Lucidity

In less than a year, between June 2007 and March 2008, the global percentage of active internet users who

• Read blogs increased from 66% to 73%.
• Belong to a social network increased from 36% to 58%.
• Watch video clips online has increase from 63% to a whopping 83%!

Source: Universal McCann Social Media Tracker Wave 3

With the rapid growth of social media, it’s no wonder that marketers are feeling a sense of urgency to join the conversation. Unfortunately, many don’t know where to start and, in their haste, are skipping strategy and jumping straight to tactics. They know there is opportunity in blogs, Facebook applications and Youtube channels, and opportunity cost in not participating when their competitors are. But marketers don’t always understand that without clear objectives and a solid strategy, those tactics are just as likely to be successful as they are to be the next “what not to do” case study. Or, perhaps more correctly, they do understand but aren’t equipped to separate the good opportunities from the bad.

Our goal is to change that by providing our clients and colleagues with a roadmap to navigate the world of consumer-to-consumer communication with confidence, using the free online tools that can be found in the social space itself.

Step One is determining your brand’s Social Position. Sure, there are already companies out there that specialize in measuring brand opinion in the social space. They provide a valuable service and we are not trying to compete with them. We simply want to provide marketers with a step-by-step guide that will allow them to take a quick temperature check. An afternoon in front of the computer should be enough to get a read on the following:

• Who is talking about your brand?
• What are they saying?
• Where are they gathering?
• When is the activity taking place?
• Why are they talking?

What do we hope to get out of this exercise? Knowledgeable clients ready to engage their agencies with confidence. Clients that are both receptive to cutting-edge social strategies and savvy enough to challenge the poorly conceived ones. Internal stakeholders who can recognize the potential in a social idea take an informed stand in support. And smart social campaigns that build brands while providing real value to consumers.

Stay tuned… our next post on the topic will provide a survey of the available tools.