Social Media Working Group, Guest Blogger
Book Review: Engage or Die by Brian Solis
This is a guest post by Robert Purcell. Robert is a member of the IIA Social Media Working Group which seeks to support businesses in the development of strategies for engaging with social media. As Marketing Manager for Post Consult International Ltd. (PCI), Robert’s main focus is developing the marketing and product strategy for the company’s Security Solutions offered under the corporate brand, Post.Trust. Post.Trust is a national-level Certificate Authority, wholly owned by An Post, providing security solutions that enable organisations to communicate with one another more securely and confidently in a trusted environment. You can find him on LinkedIn or @robgerard on Twitter.
Engage! Revised and Updated: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web
Brian Solis (Author), Ashton Kutcher (Foreword)
The second edition of Engage! written by social media thought leader Brian Solis really is a fascinating read. I haven’t read the first edition, but this instalment focuses more on enabling you to design a new media engagement program specific to your business and your customers. It empowers you to develop metrics and KPIs to measure the success of your activities and translate that data into bottom-line benefits. As anyone who has ever tried to champion a social media program within their organisation knows; the first question you are asked is, What’s the ROI of social media? This book will help you answer that question.
A word of warning though – Engage! is not a book you can pick up and read from cover to cover. Sections of the book are quite dense and academic – but then isn’t that what you would expect a Complete Guide to be? The book doesn’t define its target audience but whether you are new to social media or experienced in social media marketing, this book has plenty of substance and will serve as a source of reference in your social media activities. As Solis says, this is an opportunity to “hit ctrl-alt-del and restart with a fresh perspective”.
The book starts by defining social media and introducing the arsenal of social media tools available for creating touchpoints across the Social Web. It explores building a framework to amplify the visibility of your social objects, extending the reach of your online presence to new audiences, and defining the end game, ultimately guiding people to action through participating, listening and engagement.
Solis reminds us that understanding the rules of engagement is critical in this new world of socialised media. It’s about training and putting the necessary policies and guidelines in place to ensure everyone is singing from the same hymn book. The latter part of the book looks at the realignment and restructuring the organisation as part of this socialisation process. Finally, it focuses on the management of this social media activity; how to track, measure and translate that social data into tangible value for the business.
Solis discusses the concept of unmarketing as one of the most effective forms of marketing in this new genre of socialised media and really unmarketing underpins the ‘How’ organisations should use Social Media. Marketing is no longer about broadcasting brand messages – it’s about embodying the characteristics of your brand, being an active participant in the conversation, contributing value to earn relevance, build influence and create brand advocacy and loyalty toward a desired outcome.
At times, reading the book was a bit of a slog and I found myself going back over passages each time I picked it up because there was a lot to absorb. But on the whole, I found it uplifting and insightful, reaffirming my understanding of the real power of Social Media – so stick with it. Solis’s voice comes through the words on the page, inspiring the reader to embrace the social web, to champion new media engagement and become the expert to drive change within the organisation. The book is ‘peppered’ with frameworks, methodologies and tools to assist you in your journey towards building a two-way information bridge between the organisation and the online communities in those networks you choose to participate.
As Solis says, “The future of business is social”. Social Media cannot be confined to one person or department. The entire business must socialise. Organisations must embrace and ride the social wave or risk being engulfed by it.
“The greatest advantages of social media reside in its ability for worthy individuals and companies to shape perception, steer activity, incite action, and adapt to the communities that establish the market. Engage or die.”
Brian Solis is regarded as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. Engage! is available on iTunes, Kindle, online bookstores and a book store near you.
IIA Team
My last day with the IIA *sniff*
Today is my last working day as Membership, Marketing and Communications Manager with the Irish Internet Association. I’m going to work with one of our member companies Prosperity and looking forward to the change.
I will of course miss my colleagues Joan and Vicki much as I miss my daily interactions with Fergal, Irene and Darren who worked with me also during my time here.
But I think I will miss working with members a lot too. I know sometimes it may have seemed to you that I needed a lot of “reminding” to help you but there was also times when my thrice named role was a job for three people! However over the last three and a bit years I got into the habit of referring to myself as simply IIA Membership Manager. Another individual taking on this role that was newly created in 2008 might have found themselves focussing on the marketing or the communications but for me it was always about the members.
So a bit of advice for all members based on how I have seen some of our members really make the most of their IIA Membership:
- Get involved: share content, write a guest blog post, volunteer in our working groups.
