Social Media Transparency

February 4, 2013 By Mark Smiciklas 1 Comment

Originally posted on Social Media Explorer

The idea of business transparency is not a new one but social media dynamics may be forcing organizations to take another look at how openly they communicate with their audiences.

Mass adoption of social tools and technology have created an information democracy. Stakeholders are beginning to expect open access to relevant content and the ability to participate in dialogue that will help them satisfy their information needs. All this for the purpose of building trust in a product, service or organization.

Trust is the foundation of all relationships and relationships are what fuel business growth and long term success. Transparency across digital channels is a great way for organizations to start connecting with their audiences and slowly building trust.

This infographic contains a few ideas on how social media can be used to deliver on the promise of organizational transparency. Please feel free to share your experiences and ideas. The comments are yours.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: digital trust, facebook, infographics, information graphics, online trust, organizational transparency, social media transparency, Twitter

The Economics of Bad Influencer Outreach

November 14, 2012 By Mark Smiciklas Leave a Comment

Originally posted on Social Media Explorer.

I received an email pitch recently that prompted me to question the economics of lazy outreach.

Is there risk to the bottom line for organization’s that cut corners in the way they reach out to prospects and influencers? My theory is that the practice of lackluster research, or worse, the lack of research altogether, combined with the use of form letters, spam and automated emails has the potential to erode business value.

Let’s look at the pitch that inspired this post and use it to help illustrate a business scenario:

We have heard some real good reviews about the content marketing services that you offer. We were wondering about your thoughts regarding inclusion of engaging infographics in your content marketing packages. [Company Name] can help you make your content marketing services more special and effective by creating visually appealing, viral infographics that would surely draw huge attention of the target audience.

Sadly, this is a pretty standard pitch. By investing 30 seconds and performing a Google search the person sending this email would have quickly been able to figure out that their pitch didn’t make any sense written as is. The fact that I already use infographics in my content marketing and that I wrote a book about infographics makes their pitch fall flat because it lacks relevancy. But more importantly, the lazy approach has some potential financial consequences in the following areas:

Lost Sales – Poor research blended with the lack of customized outreach can result in lost revenue opportunities. In this case, I didn’t object to the idea of being pitched but, rather, the pitch itself. Yes, I do create my own infographics but I also have a need to outsource infographic designs. If the pitch was written with that in mind it would have kept the door open with respect to future relationship management and business development.

Trust Erosion – A lack of care when it comes to outreach reflects the potential of a greater service problem. If the organization doesn’t cover off the basics when it comes to their outreach what possible gaps or flaws exist in their service delivery and support? This manifests itself in a couple of different ways: people sharing the outreach story with friends, colleagues or across the internet (see next point) or simply removing them from consideration when it comes to using or recommending their products and services.

Negative WOM – I chose not to call out the organization that contacted me in a public forum like SME. Not everyone shares the same view. There are many examples of organizations being used as case studies to highlight poor or misleading outreach practices. Haphazard outreach can definitely result in negative word of mouth that can erode the value of your brand.

OUTREACH TIPS

So how can you avoid some of these potential economic pitfalls when it comes to your outreach?

I like to think that common sense is your best guide – treat the people you are approaching in the same manner you would like to be treated. Be honest, do some research, don’t waste people’s time and offer a value proposition.

Here are a few of the things I like to do prior to reaching out to a prospect or influencer:

Blog Subscription – One of the first things I research is a prospects blog or website. I like to subscribe to RSS feeds using Google Reader and tend to skim through a number of posts going back as far as 6 months. My objective when it comes to referencing blog posts in any outreach is to be genuine – the best way to accomplish this is to actually dig into some the content and extract value from what you are reading. It’s very rare that you won’t find something interesting, thought provoking or debatable when you conduct this research. Remember, you don’t have to love or agree with everything someone says on their blog in order to genuinely engage them in dialogue. Sometimes offering a counter-point or different perspective is a great way to start a conversation during the outreach process. Also, I don’t like to pretend I’ve been a long time subscriber if that’s not the case. There’s nothing wrong with telling a prospect you just subscribed to their blog and have been catching up on old posts. Be transparent in any outreach you do.
Blog Comments – After reading a few posts and picking out the ones that really resonate with me I may submit a comment or two on some older posts. Normally I like to continue following a blog for a few weeks and comment when it’s appropriate. Remember to try to add value every time you submit a comment. Don’t simply placate or agree with what is written…try to offer an opinion or unique perspective.
Twitter Stream – In conjunction with blog research I like to follow prospects if they are on Twitter. I have a special column set up in HootSuite that filters content from people that I may be interested in connecting with down the road. There are a lot of smart people sharing great content on Twitter so I find pretty easy to find relevant, helpful posts to retweet or @mention. I also find you can gain some added insight though the links that prospects are sharing.

