The biggest trend I see, as it relates to my industry, is more online video content creation and more redesign of business models and business websites to be Web 3.0 compatible. Service industries, and more specifically the marketing communications industry, are and will become more condensed with regards to human resources leadership having more part-time, freelance and independent contractors than ever before. Video production companies and web development companies that normally would be separate are merging in order to stay competitive due to this paradigm shift to social media and marketing budgets being cut by their traditional clients. Storytelling is critical in any medium, but even more critical on a global platform. Video, done correctly and with a concise message, helps add credibility to the written word. Getting the right media mix for the right campaign strategy in social media is essential. In saying all of this, social media is not hard or revolutionary. It is about implementing best business practices and due diligence on new channels. Creating the message for the niche market will be as important as delivering the message. The economy might be bad right now, but people need to stop living in fear because it is disruptive innovation that will mean great new strides in efficient business growth, especially for small businesses that succeed in a renewal stage of American business history. It is this renewal in new and small business growth coupled with more interaction online that you will see an uptick in the ecommerce industry. Jack Nicholson said it best as, Col. Nathan R. Jessep, in A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth.” (#) The average American cannot handle the truth that the 40 hour work week is a myth. What worked in 2005 will not work in 2010 or later.

Social media has turned everyone into their own CEO in that they don’t have time to wade through new business venture pitches, but learn through news, information, and entertainment they do or do not need or want. Social media is customized content that the end user cares about. Make it short, sweet, and to the point. I myself am breaking all the social media rules by writing this long article rather than being concise and to the point. The problem with that though is that it forces a writer to sometimes leave out key and important parts of a bigger picture. Then it comes down to who is a better storyteller given the space, time, accuracy, and overall entertainment value for the end user. The Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How is Journalism 101. However, I always say debate and open communication (engagement) is good because it allows others to understand and learn another viewpoint. Social media is a place where every kind of language and dialect is clearly understood to make the world a little smaller. In doing so we grow as individuals, improve as businesses, a nation, and evolve as a human race because without questioning each other we don’t learn.

Social Media/Social Media Marketing/Social Media Networking can also be a confidence booster in that it can translate into job interviews or sales prospects and conversion through no pressure personal branding. In doing this you surround yourself with good people who are smart, energetic, and driven with great ideas and shared resources. Social media helps start/extend your network online in order to build strong business relationships offline.

A perfect example of a company dragging their feet, with regards to social media, is a local TV station that actually went in the opposite direction and put a radio promo out that said in so many words don’t take up all your time with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, etc. when you can get all your news and information in one broadcast. TIVO still has its place, but broadcast news in its traditional form does not. The TV station I am talking about has always been in 3rd place in the ratings in its market and from this radio promo they are happy to stay there and broadcast versus engage their audience because the other two competing channels are good examples of how social media campaign strategies should be implemented. Another big case study of an organization that has traditionally dragged its feet, but is becoming hip to the game recently, is the Catholic Church.(#) With dwindling numbers and public relations problems in recent years, from not adopting technology to help with brand management research, the Vatican has decided to take a new direction with regards to how it communicates to its faithful followers. Good business leaders who “get it” will understand the difference between being available and accessible in a niche market where it no longer makes sense to broadcast a big net to the target market.(#) Another applicable example of this that comes from scholar and author, Warren G. Bennis, “Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.”(#) This is how the class system has always worked. This plays into this constant battle of the various waves/ages we all learn about in school that “knowledge equals power.” The agricultural age, industrial age, technology age, etc.(#) This thinking will and has adapted to social media. Some may see it as an adaptation, but to others it might be more on an extension. The content hasn’t changed, just the way it is being delivered. You can apply the same thinking to any category with regards to marketing (product reviews, testimonials, advertisements, infomercials – i.e.- Billy Mays, etc) and PR. The message hasn’t changed just the vehicle. Access from a politician went from the form letter in the mail to the form letter via email, etc.

