A Journey in the Social World of Media

In today's world of Digital Media, every brand is a global brand. Consumers from all geographies can find your content and interact with their peers to praise, comment, criticize, basically voice their opinion on your products and services. As a marketer I'm pretty sure you know that Social Media dominates the internet space, but you often forget that the adoption is still growing; not only in terms of users, but also in how much time the average user spends in the blogosphere. This data is one more time a case in point reflecting how Facebook is rocking the Social Media universe.

The opportunity to engage with and listen to consumers via social media is clear, and more and more brands are finding it essential rather than optional. In fact, information is definitely the lifeblood of an organization and Social Media makes it even more clear as marketers are now on IV for fresh data coming from the Social channel. The explosion of Social Media Intelligence offers a vast opportunity to listen and engage with customers to shape products and services that tap into unmet demand. In this respect, it’s important to follow the Social Media Intelligence cycle when willing to engage in Social Media efficiently. Starting a Facebook fan page and engaging with the audience without doing an audit of your brand health online can backfire…

Hear the voice of the consumer: It’s essential to keep an hear to the ground so that you can have an idea of your brand health online.

Get a grip on what they do one the go: Measure the volume of buzz, the share of voice to better know your audience, your environment and most importantly what are they talking about and where.

See your next move clearly: Use this knowledge to take actionable decisions and see what’s next

Be more Social: Share the face of your customer representatives, make your C-level staff interact with consumers, give a face to your organization basically.

Cause an effect: it’s imperative to use the language of your community so that they understand you and in that conversation they will be sensitive to your message.

My message to marketers is don't fool yourself into thinking that you can afford to keep going without this vital piece of the business puzzle. It's no longer a matter of if, nor when, but now a matter of practice and evolution in order to determine success and failure. The digital footprint related to a bad comment, rating or review shared online will stay and will be seen by several online users. One thing is for sure, you can't stop the discussion happening, though you can take part in the conversation. If you just use your offline content (e.g. a tv ad posted on Youtube) online and think it will engage your audience then you are on the wrong track. You collaborate with your consumers online you don't impose your content without thinking about the importance of interactivity. Let's take the example of customer service: The consumers can keep the service providers updated with the quality of the service provided to them. When a telecom operator collaborate and connect with their consumers online, there is a better room for improvement. Yes you are an ONLINE brand and that's where the main difference lies. Social Media provides the means to consumers to take control of your brand. In other words, if you are not actively participating in your own online public relations then you have handed over your PR to your online audience by default.



I had the pleasure last week to read and see some very interesting comments made by three McKinsey Partners David Court, Roxane Divol and David Edelman. The links I will share will help you in your Social Media Strategy to set the ground rules right!

The first thing I really liked is McKinsey homepage: "Social Media is recasting how consumers shop and fundamentally blurring the marketer's focus". You can also watch a video not only raising awareness (the phenomenon) on Social Media but also taking you through the Consumer Decision Journey, highlighting a few hurdles organizations face in implementing Social Media and also the wide range of opportunities with some examples.

 Two senior partners in Mckinsey, David Edelman and Hugo Sarrazin, on April 20 hosted a live discussion on Twitter about using social media to shape consumer decision making. Just use this hashtag (#McKSocial) to get an idea of the topics raised during this live discussion on Twitter.

David Edelman and Roxane Divol wrote an insightful piece on how important word-of-mouth on steroids is and dissected a new "funnel" along the social consumer decision journey: Demystifying social media. I invite you also to see this interactive exhibit narrated by David Edelman on Social Journey.

Key takeaways:

• Social is done in the framework of a strategy with policies, guidelines and taking the time to lay the foundations.
• However, there are challenges along the way.
• Social is  impactful if you listen, engage, amplify and advocate. Embrace the INTERACTIVITY!
• The key is to evolve the way you listen, act and engage by changes in culture, talent and systems.  
  

