asking us to do so. It’s the difference between visibility and presence. And in the attention economy, presence is felt.

ROI: I place ROI in stage ten for several reasons. Without an understanding of the volume, locations, and nature of online interaction, the true impact of our digital footprint and its relationship to the bottom line of any business is impossible to assess. The embodiment of social influence and an immersed view of its path and effects combined with our goals and objectives and an intrinsic knowledge of the resources required to achieve them allow us to truly measure ROI. Stage 10 reveals the meaning and opportunity behind the numbers and allows us to identify ways to introduce opportunities for interaction, direction, and action. The “action” is defined by a desired result or outcome and serves as the beacon to reverse engineer activities that end with a point of capture and analysis.

In The End…

The distance between where we are today and where we need to be however is separated by the people who seek solutions and direction in the places where we’re not currently focused. Our work in 2010 is dedicated to narrowing the social chasm.

The thing about new media is that it’s always new and as such, these stages represent a moment in time. They will continue to change, augment, and expand as new technologies, experiences, and innovations are introduced to those champions who can effectively integrate and learn from experimentation and assessment.

In the end, Social media is privilege and with it, we learn just one more piece of how to run a more meaningful and relevant business.

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229 COMMENTS ON THIS POST To “The 10 Stages of Social Media Integration in Business”

  1. Well put. Extremely on point for all businesses. Important to know where one sits, and how to move forward.

  2. Gregory says:

    Many thanks for this excellent overview and road map!

    However I think an important aspect is missing in the above. Within more traditional B2B organisations off-site SEO results might be the main “convincing argument” to start investing resources and/or time in social media, rather than conversations.
    SEO results as the stepping stone to social media for B2B?!

    I tested Radian6, SM2 and PR Newswire's Social Media Metrics. The amount of “related conversations” was virtually nihil. So much for the “Age of Conversation” in certain markets. I do appreciate this lack of conversations could be considered an opportunity, but it doesn't give me the “ammo” to convince the powers that be to invest in social media.
    However, off-site SEO results generated via social media releases (Pitchengine), visuals (Flickr) and videos (Youtube) do offer the arguments to go forward and experiment with other channels such as Twitter, Blogs, etc.
    Off-site SEO results can be measured in Google Analytics, all the way through to the “set Goal”, which in our case is the completion of an online form (= new lead). Seen the high value of such a lead to the company, social media results in this case are quantified and provide a concrete argument towards more experimentation.

    Just wanted to feed back some findings from a more traditional and niche B2B sector.

    Kindest regards

    Greg

    • Brian,

      Thank you for the shout out! Sage advice…this will be the year integration will take hold.

      Greg,

      It is important to note that listening needs will be different for each organization/industry. If there is not a lot of buzz surrounding the organization/brand name, there is opportunity to actively listen to listen and the point of need, what is happening in the industry and amongst competitors. There is no one size fits all SMM tool. You must find the right tool that meshes with your organization's culture and measurable objectives.

      Lauren Vargas
      Community Manager at Radian6
      @VargasL

  3. tomob says:

    HI Brian:

    Thanks for this post – I find it really helpful. One quibble – (I guess) it is pretty PR focused – not too surprising I guess.

    The way you describe listening – google alerts, brand mentions, keywords – strikes me as only caring about your brand – rather than trying to understand what people care about. Brand monitoring (while critical for PR & CRM) is not listening – but rather staring at the trees rather than the forest.

    For example, in food conversations (online) brand mentions are in about 5% of all the messages/posts. In health conversations pharma brand mentions are in only about 9% of the messages/posts. Listening only to these conversations is very, very (brand) ego-centric. It is like being in a conversation with a group of people and ignoring everything anyone says if it doesn't include your name.

    (Don't get me wrong, I think the whole brand monitoring, sCRM thing is vitally important, but it really is “all about the brand” rather than about the people who use the brand.)

    On the other hand, brands that listen to the broader conversation can figure out what people care most about and then optimize/design product, service, communications in such a way as to help people do what they are trying to do. They can connect to higher level core human motivations and drivers in compelling and authentic ways.

    People need to think about different tools for different needs/jobs.

    TO'B

    • briansolis says:

      Thanks for the comment…I do not disagree, except with the perception of it being PR-focused. I'm not a PR person and have not been one for many years – not the branding on this blog has moved away from that positioning. Had to do so to have an impact within marketing and branding overall, not just communications. This is not a post that details the value and recommended path for evolution, that's what my next book is about 🙂 (Out in March). I work at the C-level and this post reflects my experience. This is a psychological review of the stages that have been documented within companies over time (to date) that I've worked with and researched and it's representative of where Social starts – whether it's PR, customer service, marketing, etc.

