Mark Schaefer: building influence is not about buillding campaigns!
Mark Fidelman from Forbes caught up with Mark Schaefer (Author, Blogging Consultant) as part of our influencer program at SXSW. What did the two talk about? Influence! Mark Schaefer was one of the first to discuss this evolving space in his book Return On Influence. As he points out, as marketers and brands try to get their messages through, it is becoming increasingly important to turn to the most authentic advocates.
But rather than just thinking of building campaigns, you need to need to think of building relationships and think long term!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKcsm-1-Ok0]
Follow Mark Schaefer on the wonderful ‘Grow’ blog!
A conversation with Mark Schaefer on social influence
I recently had a Twitter exchange with Mark Schaefer, Author and Blogging Consultant around the claim that Klout represents the new SAT Score. At SXSW we had a chance to get more into the discussion and talk about the wider discussion of the growing importance of influence on public social networks and within enterprises.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr7glyHw7eY]
Read more on influence on Mark's blog
Social influence matters. Period.
PEP up your organization with an influencer program!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--zy6vhTLw4&feature=youtu.be]
Mar 8th - 'Get Bold' book signing at SXSW: learn the fundamentals of engagement in the age of digital!
SXSW is the place to be, come March 7th, and IBM will not be missing out! Each year we have a bigger and bigger presence, and the list goes on… but I’m saving that for another post.
In the meantime, block off 4PM on Saturday, March 8 to purchase a signed copy of my book "Get Bold: Using Social Media to Create a New Type of Social Business" in the SW Bookstore.
Key topics I cover in the book include aligning organizational goals and culture, building trust and designing for reputation and risk management. With over 60 references from major brands!
Jeffrey Gitomer says "Sandy Carter has not just written a book, she has set a standard. Get Bold is NOT an option, it's an imperative."
Guy Kawasaki says "For crying out loud, IBM 'gets' social media. Don't you think it's about time that you do? This is the book to get you started."
I'm proud to say that this book has been the #1 best seller at the IBM Pulse and IBM Connect conferences already this year!
Now a big theme at SXSW this year is how we build better engagement: as brands, individuals and citizens. Let me share with you a model for engagement in this excerpt from Get Bold:
How Do You Engage?
There are three essential techniques that we have found have the greatest success rate. I call these the Three I's:
- Interact (mobile, gaming, gifting, location-based services, crowdsourcing)
- Integrate (online, offline)
- Identify (content, emotion, personalize)
Note that each of these is a two-way engagement:
- To interact means that your clients or employees become active participants. For example, in gaming, they are playing the game, as you are teaching and instructing them in a fun way.
- To integrate means that your company will have online and offline engagements that fit together to form a full picture of your company. So you will not see one view in an event online and a different personality of the company in a store. If you are not integrated in your approach, engagement is weakened.
- In identification, the key is to identify with our clients or employees and to personalize your approach in engaging with them. Your goal is to provide them an experience that is just for them. They comment on your blog because it speaks in their voice, or about their passion, and gets them involved.
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Want to learn more? Come to the book signing on Saturday, March 8 and pick up your copy of Get Bold!
It's a BlueMix Party at SXSW and YOU'RE INVITED! MONDAY
OK, here's the lowdown.
We're having a party at SXSW with food and drink and you're invited! If you're a developer who's always looking for the latest and greatest technology to build on, or have an idea for the next big mobile app, this party is for you!
Register at http://bit.ly/1i3eWok and use the promotional code, SMAC_at_SXSW.
You'll have the opportunity to learn about BlueMix, IBM's open platform for developing and deploying omni-channel applications. Think about it, this could be the perfect environment for your next big project!
And, do you remember the supercomputer that won Jeopardy? We want YOU to put Watson to work with IBM's Watson Mobile Developer Challenge! Learn how you can submit your ideas for a mobile application powered with Watson's powerful cognitive computing technology.
Take advantage of this awesome networking event and the opportunity to learn more about the latest and greatest IBM technology.
So let's get the food, drink, and ideas flowing! I look forward to seeing you there!
What are the key themes at SXSW 2014? Design, Social, and guess what else?
Join me as I discuss with IBM Smartcamp finalists Shopa, Geekie and OnFarm the latest trends in the startup space right now that in particular are Keys at SXSW!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phfyE2v2Ugc]
Come see us at SXSW 2014!
Takeaways from Social Airline Summit in Prague
I just returned from the 2013 IBM Airline Summit in Prague where I met with about 40 senior executives from airlines worldwide. The summit was two full days packed with stimulating panel discussions, group activities and breakout sessions with speakers from airlines, industry analysts, and other consumer-facing businesses such as Coca-Cola and Netflix. I led a discussion about how nimble businesses are using social tools and techniques to help their employees be more effective, innovate, and share their knowledge.