My next post will be on Social Care, using social media to elevate your customer service. People are out there, talking and complaining, and if you continue to leave them hanging – they’ll get snapped up by a competitor that’s proactively monitoring mentions of your brand name... Stay tuned!

@socialmedimouth

A Journey in the Social World of Media

In today's world of Digital Media, every brand is a global brand. Consumers from all geographies can find your content and interact with their peers to praise, comment, criticize, basically voice their opinion on your products and services. As a marketer I'm pretty sure you know that Social Media dominates the internet space, but you often forget that the adoption is still growing; not only in terms of users, but also in how much time the average user spends in the blogosphere. This data is one more time a case in point reflecting how Facebook is rocking the Social Media universe.

The opportunity to engage with and listen to consumers via social media is clear, and more and more brands are finding it essential rather than optional. In fact, information is definitely the lifeblood of an organization and Social Media makes it even more clear as marketers are now on IV for fresh data coming from the Social channel. The explosion of Social Media Intelligence offers a vast opportunity to listen and engage with customers to shape products and services that tap into unmet demand. In this respect, it’s important to follow the Social Media Intelligence cycle when willing to engage in Social Media efficiently. Starting a Facebook fan page and engaging with the audience without doing an audit of your brand health online can backfire…

Hear the voice of the consumer: It’s essential to keep an hear to the ground so that you can have an idea of your brand health online.

Get a grip on what they do one the go: Measure the volume of buzz, the share of voice to better know your audience, your environment and most importantly what are they talking about and where.

See your next move clearly: Use this knowledge to take actionable decisions and see what’s next

Be more Social: Share the face of your customer representatives, make your C-level staff interact with consumers, give a face to your organization basically.

Cause an effect: it’s imperative to use the language of your community so that they understand you and in that conversation they will be sensitive to your message.

My message to marketers is don't fool yourself into thinking that you can afford to keep going without this vital piece of the business puzzle. It's no longer a matter of if, nor when, but now a matter of practice and evolution in order to determine success and failure. The digital footprint related to a bad comment, rating or review shared online will stay and will be seen by several online users. One thing is for sure, you can't stop the discussion happening, though you can take part in the conversation. If you just use your offline content (e.g. a tv ad posted on Youtube) online and think it will engage your audience then you are on the wrong track. You collaborate with your consumers online you don't impose your content without thinking about the importance of interactivity. Let's take the example of customer service: The consumers can keep the service providers updated with the quality of the service provided to them. When a telecom operator collaborate and connect with their consumers online, there is a better room for improvement. Yes you are an ONLINE brand and that's where the main difference lies. Social Media provides the means to consumers to take control of your brand. In other words, if you are not actively participating in your own online public relations then you have handed over your PR to your online audience by default.



I had the pleasure last week to read and see some very interesting comments made by three McKinsey Partners David Court, Roxane Divol and David Edelman. The links I will share will help you in your Social Media Strategy to set the ground rules right!

The first thing I really liked is McKinsey homepage: "Social Media is recasting how consumers shop and fundamentally blurring the marketer's focus". You can also watch a video not only raising awareness (the phenomenon) on Social Media but also taking you through the Consumer Decision Journey, highlighting a few hurdles organizations face in implementing Social Media and also the wide range of opportunities with some examples.

 Two senior partners in Mckinsey, David Edelman and Hugo Sarrazin, on April 20 hosted a live discussion on Twitter about using social media to shape consumer decision making. Just use this hashtag (#McKSocial) to get an idea of the topics raised during this live discussion on Twitter.

David Edelman and Roxane Divol wrote an insightful piece on how important word-of-mouth on steroids is and dissected a new "funnel" along the social consumer decision journey: Demystifying social media. I invite you also to see this interactive exhibit narrated by David Edelman on Social Journey.