These are just a few of the things you can do when it comes to managing your prospect or influencer outreach. For more information check out this comprehensive Best Practice Guide to Blogger Outreach from the folks an inkybee (FREE, email required to download).

Personalized outreach is hard work that can take a lot of time but, in my opinion, it’s the only real effective way to nurture relationships that can add business value over time. What do you think? What other economic risks might be associated with poor outreach practices? The comments are yours.

Filed Under: Public Relations Tagged With: blogger outreach, influencer outreach, infographics, information graphics, outreach, outreach best practices, PR, PR best practices, Social Media

Social Business Design

October 1, 2012 By Mark Smiciklas Leave a Comment

Originally posted on Social Media Explorer

I am fascinated by the evolving thought leadership around the subject of social business.

I believe in the idea that organizations adopting the use of social technology, flattening their organizational structure and making the shift towards less siloed communication and operational models will be in a better position to achieve their business objectives as the marketplace becomes more digitally connected.

As an idea or concept, social business is complex. The folks at Dachis Group offer this definition:

Social business draws on trends in technology (e.g., powerful mobile devices, widespread availability of high-speed Internet access, low cost of data storage), work (e.g., always-on culture, globalization), and society (e.g., propensity to share). Companies should care about social business because they can improve business outcomes (i.e., increase revenue or decrease costs). The core principles touch on all areas of a business, whether for business-to-customer engagement, employee-to-employee collaboration, or supply chain optimization. Making social business work requires focus on a company’s culture, connections, content exchanges, and measurement and analytics.

Unfortunately, as the term social business begins to move along the same popularity arc as “social media” it is getting overused and mis-defined to the point of clouding people’s ability to connect with its meaning and context. Recently this reached a boiling point for my esteemed colleague Jason Falls who proclaimed that the term “social business” is bullshit.

Semantics aside, social business presents a set of important ideas related to change theory that leaders are incumbent to discuss and understand. A post recently published by Dave Gray really helps crystallize the idea of social business design. In The Connected Company Gray uses a series of “city” metaphors to clearly explain how a social business is a “complex, adaptive system.”

His post inspired this information design. My goal here is to present a visual interpretation of these ideas aimed at building high level understanding and prompting discussion. Let me know your thoughts and ideas about social business. Does it make sense? The comments are yours.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: business objectives, dachis group, dave gray, infographics, information design, information graphics, Leadership, organizational change, social business, social business design, social technology, the connected company

The Science of Infographics

July 5, 2012 By Mark Smiciklas Leave a Comment

Originally posted on Social Media Explorer

One of the primary reasons infographics work well as a communication tool can be linked to eyesight and the neurological connection of our eyes and brain.

The dynamics of sight and how we use our eyes to process information present some compelling reasons to consider using infographics to share information and ideas in order to connect with your internal and external audiences.

HARD WIRED FOR INFOGRAPHICS

Vision directly or indirectly accounts for about 50% of our brain’s real estate.

An article about the relationship of the eyes and brain in Discover Magazine touches on the expansiveness of the cell highway that hosts all this activity. For example, the retina alone is made up of more than 150 million cells. In addition, vision neurons account for approximately 30% of our total grey matter compared to neurons for touch and hearing which make up only 8% and 3%, respectively.

INFOGRAPHICS ARE EASY ON THE MIND

One of the reasons we can process images faster than text is because of how the brain handles information. It processes data from pictures all at once but processes text in a linear manner.

Considering all this hard wiring is already in place, it makes sense that it might be easier for us to process infographics than pure text.

Robert Lane and Dr. Stephen Kosslyn offer an explanation for what the brain sees when it comes to pictures vs. words. Each letter in a word is essentially a symbol. To read text, the brain needs to act as a decoder first, matching those letters with shapes stored in memory. From there the brain must figure out how all the letters fit together to form words, how words form sentences, and how sentences form paragraphs. Although all this comprehension takes place in only a split second, relatively speaking, when compared to how the brain deals with images, the process requires considerably more mental effort.