Here are a few take-aways from the Airline Summit:
IBM’s Eric Conrad kicked it off with a fascinating vision for the near term future of travel.
Travel customers expect a truly personalized experience, before during and after their trip. That means airlines will need to become much more engaged with customers by using social business tools, big data and analytics. Eric issued 4 challenges to the group:
- Automate the ordinary to deliver the extraordinary
- Collaborate far beyond current comfort zones
- Elevate customer data analytics to an art form
- Aggressively dismantle barriers to change
New IBM and PhoCusWright study about social business in the travel industry
PhocusWrights’s Norm Rose led a session about the new study PhoCusWright and IBM have launched for the travel industry. The study takes the pulse of the travel industry's use and abuse of social platforms and reveals the strategies and tactics they are using today. Surveying all sectors of the travel market, the survey will dig deep into their tools, techniques, benchmarks, question marks, successes and flops. If you’re in the travel industry and you’re asked to participate, go for it! Then watch for the results which will be published in a few months.
Why big data matters to airlines
We saw a panel discussion about “Airlines, Big Data & the Customer Experience.” Panelists discussed how airlines can take advantage of analytics to drive revenue growth and reduce costs. The consensus was that many organizations will need to change their culture and how they think about managing information. Here’s a fascinating white paper about Big Data and Analytics for the travel industry.
Saving fuel with analytics
Fuel is a very big deal to airlines, accounting for about one third of their total operating expenses. Air Canada’s Director for Fuel Efficiency, Captain Claude-Martin and IBM’s Lori Brewer presented a session describing how IBM Research and Air Canada have developed a solution using advanced analytics and "Watson-like" technology to provide decision support to optimize fuel usage. Attendees saw a demonstration of the fuel solution, named SIMON. Very impressive stuff!
SXSW: Key decision makers around the globe are influenced by social networks: GlobalWebIndex research SXSW session
As part of my SXSW speaking proposal on 'How to Avoid Being a Social Zombie in a Global World', I recently caught up with Tom Smith at GlobalWebIndex who shared some fascinating insights from their unique and far-reaching study of the patterns of key decision makers: a theme we'll be exploring further in our session.
The findings are a must-read for anyone who does business globally!
Take, for instance, the GlobalWebIndex finding that those decision makers who interact most on social networks are from emerging markets such as Thailand, Turkey and Mexico. If you are looking to do business in the emerging markets, don't ignore the local social networks!
Also, when asked what they consider the most influential marketing channel, decision makers overwhelmingly picked 'Conversations with people from the company/organization on a social network'. Your employees are a more trusted source than than your webinars, sales presentations or events. This is in line with our push here at IBM to become a social business: we have a strong emphasis on employee enablement.
Now, another fascinating finding is that these decision makers make heavy use of mobile technologies to access social networks, whether that be a smartphone or a tablet. Business happens around the clock and these folks are always on. Are you?
You'll find more even more insights in this 8 minute webinar I recorded with Tom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8pKQB1gk0E
We will be diving deeper into this topic during the proposed session http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/23204 at SXSW. Want to hear more? Don't forget to also see my other session: Socialytics Bootcamp! Social + Big Data + Analytic http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/23035
I look forward to seeing you at SXSW 2014!
Are you Engaged?
This week so far I have been asked a dozen times to define engagement. Here's what I came up with .....
When you look closely, you see that engagement isn’t mostly resulting in better marketing. People are not clamoring for more of that. What’s happening instead is that marketing is being replaced by engagement, by useful assets, by value. In exchange for their data – who they are, what they’re looking for, even where they are standing or driving at this moment – they expect some kind of benefit in return… whether as customers, or patients, or students, or citizens.
Engagement. ]Your emotional connection with your client or employee, usually created by exceptional experiences that are integrated, interactive, and identifying. A Social Business connects people to expertise. It connects individuals whether customers, partners, or employeesas networks of people to generate new sources of innovation, foster creativity, and establish greater reach and exposure to new business opportunities. It establishes a foundational level of trust across these business networks and thus a willingness to openly share information, developing a deeper sense of loyalty among customers and employees. It empowers these networks with the collaborative, gaming, and analytical tools needed to engage each other and creatively solve business challenges.
Engaged Clients. Clients who are attentive, interested, and active in their support for your brand, product, or company. The depth of their conversations online showcases their knowledge and care. They recommend and passionately advocate on your behalf in the blogosphere.
Engaged Employees. Those who know the company’s values and are empowered to leverage those values with their partners and clients. They know their role and understand how to reach out to the right expert. These new social employees are about commitment and success.