Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Sometimes the path of least resistance unwinds into a far more complicated and arduous journey than we anticipated. In times of change, taking the path less traveled, although initially daunting, proves easier and far more rewarding in the long run. Such is true for social media.

I read a review about Engage once that read, “Brian Solis takes the fun out of social media.” The author’s point was that the book took an academic approach when the industry could benefit from a simplified focus on best practices, case studies, and actionable takeaways.

Shortly thereafter, I participated in a day-long event at a leading global consumer brand. Following my presentation, the person, a representative from a leading social network, took the stage and started her presentation by slighting the general theme of my discussion. She simply said, “Don’t over think social media. It’s supposed to be fun!”

Between the review, others like it and that on-stage remark, I was starting to think that maybe I was beating the wrong drum. While I appreciate their perspective and their ideas, there are those of us who must march to the beat of our own drummer. This is why my work focuses on how to bridge the gap between customers and businesses, nothing less, nothing more. I focus on accountability, change, innovation and co-creation. It is not easy nor is it supposed to be when your mission is value, starting with the end in mind and working backwards from there.

The truth is that the customer gap existed prior to social media and successfully closing it takes more than basic conversational or content-driven strategies in Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. The path to engagement is strenuous, uncharted, and anything but easy. Everything begins with understanding the magnitude of the gap and what it is that people want, are missing or could benefit from in order to bring both ends toward the middle.

No matter how hard we try, we just can’t build a customer-centric organization if we do not know what it is people value. Social media are your keys to unlocking the 5I’s of engagement to develop more informed and meaningful programs:

1. Intelligence – Learn about needs, wants, values, challenges
2. Insight – Find the “aha’s” to identify gaps
3. Ideation – Inspire new ideas for engagement, communication, new products/services, change
4. Interaction – Engage…don’t just publish, bring your mission to life
5. Influence – Influence behavior and in the process, become an influencer

Social media is as effective as its design. The ability to deliver against brand lift, ROI, or an established set of business and operational metrics and KPIs is all in the design. I believe you can not measure what it is you do not, or do not know, to value. As part of a recent study sponsored by Vocus, MarketingSherpa discovered that a majority of social media programs focused on programs that were deemed “fast and easy.” Sound familiar? Indeed, those programs that focus on social media programs that are easy are less effective than those that require a deeper investment of time, understanding and resources.

MarketingSherpa combined three questions about social marketing tactics: The effectiveness to achieve objectives, the degree of difficulty to implement each tactic, and the percentage of organizations using them. Their findings across the board were that “fast and easy” trumps effectiveness.

The tactics with the lowest degree of difficulty and corresponding level of effectiveness include…

- Social sharing buttons in email

- Social sharing buttons on web sites

- Tweeting

- Multimedia creation

- Social advertising

The balance shifts however toward potency as the degree of difficulty escalates. Here we see the following programs carry greater reward for consumers and businesses alike, but as such, you get what you pay for.

- Blogging

- Engagement in social networks

- SMO (Social Media Optimization)

- Blogger and influencer relations

Social media doesn’t have to be void of “fun.” It must offer value and usefulness to be successful.

In the end, the reality is that you get out of social media what you invest in it. But at the same time, experimenting with social media is not anything to discredit. The difference between today’s media and the networks of yore is nothing less than the democratization of information, from creation to consumption to sharing and the equalization of influence.  The marketing landscape has been reset and thus requires a shift from a casual approach to genuine leadership.

1. Start by understanding who you’re trying to reach and what it is they value

2. Design programs that meet the needs of each segment

3. Dissect the keywords and clickpaths of your desirable segments and develop a thoughtful SMO program

4. SMO is only as effective as the content and destinations it’s meant to enhance. Develop content and click paths that matter and deliver value on both sides of the transaction.

5. Identify the individuals and organizations that influence your markets. Learn what it is they value and develop engagement programs that offer tangible value (what’s in it for them and their audiences).

