A fascinating video looking at the very real, life-changing impact, Twitter is having in rural areas on Kenya.
Archives for May 2012
Join Social: IRL in Des Moines as we go “Beyond the Keynote” with Brian Solis
On Wednesday, June 6, more than 220 attendees from a five state region will converge at the Science Center in Des Moines, Iowa, for a very special “Beyond the Keynote” event with Brian Solis. You can scroll down for a list of some of the 70+ businesses and organizations and 17 schools, colleges and universities being represented at the event.
Brian Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors on the effects of emerging media on business, marketing, publishing, and culture. His book Engage! is regarded as an industry reference guide for businesses to build and measure success in the social web. His most recent book The End of Business as Usual provided critical insights on how the consumer revolution is changing the future of business and media.
On the afternoon of June 6, Brian will be in Des Moines for a special event, presented as part of the Social: IRL “Beyond the Keynote” series. Brian will discuss issues critical to the future of business, such as surviving “Digital Darwinism,” the rise of the connected consumer, the evolution of social business, disruptive technology and how to compete for the future, the psychology of engagement, and the rise of digital influence. Brian will also participate in a unique bigger dialogue style fireside chat, a format that goes deeper and on a more personal level than the typical keynote. There will be opportunity for audience Q&A, and an opportunity to join Brian and fellow attendees for special post event networking.
Prior to Brian’s main presentation we’ll also hear from special guest speakers Geoff Wood, COO of Silicon Prairie News, and Life Dare TV‘s Liz Nead. Geoff will be discussing tech and innovation in the Des Moines Area, and Liz will share a fascinating story highlighting how social media helped “level the playing field.” As Brian Solis says, “In an era of Digital Darwinism, no business is too big to fail or too small to succeed.“
Thanks to presenting sponsors CDS Global and Catchfire Media, register using promotional code IRL50 and registration will be just $50. Additional event sponsors include Central Iowa PRSA, Iowa Innovation Gateway, Startup City Des Moines, and Downtown Des Moines.
Attendees registered on or before May 31 will also receive a free copy of Brian’s book, The End of Business as Usual.
A limited number of free student and educator registrations are available on a first come basis.
Visit the event page for full details and registration.
“I am a personal fan of Brian Solis’ books and have highly recommended them to other CEOs. His message is keen and positive in its forward thinking, which I believe will resonate deeply with Des Moines professionals. It is my hope that this event will spark dynamic conversations in our local community regarding the shifts all organizations must make in order to thrive in this rapidly changing landscape.” Malcolm Netburn, Chairman & CEO, CDS Global
“Brian Solis is one of the true thought leaders in the social space. Our intention is for the Des Moines professional community to utilize Brian as a resource and an energizer. We hope to bring together members of the private, public, and educational sectors to discuss the future of communication in the social space. This event will be a first of its kind for Des Moines and we are truly excited to be a part of it.” Jon Troen, Managing Partner, Catchfire Media
Who’s Attending:
Attendees are traveling to the event from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa. We’ve listed below businesses and organizations so far registered. You can also view the complete attendee list on the Eventbrite registration page.
Businesses and Organizations Registered to Attend
- CDS Global
- Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield
- CenturyLink
- Barkley
- Insight Advertising
- Nationwide Insurance
- Delta Dental of Iowa
- The Integer Group
- First American Bank
- HyVee
- Wells Fargo
- City of Des Moines
- Catchfire Media
- Lava Row
- Veridian Credit Union
- The Kansas City Public Library
- Startup City Des Moines
- Rockwell Collins
- ING
- Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
- Silicon Prairie News
- 3KB Graphics
- Whitfield & Eddy, Plc
- City of Lawrence, KS
- Grand Falls Casino Resort
- Riverside Casino and Golf Resort
- Stansberry
- Two Rivers Marketing
- DMB Supple
- Performance Marketing
- Monk Development
- Knapp Properties
- CreateWOWmarketing, LLC
- Shala Designs
- Etc Graphics Inc
- Iowa Credit Union League
- Blank Park Zoo
- JT Chesser LLC
- Iowa Farm Bureau
- SecurityCoverage
- Social: IRL
- Lawrence Kansas Chamber of Commerce
- Emploi.Us
- Des Moines Register
- Mindfire Communications
- Center on Sustainable Communities
- Minnesota Council of Health Plans
- ASG Software
- Royale Concrete
- Signature Style PR
- McLellan Marketing Group
- Braland Consulting, LLC
- Schuster Consulting
- Des Moines “I Have a Dream” Foundation
- Spiral16
- A Team Apparel
- School Administrators of Iowa
- The Bombshell Factor
- The Computer Guy
- Planning and Writing LLC
- Holmes Murphy Associates
- Bawte
- Central Iowa PRSA
- Iowa Innovation Gateway
- Metro West Learning Center, LLC
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony
- Homemakers Furniture
- Nead Inspiration
- EMC Insurance Companies
- Dropkin Editorial Services
- LS2 Group
- Coaching Actuaries
- Meredith Corporation
- Sukup Manufacturing Co
- Share Marketing
- National Publisher Services, LLC
- SALT Solutions
- iApps24
- Great America Leasing Corporation
Educators and Students Registered to Attend
- Drake University
- Minnesota State University
- Creighton University
- Iowa State University
- University of Northern Iowa
- The University of Kansas
- University of Central Missouri
- University of Mississippi
- Dordt College
- Iowa Wesleyan College
- Simpson College
- Southwestern Community College
- Des Moines Area Community College
- Vatterott College
- Van Meter School
- Ankeny Community School District
- Waterloo Community Schools
Twitter reacts as Mark Zuckerberg rings the opening bell
Just how many people were Tweeting about Facebook as Mark Zuckerberg rang the NASDAQ opening bell this morning?