- Come to events: the discount for members on two to three paid events will easily cover the cost of your membership.
- Share your views here on the blog, in our LinkedIn DISCUSSION (ahem!) group, on our Facebook page and even now in our Digital Digest.
- Network online: see point 3 above.
- Network offline: come to Meetball or better still present at it (especially those of you who want to tender to be an IIA Training Partner: gives us a chance to get an idea of your unique presentation skills)
- Email us or pick up the phone and ask us to help. Honestly two heads are better than one, especiallywhen one of them who isn’t stuck right in your problem. Consider us a sounding board for your online business.
The more the IIA knows about what you are up to the better we can connect, promote and inform!
So it’s goodbye from me but you can of course find me in numerous places online 🙂
Net Visionary Awards 2011
Nominations are open for Net Visionary 2011: some new categories
The hallowed day has arrived. Actually it arrived on 27th June but I have been busy training my new colleague Vicki in advance of my departure from the IIA so apologies for not noting this sooner on the blog.
Nominations for the 13th Annual Net Visionary Awards are open!
You can go right ahead click on the image above to nominate your favourite online business in 14 different categories.
But before you dash off I thought I would draw your attention to our new categories.
We have done away with a few (sorry!), updated three (mobile app developer, social media & digital marketing) and created 4 entirely new categories:
- Best Open Data Initiative
- Best Breakthrough Brick to Click
- Best Cloud Service
- Best Rookie
We’re particularly excited about these 4 categories (yes, yes, of course, you’re all winners to us) because they reflect changing technologies, society and practices. We devised Best Breakthrough Brick to Click to recognise some of the amazing cases we’ve heard about over the last year and a half or so while running our 8 Ways series for Online Retailers (although nominees don’t have to be just retailers!). Best Rookie was devised to recognise not only graduates who are making a splash in online business but also those who have made a change to their career to get involved in any aspect of online business.
After the success of Open for Business it made perfect sense for us to celebrate Open Data Initiatives and we’re hoping the shortlist will be an inspiration to many other initiatives in the future. Best Cloud Service acknowledges some of the fabulous and innovative cloud projects that have grown up, many of them wholly Irish, in the last few years.
So now you are dismissed to go and nominate to your heart’s content. Nominations close 29 July 2011.
Uncategorized
Commissioner launches guidance on new data protection requirements
Commenting on the new requirements, the Commissioner stated “I am pleased that the Minister has introduced new legal requirements which recognise that the challenges to the maintenance of individual privacy are becoming increasingly complex in today’s electronic age. Individuals must be able to enjoy the benefits of new technology while at the same time remaining in control of their privacy. These new requirements give individuals new rights which my Office will enforce.
I particularly welcome the fact that the Minister has responded to public concern over data breach incidents by introducing strict requirements for service providers in this area with the ability for my Office to bring prosecutions where such requirements are not followed. I am also pleased that individuals can no longer be bothered on their mobile phones by direct marketers unless they have given their prior agreement.”
The main new requirements are:
- Compulsory notification of individuals and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in the case of data breaches
- More stringent requirements for user consent for the placing of “cookies” on electronic devices
- Stricter requirements for the sending of electronic marketing messages and the making of marketing phone calls
Data Breaches
All telecommunications companies and internet service providers are now required to notify the Data Protection Commissioner of every data breach involving a subscriber. They are also required to notify customers in all cases where there is a risk their data may be accessed. Failure to do so can lead to prosecution by the Commissioner with a fine of up to €5,000 per instance. The Commissioner can also for the first time prosecute companies in this area for allowing a data breach with fines on indictment of up to €250,000.
Cookies
Any company or website placing information, usually by way of what is known as a cookie, on user equipment (computer, smartphone etc) must provide appropriate information to the user and collect their consent except in limited circumstances where the cookie is strictly necessary for the provision of the service in question. In practice this means that websites placing cookies on user equipment that are not deleted when the user leaves their website must identify a means of obtaining user consent.
Electronic Marketing & Phonecalls
In a strengthening of the laws in this area, it is now an offence for any company or entity to phone a person on their mobile phone for a marketing purpose without having obtained their prior consent for such contact. The requirements now extend to all forms of marketing carried out by means of a publicly available electronic communications service – including, for example, the soliciting of support for charitable organisations or political parties.