6. #Engage

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Formspring, the addictive Q&A app, has announced it’s giving celebs, including musicians, comedians and actors, special features to communicate with their fans.

The stars will have verified accounts as well as a string of other features to help them better communicate and engage with their fans.

In general, Formspring allows users to ask and answer questions on its platform. One special feature is the ability to ask questions anonymously. The app currently has 25 million users, a huge milestone considering the app just launched a year and a half ago.

Now the service will start catering to celebs. A group of 50 entertainers are currently getting the special Formspring treatment, including Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, comedian Margaret Cho, and a slew of others.

First, the service is using site-wide promotions to help its shortlist of celebs get more exposure and have real conversations and share stories with their fans on Formspring. The promoted accounts will appear in the right column of the site as Formspring Favorites:

In addition to the promotion, stars can ask all their follows a single question at once.

New Formspring features for celebs include, inbox sorting to bring the best questions asked to the top, private follower counts, and verified accounts similar to those on Twitter, with the identity of the celeb confirmed by Formspring.

“Bringing a group of our musicians into the global community Formspring has built gives fans a new way to get to know each of them and interact with them about their tours, new albums and personalities,” S-Curve Records CEO Steve Greenberg said in a release. “We’re excited to see what the interactions do to engage fans in a totally fresh way.”

We’re looking forward to seeing more interesting Q&A with celebs on Formspring. If A-listers take to the platform, it should give us plenty of fodder for celebrity/social media reporting, to say the least.

This guest post is by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner and author of the new book Launch.

Social and selling just don’t mix. Have you ever been to a wedding sponsored by Nike? Does a future where restaurant tables display infomercials sound appealing?

The last thing anyone wants in a social context is a commercial. If you’re responsible for marketing your business, the time for change is now.

It’s time to pack away the marketing messages. If you don’t want to build a loyal and raving fan base, then simply promote the heck out of your products and services via every imaginable social media channel.

However, if you want to build lasting relationships with your prospects and customers, then keep reading.

Why Marketing Must Be Transformed

Here’s how the American Marketing Association defines marketing: “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

Focus on two words here: “exchanging offerings.” Most of us have been taught that marketing is about making an offer that attracts people. We’ve been trained to focus on crafting the right arrangement of words and delivering them in the right place, at the right time, using the right medium.

Here’s the problem… We’re treating people like fish. If we just create a better lure than our competitors, silently climb into a boat, and simply cast that bait right on top of our customers, they’ll bite. Or so the theory goes.

And the word “exchange” implies a two-way process between you and the customer. Your business makes an offer and the prospective customer is compelled to comply.

Strong Factors Working Against Marketing

Beyond not treating people like humans, marketers face more two large challenges.

People are tuning out: Channel overload syndrome happens when information is transmitted faster than it can be received. It’s like those intense rainstorms that cause raging rivers, taking out everything in their paths.

Instead of pouring down rain, bucket-loads of information are dumping on the brains of your customers and prospects. And simple umbrellas don’t cut it. As a result, people are retreating, shutting down, and seeking refuge from the information onslaught. People are literally tuning out!

Do people really trust your business?: Fewer than one in three people trust marketing messages, according to Edelman Digital’s annual survey of trust. That’s a pretty dismal number. The study also found that trusting companies is more important than delivering great products and services.

Do your prospects and customers trust you? If great products alone won’t gain the trust of consumers, what will?

If no one is paying attention—and when they do, they don’t trust you—what can your business do to gain the attention and respect of people?

People Are the New Way

If you want to connect with customers and attract raving fans, the solution is very simple: Focus on people. You can meet the needs of people by helping them solve their problems at no cost.

People’s core desires don’t change. Your audience wants access to great insight, great people and recognition. When you help people with their smaller problems, many will look to you for their bigger issues. If you can multiply free assistance by hundreds, thousands or millions of people, you can rapidly grow your business.

Content enables this!

