Brian Solis's Blog, page 116

The Accidental Narcissist And The Future Of [Connected] Customer Engagement

Have you ever noticed that your Facebook News Feed is the digital equivalent to “It’s a Wonderful Life?” Perhaps you’ve likened your Instagram stream to that of  “Lifestyles of the Digital Rich and Internet Famous.”

In each network, and across multiple social streams, you’re fed a visual buffet of seflies, travel, food, fashion, and celebrations. In assemblage, they tell the story of life well lived, or at least a life well curated. At the center of each of these experiences is the person living and sharing them in real time.  Every day that passes, it seems that a growing network of our friends, family, and colleagues are charmed with this picturesque life.

Some may see this behavior as self-centered, self-promotional, or view it as a form of attention seeking, but at a human level, it’s simply a new form of self-expression and an open invitation to interact.

But who are we kidding? It’s not just everyone else, we might as well be talking about ourselves.  It’s a social world after all and shared experiences are the epicenter of a growing majority of engagement. As such, we’re introduced to a new law of social physics, if you will, where for every action there is an equal or greater reaction. The truth is that social sharing is part self-expression and also part provocation. People share to communicate who they are or who they want to be, while concurrently hoping to incite a reaction that validates or substantiates their intended online persona.

This phenomenon may seem like a personal discussion, but I can assure you that it has everything to do with your business.

I’d like to officially introduce you to your connected customer. I believe it’s about time we get to know the connected set to better understand how to engage them in social and mobile networks now and throughout the entire customer lifecycle.

It’s all about you and me…but mostly me

If you’re reading this, then you’re most likely the very person you’re trying to reach. You’re connected, always on, unabashedly multitasking, and living across multiple screens each and every day. You live a digital lifestyle and without realizing it, you and others like you, are gradually exhibiting slivers of narcissism. Believe me, I say this with the utmost discretion. You can’t help it of course. These networks prompt you to share your world, your way, all day, every day. And each time we do, we contribute to our “egosystem,” where we are the center of our own digital universe. Experiences and engagement represent the orbits that bring us together.

Let’s visit planet Facebook and its orbiting moon Instagram for a moment. Facebook is now home to over one billion digital denizens. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly about 12 percent of planet Earth. Instagram is a fledgling digital society in its own right. At 100 million residents and counting, a culture of sharing one’s experiences is further enhanced by the ability to instantly enhance them with a creative filter, broadcast them across multiple networks, and earn the attention and reaction of a boundless and seemingly idle audience.

The question is, if everyone is busy sharing content, then who is consuming it? This is also the law of social attraction. It’s a reciprocal relationship where to earn reactions, one must equally or progressively react. How do you do that if the real-time web moves in real-time?

The age of prevalence

Understanding digital behavior has never known greater importance. As it evolves,  we need to appreciate its velocity and impact. For example, on Facebook, conversations lose momentum in an hour, give or take. The reason for this is because people consume until they create. As they create, expectations shift as characteristics of narcissism take over. What about Instagram? Allow me to share some revealing behavioral stats that will make you say “Wow.”

Statigram is a third-party tool that tracks activity on Instagram. According to a fascinating article in pdn (Photo District News) written by Kathleen Hay, Statigram tracked the number of photos tagged “selfie,” social slang for self-portrait (yes, that’s a thing.) At 11 p.m. PST on December 28, 2012, the number of selfies numbered at a noteworthy 5.5 million. The egosystem wouldn’t be the same without the “me” in social media. At the same time, photos tagged ‘me’ completely eclipsed “selfie” with a staggering 72.6 million self-portraits. Added together, you start to get the picture of just how prominent the egosystem is becoming.

In the article, Hay introduces us to Dr. Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology and author of Generation Me and co-author of The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement. The titles alone convey that connected consumerism is nothing like the conventional customers you once knew. To better understand the crux of selfies and the digital “me,” Twenge explains that at the core of narcissism is this invention or aspiration that people are better or more important than in reality. In the digital realm however, perception is reality.

Agree or disagree, this is your connected customer. And in many ways, you and those you know are among them.

How can you re-imagine your engagement strategies to align with and inspire the “me” in social media? How does — or how can — your brand evoke an experience that elicits self-expression? And how will your brand become part of the egosystem and create a gravitational pull for others to orbit?

Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube | Instagram

Is Freedom of Tweet a Right or a Wrong?