Here’s a short video we shot showing the real-time Twitter feed for mentions of “Facebook.”
Top ten social media links and resources and upcoming social media events
We’re pleased to share our top ten links and resources for the week, and details of upcoming Social: IRL events. If you would like additional resources sent direct to your inbox, you can subscribe to our free email newsletter.
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Top Ten Links and Resources:
1. Turning audiences into activists – Five valuable lessons in social media engagement READ MORE
2. Web 2.0 Is Over, All Hail the Age of Mobile – Got a solid mobile strategy in place? You better have! READ MORE
3. Perspectives on digital influence – Social: IRL chats with Appinions about personal vs contextual influence and the evolving digital influence landscape. READ MORE
Bonus: Thanks to Appinions you can download a free copy of the Realtime Report on Influence Measurement Tools. (regularly $20 to download)
4. Spruce up your social this spring – Free three-part webinar series from Spredfast featuring Jeremiah Owyang, Jason Falls and Michael Brito covering key issues such as creating and sharing great social content, delivering unique customer experiences, and creating social programs that are optimized for maintenance and growth. READ MORE
5. Building an engaged and responsive audience – 40 great tips from Copyblogger READ MORE
6. Your company has social media nailed. Now what? Five great questions that will help you avoid complacency. READ MORE
7. Social Media for Non-Profits: Listening, Setting Goals, Storytelling – Copy of the presentation Spiral16 recently gave at Social: IRL’s non-profit workshop in Wichita KS. READ MORE
Bonus: Integrating social media in your marketing plan – We’re also pleased to share the presentation emfluence gave at the Wichita non-profits workshop. READ MORE
8. “Engagement” is not a goal, it’s a result. Focus on the actions that go into making the result happen – A valuable reality check from Social Media Explorer’s Jason Falls. READ MORE
BONUS: “Redefining engagement” – Brian Solis on the need to develop more meaningful connections, relationships & outcomes. READ MORE
9. Pinterest as an online resume – Creative and effective use of Pinterest that landed this user a job offer. READ MORE
10. How Restaurants Can Leverage Facebook Timeline – Expion share some good tips that can really be applied by any business.READ MORE
Congratulations to our good friend Zena Weist who recently joined the leadership team at Expion as VP of Strategy. READ MORE
Upcoming Social Media Events:
Join Social: IRL in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6 for a special “Beyond the Keynote” event with Brian Solis – Brian and special guest speakers will discuss critically important issues such as surviving “Digital Darwinism,” the rise of the connected consumer, the evolution of social business, disruptive technology and how to compete for the future, the psychology of engagement, and the rise of digital influence. Brian will also participate in a unique bigger dialogue style fireside chat and audience Q&A, a format that allows us to dig deeper and dialogue on a more personal level than the typical keynote. READ MORE
Social Media for Non-Profits – We’re excited to announce two additional dates for our non-profits workshops. These events are free for non-profit organizations to attend. Join us in Wichita KS on July 24, and in Springfield MO on August 23. READ MORE
Join Social: IRL, Brian Solis, and 500 of the top media minds in the industry in New York for Pivot – Here’s why we’re attending and are recommending the event for all agencies and brand marketers. We also have a VIP discount code to share, which will save you 20% on registrations. READ MORE
Links include content identified as being from our sponsors Spredfast, Expion, SocialVolt, Spiral16, and Appinions. We are grateful to these sponsors for their support and enjoy sharing content and webinar opportunities they provide which we consider to be valuable to the Social: IRL community.