Bloggers for a long time were never taken seriously by traditional media journalists because they were criticized as not having the formal education to be content providers with access to credible sources or resources. They have spent years building up a loyal following in whatever their core target audience is. The appeal and attraction is the level of honesty that cannot be faked. People are drawn to each other through common bonds, interests, and things they care about. As soon as marketing types attempt to try to invade that space it becomes clearly evident. Every blogger would like to make money, but as soon as they start pushing a product to help pay the bills (quickly becoming known as Sponsored Conversation) (#) much like stars on talk shows get paid for talking about

products, that they wouldn’t normally endorse, it is seen as not being genuine and they run the risk of losing their core audience and will be quickly called out on it. This is why bloggers like Alaina Sheer (#) and Chris Brogan (#) are so successful and making a full time living at it. They blog about issues they care about or effect them in some way and stick to a niche rather than writing about things they think will get them more unique visitors and return visitors. Alaina and Chris have enough of an influence, or what Chris is referring to as trust agents, in a target market to give a thumbs up or down on a product or service whether it is local, regional or national for brands to take notice of what they are saying. In doing this it ultimately forces companies and organizations to actually listen to the customer where as before Web 2.0 and social media said company was the information gatekeeper. The transparency of social media allows customers in every sector to question authority and value of statements by PR types. Bloggers are having the last laugh where traditional media and businesses have previously dismissed its legitimacy on a repeated basis. Traditional media journalists lash out at technology that threatens their way of life especially when they refuse to be proactive and embrace it. The evidence is all around us with layoffs in TV, radio, and newspapers.

The only reason there is a paradigm shift happening right now is because there is nothing to watch on TV (except all the “reality shows” dumbing down America), almost everybody has a computer or Internet ready device, so people can get their news customized and in real time, and the economy is in the dumps thus ramping up the new technology apps and Google/Apple dominance. Convenience has killed traditional media and they are playing a reactive game. Some may say they saw it coming and that is why you had deregulation of FCC rules for company owners who at one time could only own so many radio stations, TV stations, and newspapers. Those rules weren’t just there for money purposes, but potential influence purposes liberal, conservative or otherwise. Only time will tell. Todd Defren(#) makes a good argument, “The tipping point has not only not been reached, but could still tilt away from Social Media.”

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Right now there are no definable tools per se about measuring the ROI of social media, but if done right businesses have to look at it as an intangible extension of their growth stage business. Companies like Sway, Inc. and Radian6 are starting to fill that need for ROI tools through distribution and monitoring products to show the decision makers the advantages of a good social media marketing campaign. Social media levels the playing field for small businesses, with little to no budget, to go up against mega brands that live off of the brand alone and are doomed to fail due to a superior, “holier than thou” attitude. How are you going to improve your business, if you are too busy dictating to listen to the customer (i.e.- GM)? There will be winners and losers once the dust settles and the economy gets back on track. Casualties of brand wars and the economy in 2008 include, Circuit City, Chrysler, Pontiac, K.B. Toys just to name a few.(#)

I still have a lot of friends who don’t understand the concept or bigger picture of the applications for tools like Twitter and at first I didn’t either.(#) However, Twitter is more than updating your status, being a networking, marketing (promotions, trendwatching, statistics, polling, feedback, focus group), and brand/PR tool, but it is also an educational tool. Some people want to charge you money for the same thing that you can get for free, if you know where to look. The best thing that anybody can do is educate themselves. The first thing to tell yourself is that no matter what level of education you have, you don’t know it all. The question you have to ask yourself is, “How are you going to improve if you are too busy dictating to listen to the customer?” Being an original thinker and forming your own opinions keeps you from repeating the same mistakes. Read, Cross Reference, Learn, Educate. This helps in allowing you to form your own opinions and deciding whether to act on it or not. When the Internet first began, I learned Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver via the Internet over the years. Seth Godin would be proud.(#) Now I can apply the same theory and practice to network applications like Linkedin/Facebook and social media tools like Twitter. The only difference is that it is at the speed at which it comes in ‘real time.”