Twitter and Facebook are under fire for the role each platform plays in unknowingly tolerating flagrant hate-fueled, public-facing obscenity and outright threats.  Twitter was targeted as the result of  an advocate for honoring women on British currency was deluged with sickening rape threats. Facebook too has been criticized for its molasses-like pace for contending with hate posts and groups. In the case of Twitter, its UK branch reaffirmed its position against hate by publishing a post that acknowledged complaints and also introduced new mechanisms for flagging offending posts.

When my friend Doug Gross at CNN reached out for comment on whether or not Twitter, Facebook and social networks as a whole were doing enough to protect users, I had to speak up. With such a charged and important topic, I couldn’t however speak in traditional media-friendly sound bites. Here’s what I had to say…

Expressed hate and abuse is unfortunately part of our society and it is now also part of our real-time digital culture. As we live the digital lifestyle, our expectations are such that any menace should not only be dealt with accordingly, it should be done immediately. Twitter represents a new medium that the world hasn’t seen before. To protect its users, it must invest in automated and manual safety and reporting mechanisms as it grows. Believe it or not, the company is also ensuring the overall operation of its platform supporting 400 million Tweets per day.

At the same time, as users, we have a responsibility to learn what a Tweet actually means. The idea of “freedom of Tweet” does not supersede law. Expression aimed at hurting or threatening someone is indeed a threat heard around the world. Could Twitter do more? Of course. Removing Tweets, listening to users, and working with enforcement officials will curb this negative behavior, or at least provide a system for recognized consequences. It will not eliminate “hate” altogether as that is a regrettable function of our society. And, Twitter itself is its own digital society. As such, protection and a form of empowered “neighborhood watch”groups will be necessary to protect and serve Twitter’s denizens.

What are your thoughts? What else should Twitter, Facebook and the like (and you and me) do to improve the egosystem?

Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube | Instagram

Image Credit: Shutterstock

STUDY: Social Business Strategy – Vision, Purpose and Value drive a new era of digital engagement

In an era when media is largely created and broadcast by the few to the many, social media emerged to facilitate the co-creation of media in addition to creating it. While difficult to trace its origins, the philosophy of social media dates back to the mid-1990s. It wasn’t until the mid 2000s however, that businesses would encounter the idea of a new medium where brand democracy prevailed over brand dictatorship.

Suddenly the voice of the customer took on an entirely new meaning and the promise of customer-centricity and engagement was thrust into the spotlight. But after all these years, businesses remain confounded. Even though most are experimenting with social media, how it improves relationships while impacting important business metrics is persistently elusive.

Here we are in 2013, firmly planted in the notion that social media is critical to business and customer relationships. Yet, experts to this day wrestle with the ability to tether intuition with data and creativity with business acumen. [See The 7 Success Factors of Social Business Strategy.]

In a connected economy where information becomes a powerful currency, social data will only help you benchmark where you are to help visualize where you could be. The relationship between aspiration and reality now become a more informed set of goals and objectives driven by benchmarking against the industry and more importantly, benchmarking against possibilities.

Each year, the Pivot team studies the evolving social landscape. For our 2012 -2013, “State of Social Marketing” report, we surveyed 181 social marketers and digital strategists who represent agencies and brands. What we learned is that the fundamental drivers for social media have radically transformed.

What’s clear however is that social media and the allure of conversations matter. At the top of the list, brands and marketers agree that conversations lift both brand and relevance. It’s the new stimulus and relevance is appropriate to the matter at hand.

 

When asked of the benefits for social media, 2013 goals largely matched 2011 expectations with the exception of sales and lead generation.

As you can see, primary goals fluctuated over the years, shifting toward a more customer-centric approach. Customer engagement, awareness, influence, satisfaction, and service top 2013 social goals whereas sales was off the charts in 2011.

Over the years, social marketers took a publish first ask second approach in social strategies. Assumptions outweighed intelligence. But in 2012, businesses started to realign customer expectations with social media strategies. In 2013 planning, social strategists now believe exclusive content is more important than customer service (2011).

The Top 10 Assumptions of Social Consumer Expectations

Exclusive content
Insight to make decisions (Moments of Truth)
Customer service
Be part of a community
Deals/Promotions
Learn about new products
Ability to provide feedback for improvement (Influence Loop)
Inclusive experience in social absent of websites
Loyalty/Rewards for engagement
Social commerce

So if we know social is important, what’s holding social marketers back this year? Planning for 2013 based on 2012 and 2011 hurdles remain close to constant.

