ENGAGE OR DIE

Greetings. In this blog post I will discuss the book Engage by Brian Solis with foreword by Ashton Kutcher and how it’s best practices for social media can be beneficial to the Chesapeake Water Environment Association (CWEA).

The main premise of the book Engage is “Engage or Die.” Industry has to be engaged with social media in order to engage its customers. Social media isn’t just a set of tools to reinvent a marketing campaign but it is the socialization of information and the tools that are used to enable the “unmarketing” of a organization by giving an organization the platform to become human to it’s customers. A human network where technology meets humanity (pp. 243).

CWEA has little to no voice in the social media community and therefore does not have to unmarket but can use social media to strengthen its brand. The objective is to plan and not just to use every social media tool out there. The possibility of public failure should be a risk CWEA is willing to take. CWEA should create social media use guidelines for members considering their engagement in social media can influence customers positively or negatively.

Southwest airlines for example have strengthened the community environment of its brand name by using a blog and including multimedia. See Nuts about Southwest.

Fidelity uses the podcast tool effectively to engage its customers. Fidelity Podcast

Similar to the tenets in Groundswell engaging customers takes listening and understanding. People engage together based on shared passions, alliances and circumstances regardless of age or race or location. This is psychographics.

CWEA should invest in social media as part of it’s marketing budget. Now marketing teams have to be public and focus on the actions, passions and needs of the public more than ever.

Lets get CWEA on the radar of our customer’s decision-making process. CWEA can document important conversations it has with its customers and make a social map. To help track and plan the use of social media in the most effective way CWEA should conduct ORM (online reputation management) and use The Conversation Prism, (pp. 14, www.theconversationprism.com).

The Conversation Prism

Solis urges organizations to “get empathy to build the bridge between the customer and the brand.” CWEA has the chance to shape perception in communities based on the ability to use social media to be empathetic to the needs of its customers and not just transparent. To help measure this approach CWEA should ask, “What can our audience do now that they couldn’t do before speaking with us (pp. 36)?

The importance of social media and its evolution is seen in the use of Google Orkut and YouTube used for keyword searches. Facebook is adding 35-65 year old new users. CWEA board members shouldn’t think Facebook is just for the young.

CWEA shouldn’t undertake social media as if people will do twice as much sharing on social networks each year. People can be fickle when it comes to trends. CWEA should commit to social media because they are committed to building relationships. CWEA can build these relationships by communicating ideas that allow both parties to learn and grow (pp. 39).

Corporate blogs are seen as untrustworthy according to Forrester Research Group. With this in mind CWEA should not depend on the board chairman to post blogs. CWEA should use blogs to help people. What are the cause, intent, and solution and how can we help customers to be recognized and know they are understood. Most popular blogs like Google do this. Google embodies the brand consistently with passion. Infrequent but regular posts by a CWEA board member may be an answer. A planned blog structure including time-lines and editors is needed to have a blog with authority and meaning. CWEA can use Klat.com and Mailana to understand the influence and collaboration between blogs and tweets and various social networks. CWEA can also use tools such as BackType to help gather this information and discover what CWEA customers are passionate about (pp. 44).

BackType.com

CWEA can focus on multiple markets and influencers. CWEA can use social technographics – a system for analyzing and classifying participation in technologies – to help choose the social media tools that are most beneficial to it’s customers.

Social media can impact every area of CWEA’s organizational structure. CWEA should work to build, as stated by Solis, “a vibrant community built around a vibrant social society that is meaningful to its members.”

This blog post is for educational purposes only.