The idea and implementation of social media is also changing old web standards, like Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Google has had a big influence and is also an early adapter of these practices. Twitter will and probably already has replaced the RSS feed. I know I keep mentioning Twitter, but really Twitter, in its current form, is just a conversation starter. It is “speed dating” for business to business (B2B), business to customer (B2C), and customer to business (C2B). I add C2B because, now more than ever, customer service is as important as a marketing campaign due to globalization, the global economy, and niche marketing strategy. Companies can no longer afford to throw money away at broad marketing campaigns. Instead of having an initial business meeting that normally would take some time and money to setup, it is instant and more efficient. It takes the guessing out of how to approach new business opportunities. The problem that most companies have is they want the Swiss Army knife an All In One (AIO) tool to do it all, but that just is not going to be the case. What works for one individual, group or industry most likely will not work for another. Customizing your social media business strategy and campaign implementation plan is key to your success. The two most important components of any social media business strategy and campaign implementation plan is attention getting content and customer/target market engagement. You are starting to see the companies that “get it” posting positions for social media marketers and public affairs types who have an understanding of all of the above. Again, advertisers are trying to figure out how to monetize something like Twitter, by placing ads, but that ship has already sailed with Twitter apps like Tweetdeck, Twhirl, Tweetie, and the ones to come in the future like Twitterface. Alliteration is fun with names like those. Twitterfon has implemented a framework to place ads, but you hear a lot of users decide not to update or go somewhere else. This again places pressure on developing better content rather than repetition, like we see and hear on TV and radio. Even clones of Twitter, like Yammer for example, a closed internal company communications tool, improve efficiency and productivity on many levels as well as create new ideas for competitive strategy while hopefully breaking down silos and improving organizational culture. (A good friend and Senior Consultant for Nationwide, Shawn Morton, formerly of CNET, implemented Yammer as an internal communications tool. However, Yammer has its critics.) (#)

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Viacom’s MTV became an early leader and adopter of Social Media by incorporating and allowing shared rich media between community members of their site, but like a lot of other early innovators in the industry (i.e – MySpace) they failed to be sustainable and evolve in terms of technology and user experience.(#) Granted they are very good at retaining their core target audience of teenagers with shows like The Hills, thus killing off actual music videos that a bigger audience downloads/streams off of Youtube. Like video killing the radio star, Social Media has killed the TV, radio, movie, and newspaper star. Movie and rock stars will still have a hardcore following, but not compared to pre web 2.0. Instead you will have naturally grown Youtube stars like Fred making appearances on shows like iCarly (#) or gossip bloggers like Perez Hilton being your new internet celebrities making the transition to traditional media with a bigger platform in which to be seen and heard.(#) Popularity is fleeting and has become so fragmented that it is marginalized.

The funny thing is traditional media could have prevented their current death, as we have come to know it in its current form, by learning lessons from Shawn Fanning (Napster) and the music industry. What Shawn did was deemed illegal, but his business model was right and forced the industry to change theirs.(#) Itunes and other online business models is proof of that. It was a silent consumer revolt that told the music industry they were tired of paying $20 for an entire CD with maybe one or two songs on it by a “factory” artist. Music industry executives’ and lawyers’ excuse was that it cost a lot of money to produce the artists. The consumers responded by saying, “How about spending the money on the artists you do have rather than the next big thing.” Sometimes change is gradual and sometimes it is almost overnight. No longer do you see the quality put into long lasting artists like The Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones, U2, and so on. It is the lip syncing pop tarts like Britney Spears, Ashley Simpson, and company. Sex and controversy sells and so does the show, but at the end of the day is it a lasting brand? Studies show that the attention span of the average viewer is seven seconds. Your 15 minutes of fame is down to 15 seconds. If done right social media is a way for a brand to extend their engagement with the customer and target audience.