Top 7 Planning Hurdles for 2013

Budget
A clear vision on outcomes
Executive skepticism
Lack of metrics
Lack of understanding of benefits
Lack of cross functional support
Absence of vision and overall strategy for the brand

Part of the planning challenges reflects a fire, ready, aim as opposed to a ready, aim, fire philosophy around social media. Planning is often campaign or engagement centric without a deeper understanding of needs, expectations and of course customer behavior. Even in the absence of clear and present business objectives and outcomes, executive buy in has risen.

In 2013, businesses will evolve from a more skeptical or cautious view of social into something that explores rhyme, rhythm, and reason.

The lineup of usual suspects in social media hasn’t changed much in the last year with the exception of Pinterest rising into the fourth spot in the top 5 social networks brands are paying attention to. This move comes at the expense of Google+.

How will organizations measure social media success in 2013? The answer is engagement.

Social media however is only part of a larger digital movement that’s impacting business from the inside out and the bottom up. This is perhaps the most important part of this study and here it is buried. Regardless of your opinion regarding the word “digital,” the bigger trend is digital’s disruption on business and overall consumerism. When asked what keeps marketers up at night, the list was great.

At the top of the list was the mobile experience. At the core however, every trend was related to customer engagement across all channels. I dare not say omnichannel as that assumes a one-size-fits-all mentality. Channels and screens relate to the context of the individual within the dynamic customer journey. As such, those trends that scored “5s” signify the great impact of digital disruption.

Top 10 Disruptive Digital Trends

Mobile experience
Content management
Digital customer experience (The Experience)
Brand journalism
New metrics/ROI
Integrated experiences
Business intelligence
Big data
Social CRM
Social media optimization

 

 

A prescient pillar of leadership takes more than intuition. It takes research balanced with a human algorithm. You can’t make decisions about technology and behavior if you are not part of the very culture that’s disrupting your business. Nor can you open engaging touch points if you’re unfamiliar with the new journey of decision-making. Yet even today, businesses are largely making assumptions based not on the expectations or behavior of customers but instead the best practices of their peers.

In 2011, 77% of brands believed they understood their social customers, yet only 35% did the work to better understand them.

In 2012, the number of businesses that had a clear picture of their social customers dropped to 62%

In 2011 and 2012 businesses largely ignored their customer’s digital needs and actions with 53% and 54% respectively not attempting to explore the differences between what they think they want and what they really want.

When in Doubt…Begin!

Charlene Li and I published an Altimeter Group report earlier this year that found businesses simply weren’t aligning business goals with social media objectives. To realize the promise the promise of social media however, strategists will have to make the effort to demonstrate business value, consumer trends, and the ability to use disruptive technology to disrupt competition rather than be disrupted by it.

This year, realize that your greatest assets are both humility and aspiration. Your ability to see things differently will in fact drive you to do things differently. By applying a new philosophy and methodology to your digital approach will naturally make your business and your overall strategy…meaningful and social. This is after all, about experiences now more than ever.

Benchmark against best in class, not just the competition
Research customer behavior and expectations
Consider existing and potentially new business objectives – align business and digital strategies accordingly
Apply needs and expectations within engagement and content strategies
Design dedicated yet united experiences across digital channels considering the context of behavior within each screen
Create a path of least resistance that maximizes the capabilities of each platform and screen
Re-imagine your vision and value for how disruptive technology enables a more meaningful mission and purpose
Embrace data science and digital anthropology to stay ahead of customer trends and the competition
Plug in to your customer experience as it exists and uncover points of friction…then fix it to provide a seamless journey from the inside out

10. Listen. Learn. Engage. Adapt.

Join us at the Pivot Conference this year in New York on October 15th and 16th

The State of Social Marketing 2012-2013 – Pivot Conference from Brian Solis

Self-Serve Information: Now, We’re All Passive-Aggressive

Guest Post by Jay Baer, a hype-free social media and content strategist & speaker, and author of Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype. Jay is the founder of http://convinceandconvert.com and host of the Social Pros podcast.

One of the most interesting dynamics of the recent huge shifts in consumer behavior is that we need more information, but far fewer transactions involve face-to-face interactions with other people. This truly is the era of self-serve information.

How many times have you purposefully chosen to not fill out a contact form on a website because you didn’t want to be called, or even emailed? I’ll bet more than a few times. Even if it’s a product in which you have a genuine interest, you’ll avoid filling out that form until the last possible moment, preferring instead to kick the informational tires yourself.

”Smartphone” is a misnomer. We’re not using them to make phone calls. A decade ago I easily received 20 or more calls per day. Now, it’s three or four. Instead, I have a menagerie of inboxes, with asynchronous messages streamed to me from email, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, my blog and text messages, as well as notifications from topic-specific websites like TripAdvisor.com. No wonder we want our information to be self-serve. We just want to be left alone!