Spruce up your social this spring – Register for this valuable three-part webinar series
We’re excited to share details of this upcoming webinar series being offered by Social: IRL partner Spredfast.
The webinars feature industry thought leaders such as Jeremiah Owyang, Jason Falls, and Michael Brito and will provide valuable insights on key issues such as creating and sharing great social content, delivering unique customer experiences, and creating social programs that are optimized for maintenance and growth.
Click here for full details and free registration.
The webinar is the latest free resource offered by our friends at Spredfast. We’ve enjoyed sharing many of their whitepapers and best practice documents, all of which are available for free download (registration required) via the Spredfast website.
Creating and Using Great Social Content
Jason Falls, May 15, 1pm CT
A well-manicured social presence blossoming with great content is what draws people to your gate. Join us to examine the continued importance of great content and how to keep your social fresh and engaging.
Details and free registration.
Knowing and Delighting Your Social Customer
Michael Brito, June 5, 1pm CT
To set the hive buzzing you need to provide a consistently compelling social experience. Join Michael Brito and social business leaders as they discuss the importance of knowing and understanding social customers and how to use that knowledge to deliver value, provide unique experiences, and constantly exceed expectations.
Details and free registration.
Organizing and Creating Social Program Processes
Jeremiah Owyang, June 26, 1pm CT
Plotting your social presence and implementing processes for maintenance and growth can be the most difficult parts of undertaking social initiatives. They are also the most crucial steps to guarantee success. Listen to thought leaders as they provide advice and key insights into organizing social at scale.
Perspectives on digital influence
“Digital Influence” is very much a hot topic of conversation. Who has influence? How is influence defined? Can you really score influence? These are just a few of the questions often subject to passionate debate.
As we continue to explore the digital influence landscape, we turned to Social: IRL sponsor Appinions, an opinions-based influence measurement tool for brands and agencies, to get their perspectives.
How do you define digital influence?
At Appinions, we consider two forms of online influence: personal influence, which is one persons’ influence sphere (and measured by tools such as Klout), and contextual influence. We believe that it’s the latter, contextual influence, that is most useful for brands to consider. Appinions considers “influence” to be opinion based; that is, once you express an opinion, it is compelling and resonant enough to elicit action/response from others in the form of a quote, reference, link or re-tweet.
What does it take to be an “influencer”
The power to elicit some kind of action based on one’s opinions.
How is your approach to measuring influence different to more popular score-based systems?
Appinions is very different from Klout, Peerindex and other personal influence measurement tools in that we only consider contextual influence. Rather than returning a singular, unvarying score for each influencer, we develop influence measurement in the context of a topic which is customized and highly specific to a brand’s particular strategy. Our contextual influence measurement is multi-dimensional and across both social and traditional networks, focusing on the actual opinions and actions elicited, as well as the qualitative weight of where each action was published.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about the current approach to influencer marketing?
Too much emphasis is placed on personal influence – those scores which indicate one person’s individual strength as an influencer in general. Until recently, however, that’s all that most people were aware of. Contextual influence is going to be far more valuable to brands in the long run. Additionally, influence happens on and off-line; a personal influence score based on a couple of social networks is far less accurate and representative than contextual influence developed across news, blogs, tweets, forums and TV.
Appinions offers a separate toolset focusing specifically on the “Influencer Gap.” Could explain what this is and why you put so much focus on this?
The Influencer Gap gives brands an accurate and disciplined tool to measure success by understanding its Share of Influence, which is increasingly critical for today’s marketers. Specially, who should be speaking about you but isn’t? This allows brands to focus on developing thoughtful strategy and outreach programs that will increase the reach and engagement those brands can have with the people that influence their market the most. Having existing brand advocates speak more about you is one goal but finding those influencers that don’t speak about you and get them into a conversation, is even more valuable in the long run.
What would be the top five tips you would share for re-thinking and better understanding how we look at digital influence?
1) Don’t confuse personal influence with contextual influence. While personal influence has its place for individuals and brands as one dimension of influence measurement, only contextual influence will help a brand understand who is influential in the topic or category they are trying to measure.
2) Invest in focused WOM aimed at those people that count, which will have a direct impact on a business’s bottom line over time.
3) Don’t fixate on the influencers talking about your brand today, focus on those that aren’t as that’s how you grow your brand’s awareness.
4) Perception is reality, don’t ignore the criticisms or misconceptions discussed about your brand. Translate them into insights for your marketing strategy or product development cycles.
5) Influencers respond best if you deliver a relevant message to them. Reflect on their points of views as you communicate with them – that should translate into higher levels of engagement on their end.
Want to learn more about Influence Measurement Tools?
