Geoff Livingston, co-founder of word-of-mouth communications consultancy Zoetica, has a new book coming out this month, Welcome to the Fifth Estate: How to Create and Sustain a Winning Social Media Strategy. Geoff was kind enough to answer a few questions about the book and its implications for effectively navigating the social media landscape, especially in support of great causes and as a vehicle for social change. This is a must read for marketers of all kinds.
In what ways has the social media landscape shifted since you wrote your first book Now is Gone?
It has shifted quite a lot actually. At that time, Twitter and Facebook were just beginning to take off, and blogging was preeminent. All the bloggers were on a pretty equal playing field, and influence was a bad thing the police arrested you for. Now we have the ensuing mobile revolution, crowdsourcing and gamification. Touch input has become a huge factor thanks to the iPhone and its competitors. Facebook is in the middle of its second peak, and Twitter looks like it might be running out of gas.
The blogosphere is tiered with elites who use a lot of interesting "influence" metrics, sector specific voices, and many who still struggle to be heard. The ties between success here, and success on social networks is undeniable, and many early voices have an advantage. At the same time content has become more versatile, and publishing mechanisms like Tumblr have made things much easier.
What hasn't changed is the fundamental underpinning of the social web - people. The faceless revolution in Egypt, and the use of social tools in that effort so clearly reminded us of this. Unfortunately, like prior forms of media, many organizations use social to market, rather than to build loyal communities. Influencer relations, content marketing, etc…, are all valid strategies, but only under the pretext of serving a community of people. It's a fine line between ROI and just chatter on Facebook, but organizations have yet to balance it well.
What is the biggest challenge traditional marketers face in engaging their audience in the new age of citizen media?
It's like that old De La Soul song, "Me Myself and I." So long as marketers beat their chests instead of participating in the larger community they will struggle. The new media have only added more choices so tolerance for anything less than valuable or interesting is at an all-time low. This will only increase with mobile media, and the increasingly ease of publishing content it brings with it.
The second big issue is shiny object syndrome. A lack of strategic approach has caused many marketers to make some decisions, which later seemed short-sighted. Methodical approaches towards social media with an eye toward integration in a larger program and again, ROI, is a critical factor in determining which tools to use... Not just because the New York Times wrote about it.
And what is the biggest opportunity?
Loyalty. And as the fictional character Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) said in Up In the Air, "There is nothing cheap about loyalty." Investing in relationships takes time. But isn't that what every brand wants, blood loyal customers?
Social is often very rewarding, and produces great outcomes, but it is an organic process. However, companies like Dell have been so moved by social media they are now trying to make it a part of their entire enterprise, literally training all 77,000 staff members on how to use social as part of their job. The power of relationships has won them over, and made them a better business. The Humane Society has had similar experiences in social and has made great strides to adopt these tools.
What is your favorite cause marketing case study from the book?
Tysons Foods and their effort to educate and end hunger. They did a great job making social media an opportunity to participate with the company and try to do something bigger. The Hunger Relief effort featured in-kind donations and social media resources to create awareness of hunger and those involved in the issue. Tysons became a part of the community, and as a result, I think this campaign was a big hit. I did publish the case study for folks who want a sneak peak.