Key takeaways:

• Social is done in the framework of a strategy with policies, guidelines and taking the time to lay the foundations.
• However, there are challenges along the way.
• Social is  impactful if you listen, engage, amplify and advocate. Embrace the INTERACTIVITY!
• The key is to evolve the way you listen, act and engage by changes in culture, talent and systems.  
  

My next post will be on Social Care, using social media to elevate your customer service. People are out there, talking and complaining, and if you continue to leave them hanging – they’ll get snapped up by a competitor that’s proactively monitoring mentions of your brand name... Stay tuned!

@socialmedimouth

Using Social Media to elevate your Customer Service

This time the Internet Show will take place at Madinat Jumairah - Madinat Arina in Dubai the 17th & 18th of April 2012. We definitely expect to see more of our clients and partners that are excited of attending this upcoming edition of The Internet Show in Dubai. Yasir Youssuff, Head of NM Incite (A Nielsen McKinsey Company) APMEA and myself, Senior Research Manager for NM Incite, MENAP will have the pleasure to make presentations on 2 very critical topics related to Social Care and Social Media Strategy.

Yasir will share the basics of developing a Social Media Strategy so as to getting the ground rules right! Organizations are eager to utilize the power of Social to their benefit but are often confused of where to start and what to avoid. This session aims to shed light on the ground rules any organization interested in delving into the Social World of Media should know in order to be able to effectively manage, create and execute social programs.

I will share with the audience a presentation that aims at Serving Social: Using Social Media to elevate Customer Service. The telecom, airline, hospitality, finance as well as a host of other industries, are struggling to deal with the rising power and voice of the consumer when it comes to criticisms and negative reviews of their products and services. Instead of perceiving this power as a threat, some cutting-edge practices have shown that knowledge and analysis of consumers' candid opinion is actually a treasure trove for companies and organizations willing to listen. As customers become more demanding and social media channels give them a voice, we look at how brands can harness the new found strength of Middle East consumers and unleash the potential of Social Media to benefit from consumer feedback for continuous improvement and increased loyalty.

I'm really looking forward to see you all at the Internet Show and will be more than delighted to share with you insights on how to harness the power of Social and use Social Media monitoring and engagement solutions to keep an "hear to the ground" on what your audience is interacting about!

Khalid Dalil

@socialmedimouth

Using Social Media to elevate your Customer Service

This time the Internet Show will take place at Madinat Jumairah - Madinat Arina in Dubai the 17th & 18th of April 2012. We definitely expect to see more of our clients and partners that are excited of attending this upcoming edition of The Internet Show in Dubai. Yasir Youssuff, Head of NM Incite (A Nielsen McKinsey Company) APMEA and myself, Senior Research Manager for NM Incite, MENAP will have the pleasure to make presentations on 2 very critical topics related to Social Care and Social Media Strategy.

Yasir will share the basics of developing a Social Media Strategy so as to getting the ground rules right! Organizations are eager to utilize the power of Social to their benefit but are often confused of where to start and what to avoid. This session aims to shed light on the ground rules any organization interested in delving into the Social World of Media should know in order to be able to effectively manage, create and execute social programs.

I will share with the audience a presentation that aims at Serving Social: Using Social Media to elevate Customer Service. The telecom, airline, hospitality, finance as well as a host of other industries, are struggling to deal with the rising power and voice of the consumer when it comes to criticisms and negative reviews of their products and services. Instead of perceiving this power as a threat, some cutting-edge practices have shown that knowledge and analysis of consumers' candid opinion is actually a treasure trove for companies and organizations willing to listen. As customers become more demanding and social media channels give them a voice, we look at how brands can harness the new found strength of Middle East consumers and unleash the potential of Social Media to benefit from consumer feedback for continuous improvement and increased loyalty.

I'm really looking forward to see you all at the Internet Show and will be more than delighted to share with you insights on how to harness the power of Social and use Social Media monitoring and engagement solutions to keep an "hear to the ground" on what your audience is interacting about!

Khalid Dalil

@socialmedimouth