I also credit portable devices and 3rd party applications like the Blackberry and iPhone for facilitating this change. President Barack Obama is the first sitting President of the United States to ever be allowed to keep his Blackberry (#). LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook have changed the way we receive our news and information. It has put the control into the hands of the user to customize their media to their liking. If we don’t like what we see we tune out, but if we see something that peaks our interest and benefits us in some way our attention span is extended. In my eyes I think the final nail in the coffin, with regards to traditional media goes, was the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.(#) The user has also become the content provider in that they are the executive producer, the director, the writer, the cameraman, the audio engineer, the lighting director, the set designer, and ultimately the on-air talent. (#)

This has forced traditional media outlets to play catch up. Some are getting it and others are dragging their feet. However, a great quote that I always hold close is from the business guru, Dr. Stephen Covey, who said, “The only constant in business is change.(#) This is not a new concept, but it is amazing how many businesses tend to make the same mistake over and over again. What Dr. Covey basically is saying is that, “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” I think the biggest problems top heavy organizations have with understanding social media is one they aren’t educated about it, and two they sometimes wait for new technology to become more mainstream at which point they are behind the curve rather then in front of it. This is understandable though, because they get used to trying to quantify everything, are Return On Investment (ROI) driven and then not every new technology pans out. (#) The ones that “get it” have gotten past the age old problem of a gap between form (marketing) and function (creative services), or as I like to put it, the left part of the brain is not talking to the right part of the brain. I think it was a good thing I went to a graduate school where they taught Ned Hermmann’s philosophy of whole brain thinking. (#)

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The more I learn about business and communications the more I become interested in psychology and observing the way people think. I always said while going back to business school that you needed to get your doctorate in psychology to be good at marketing. Now that obviously isn’t the case, but it probably gives those who do that edge. Considering my communications background and family history I have always tried to take the holistic approach, social media is no different and in fact is the culmination of business, marketing and communications, pyschology and human behavior, sociopolitical, and cultural viewpoints.

As someone who is self employed I have been seeing an uptick in sales leads with recently laid off professionals who are looking to create their own web presence through various lynch pinning and tie-ins to social media sites as well as creating their own personal brands to start their own businesses. This is good, but also very hard to pull off versus say a company brand. You can’t just be on the Internet for social media to work. It is about the offline activities like networking events, and even more important for the personal brand, public speaking. It is about bringing people and ideas together that otherwise wouldn’t normally cross paths.

Job portals will be a thing of the past when social networking, like the cell phone before it, tools like Twitter, speeds up the conversation and understanding of character references with regards to hiring in new positions and doing business. The underlying message in any of it, like brand marketing, is that grass roots level or word of mouth marketing has more bang for the buck for effectively reaching the desired goal/audience.

Some say we are in Web 2.0, but I would disagree. Social media has been around longer before it was finally been accepted by mainstream audiences and in fact has been around since Multi-User Dungeon (MUD), Multi Player Online Role Playing Games (MPORG), Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Instant Messaging (IM), and Intenet forums and online communities due in part to the implementation of new programming languages like Java, Perl, Python, PHP, Flash, Ruby on Rails, AJAX etc. Geeks and Nerds are the new black. I believe we are actually in a renewal stage of the internet and are closer to Web 3.0 with the sites like Youtube and Facebook becoming more popular coupled with integrated applications like Twitter.

Platforms like the Google’s Android G1 and Apple’s next generation iPhone will allow for video capture, editing, sharing, and remixing of rich media. The speed at which this has occurred in the last two years has only been fueled by the bad economy and new techonlogy innovation in the tech sector – i.e. Google opening up its Application Programming Interface (API) to developers (opensourcing/crowdsourcing) in order to continue world dominance (see Google Wave), and more and more people going online to look for jobs. The reason Google is so successful and continues to stay competitive is their understanding of being inclusive and sharing of ideas where most of their competitors are in a closed mindset thus being one step behind. This is not to say that Google doesn’t have propietary products with lots of patents, but it is the organizational culture they have grown not only internally, but externally as well, much like Apple has done creating its cult like following. A Twitter user that I follow, DesignRiffs, said it best, “Social media is not a store front, but a way to hand out free samples.” (#)

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