The Social Customer Manifesto

2007 Social Media & CRM 2.0 Professional Certification Seminar

Drumroll, please...announcing:

What: 2007 Social Media & CRM 2.0 Professional Certification Seminar
Where: San Francisco, CA
When: March 27-28, 2007
Learn more: http://www.bptpartners.com/socialmedia_agenda.aspx

On March 27th and March 28th, I'll be co-hosting a two-day professional seminar, "Social Media & CRM 2.0" along with Paul Greenberg (Author, "CRM at the Speed of Light" and principal at BPT Partners). This event will be held at the offices of our friends Fleishman-Hillard here in San Francisco. (Thanks, Fleishman!)

The 2007 Social Media & CRM 2.0 Professional Certification Seminar is endorsed by Rutgers University Center for CRM Research, CRMGuru.com, the National CRM Association, Greater China CRM and CRMA Japan.

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Topics include:

Why the new social media: Communications and the era of the social customer -- Traditional means of doing this through messaging marketing campaigns are no longer adequate. The new social media, blogging, user communities, podcasting and social networking are increasingly become tools of choice for businesses. Learn the why's, where's, and what's in the segment on the strategic framework.

The Business Blog Field Guide -- Every publication from Business Week, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal to online white papers warn businesses the blogging is not an optional endeavour. Those that don't will not survive, so we are going to give you what you need to not just survive the on rush but prosper. This module will explain how to produce a blog, what the benefits are, and what conditions you need to make it a success.

Components of Blogging -- You have the framework with the first 2 modules, now we're going to get down. You've created the environment, time for you to get what you need to know to actually write the business blog in a consistent and timely way.

Customer Communities and Social Network Analysis -- In this session, you will learn about the value of social networks, customer communities and the tools and practices to facilitate their creation and maintenance. If you do it right, your customers will be the advocates you desire and the business lifeblood you need for sustaining the kind of growth you've dreamed about - in collaboration with those customers you know to be important to your present and future.

The Theory and Practice of Podcasting -- This module will not only explain what a podcast is, why it's important to you as a business person, but how to actually produce a podcast. It will also bust some of the myths of podcasting that have already grown up around its young, explosive life. There is no form of social media that promises to meet the needs of the new generations of customers as well as this one - especially for those on the move. Imagine, having a good time creating something that can benefit your business - anytime, anywhere, any way you like? This module will give you the tools to do that.

Defining Your High Value Opportunities Using Social Media -- Now, we get down and well, sorta dirty. How does this directly apply to your business? What industry you're in, who your target markets are, will make a genuine difference in the approaches and applications of the social media tools. If you're a B2B business v. a B2C business, there will be differences in approach. If you want to use the tools for co-creation of value with your customers or for feedback retrieval and customer conversations it will make a difference. The final module will examine what those specific applications can be for specific business situations and models.

Learn more: http://www.bptpartners.com/socialmedia_agenda.aspx

Prerequisites For Setting Up A Business-Driven Web 2.0 Effort

Since the beginning of the year, have been asked the following question (in various forms) time and time again: If we want to use this social media "stuff" to connect with customers, how do we get started?

At this point, it seems that the natural inclination is to jump right in and start prescribing technology (e.g. "well, let's set up a Wordpress or TypePad blog and we're done!" or "Let's get the Haystack network up this week!").  While the technology is an enabler, there are still the basic questions that need to be answered in order to get things off on the right path, and help to stack the deck in favor of success.  Today, let's concentrate on the fundamentals of what an organization needs to think about before embarking on a social media activity.

#1) Why

Why do this?  Why start a blog or a social network or other Web 2.0-oriented effort?  Sometimes, the answer is simply "In order to connect."  And, in the case of many, many blogs (and IM, and Plazes, and Twitter, etc.), that answer is sufficient.  However, as is more often the case, there are additional reasons to jump in:  better and more timely feedback from customers, the ability to connect with others working on similar problems, putting a human face on what had been historically a sterile organization, creating a framework for communications, or, most importantly, creating a platform for enabling better/broader/more timely information exchange. 

The "why" is critical.  (And, as a point of note, "because we want to explore this and get to understand it" may be the right answer.  When that's the case, make sure that expectations are set accordingly.)

#2) Who

Web 2.0 is about people.  Period.  Who are the people involved?  Who will be the primary contributors to the effort?  What are their backgrounds?  Who are they as people?  In addition, who are the other people who will be interacting with the environment, even if they don't initially contribute?  In a blog, the ratio of commenters-to-posters is large; the ratio of readers-to-commenters is astronomical.  What's in it for each of those constituencies?  Does the environment support them and provide what they need?  What value does each group derive from it?

Similarly, in a social network, there are typically a handful of "power" users, a slightly larger group of sometimes-contributors, and a huge group of people who may only be observing.  (Members of this last group are commonly referred to as "lurkers.)  What's in it for them?

#3) Where

Online gathering places are examples of the "third place" as defined by Oldenberg:  a "place" other than home or work, for democracy, civil society, and social engagement.  Is what you are putting together a destination, or a directory that sends people forth on their journeys?  (Both are relevant.)  What does the place feel like?  Is it open, or exclusive?  Is it part of a larger site, or a stand-alone entity?  How will people find it?

#4) When

Is the activity that you are proposing using social media an ongoing concern, or tied to a particular event?  Note that unless there is a large, existing group of participants, it will oftentimes take a few months, perhaps even a year, to achieve "critical mass."

It's like planting a garden.

#5) How

"How" is all about the norms of the place.  What's the tenor of the interaction?  Is it "strictly business," or relaxed?  Is it moderated, or free-wheeling?  What will participants do if their contributions are edited or deleted?  If there is a "topic," will off-topic discussions be immediately squelched, or will the interactions be free-form, like a lively dinner party?

Additionally, a key "how" item is thinking about how the site's members deal with "trolls" and spammers.  Will the be ignored? Banned?  Given a warning?  Deleted without comment?  Sent to "time out" for a period of time?

Much of the "how" derives from the "who."  The types of individuals who collectively make up the constituency of the place are the ones who will drive the "how."  Heavy-handed moderation will make the place constricting, yet too lax a policy will rapidly devolve the interactions into noise.

Want to see a guide that you can use to start conversations in your organization?  A template you can use, after the jump.

Clue Implementation Unit Podcast #1

(click here to listen) (click here to subscribe to this feed)

In this, our inaugural podcast, we introduce the Clue Unit podcast format which includes these recurring sections.

1. Introduction
2. Announcements -- conferences, news, etc.
3. Focused Topical Discussion
4. Conference Chatter -- Anything goes
   
       

Today's Topics:

• The role and basis of reputation systems in online communities
• Introduction of Joost (formerly The Venice Project), and what the beta shows about the direction of the technology and social elements of the system.
• Issues concerning how much an organization should be able manipulate/remix submissions for projects that depend on user-generated content.