The Most Influential Person inside your Organization

Who do you think is the most powerful person in the organization today? Is it the CEO, President, COO, CMO, CSO, or someone else at the "C-level" in the organization? NO - it most likely isn't any one of these people. Not because they don't "run" the business or make sure it is operating at maximum efficiency, no because they generally are not the one that "engages" most effectively with the customer. So who is it?

It's the "STORYTELLER" - the one, regardless of position or title or clout in the organization that can tell stories that "engage" the customer, employee or partners. This is the person who has the unique ability (and I truly mean unique) to talk about what goes on inside the organization in a way that "reaches" and "bonds" them to the organization. They are the one that can communicate the message(s) of the organization in a way that is compelling, relevant, thoughtful, insightful, captivating, entertaining and most of all "engaging."

The reason I am focusing on this key word, "engagement" is because it says more about what and organization should be striving for in a Web 3.0 world than most other words. When someone is engaged, they are truly "connected" and are a "participant" rather than an outside casual observer. This is so very critical in the future because as the "social media noise level" increases, more and more of your customers, partners and even employees are going to be TURNING YOU OFF. If you don't believe me, just ask a handful of your associates and you will start to hear that they are becoming annoyed and overwhelmed with all the "chatter" and "noise" that has taken over the airwaves.

The "storyteller" is the one person (or multiple people) in the organization that has the ability to cut through this noise and capture the eye, mind and even heart of your most valued audience. This makes them, in my humble opinion, more important over time than any "C-level" executive in your organization.

My recommendation - FIND THEM and incorporate them into your social media strategy that embraces their ability to talk about your organization in ways that marketing and sales and customer support and others can't. They are truly the hidden gem inside the company - they just don't have the title - YET...

Our REAL Competition - not who you think...

The VERDICT is in - Social Media and Social Networking are here to stay!! In case you didn't already know.

Now, that may not be news to many of you or even most of you, but I just wanted to be clear on that one point before going forward. Being involved in the "social media" space for the past 4+ years (and beyond if I count my time spent in the customer experience space), it is interesting to see how this space has grown and evolved. I have to admit, it has grown faster than I would have ever predicted 3 years ago. That is a good thing overall but as with everything that grows fast, has its dangers as well.

One question I have been asked many times over this time that I thought would be interesting to answer is, "Who exactly is your biggest competition?" Great question and one where the answer has changed over the years. Let me start by saying it isn't who you think it is.

Most people think it is one of two types. The masses of marketing and ad agency people who are out on the loose and who understand the "Tools" such as facebook and twitter and myspace and… If you guessed this, you are dead wrong. Granted, these folks are certainly annoying and distracting and generally waste the time and money of unsuspecting companies but that is not our biggest competition. They don't understand "strategy" and that is their biggest downfall - but that is the topic for another day.

The second group most think are the ad agencies, PR firms or traditional marketing firms - wrong again. Yes, they are doing everything in their power to delay their clients to fully engaging in social media because they haven't figured out a way to replace the massive revenues they would lose if they actually recommended a true social media strategy. It's going to take them a few years to get there but they can keep their clients on the hook for quite a while since their clients are reluctant to change anyway. But they are not even the biggest threat out in the market.

Nope, our biggest competition is the "uninformed CEO or other executive" inside their very own organization. Why? Because they look at social media more as a "toy" or "something to explore" or "something to test out" or "some new and shiny technology" and as such it doesn't command the attention of the "executive suite". What ends up happening is they ask around and find the 28 year old (or someone they think is young enough to understand it) who happens to know how to use facebook or twitter or foursquare or any of the other 265 tools (approximate) in the marketplace and assign the responsibility to them. That is who we compete most against.

What they are now starting to find out is what they have done is entrusted their BRAND, and their IMAGE and their CUSTOMERS and their BUSINESS STRATEGY to someone who has no clue what these things are about or what they should be doing to enhance all of them to increase their market presence and revenues. Yet, over and over again it ends up in their hands and goes nowhere. The comment from the top then becomes, "See, I told you this new fangled media doesn't work". And you know what, in that situation, they are exactly right...

Chefs "Get" Social Media - they just didn't know it...

The key to making a culinary delight isn't that you know all the best ingredients, it's knowing how to put the ingredients together that makes a difference. It isn't any different with social media. Just having someone who knows the right "tools" doesn't make social media turn out the right way or work for you - they are just the ingredients. What makes social media work is act like a "great chef".

Great chef's start with a PLAN - what do they want the culinary delight to look like, taste like, and the overall experience they want to deliver. Then they decide which INGREDIENTS they feel need to deliver what they have envisioned and they go find the ones they need. Then they ASSEMBLE these ingredients in just the right "order" and in just the right "amount" and with just the right "timing" to make it turn out the way they planned in the beginning. Then they TEST IT with their customers - did it deliver what they originally "planned" or do they need to make changes the next time they make the dish.