Usage data proves this point. From 2009 to 2011 American females’ use of voice minutes on mobile phones decreased by 12%. During the same period their text messages sent and received increased by 35%. For men, it increased 44%.

And, if middle-aged men like me are going the passive-aggressive, self-serve route, imagine the behavior pattern of tomorrow’s dominant consumer cohorts? As chronicled on this blog by Brian Solis, new media pundit and author of What’s the Future of Business?, Sitel and TNS released research in 2012 that determined that 71% of U.K. residents between the ages of 16 and 24 will search for a solution online before contacting a company directly.

Generational marketing consultant Kelly McDonald, author of How to Market to People Not Like You, believes the impact of mobile Internet is, if anything, being underreported because of the propensity to use average figures to explain the trend. Averages include the mobile Internet usage of people who may never fully embrace it, such as her mother.

“My mom is 76,” McDonald says. “It’s not that she’s a technophobe, but she’s never going to be as comfortable with technology as someone who has not had to adapt to it, who has had it all their lives. Before the Internet, the greatest invention was electricity, but I grew up with it, so I don’t appreciate it. I flip the lights on, and they come on. But there was a time when electricity was amazing and awe-inspiring, and it made everything more efficient. So in the same way that our generation takes electricity for granted, younger people today take the Internet for granted, and because they grew up with it, they have no reason to not trust the information they find there. But my mom does not trust it. She doesn’t know if her mobile deposit ‘went through.’ She’d rather go to the branch and see them in-person.”

Death of the Salesmen

We used to talk to a real person as a first step. To get familiar with the company. To learn more. To create bonds. Not now. Now we talk to a real person as a last resort when we’ve exhausted the supply of Zero Moments of Truth (in the parlance of Google’s book by the same name that Brian also discussed in WTF) and have a query so specific only a human being can answer it.

This is most egregiously true in a category where the transactional stakes are often the highest: business to business marketing. In 2011 the Corporate Executive Board surveyed 1,900 B2B customers to uncover insights about purchasing behavior and found that customers will contact a sales rep only after independently completing 60% of the purchasing decision process. Sixty percent of the decision is made before the prospect identifies himself. Sixty percent of the decision is made before a call, or an email, or an entry into your lead tracking database. Customers are ninjas now. They are stealthily evaluating you right under your nose.

This has manifest consequences on the role of salespeople, whose job used to be to develop and nurture relationships. No longer. The role of the salesperson is now to answer specific questions capably and quickly, and to close deals that became possible due to the self-serve research performed by the customer. What does that 60% figure mean for marketers? A lot, according to the Corporate Executive Board’s Ana Lapter.

“The 60% mark is in that part of the mid-funnel that is critical in terms of driving the buyers’ consideration of a supplier for a potential purchase,” Lapter says. “Therefore, marketing needs to de-emphasize tasks like thought leadership and white papers, and focus more on advanced activities, such as diagnosing purchasing needs and identifying internal barriers to purchase.”

Marketing needs less top of mind awareness and more Youtility. Sounds about right to me.

Youtility Excerpt:

Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype – Exclusive Free Excerpt from Jay Baer

Youtility Trailer:

 

YOU are at the center of The Conversation Prism

JESS3 and I debuted versions 4.0 and 4.1 of The Conversation Prism (TCP) recently to an overwhelming response. Thank you. The initial post was intended to share the evolution of the popular infographic along with the transformation of the social landscape over all. Over the years, new startups, sunsets, acquisitions, mergers, and shifts in trends and technology have played out in true Shakespearean fashion, which has made for truly dramatic theater.Excietment and turmoil aside, The Conversation Prism is in of itself, one of the industry’s most comprehensive visual studies of how we use networks and how that changes over time.

Since the latest iteration, which by the way comes almost two-and-a-half years following the release of version 3.0, interesting conversations and debates continue to bloom. I believe this interaction is healthy and it only helps an industry straddled with confusion and also opportunity, to better understand how to move in a meaningful direction. I’d like to share a few thoughts on this front…

1) It was not intended to over-complicate social media.

2) It is not designed to exclude any service, merely represent behavior and some of the promising networking within each category.

3) It is not meant to be all-inclusive. In fact with 4.0, we’ve sparked development of new TCP’s to focus on important vertical markets. If you have thoughts or feedback, please provide them in the comments section. I listen.

4) Taking issues with an individual spectrum is welcome. But I challenge you to think about intention and the CENTER of the prism to make the conversation more productive rather than a debate that is out of context from the onset.

