What follows is the unabridged version of my latest post for TechCrunch, “FTC Values Sponsored Conversations at $11,000 Apiece“ Source: Shutterstock In May, I reviewed the proposed Federal Trade Commission guidelines that would ultimately affect and change how brands employ endorsements into their marketing, advertising, and communications programs. Today, the Federal Trade Commission made good on its threat promise by releasing its final revisions to the guidance it gives advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in…
Active Listening on the Social Web; It’s Overrated
by Michael Brito Getty Images Wikipedia tells us that active listening is an intent to “listen for meaning”. Others suggest that active listening should “focus on who you are listening to, whether in a group or one-on-one, in order to understand what he or she is saying.” These are excellent definitions. But as it relates to customer interactions on the social web, active listening is only one half of the equation. Take for example, this brief illustration. A man gets…
I’m Not Talking to You
Credit: Natalie Dee Social Media continues to fascinate me. If you stop and think about it for a moment, we’re presented with something special…something almost too simple to appreciate. Essentially, we have been given a gift – a looking glass into the thoughts, opinions, feedback, and dialogue that represents a snapshot of market sentiment and behavior. So, what do we do with this gift? A few, but growing faction of businesses realize the value in listening and learning. Others focus…
Full Disclosure: Sponsored Conversations on Twitter Raise Concerns, Prompt Standards
This is the unabridged version of my latest post on TechCrunch. This version dives much deeper into the challenges, pitfalls, psychology, and associated opportunities to more effectively navigate this complicated, but imminent issue. Source In light of the FTC’s recent scrutiny of Social Media practices and the activity that connects brands to influencers and ultimately consumers, we will soon see guidelines and corresponding penalties to serve as governance for future engagement. My views and opinions of how the FTC is…
Unveiling the New Influencers
Traditional influence has followed a systematic top-down process of developing and pushing “controlled” messages to audiences for decades, rooted in one-to-many, faceless broadcast campaigns. Personality wasn’t absent in certain mediums, it was missing from day-to-day communications. For the most part, this pattern seemingly served its purposes, fueling the belief that brands were in control of their messages, from delivery to dissemination, among the demographics to which they were targeted. It scaled very well over the years, until it didn’t… Unbeknown…
BackType Connects the Conversation Graph
I’m a strong supporter of BackType and the work of Christopher Golda since the debut of the highly valuable comments search engine last September. Listening effectively requires extensive and active monitoring of not only blog posts and Tweets on Twitter, but also blog comments and other active networks that define the Conversation Prism. It’s how identify active communities that necessitate not only responses, but ongoing participation. BackType brings blog post comments into the spotlight. Whether you’re managing an online reputation…
Tracking Brands on Twitter to Improve How You Listen and Engage
Recently, I reviewed Twibs, a directory that lists all brands and businesses currently using Twitter. Electric Artists released Tracking Twitter, a new app that is a real-time listing of the top brands, media, television, entertainment, and celebrities that the team is currently following on Twitter. While this service offers appeal as a directory for consumers seeking their favorite brands and personalities on Twitter, it’s much more promising as a real-time monitor of how businesses, media properties, and celebrities are using…
Facebook Swims Its Way into Your Lifestream: What the Facebook news means to you
Shot at Mark Zuckerberg’s 2008 F8 keynote This week Facebook hosted a blogstar-studded event to introduce a more people-focused platform for interacting around your Facebook statusphere in “Twitter time.” Let’s review what this news means to you as a user and as a new media enthusiast. After Facebook’s failed attempt at acquiring Twitter, the company seems to be on a b-line to unite people in an online social graph while connecting them through a dynamic and rapid fire conversation and…
Facebook and the Future of User Generated Governance
Shot at Web 2.0 Summit 2008 Facebook is learning to listen. In the middle of February 2009, the company was yet again a “Beacon” for bad PR as it introduced an updated Terms of Service (Tos) for its entire community of users. We the people responded with defiance and vigor and the company retracted its new language, reverted to the previous ToS, and listened to the valuable feedback that poured in from the community. By all accounts, this was the…
Yelp Gets a Bad Review: Embracing a Crisis to Shape Perception
Source This post highlights the nuances associated with crisis communications and not the merit of either case. In the era of socialized media, brands and businesses are now vulnerable to a new era of influencers – their customers. But what happens when the community that championed consumer experiences is accused of exploiting them to extort advertising dollars from the businesses affected by the reviews? User generated reviews aren’t necessarily a brand new concept, epinions, Amazon, among any others have provided…