So, in a way, by using infographics to communicate, you make it physically easier for your audience to relate and connect to your information.

In a TED talk about the beauty of data visualization, writer and designer David McCandless expands on the idea that infographics provide a sense of relief in a landscape filled with a mind-numbing amount of information:

“There’s something almost quite magical about visual information. It’s effortless. It literally pours in. If you’re navigating a dense information jungle, coming across a beautiful graphic or lovely data visualization is a relief. It’s like coming across a clearing in the jungle.”

INFOGRAPHIC NOVELTY

As we continue to gain access to vast volumes of information, our attention spans are becoming more fractured. Because the brain seeks out and notices things that are different, it can be easier to attract more slivers of your audience’s attention by communicating your information visually.

Another interesting thing about the brain is that it is designed to seek out things that are different. Think of the mind as a computer hard drive. For the brain to remain nimble and operate efficiently, its memory can’t get filled up.

In Brain Matters, Patricia Wolfe cites that the brain, in order to to maintain an optimal processing speed, filters incoming data and ends up discarding 99% of all sensory information almost immediately after perceiving it . Wolfe says that one key component of this filtering process is assessing whether the incoming information is different from what the brain is accustomed to seeing – Information that is in some way novel or unusual attracts the brain’s attention. Infographics provide an opportunity for your organization to add that element of novelty or uniqueness to your information and make it more noticeable to your audience.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD

In the age of information overload, data crashes over us like a tidal wave with our attention spans becoming fractured as technology and digital media become more prevalent in our personal and professional lives.

With the average person exposed to the equivalent of 174 newspapers full of information every day competition for your audience’s attention is fierce. As a result, the person your brand is trying to connect with probably spends only a few seconds on your content before deciding whether to move on to the next post, site, or network.

Differentiating your organization, brand, or ideas is critical. That fact that infographics are unique allows organizations an opportunity to make the content they are publishing stand out and get noticed.

Filed Under: Content Marketing Tagged With: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, data visualization, David McCandless, infographics, information graphics, information overload, visual perception, visual thinking

Social Media Measurement Framework

May 28, 2012 By Mark Smiciklas 3 Comments

Originally posted on Social Media Explorer

As social media becomes more widely accepted as a business tool, organizations embracing the medium are slowly becoming more adept at creating content and engaging with their audiences. The next step for organizations that are comfortable with the content side of things is the development of a strategy and tactics to measure the performance of their social media activity.

The following model is a work in progress that aims to build on a social media measurement framework developed by John Lovett and Jeremiah Owyang. Here are some notes about the model components:

Business Goals – In order for data extracted from a measurement initiative to be useful or effective it needs to connect back to the business objectives of your organization. These will vary by company and situation – but there are a handful of goals that are universal to most businesses or non profits. These include optimizing marketing programs, generating revenue , cutting costs, building brand equity and developing new ideas, products or services. For more information about the goals that I’ve included in this model check out the Social Media Measurement Compass in a report about social media analytics by the Altimeter Group.
Metrics – These are the general measurement categories for each objective. For example, under marketing optimization, one common metric would be Awareness.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – For each metric, list relevant performance indicators. For example, for the Awareness metric above one KPI could be Reach.
Channel KPIs – Because each social media channel uses different analytics to measure performance it’s important to identify which unique KPIs will be measured for each platform. Continuing with the example above, channel KPIs for Awareness >> Reach could be as follows:

Facebook – Total reach.
Twitter – Potential reach, effective reach.
Blog – Page views
Youtube – Views

The most important steps in the measurement process takes place AFTER you collect your KPI data:

Establishing effective ways to report social media performance data so that information is easy to digest, understand and act upon.
Building time to analyze social media measurement reports into your social media workflow.
Using data to help inform decisions about social media activity in order to develop new program or improve existing efforts.
Acting on insights in order to achieve business objectives.

Do you have a social media measurement program in place? What metrics and KPIs are you tracking? The comments are yours.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: altimeter group, business model, facebook, infographics, Jeremiah Owyang, John Lovett, measurement, social media analytics, social media KPIs, Social Media Measurement, social media objectives, social media strategy

The Social Media Advocacy Model

February 21, 2012 By Mark Smiciklas 5 Comments

Originally posted on Social Media Explorer

In theory, as social media becomes more common place, organizational audience engagement objectives, strategies and tactics should evolve past acquisition towards advocacy. I’m sure some consumer brands are heading in this direction but, in my experience, many companies and agencies still seem to be focused on driving audience awareness and using “likes” and “follows” as success metrics.

