Talking to the Crowd

We hold the power of the world in our hands through Social Media - But we must have a plan!

"Talking to the Crowd" is the subject of my 45 minute keynote presentation as well as the focus of my interaction with business and enterprise.


Here are a random sampling of facts which illustrate why your business is out of touch with the modern economy if you are not connected and engaging in Social Media:

• It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, it took the internet just 4 years.  Facebook went to 50 million in 3 years and then to 350 million in less than 24 months. 
• Social Media users spend 17.5 hours a week on social media sites.
• The 100 million businesses in the world are only generating 20% of the data on the internet.  The remaining 80% is being generated by consumers (your customers) in personal engagement.  Now THAT is a conversation worth being part of!
• 5 of the worlds top 10 most visited sites are social networking sites (with Facebook at # 1). 
• These figures will grow exponentially as access to the internet becomes faster, easier and cheaper.

In short social media has become the dominant form of communication and because of this consumers have formed tight networks of people that they consider to be "just like me".  And those networks are TRUSTED.  Business and government are not. 90% of consumers say they trust social media recommendations.  Only 14% trust advertising. 

Consumers are hungry for engagement with your company and your product and the modern economy demands that you be there. 

To say that "crowd sourcing" is the future of business is to state a fact whose time is already here.  The good news is that this is the easiest train to catch.  It is not difficult to catch up - all it requires is a start and a little guidance and before long any business or enterprise will be among the crowd with the best of them. 

Facebook - why resistance is futile

My mother finally got onto Facebook today and I was her first confirmed friend.  This was no small event in my family but she still distrusts it intensely.  It was her arrival into the second biggest nation on earth that inspired me to write this short piece.

Facebook is unstoppable.  250 million people signed up last year and the total population will top 600 million in short order.  To call it a juggernaut is an anachronistic irony but it does express the idea of its unstoppable momentum.

Despite the furor early last year on it's privacy issues and numerous attempts at mass resignations Facebook has become this generation's standard for interaction and communication.  And it's not just Facebook for it's own sake.  Facebook is the biggest representation of the social media society.  It pretty much defines human civilization in the 21st century. Of course there is resistance - there always is to change.

Reasons for the resistance vary - I've heard a few: "I don't trust the bastards"; "I don't have time for it"; "It's voyeuristic"; "It's narcissistic" and "people should interact in person".  All of these are variations of "I just don't understand the modern world".

All the rules are changing - how we view the world; how we do business; how we see each other.

Those who are connected to the internet but who refuse the world of social media will increasingly find themselves isolated and disconnected. The same thing happened with email, the same thing happened with mobile phones. It becomes impossible to interact with a world when it doesn't recognise the way you are interacting with it.  If you sent me a personal letter in the mail, chances are I'll never see it.  I only empty my postbox when it can no longer fit any mail in it and then it gets dumped in a basket in my office where I'll one day make my way through it. Similarly for business, your customers will understand you less and less if they aren't engaged socially.

And as access becomes cheaper and faster and easier so you will see this steam train gather momentum.  Already almost 30,000 people a day are finding their way to the nation of Facebook.

So whether you like it or not we will all be swept away in the wave. And if you don't like it the best way to get that message out is to sign up, log-in and post it as a status update.

Resistance is indeed futile but instead of resigning oneself to it, find you're voice and embrace it.

Foursquare - The Unrealised Promise for Retail

We as consumers are driving the world more and more social. As we do business is under more and more pressure to embrace this brave new world.  Any business that does not know each of it's customers is flirting with the danger of becoming irrelevant.

On new years eve I had a very expensive dinner at Rich Bar & Grill with some friends.  As has become our routine we all checked in with Foursquare.  My good friend Daryl was delighted to be informed that he was now the Mayor of the eatery and we held a mini celebration at the table in honour of his achievement. However I was struck by the fact that the owner (who was there) had no clue - no one rushed up to offer him a free glass of bubbly or a pat on the back.

With a little more thinking on the subject I have concluded that Foursquare provides massive promise for retail stores.  South Africans live in a mall culture.  I don't have international stats but I would be willing to bet that we are more mall-reliant than most nations in the world.  This makes Foursquare the perfect tool.

In the example of the restaurant above, here are a few things they could do to generate a bit of loyalty.  An in an age of almost unlimited choice loyalty is on the most endangered of endangered species lists.

- Firstly and most obviously be on Foursquare themselves and be aware of who is checking in and what "tips" they are leaving.
- Encourage customers to get on Foursquare and check in and leave their tips. Offer specials that make it attractive (every 50th check in gets 10% or whatever).
- Instantly correct negative tips.
- Offer a special for the Mayor.  Make him or her feel like the Mayor.  Make them an ambassador for your brand by encouraging customers to compete for the Mayorship with due reward!

The above are probably the simplest of the basics but this would already start generating a little buzz around their brand.

I did a little checking around the world, just for coffee shops.  The average Star Bucks in LA has over 2500 Foursquare check-ins.  Mugg & Bean at Eastgate has 1.  At Bedford Centre it's a little better at 64 (my wife just became the Mayor - not that they know or care). So clearly there are gaps in the market that could be fantastically worked by a socially aware retail brand.

I'm sure that within a few months of this writing the space will become crowded which will leave further gaps for innovation and inspiration.

What a world we're living in!