Tag Archives: Forrester Research

Sharisax Is Out There

Ad Agencies Can Survive . . . IF . . .

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. . . if they follow this advice from the Forrester Research group [independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology].

Noted marketing blogger Edward Boches wrote about THE FUTURE OF AD AGENCIES from the Forrester point of view in a recent blog article.

As a long-time teacher of advertising to college students, I threw out all my textbooks last year [for which I was applauded by Seth Godin], and I now depend on Twitter to send me links on Advertising’s Future.

Here’s what the agencies MUST DO:

1. Understand HOW and WHERE to engage Today’s Consumer . . . and coach their clients to get engaged.

2. Because consumers trust consumer more than brands, companies need to mobilize their fans and followers to be the organization’s cheerleaders.

NOTE: Consumers are now the “creators” and “sharers” and “distributors.”

3. LISTEN. LISTEN. LISTEN: 3.5 billion brand conversations happen every day.

4. Firms must be more honest and authentic: (a) only 5% of people say they believe ad claims and (b) half of consumers say brands don’t live up to promises.

5. Forget MASS anything; it’s all about customization.

6. Learn Digital or Die

7. Measure as much as you can: learn analytics and USE them.

8. Social media does not promise to do everything; there needs to be integration with traditional vehicles of communication, but “pushing” tactics don’t work. It’s now all about Inbound, i.e., the customers pulling in a company’s message.

9. Successful agencies will think more about community than campaigns, learning to crowdsource.

10. Clients need IDEAS, INTERACTION, and INTELLIGENCE.

Did we forget anything?

Sharisax Is Out There

Community Managers: Your organization’s guide along Social Media Revolutionary Road

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Center of Community, center of influencers
Center of Community, center of influencers

Hiring or Applying?

You’ll do well to check out chapter 15 in the social media/PR 2.0 book I’ve been reviewing  — Putting the PUBLIC Back in Public Relations by Brian Solis and Dierdre Breakenridge.

Who OWNS the responsibility of managing social media conversations for an organization?

Brian and Dierdre conclude that “every facet of a business is responsible for its channel of social monitoring and interaction,” and strategies and tactics for each department can best be directed by a community manager — or one of several other titles:

  • Community Advocate
  • Brand Ambassador
  • Social Media Specialist
  • Social Media Evangelist
  • VP of Social Media
  • Chief Social Officer
  • Community Relations Manager
  • Community Builder

The socialization of the corporate marketing infrastructure isn’t a matter of IF it should happen, but instead WHEN it will happen.

Marketers in every industry are agreeing with a core social media concept that People Do Business with People, not Entities: “Brands don’t engage with people — people engage with people.”

The dynamic of listening to and engaging in everyday dialogue is often referred to as the conversation.

The conversation is between the the organization representatives and the new influencers which comprise customers, peers, employees, partners, enthusiasts, bloggers, reporters, and analysts.

What is it that you learn by listening?

Whether the online conversations are positive, neutral, or negative, the insight garnered from listening and observing will reveal opportunities not just for engagement, but also for gathering real-world intelligence

— the type of information that is “ear to the street” and that you can feed back into your organization to improve the existing service, product, and management infrastructure.

The authors included a discussion of the Four Tenets of the Community Manager by Forrester social computing analyst Jeremiah Owyang:

  1. Community Advocate: represents the organization.
  2. Brand Evangelist: promotes events and products.
  3. Savvy Communication Skills: shapes editorial and mediates disputes
  4. Gathers Community Input: gathers and shares comments from marketplace conversation

Here’s a definition of the role of the community manager by a community manager — Connie Bensen:

A community manager is the voice of the company externally and the voice of the customers internally. The value lies in the community manager serving as a hub and having the ability to personally connect with the customers and providing feedback to many departments internally.

Community Managers: Please feel free to add your experiences and tips for organizations looking for individuals to fill this role AND for communications specialists seeking these positions.