The Brand Trust Cube - Measuring Social Media Engagement

Below is the embedded set of summary slides (still quite a few!) from the econsultancy September 2009 breakfast briefings, presented by our own Karl Havard. The content is Somatica Digital's own thinking which has been supported by and applied by a number of brands and organisations to good effect. It has helped them make sense of the social web from an engagement perspective.

The content focuses on a social web strategy designed to achieve advocacy, this is done by looking at the key elements of building online consumer brand trust. The Brand Trust Cube methodology applies a framework for organisations to effectively profile their current consumer trust position. The output giving clear and concise areas where there are strengths and weaknesses.

For further information please contact engage-me@somatica.co.uk and we'll help you apply the thinking to your business.

Measuring Social Media - econsultancy - Somatica Digital Breakfast Briefing September 2009

View more documents from Karl Havard.

It's official! 99% of digital agencies don't have a clue about the social web

It must also be said that 65.6% (that's nearly two thirds) of statistics are made up on the spot. However, when it comes to businesses (even the very large brands) looking for help and guidance on how best they should integrate social media into their customer contact/engagement strategy; they typically turn to their existing agencies. Which is the most natural thing to do.

Such agencies then feel they should be in an authoritative position on the subject. They don't wish to lose any credibility by actually admitting this isn't their core expertise, they'd feel exposed and a bit silly (honesty doesn't seem to matter) and of course they can hear the "kerching" of the extra revenue which may come their way.

So what happens is, agencies "play the game" and begin to regurgitate sound bytes from the numerous and various articles spread over the web (most of which have been plagiarised from a very limited source of genuine innovative thinking). Then, after a while, they start to believe their own bulls**t and believe they sound credible. Because of the perceived recency of social web (when actually it has been around for several years) the ability to sound convincing, especially to a client who is looking for advice and has limited knowledge, is fairly easy. We have seen this happen in meetings, at seminars and networking events many times and have felt the need to cut into the conversation to prevent bad decisions being made. Observing this and having conversations with some of the largest agencies who, in some of their more candid moments will actually admit "off the record" that they really don't have a clue. We could name names...but that may land us in some hot water...three letter acronyms...oops! This whole situation just isn't right.

It is appreciated that organisations, especially in the current economic climate, want to minimise risk and therefore turn to well established digital agencies who are financially stable and safe. However, some common sense should prevail when you understand the core skills and experience of these agencies. Typically they do a very good job at media buying and advertising; design work, may dabble in paid search, venture out into search engine optimisation (quality is debatable) and now have probably set up a new Social Media Department so as not to miss the bandwagon.

And then....they start talking about Social Media Marketing...selling your products via the social web. If that is the direction you have been steered down and your twitter updates are all about discounted products; your facebook fan page is talking about up and coming sales you should stop right now, as this won't work. In fact, it will tarnish your brand.

Think about your customers and what they want. Look at their motivation; understand their behaviour; work with them and help them. Give them advice, support, customer service, make them laugh, chat to them on a one to one...just try to avoid the constant sales pitch. You don't like it when it is aimed at you and they don't like it either.

So when your incumbent agency, who were originally selected by your organisation for something totally different, starts to come to you with "social media marketing" ideas, look at them long and hard, and ask some challenging questions, such as:-

• Why would this appeal to my customers?
• Who would it appeal to?
• What exactly is the objective here?
• How does this integrate into our overall customer contact strategy?
• Is this in sync with our brand values, the things we stand for?
• What are the performance measures?
• How are we going to measure this?
• Who makes this happen?

That should keep them busy. Points are deducted for pauses, repetition, stuttering and any farmyard aromas.

All Twittered Out!

Twitter this, Twitter that, tweet, re-tweet...is anyone starting to get a little fed up with all this malarky? If your brand has decided to have a Twitter channel, then you'll know it is a full time job to monitor the conversations; make sure what you say is on brand and that you don't feature in the latest "How not to..." section of some marketing industry website. It won't be long before we see full-time social media "engager" jobs being advertised.

Anyway, wasn't it refreshing to hear how the "younger generation" is not that interested in all this social media hype. Facebook is the preferred choice (and we thought it was Bebo!) and Twitter is "boring" full of celebrities and old people trying to be cool . Simplicity of communication, cool viral with involvement and free stuff is what they like.

It would appear us "new media types" and marketers are getting too hung up on all this stuff. Can anyone remember when email was a novelty? It didn't matter who the email was from, it was cool to get one and then reply to it...how quickly that changed. Are we witnessing the same thing in Twitter? Spammers following you with promises of making thousands of dollars (yes, they are typically US centric...not seen a "pounds" or "Euros" one as yet) and offering sexual favours from bored women (Or is that just us?). Anyone invented a Twitter Spam Filter yet?

The other interesting concept is how to get loads more followers. Why? Why would you want to be followed by thousands of people and follow thousands of people, creating yourself a bigger reading and filtering nightmare? The answers probably go back to being unpopular as a child. If, as a brand, the perception is more followers means more sales, then we'd actually disagree (especially looking at the way the majority of brand Twitter accounts are being currently managed). More followers means a brand needs to be more careful and the chances of creating a brand reputation issue can be enhanced. One wrong word or interaction and you could be in trouble. As the Bishop said to the Actress, it's all about quality and not quantity.

Our belief is to ensure we follow and are followed by people who are a bit like us...we have something in common. We don't want to scan through thousands of pointless tweets and we wouldn't expect others to do the same. Our rule of thumb is to engage online with the same types of people and brands we would engage with offline. The main thing social media allows us to do is to do it with a lot more people across the globe...that's all.