When you provide engaging “how-to” information and assistance in the form of valuable gifts (without strings attached), it triggers the “How much more?” question. “How much more value will I gain if I hire this company or buy this product?” is the response many will have when they see the great value you provide for free.

I’ve developed a simple formula to show you how to grow.

Introducing the Elevation Principle

Here’s my formula for rapid growth. It’s called the elevation principle. When you follow this model, you’ll be able to take your business to new heights.

The elevation principle: Great content PLUS other people MINUS marketing messages EQUALS growth!

Caption: When you combine great content that lacks any obvious marketing messages with other people, your business can rapidly grow.

When you offer great content—such as detailed how-to articles, expert interviews, case studies and videos—that focuses on helping other people solve their problems, you’ll experience growth. Why? Because this type of content meets the needs of people. It doesn’t focus on you, your products or your company. It is a true gift to your audience.

The “other people” component not only means focusing on the needs of people. It also transcends your reader base and involves reaching out to people outside your company, such as industry experts. These outside experts possess amazing knowledge that your audience will find very valuable.

Caption: Tap the minds of other experts and share their knowledge with your audience.

The last part of the formula is to deliver this content in a marketing-free zone. Once the marketing messages are caged, the focus of your company shifts from “What can we sell you?” to “How can we help you?” You shift from pitching products to boosting people.

Instead of investing in ad space, you invest in creating content, experiences, gathering places and communities where people who need help can find it.

You have the chance to own the place people go to for help, eliminating your reliance on traditional marketing channels. You can become the center of your industry, niche or local market. And when that happens, you’re launched on an unstoppable trajectory that will take you places you never imagined possible.

Editor’s note: Be sure to check out Michael’s new book Launch. Click here for free immediate access to the first chapter of the book (no registration required).

Image source: Purchased from iStockPhoto

Global Internet traffic is expected to quadruple between 2010 and 2015, according to data provided to Mashable by Cisco.

By that time, nearly 3 billion people will be using the Internet — more than 40% of the world’s projected population. On average, there will be more than two Internet connections for each person on Earth, driven by the proliferation of web-enabled mobile devices.

Internet traffic is projected to approach 1 zettabyte per year in 2015 — that’s equivalent of all the digital data in existence in 2010. Regionally speaking, traffic is expected to more than double in the Middle East and Africa, where there will be an average of 0.9 devices per person for a projected population of 1.39 billion. Latin America is close behind, with a 48% increase in traffic and an estimated 2.1 devices per person among a population of 620 million.

The rest of the world will experience more moderate growth in terms of traffic, but the number of devices per person is forecast to increase significantly. By 2015, there will be an average of 5.8 devices per person in North America, 5.4 in Japan and 4.4 in western Europe.

Somewhat surprisingly, it is neither mobile phones nor tablets that are expected to grow the most in the next four years. Rather, flat panel televisions will experience the greatest production increase globally, up 1063% from 2010, followed by tablets (750%), digital photo frames (600%) and ereaders (550%). The number of non-smartphones and smartphones is expected to increase by 17% and 194% worldwide, respectively.

It all started because of the discovery problem.

Too many things to choose from, more every day. No efficient way to alert the world about your service, your music, your book. How about giving it away to help the idea spread?

The simplest old school examples are radio (songs to hear for free, in in the hope that someone will buy them) and Oprah (give away all the secrets in your book in the hope that many will buy.)

There’s a line out the door of people eager to spread their ideas, because in a crowded marketplace, being ignored is the same as failure.

Most people, most of the time, don’t buy things if there’s a free substitute available. A hundred million people hear a pop song on the radio and less than 1 percent will buy a copy. Millions will walk by a painting in a museum, but very few have prints, posters or even inexpensive original art in their homes. (In the former case, the purchased music is better–quality and convenience–than the free version, in the latter, the print is merely more accessible, but the math is the same–lots of visits, not a lot of conversion).

