With all the discussion on what social media is, what it’s future will be like, who will control it, I often feel we fail to see the forest for the trees.

I see it as too diverse of a phenomenon to pin down with one easy definition. Its applications go far beyond the neat capsules that can be used to pick a particular department or function that should “own” it. Social media is creating, empowering, and accompanying a paradigm shift in the way we use all media.

Are we fully there yet? Of course not. These are only the early stages, part of an evolutionary process that often comes step by step. But those steps are happening and happening and soon we’ll look back and be amazed how far we’ve traveled. Then before we know it again, we’ll be stepping again and look back again and we’ll be amazed how much we’ve come from that first time we looked back.

Yes, organizations are going to have to harness social media in ways that they can benefit from, to reach ROI. This means trying to create some sort of structure for it without “siloizing” it. Very difficult indeed.

I’ve tried to lay out what I see social media as. Not from a specific definitional standpoint, but from a several miles up point of view.

Interested in your feedback… Read more…

Deloitte, along with Beeline Labs and the Society of New Communications Research, has come out with a study showing the current challenges and rewards of today’s online corporate created “communities”. It’s created a decent amount of chatter, which is not surprising considering that this industry is in its nascent stages and everyone is trying to figure it out.

The survey, entitled “2008 Tribalization Survey” gathered information from more than 140 responding organizations in the business to business, business to consumer, and non-profit sectors. Some of the corporate communities have more than 10,000 members; others have less than 100. Those numbers weren’t put into context from what I can see.

I’ve looked around at the commentary on this and have been able to glean a decent amount of info. Much of what I’ve found confirms conventional thought (or at least my thoughts) with the smattering of a few surprises. Read more…

Jennifer Mattern just wrote a great post answering some of your questions regarding the important question, Should You Jump Into Social Networks to Promote Your Business? over at RedFly Marketing via Chris Abraham:

There’s a lot of buzz in the online PR world about social networking, whether that be traditional social networks like MySpace and Facebook or social networking through microblogging services such as Twitter.

Should you jump into social networking to promote your business? And if so, with so many options available, how do you choose which social networks to participate in?

Read more…

I just discovered another very interesting article written by Jennifer Mattern over at RedFly Marketing, Online PR vs. Internet Marketing — here’s an excerpt:

Internet Marketing Tactics:

  • Paid advertising (banner ads, text link ads, etc.)
  • Link exchanges, free Web directory submissions, blog comments (link-building activities)
  • Affiliates
  • Sales letters (and other sales copy)
  • Article marketing (to drive affiliate sales, traffic, or backlinks)
  • Search engine marketing (paid search placements)
  • Blogs
  • Social bookmarking sites
  • Social networks
  • Podcasts / Internet radio shows
  • Sales, coupons, or other discounts
  • E-books
  • Reports / white papers
  • Direct mail campaigns via email (for promotional purposes)

Online PR Tactics:

  • Press releases / news releases
  • Op-eds / letters to the editor (for online publications)
  • Online newsrooms and media kits
  • SEO (to build awareness through organic search engine placements)
  • Interviews
  • Blogs
  • Articles (used to build exposure and expert status more than directly pushing sales or traffic)
  • Podcasts / Internet radio shows (if not purely or mostly promotional)
  • Reports / white papers
  • Email newsletters
  • Social networks

Via Chris Abraham.

Bill Balderaz, President of Webbed Marketing, is a Social Media rock star! I sat in on his session at PodCampOhio, Strategies for blogging, podcasting and social network marketing — and even tried to stream it via Qik but only got seconds of it! You should check out his session if at all possible — I don’t know who else recorded it — I only got one minute :(:

Read more…