    • tomob says:

      Thanks for the feedback – and sorry for putting you in the PR bucket. I'm smarting over the lack of distinction between brand monitoring and listening. It is something I am experiencing a lot of lately – massive confusion within F1000 clients (and frankly, echoed by the SM community) about what to do. I am still getting RFP's that ask for what we do (core human motivations, drivers and issues in categories and how they are associated with brands, etc.) and what Radian6 does (brand monitoring) in the same request. They aren't the same things.

      Anyway, good work as usual.

      TO'B

    • dominiq says:

      I like the post but I also think it's a PR/ Media view, so if I may…

      Two comments:

      – C level start with the strategy, defining “who matters” for your brand and as tomob put it listening. Monitoring is not listening. It's ok to monitor for “social CRM” but it's a very strange approach to marketing. Marketing again start with defining who matters, looking at the value of the different segment; build the appropriate product and messages for diverse audience and communities and deliberatly ignore the people that you select not to serve. I'm amazed that “social media marketers” never look at customer value/ most valuable customers, segmentation, positionning ao.

      – The prism gives a very media/PR view of the world. To me social media should focus on the “who”, not on the “what” (monitoring) or on the where (your prism). At the end of the day your target is not ” a twitter media” or a “facebook media” but as an example, a communities of mom that happend to connect in blogs and faceook groups to share about things that matters to them.

      Best

    • candm says:

      tomob-

      thanks for your distinction between brand listening and social listening. Can you tell me if you have found any valuable resources for listening to and participating in the broader conversation? I am a publishing exec interested in creating compelling content to answer a need.

      thanks,
      Candace

    • tomob says:

      Candace:

      <PITCH ON> I'll go ahead and recommend our company – MotiveQuest LLC – if you are interested in understanding what people are passionate about, and how the relevant brands relate to that passion. That is the kind of work we do here. Output used for brand/communication planning and execution, brand tracking, PR Topic development or issue management and finally for new product/service innovation. <PITCH OFF>

      Blog post on Brand Positioning 2.0: http://tinyurl.com/yhapqod

      Contact me tobrien AT motivequest DOT com

      Thanks – TO'B

  4. dmattcarter says:

    “Our ambition to excel should be driven through the inclusion of business performance metrics with or without an executive asking us to do so. It’s the difference between visibility and presence. And in the attention economy, presence is felt.” Love this quote. I think this distinction is the key to building brands that last. Presence builds loyalty, visibility merely creates awareness.

  5. Brian,

    The take home message I got from this was BE STRATEGIC. As Greg stated, this is a great road map. For a lot of small business owners they haven't quite figured out yet “what” they are doing and “why” they are doing it. Your post serves as an excellent guide. Please continue to provide us with thought provoking material that will enable us to integrate social media as an important tool to engage with our customers and have a positive impact on the community that we are engaging with.

  6. Very systematic and accessible. Nice job.

    The one aspect that I think you can stress more is the degree to which the organization needs to change the way it approaches its idea of content and process. Without re-orienting the core content creation processes — which happen in marketing, customer service and communications — social media ends up functioning as a silo. The ROI then is measured in isolation, without assessing the impact of the company's position in the marketplace.

    Social media tools will be as integral to how the organization thinks about itself as e-mail and spreadsheets, if organizations recognize the new way that they can interact with their marketplaces.

  7. PadduG says:

    Brian, thanks for great observations and summary. While most of this easily understandable from large business (Fortune XXX) standpoint, it is very difficult for small / medium businesses and self employed professionals to embrace / get social media. Only enterprise level businesses used to care about branding. I guess those days are over. Everyone including including mom and pop firms have to establish some sort of identity in the social media world. It could be their brand, company name, product name, a key phrase or personal name. This can be used along with other keywords used (in SEO) for measuring / listening in the online world. Any thoughts?

    • briansolis says:

      It is time for small businesses to compete for attention…maybe this article will help?

      https://www.briansolis.com/2010/01/the-socializa

    • PadduG: Good point. I've spent a lot of time with groups of local businesses talking about how to use social media. (Some observations from these conversations are shared <a href=”http://www.viralhousingfix.com/2010/01/06/local-business-social-media-a-ground-level-view/”here. Social media can have an even bigger impact for local businesses than for national brands. By connecting with their Community of Interest, claiming their social identities and sharing things that they are passionate about, local businesses can generate almost immediate Google Juice and increase business activity noticeably.

    • NENewMedia says:

      This article helps to educate and provide information to the small businesses who do not quite see the need and necessity to get their presence known in the new media.

  8. Shyam Prasad Reddy says:

    Very nice post 🙂

  9. amazing post …can u talk more about metrics?

    Thanks,
    Jorge

  10. Ari Herzog says:

    15 comments and 520 reactions. Doesn't that tell the story about integration? My question is how many people reacting, but not commenting, to the above, are truly integrating and not broadcasting?