To spark some discussion on the topic I thought it might be helpful to present an encapsulated view of advocacy. This infographic aims to present advocacy at a glance, explaining where it sits on the audience relationship spectrum while visualizing the steps organizations can follow to move connections towards becoming advocates.

Here are a few notes on the process:

Listen – The first step involved in moving passive social media connections towards some level of engagement is to understand their information needs. What type of content do they want to consume? What conversations do they want to have?

Publish & Participate – Designing a content strategy that make you relevant is very important. Part of this publishing plan should include active participation on behalf of your organization. Don’t just broadcast.

Identify – Set up Boolean searches using tools like Hootsuite to monitor your social media channels and flag your most active fans. Also, consider using more advanced tools like mPact or SocMetrics to find possible influencers.

Activate – Be proactive. Reach out, communicate and build relationships with your advocates. Don’t wait for them to come to you.

Nurture – Offer intrinsic/extrinsic incentives to help make advocates feel special and an extension of your brand or company.

Empower – Help them help you spread brand messages through the use of services like Zuberance or BzzAgent or Fancorps.

I’d love to get your thoughts on The Social Media Advocacy Model infographic, the rationale behind it and what might be missing. The comments are yours.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: advocacy, boolean search, bzzagent, digital strategy, fancorps, infographics, mpact, social media influencers, social media strategy, socmetrics, zuberance

5 Ingredients for a Tasty Content Strategy

December 21, 2011 By Mark Smiciklas 9 Comments

Originally posted on Social Media Explorer

A good content marketing plan contains a number of different elements including theme, audience, tone, publishing channel, etc. But how do all of these components come together to form a cohesive strategy?

After reading 6 Layers of Social Media Content Strategy by Jeffrey Cohen over at Radian6, I was inspired to create a visual metaphor that assembles all these content marketing ingredients.

Although I agree with the layers discussed in Jeffrey’s post, I have a slightly different view about what makes up the ‘meat’ of an effective content strategy. Check out the inforgraphic and read the Radian6 post.

Which strategic components do you think are most important? The comments are yours.

Filed Under: Content Strategy Tagged With: brand journalism, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, digital marketing, digital strategy, infographics, social media content, social media strategy

The Power of Infographics

October 12, 2011 By Mark Smiciklas 1 Comment

The Power of Infographics

View more presentations from Mark Smiciklas

Originally posted on Social Media Explorer

A picture is worth a thousand words. In the digital age, the saying has never been more relevant. To cope with the daily onslaught of information we’ve become content grazers, skimming headlines and post descriptions for the promise of bite-sized nuggets of information.

As brevity becomes more important, infographics present brand journalists with a great opportunity to deliver knowledge, ideas, solutions, etc., in a manner that can be quickly consumed, understood and remembered.

Robin Richards, Information Design Director at the creative firm JESS3, says this about infographics:

“The public’s collapsing attention span has given rise to a relatively new content format: the infographic. Infographics – a visual representation of complex data – have emerged as one of the most popular and shareable forms of social content.”

In doing some research for a recent presentation I delivered during Social Media Week in Vancouver, I came across a staggering statistic regarding the growth of infographics on the Web.

A Google image search for the term “infographics” returned 978k results. Four months ago the same search mentioned in Jeremiah Owyang’s blog post about the need for infographics to evolve returned 570k infographic images. I don’t profess to be an SEO expert or pretend to understand the complexity of the Google search algorithm, but there has to be something going on when 40% more infographics show up on the web in such a short period of time.

Popularity

There are a few factors that might explain why infographics are so popular:

Easy to digest – There is less friction when it comes to consuming information that is (well) presented visually. It requires less time to read, absorb and get the gist of information.

Infographics are easy to share – Even if you’re not a visual thinking geek like me, you’d likely agree that this content format can be a pretty cool way to present information. Their uniqueness and compact nature can prompt people to readily share them.

Learning style – The Visual Teaching Alliance states that approximately 65% of people are visual learners and that the human brain processes visual information about 60,000 times faster than text.

R.O.I.

