2009 June

Business Blogging Has Bright Future: Survey

June 11, 2009 By Des Walsh

According to a new survey on business applications of social media, blogging is not old news, but actually looks set for a bright future.

Although it suits some commentators to proclaim the demise of blogging, Josh Gordon in his report The Coming Change in Social Media Business Applications, says that blogging is shaping up, along with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, as an increasingly relevant social media tool, indeed perhaps the most relevant such tool for business.

While Twitter and Facebook get the headlines, the social form organizations are turning to most as they look to the future is blogging. Some consider blogging “old” social media, but it has proven itself an effective communication tool. The ability to reach a mass audience with a personal point of view and invite comments is very powerful. (emphasis added)

The report’s broad argument, based on the survey results, is that there is a shift underway in how businesses use social media, from being “a general communications tool, mostly for public relations and marketing” to being seen more as an “essential tool for customer engagement”.

The survey looks at:

An overview of current and intended uses of social media
Business uses of Twitter
Business use of networks “like Facebook and LinkedIn”

The report presents a range of data, generously illustrated with charts, pointing up the overall finding of a move to use social media more for connecting with customers (including customer communications) and prospecting.

One finding which I found particularly interesting was from a comparison of social media between small and large companies. The study found measurably a stronger pattern of use by smaller companies:

“The smaller the company, the more frequently social media is used to improve external communications.”

Companies with 10 or fewer employees are 30% more likely to use social media for public relations, branding and understanding customers. And they are twice as likely as large companies to use social media for lead generation.

There is at least one practical reason for the difference of emphasis. Smaller companies often or always have to do more with less, so “…smaller companies can make big inroads by focusing more on social media” (than, say, on advertising).

Larger organisations use social media more frequently for internal communications and collaboration than do smaller companies.

Interestingly, companies surveyed are more encouraging than discouraging of social media use by employees. 28% have a formal policy for blogging.

The most used social media platforms in the survey group are LinkedIn 79.3%, Facebook 77.2%, Twitter 75.3%, and blogging 68% (MySpace is used by only 17.2%).

The study is based on a survey conducted with members and visitors of the Social Media Today online community, actively involved professionally in social media. That looks to me like a fairly specialized, “insider” group and while I found the results fascinating, I would be interested to know how the findings would relate to a wider catchment of companies “in the wild”.

You can download the report – no charge, no sign-in, from the sidebar link at Social Media Today.

I’d be interested to know whether you, dear reader, would agree from your experience, reading or research that there is a resurgence, or at least a continued use, of blogging in the business context?

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Social Media Tagged With: Blogging, Business, Facebook, Social Media, survey, Twitter

Gary Vaynerchuk Videos as Social Media Consulting Filter

June 5, 2009 By Des Walsh

By way of a chance conversation after a Toastmasters meeting at which I was a guest the other night, I’ve found one way to share some information about social media in business without getting into lengthy and potentially confusing explanation.

Namely to point people to a couple of videos of the amazing Gary Vaynerchuk, @garyvee on Twitter.

During the conversation after the Toastmasters event, and in response to a question from the business owner with whom I was speaking, I started to explain about social media, then noticed a puzzled frown appearing. Rather than ploughing on, as I’ve done in other such situations, I suddenly had a brainwave, to send him a link to the recent Gary Vaynerchuk CNN interview on making money doing what you love.

To whet his appetite, I mentioned briefly the Gary Vaynerchuk success story, that he took a $4 million wine business and used social media to turn it into a $45 million business and that I saw and heard him speak last year. I told him that anyone who wants to know what’s going on should watch the video.

Not surprisingly after that, he said he would like to see the video. Yesterday I sent the link.

My new rule

Then today I had a Skype call from a colleague about introducing me to some IT people who want to get into the local market. I checked out their site – very smart looking but no sign of social media – started to ask some questions, then thought “Gary Vaynerchuk video”!

So I immediately made up a new rule which I communicated to my colleague: “I’ll only talk to people about how social media can help them grow their business after they’ve watched the Gary Vaynerchuk video and are willing and able to talk to me intelligently about that.”

I’d sent him the link, he was watching while we chatted and he said he thought that was fair.