What part of this DOES NOT sound familiar to the way a successful experience should play out with our customers/members/clients/partners/employees? NONE is the correct answer. These are all the steps we need to take to deliver what our audience wants. We PLAN, SELECT the appropriate TOOLS, ASSEMBLE the CONTENT, and finally EXECUTE the plan. After we have delivered the MESSAGE, - then we LISTEN for feedback and make the appropriate modifications to the original PLAN. This is illustrated graphically below for those that are more visual. 

This is the basis for creating and leveraging each of these aspects to create "WORD-of-MOUTH on STEROIDS.  We'll talk about what goes into each of these in subsequent posts, breaking down each element as it would be if you were creating your own culinary delight and how it can help you move into getting more of the right people talking more about you. ENJOY...

Who is REALLY in control...the answer might surprise you

This is an interesting question I get asked quite often from CEOs and business leaders when they are wondering what they should do about social media.  The question comes up as to which group could benefit the most and in larger organizations, who is in "control" of social media.  And especially for CEOs, who live their lives being in control, this is a very interesting and common question.

Let me first start with a basic thought for every group.  The term "own" is one that is very scary in the world of social media.  If you get right down to it, the company or organization doesn't "own" the customer any longer, the customer "owns" the company.  Think of it this way, with social media, EVERY CUSTOMER has a microphone today when they use social media.  That in and of itself is a scary thought.

When you think about it, it is really true and really important to understand this concept.  The social networks and social media tools make it incredibly easy for anyone with a computer, phone or simple internet connection to get their voice in the airwaves.  And people are listening...

When you see numbers like 14% of the audience believes advertising and 78% believes the opinion of others talking about you and your products/services, you realize you are no longer in control.  So what can you control?  First, lose the word "control" from your vocabulary of social media.  Replace it with the word "influence" or "advocacy" or "guide" instead of control and you will be closer to reality.  These words best describe what we are really experiencing with social media today.

My recommendation is to start thinking of conversations you can "start" and "contribute" to that relate to your customer experiences and you will be much closer to tapping the power of social media for your organization. If you want "word-of-mouth on steroids" then talk about, showcase, highlight these experiences and the customers engaged in them.  You will find significantly more opportunity for your message to go "viral" and spread through the social media airwaves.  But most of all, lose the idea you are in "control".

WOM drives Value - McKinsey agrees...

There is a "perfect storm" building out there and it is called Word-of-Mouth Marketing.  While most marketers shun the idea of Word-of-Mouth as a legitimate and measurable form of marketing, the advent of social media and the tools behind it are changing that world rapidly.

McKinsey and Company, an internationally recognized strategy and management consulting firm, talked about "word-of-mouth equity" in their article, "A New Way to Measure Word-of-Mouth Marketing", and how it is something companies should be taking more note of than they are today.  While we have been saying this for years, McKinsey is looking to put some more metrics around this so that it has more legitimacy in the market.  What I find very interesting is that it might just take the likes of a McKinsey to create enough "buzz" about word-of-mouth to actually get through to the top executives of most corporations.

Whether you are a small, middle-market or Fortune 100 company, Word-of-Mouth is still the most powerful form of marketing - it just isn't accepted as such - YET.  Today it is far easier to measure "clicks" from a traditional marketing campaign than to build the internal processes, systems, and measurements for word-of-mouth.  And the ad agencies haven't supported it because it could potentially cannibalize their revenue streams from traditional advertising.

Let me share a few quotes from the McKinsey article, just to illustrate some key points. 

• "Indeed, word of mouth¹ is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions."
• "...what we call “word-of-mouth equity”—an index of a brand’s power to generate messages that influence the consumer’s decision to purchase."
• "This tectonic power shift toward consumers reflects the way people now make purchasing decisions."
• "It’s also the most disruptive factor. Word of mouth can prompt a consumer to consider a brand or product in a way that incremental advertising spending simply cannot."
• "The second critical driver is the identity of the person who sends a message: the word-of-mouth receiver must trust the sender and believe that he or she really knows the product or service in question."
• "While marketers have always known that the impact can be significant, they may be surprised to learn just how powerful it really is."
• "Marketers have always been aware of the effect of word of mouth, and there is clearly an art to effective word-of-mouth campaigning. Yet the science behind word-of-mouth equity helps reveal how to hone and deploy that art."

We couldn't agree more than with the last quote - there is an "art" and a "science" to creating effective Word-of-Mouth.  And there is even a greater art and science using social media to create "Word-of-Mouth on Steroids."  That is the real magic to Word-of-Mouth Marketing...