The Human Side of Brand Engagement - Meet Nobby

Please take a look at our first in a series about Nobby. The Pdf slides can be downloaded from slideshare.

Somatica - Nobby's Bored...let's get him excited! (Downloadable)

View more presentations from Karl Havard.

Please keep a look out for Dolly she doesn't know it yet...but she'll soon be Nobby's girlfriend.

What unites a "Brand Community"?

Firstly, what is a Brand Community? Well it is fairly self explanatory and basically it is a bunch of people who are fans of a brand, very similar dynamics to those of a band. The web and specifically social media has allowed these communities to be global and communicate with each other around any brand related subject, ranging from new products, customer service, personnel etc. There are many such brand communities and the web is a key central component to help these communities, in the true sense of the word, exist and thrive. Maybe you're a member of one or two?

But...how do these communities manifest themselves? What brings them together to become a united group? Specifically in the online environment. There has been a lot of research about crowds and tribes in a more generic manner and some really interesting research on "Consumer Tribes" by Cova, Kozinets and Shankar. However, there is limited research specifically about online communities.

Interestingly, many, many organisations are looking at the social web and scratching their heads about how they can create such online communities around their own brand. Surely, with all the available platforms attracting millions of people who are already actively interacting with each other, there must be a way to create something which will attract interest?

Well, we at Somatica Digital think that it is very difficult for a brand to achieve any success in the social web if it is treated as a separate channel. In fact, the key elements of building up a brand community outside of the Internet, still apply...the web then becomes the main way for the brand community to communicate..not the other way round.

So what are the key ingredients for building a brand community?

- Common Interest. A common element that everyone in the community is passionate about. Passionate enough to spend time talking about it and listening to others talk about it. Your brand may not have reached such dizzy heights and have the required attraction. Does this mean your brand cannot be the common element of a community? No brand community for you?! Well, not strictly true. Your brand will be/can become part of a wider community. You will be operating in a market or area where there is passion around something; maybe a specific technology; eco friendly product; specific fashion type or genre etc. There will be something your brand can be associated.

- Common Enemy. Something that directly opposes the beliefs and values of the community (for whatever reason) can build a stronger cohesive community. A common interest is one thing, but when it is "fighting" against something passion increases. Local opposing football teams is a strong example of tribalism, with a softer one being Apple and Microsoft..extreme passion is demonstrated in both examples.

- Status & Recognition. As well as being part of a community, there is always a pecking order in such groups. The communities need organising and leading so that they can stay focused on a common cause and be updated with the latest news and developments. Community members are motivated by being recognised for contribution (Maslow stuff) made and are energised by seeing their contribution recognised by others. If their contribution isn't recognised it won't be long until individuals become disenchanted. It is important to ensure community leaders are continually aware of this. Back to the first point; if your brand is part of a community, then good contribution will help you improve your pecking order and become noticed.

Without these three things it is very difficult to see how a community can be created or exist. Geography plays a big part in "real-life" communities of course, but this pull diminishes online. (Although we (Somatica Digital) do see this changing in the future.)

So when you, as a brand, create a Facebook Group, a twitter Channel, a blog etc. and they aren't as popular as you'd like, please consider the three points listed above. Maybe a re-think is required...remembering the basics could help you onto the right track.

Twitter: The web pages you won't have seen!

Anyone fed up with Maggie yet? Everytime you go to the Twitter home page, there she is with her superior smile and school teacher ways...we know her type! Anyway, Maggie is always on view, but have you ever taken the time to look at the other pages about why and how? Have you ever watched the video? We'd bet a very small amount of money that you haven't. It's a bit like the "I'm feeling lucky" button in Google...no one clicks it.

Anyway, we recommend you take a look at the "why", "how" and the video; it's very apparent that they explain what twitter was supposed to be about when it was first introduced. Answering the question "What are you doing?" and sharing this between family and friends is certainly different to amassing thousands and thousands of followers. Anyway, here are some screen shots with our observations...

So Twitter puts you in control does it?! And a modern "antidote" to information overload!! In the early days maybe, but it has, in our humble opinion, achieved the exact opposite. Anyone else lost a couple of hours a day to Twitter, Tweetdeck etc?

Here's another one

Eating Soup!! (Don't you drink it?)...we'll give them the other two, but for us tweets which are updates along the lines of "eating soup" "scratching my nose" and "me me me" add intensity to the noise factor. Especially as it is no longer about friends and family. And then there is Carla.

Not sure why she is wearing an England shirt from the 80's or why she has a shaven head; maybe it's an interpretation of "plain English"? Anyway, she blows that by uncovering her love of Van Halen later in the video.

We'd recommend taking a look, we found it quite amusing. The guys a Twitter when making this stuff at the outset, could never have envisaged the scale Twitter would grow to in their wildest of wild dreams. hats off to them. Our interpretation is below.

The Pregnant Goldfish's Guide to Social Media on iTunes

Somatica Digital are releasing a number of Pregnant Goldfish guides to social media. We have absolutely no idea about the relevance of the name, however, the first episode is a Guide to Twitter.

This is for people who are on Twitter and have developed really bad egotistical habits and for those who are not yet using Twitter, but are thinking about it.

Please take a look and get it on your iphone or ipod. The guides are video based and will have various funky soundtracks.

The next episode will be about feeding your friends or something like that. What do we know!!

We hope you enjoy them.