Then I added to the rule another Gary Vaynerchuk video, short and to the point, about social media and demonstrating ROI .

It’s so quick that it’s easy to miss what Gary says, which is:

I’m just not intrigued, or interested, or in any shape or form motivated to convince big companies that they need to do this. The smart ones will and then they’ll win. The dumb ones won’t and then they’ll lose. I really don’t care who wins and loses.

Having this filter is not about being arrogant or not wanting to talk about one of my most favorite topics, social media. I can talk about it till the cows come home, as some long-suffering friends and family would no doubt attest.

It’s about getting an idea of who is likely to be genuinely interested in knowing more and possibly applying it, and thus, to be frank, a potential client or co-venturer, as distinct from someone who is just making polite conversation or picking my brain, without any evident likelihood of that turning into business.

Naturally, depending on the circumstances, I may well continue to have a chat with someone on the subject before they have had a chance to watch the videos. But my thinking just now is that that will be the exception rather than the rule.

One thing I may do is to offer the following short links to the videos, which I can write, say on my new business card : http://snipurl.com/garyveevid1 and http://snipurl.com/gveevid2.

If I feel there are signs of a possible business collaboration I could get their permission to call them in a couple of days to see what they think. Case by case judgement.

But I am seeing this more as a filter than as part of a pitch.

Filed Under: Business, Resources, Social Media Tagged With: consulting, Gary Vaynerchuk, garyvee, socail media roi, Social Media

Open Government Camp and Social Media

June 3, 2009 By Des Walsh

Although there may well be available by more information on social media in business small and large than any one person could absorb in a lifetime, my sense is that we are only just beginning the journey to understanding how social media can work, or not, in the government sphere.

As a social media strategist who is a former Federal and State public sector executive and over several years a consultant to various government agencies, I’ve wondered from time to time how the sort of conversations that occur around social media in the business context might translate across into the public sector.

But I’ve spent little time on the subject of government and social media, apart from an occasional blog post.

An initiative backed by Australia’s social media savvy, long term blogger Senator Kate Lundy has prompted me to get off the fence and join the discussion. I have registered to attend the Public Sphere Camp, Open Government: Policy and Practice, on June 22, to be held in Parliament House, Canberra. Some camp site!

As befitting the topic, it’s an open event, physically and virtually:

Anyone is welcome to attend the Public Sphere Camp, however seats are limited in the physical component of the event which will be in Parliament House (Canberra, ACT – details on registration page). Anyone will be able to see streaming video online and participate in the event discussion via Twitter, and we will ensure there is liveblogging on the day to also help capture the ideas presented on the day, and to capture external feedback on those ideas.

There are a lot of aspects to the topic “Open Government”, some of them quite technical. It’s clearly not all about social media and I don’t intend to get into a bout of social media barrow pushing, but I’m working on the assumption that policy and practice on open government will have to incorporate some up to date and even adventurous thinking on the role of social media. And a well thought out strategy (which will include a wide margin for flexibility, fast prototyping and “failing forward” – not an easy call for government administration!).

Certainly the US Government’s Web managers see, in line with the new Administration’s program, the need for a “government-wide strategy for using social media tools to create a more effective and transparent government”.

I don’t know if we’ll get to that level of policy commitment in Australia in the foreseeable future, but I hope that we can have a practical discussion in the meantime. And as a former public servant, my idea of a practical discussion on this topic includes, front and centre, what it means for the people who will be charged with implementing the policy – the public servants.

So I’ve put my hand up to speak in one of the 15 minute (including questions) slots and indicated I’d like to talk about the cultural change implications of employing social media in the service of open government. Stephen Collins may have dibs on that topic, having signalled it before I did, and if he gets the nod that will be fine as he certainly knows the terrain. I am just hoping the topic gets an airing, however briefly.

Public servants at various levels, from departmental heads and managers of particular programs to people dealing directly with the public on a daily basis, are going to be affected by any serious policy implementation in this field. Not all are going to be comfortable with the kind of openness and transparency social media can bring, or with the speed of impact. Some will resist – actively, passively – some will try to be inconspicuous, others will relish the opportunities social media provide to better serve the citizenry.

Whatever happens, things won’t be the same.

Photo credit: Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, by stage88 via Flickr – Creative Commons license