We don’t hesitate to ask a consultant or doctor or writer for free advice, but often hesitate when it involves a payment. (“Oh, I’m not asking for consulting, I just wanted you to answer a question…”) And yes, I’m told that some people cut their own hair instead of paying someone a few bucks to do it.

None of this is news. Two things have changed, though:

1. As more commercial activity involves digital goods (websites, ebooks, music, etc.), the temptation to spread the idea for free (to aid discovery) is actually economically possible–if you believe that the free spread will lead to more revenue in the long run. The cost of a single copy is zero, so you can choose to set the digital item loose without bankrupting yourself.

2. A culture of free digital consumption has evolved and is being adopted by a huge segment of the most coveted consumers (teenagers, the educated, the upper middle class).

The bet a creator makes, then, is that when she gives away something for free, it will be discovered, attract attention, spread and then, as we saw in radio in 1969, lead to some portion of the masses actually buying something.

What’s easy to overlook is that a leap is necessary for the last step to occur. As we’ve made it easier for ideas to spread digitally, we’ve actually amplified the gap between free and paid. It turns out that there’s a huge cohort that’s just not going to pay for anything if they can possibly avoid it.

Radio thirty years ago was simple: everyone hears it for free and a few buy it.

For a time, one could use free to promote an idea and have leverage to turn that attention into paid sales of a similar item (either because free went away or because the similar item offered convenience or souvenir value).

I think that might be changing. As the free-only cohort grows, people start to feel foolish when they pay for something when the free substitute is easily available and perhaps more convenient.

Think about that–buying things now makes some people feel foolish. Few felt foolish buying a Creedence album in the 1970s. They felt good about it, not stupid.

This new default to free means that people with something to sell are going to have to push ever harder to invent things that can’t possibly have a free substitute. Patronage, live events, membership, the benefits of connection–all of these things are outside the scope we used to associate with the creative business model, but that’s changing, fast.

Lady Gaga’s music is basically free. It’s the concerts that cost money. McKinsey’s consulting philosophy is free in the library, it’s the bespoke work that costs money. Watching a movie on Netflix is free–once you pay to belong. Playing golf at the local public course is pretty cheap, it’s membership in the fancy club that costs money…

There’s a growing disconnect between making something worthwhile and getting paid for it. The digital artifact is heading toward free faster and faster, and the inevitable leap to a paid version of the same item is going to get more difficult.

Creators don’t have to like it, but free culture is here and it’s getting more pervasive. The brutal economics of discovery combined with no marginal cost create a relentless path toward free, which deepens the gap. Going forward, many things that can be free, will be.

Worth a side note to talk about the ‘shoulds’. Some commentators have argued quite forcibly that things shouldn’t be free, that creators should always be paid, that 47% of our economy is based on intellectual property…

Of course, free has always been part of the equation. These commentators, the ones arguing in interviews or in blog posts, are already sharing their ideas for free. The bestselling book of all time has no copyright and has been shared freely for thousands of years. Musicians gladly show up to play for virtually free on American Bandstand or the Tonight Show.

Most ideas have never been something one could monetize. The inventor of the knock knock joke, for example, or the two college kids who coined Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon have put ideas into the ideastream, and they spread without much thought for cash compensation.

I’m certainly not arguing that content should be free, it’s clear that the argument on the either side isn’t absolute. My argument is that the line for using free as a discovery tool is shifting, and the best (and perhaps only) way to monetize in the future is for the idea to be encased in something that could never realistically be free. Products and services with a marginal cost of more than zero, for example.

Should consumers be willing to pay for great content? You bet. In fact, paying for content is a great way to ensure that more of it gets made.

Does the game theory of the market make it likely that those in search of discovery will accelerate the use of free to get attention? Of course.

Creators have trained the most coveted, biggest spending and intelligent portion of the market to expect that many digital items will be free. Now it’s up to us to wrap those items in such a way that they’re worth paying for again.