For a limited time, you can download the Realtime Report’s Guide to Influence Measurement Tools for free (registration required), courtesy of Appinions. The report is typically a $20 download at the realtimereport.com.
The report details:
- 5 business cases for influence measurement tools
- The difference between Personal and Contextual Influence
- How to use influence analysis to manage brand strategies
- Best practices for using influence measurement tools to manage influencer relations, perks promotions and other marketing programs
- A detailed look and comparison of Personal Influence tools (Klout, Kred, PeerIndex, TweetLevel, and PeekAnalytics) and Contextual Influence tools (Appinions, TRAACKER, mBlast, and SpotInfluence)
Click here to download the guide today.
About Appinions:
Appinions is an opinions-powered platform that makes it easy to identify, analyze, monitor and engage with influencers. Not only that, but Appinions enables researchers and publishers to automatically mine, analyze, and summarize opinion to gain insight into what people and organizations are saying, thinking and feeling.
Based on a decade of research at Cornell University, the platform features an extensive database that includes millions of opinions extracted from blogs, Twitter, Facebook, forums, newspaper and magazine articles, and radio and television transcripts.
The platform not only focuses on the influencers creating content but the influencers attracting the most attention. This lets Appinions provide a unique and unmatched view of the influencer landscape.
Services include the Appinions Influencer Exchange that lets public relations agencies and brands quickly and effectively discover influencers based on any topic, brand, issue or person, and the Influencer Gap that helps brands perform topic based analysis in order to effectively establish relationships and engage with these key influencers.
Learn more by visiting their website at Appinions.com and connect with them on Twitter and Facebook. You can also check out the Appinions blog for regular insights on the ever evolving influencer landscape. You can also view this short video to learn more the discovering, monitoring and engaging with influencers using the Influencer Exchange:
As a social brand, we compete for the moment. As a social business, we compete for the future
To quote from a recent Brian Solis post, The Path from a Social Brand to a Social Business:
“While creating a social brand is a necessary endeavor, building a social business is an investment.”
“What’s the difference? A social brand is just that, a business that is remodeling or retrofitting its existing marketing practices to new media. A social business is something altogether different as it embraces introspection and extrospection to reevaluate internal and external processes, systems, and opportunities to transform into a living, breathing entity that adapts to market conditions and opportunities.”
To path to becoming a social business is a journey we must embrace to effectively compete for the future.
Read Brian’s original post in full here.
“The Path from a Social Brand to a Social Business,” will also be the theme for the 2012 Pivot Conference hosted by Brian Solis. We’ll be attending and would encourage you to join us. More details and a 20% registration discount here.
You can also join Brian Solis in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 6, as part of Social: IRL’s own Beyond the Keynote series. A limited number of $50 registrations are available, and students and educators can attend for free. Learn more and register here.
10 elements regulated brands must consider before entering the social space
Today’s post is a guest post from Melanie Woods, Interactive Marketing Manager at UMB Financial Corp. Melanie will be among the guest speakers at the upcoming Social Media for Financial Services and Regulated Industries forum Social: IRL is hosting at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City on Friday, May 11. This event is free to attend and while the focus will be on financial services, many other businesses will relate to the challenges being discussed (including privacy concerns, desire to control the message and protect the brand, risk and regulatory compliance, getting corporate buy-in). All are encouraged to register.
Everyone knows by now you begin a social strategy with goals, key performance indicators, relevant content and a clearly defined social media policy. If you are in a regulated industry, you have to take a few more steps to reach a compliant social media strategy. Simply put, regulators consider social media (likes, posts, comments, ratings, etc.) from the brand, or its associates, another form of advertising; therefore, it’s subject to the same rules. The following elements are critical for regulated industries to remain compliant in the space.
1. Risk assessment
2. Archival process
3. Compliance approval workflow
4. Customer service integration
5. Crisis plan
6. Training and certification for anyone representing the brand
7. Internal social media guidance council (compliance, legal, technology, human resources)
8. Enterprise-wide social policy education
9. External social policy
10. Access controls
Regulators are updating their guidance on a regular basis to try and keep up with the ever changing landscape of social media. Thankfully, your friends in legal and compliance can help guide you through the regulated waters. If you are just getting into social, start by grabbing lunch with your legal and compliance departments. You will be spending a lot of time with them in the future.
Finally, people always ask me if I think every brand should be on social. My answer is, if your audience is there and you have content they want or would find helpful, then YES. However, if your audience isn’t there, then you need to focus on the channels they are in, but closely monitor shifts. And, if you don’t have content worth sharing, then you have bigger problems to solve before you consider social media.
If you can do social in a regulated industry, you can do it anywhere! Cheers to all of those who are paving the way in regulated industries.