Infographics are popular amongst web users for all the reasons stated above, but they are also in vogue with organizations because they can add business value. Some examples:

Brand Awareness – The Content Grid, created by JESS3 on behalf of Eloqua, has been one of the more popular infographics published in the last year. Here are some awareness metrics published by Eloqua regarding this infographic: 1168 tweets, 722 inbound links, 58 blog articles mentioning the infographic and 3003 offsite views.
Signals – Infographics are one way to create signals in a sea of internet noise. Signals result in conversations … and the right conversation lead to business opoortunities. I’m personal proof that it works – the infographics that I’ve published have helped fuel conversations that have lead to a contributor gig here at SME, sitting on a panel with Jay Baer for the Vancouver NOW Revolution book tour stop, guest lecturing at the University of Toronto and a few consulting projects. If I can do it, anyone can!
Improved Results – Visual thinking impresario Dave Gray shares a great example of the power of visualization and how it adds tangible business value. During this interview he talks about how a large hotel chain used visual tools across different business phases to added incremental revenue by cutting 5 months off the time required to launch a new property.

5 Types and Uses

For many people the thought of infographics is synonymous with data visualization. For others it represents a form of idea art. Whatever your perspective, infographics come in many different shapes and sizes and can be used by organizations to manage knowledge/information presented to both internal and external audiences.

Statistics – One of the most popular infographic types is data visualization. Nothing is more difficult to consume and absord than reems of statisctical data – If your organization is presenting company information and/or industry research consider using infographics to present findings or highlight insights.
Concepts – My favorite infographics are metaphors for ideas. These are great for use in illustrating though leadership or organizational philosophy. These conceptual visuals can also be very effective in teaching/training situations.
Models – These type of information visuals help describe process. Organizations can use these to explain complex business procedures, workflows, distribution channels, service offerings, information flow, etc.
Cartoons – Purists might not agree, but I feel humorous illustration, particularly in a business context, classify as information graphics. Cartoons are an effective way for organizations to transfer information about ideas, scenarios and culture to their target audiences.
Information Resources – These infographics effectively aggregate useful and relevant information into a format that adds value. Organizations can use infographics to create industry resources, specifications guides, “cheat sheets,” product comparisons, etc.

Getting Started

You don’t have to be a graphic designer to start creating effective infographics. Here are few tips to get you started:

Explore new ways to inform – always be thinking of your audiences information needs and better ways to help them learn. Think about all the content your organization has – what are some ways to restructure it and present it visually?
Record your thoughts – Use a journal, smart phone, sticky notes, etc. to keep track of ideas for infographics. I get a lot of inspirartion from the blogs I read and find it helpful to use a bookmarking tool like Delicious to keep track of concepts for future exploration.
Process and refine ideas – Invest some “thinking time” to give those rough ideas a chance to morph into more polished thoughts and designs.
Create and publish – Execution can be the toughest part of any project, infographics are no different. Don’t get to attached to perfection – if you do you may never end up publishing anything. Put stuff out there and let it evolve.

If you’re not into the DIY model think about these other ways to get your infographics created and published:

Use an existing resource – If your organization has an in-house designer or preferred vendor you use for other projects, consider collaborating with them to create infographic content as well.
Outsource to a pro – If you have the budget consider hiring a design firm that specializes in creating infographics.
Partner with an art student – develop a mutually beneficial relationship with your local art school. You get infographics at a fair price, the students get real work for their portfolios.

A few things to remember…

Keep it simple – Some infographics are becoming just as hard to consume as text content. If you have a really complex idea, concept or process it might make more sense to break it up into a series of infographics.

Try to tell a story – Think about the objective of infographic. What one thing do you want your audience to gleen from your visual? Keep this “tagline” in mind when your presenting data or an idea.

Make sharing easy – I highly recommend not gating your infographic content. Use a Creative Commons license to make it easy for people to share infographics on their blogs and websites.

Ideas rule – It’s not about your skill level as an artist or the software you use. The important thing is being able to convey information relevant to your audience in a way that’s easy to consume and remember.

Just do it – Again, invest more time making sure your idea makes sense and less energy obsessing about creating the perfect piece of infographic art.

What are your thoughts about the business of infographics? Has your organization used infographics to share information or knowledge? What were the results? The comments are yours.

Filed Under: Content Strategy Tagged With: Content Marketing, digital strategy, infographics, Social Media, visual thinking

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The Science of Infographics

HARD WIRED FOR INFOGRAPHICS

INFOGRAPHICS ARE EASY ON THE MIND

INFOGRAPHIC NOVELTY

INFORMATION OVERLOAD

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