  11. A very thoughtful piece – my only comment would be that in my opinion the process should start with 'brand mapping' to ensure that the brand's values and the promise that is delivered are aligned, relevant and compelling to the company's audiences. The brand and what it stands for has to be the point of difference that drives strategy and ultimately the ROI from communication/conversation. Being 'good at social media' will not in itself ensure the sustainability of a brand as over time all players will be equally 'involved' and potentially, little competitive advantage will ensue. The most successful 'social brands' at the moment are those that have a very clear idea of their brand purpose and the value this provides (Nike, Dell, Starbucks, SAP etc). This is no accident.

    The foundation for social media must be the brand – if the brand is misaligned to its audiences or worse dis-eased in its delivery and experience, then the only ROI you will get is more 'negative transparency' i.e people telling you and the world how rubbish you are. Good to know but very damaging.

  12. Brandon101 says:

    Outstanding post Brian.

    Stages 8 and 9 particularly resonated with me, as I see the socialization of the entire organization as a critical long-term imperative. This will require a completely revolutionary mindset inside the organization, as 'social' transcends beyond simply another channel to communicate with the market into a new way that information and ideas are shared on both sides of the firewall. Internal collaboration and reaction to insights gained via social channels opens up new opportunities for innovation and delivering products/services that serve the intent of the market, which will ultimately define the successful brands of tomorrow. Your post does an excellent job of building the case for this transition. Well done!

    Also, loved Ari's question regarding reacting vs. integrating. Would love to see a post expanding on this topic.

    Thank you for the clarity you bring to this discussion!

  13. Aaron Hoos says:

    Brian, This article is fantastic. A taxonomy that organizations to figure out where they are and where they need to be. While 2010 will be a big year for mainstream social media, I think this will become increasingly important near the end of 2010 and into 2011 when businesses realize that they haven't achieved quantifiable success from their networks and they revisit the value that it supposedly provides.

  14. ppcHouston says:

    Extremely important to understand the changing landscape. So many channels, but to do it properly you got to have a strategy.

  15. John Whalen says:

    I appreciate that you're putting measurement and ROI as #10 on your top 10 list, but I'd be really interested in hearing how you would approach measurement. Are you saying its “volume, locations, and nature of online interaction”? I'd say that's most concretely measurable, but not clearly equating to ROI.

  16. I must say Social media is playing very important role in every business. Almost every business man is connected to social media for identity. Thanks for sharing these 10 helpful strategies.

  17. The latest gucci collection uses a lot of gold, brown and silver in their designs. Their trademark “G” logo, most popular in gucci womens shoes, is easily one of the most recognizable logos in the world. http://www.gucciwell.com

  18. Paige Soucie says:

    Hi Brian –
    As a PR person starting out right now, I find this post extremely helpful (although I don't think it is only applicable to PR professionals.) I feel that your step-by-step plan for businesses to become more effective in social media is extremely helpful for people who don't understand the 2.0 concept of social media. I think many businesses get stuck on the third stage that you reference which is socializing the media. Many businesses just post aimless things on Facebook or Twitter without really trying to interact with their customer which I think is why in many cases social media is not as helpful as they hope. I feel that without that crucial step, businesses using social media usually turns into obnoxious spam that no one really pays attention to, and then none of the other steps after can really truly be carried out.
    Thanks so much for the post –
    Paige

  19. Brian,

    Love your thoughts on the Influence Scorecard initiative. It looks like we have some similar ideas to our little group.

    http://www.marcomprofessional.com/posts/philip….

  20. sainompk says:

    Dear Brainsolis,
    Thanks for this post – I find it really useful. A subtlety – (I suppose) is quite focused PR.

  21. Mel says:

    Another master piece, Brian! Your style stands out and amazes with the deep, true thoughts that you share with us. I liked mostly this:” Instead of researching current activity to answer an important question as to why engage in social media at all and as such, how should we engage, many businesses create accounts across multiple social networks and unfortunately publish content without a plan or purpose.” – Social media would be useful only if you have your goals, planning, target customers and motivated staff to maintain your customer service.

    Mel
    mel@socialpowerweb.com

  22. AlexisCeule says:

    Love the well thought out concise plan! Brian… keep 'em coming! Fantastic!

  23. Pingback: Kate Hughes's Blog
  24. Fantastic post. Nail on the head. Especially as a content creator who “just makes” 5-10 minute videos 5 days a week (yeah, it takes a little more than 5 minutes, *wink*).

    I’ve said this to a bunch of folks this past year at speeches. Social media isn’t free.

  25. I really enjoy reading your blog. You seem like a natural in sharing your
    experiences with us. Very Interesting! I am starting my blog as well.

  26. Liz Kirchner says:

    Gosh. Sorry, but I’ve got to say, sentences like “Social media personifies those with something to say…..” and “It was the realization that listening would only engender empathy,” ….they don’t even make any sense. I’m afraid it’s that kind of woozy drivel masquerading as world-view or philosophy or insight that gives marketing a shallow name. The Emperor has no clothes. And no editor.

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