5) This is designed to help you. Downloads in various sizes and shapes are available freely for you to download and share. Take your pick here. Because many have asked, it was also printed as a high-quality 22 x 28 poster. You can order it here.

6) And, yes…it’s unfortunate that the word Prism also means something else now. However, it is what it is. In many ways the irony is too great to abandon.

In the very least, The Conversation Prism represents an ongoing exploration in digital ethnography providing a unique snapshot in time of the social landscape dating back to 2007/2008. Comparing each version will provide an excellent foundation for historical research. It’s a catalyst for analysis, dissection and most importantly, interpretation and conversation.

At the center of all of this is YOU and that’s what I’d like to focus on today.

Getting to the Heart of The Conversation Prism

The hub of The Conversation Prism is comprised of four concentric circles that visualize a continuous cycle of renewal. Each halo builds upon the other to advance strategies and intentions as we experiment, learn and improve.

Halo 1: Bringing it Home: The Brand YOU

The center of TCP is literally “you.” This was intentional and true going back to version 1.0.  You have no business creating a presence in every network. You should only manage a presence where it’s warranted. Whether you’re merely listening or building communities, the idea was to explore your opportunities beyond the usual suspects (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, et al.) and find the networks where you can gain or introduce value.

Value is to be defined however as it’s not solely relegated to traditional ROI. Brand resonance or equity, relationships, reciprocity, thought leadership, intelligence, etc., are all on the table.

Halo 2: Vision. Purpose. Value. Commitment. Transparency.

Once you’ve defined the YOU and the role you play or wish to play in social, consider the pillars for meaningful engagement.

Vision – What is your vision for social media and how would you articulate it to your executives and stakeholders.

Purpose – What is the motivation or grounds for social media and how can it be justified against other investment opportunities?

Value – Social and relationships involve more than one party and value must be mutual. What is the value you intend to deliver and how will you assess and communicate value?

Commitment – Before you invest in social, understand the commitment necessary to provide and gain value as you scale. Allocate accordingly.

Transparency – This is an era of business where information isn’t only democratized, networks and nodes are becoming human. It’s essential that all of the pillars above are communicated and enlivened in all you do and say.

Halo 3: Brand, Lines of Business, and Corporate Functions

Social is not a silo or a function, it is a way of business. It is intended to mature business perspective from a command and control mentality to that of engagement and openness. As such, it’s bigger than marketing, it affects employees, customers, and all of the processes and systems that exist between them.

Halo 4: Always Be Improving (ABI) – Listen. Learn. Adapt.

Often, there’s what you want to talk about and what they (customers and employees) want to talk about. Mutual value lies somewhere in the middle. It’s often said that the best listeners make the best conversationalists. The last stage in the center of The Conversation Prism reminds us of the importance of listening. In doing so, we learn and adapt to improve all that we do inside and outside the company.

Each of the concentric circles is designed to work together, to help you improve strategies and results to improve the way you work, how you build relationships with employees and customers, the ability to create and improve better products, services and experiences, and overall, the role you play and the stature you earn as a result.

For more, please visit theconversationprism.com.

Free downloads.

Get the poster.

The 2013 Social Media Landscape [Infographic]

 

After almost two-and-half years, it is with great pleasure that I officially unveil the fourth edition of The Conversation Prism. Viewed and downloaded millions of times over, The Conversation Prism in its various stages has captures snapshot of important moments in the history and evolution of Social Media.

For those unfamiliar with The Conversation Prism, it is an evolving infographic that captures the state of social media, organized by how important social networks are used by professional and everyday consumers. It was created to serve as a visual tool for brands to consider unforeseen opportunities through a holistic lens. Over the years, it has served as a business tool as well as art decorating the walls and screens of offices, conference halls, and also homes.

With research beginning in 2007, the original Conversation Prism debuted in 2008 as a visual map of the social media landscape. Years and four iterations later, it remains an ongoing study in digital ethnography that tracks dominant and promising social networks and organizes them by how they’re used in everyday life.

It is provided as a free download in many sizes and shapes here.

Why is The Conversation Prism More Than a Pretty Infographic?

The Conversation Prism is important because it is the ONLY research-driven map that explores the evolution of the social web dating back to the rise of social media.

It is a combination of research and digital ethnography. It groups networks by how people use them. It includes both leading and promising networks. It’s not intended to show every network, but instead how the shape of the social web is changing and who the front runners are pushing social media in new directions.

The Conversation Prism was designed to help strategists see the bigger picture in the evolution of social media beyond the most popular and trendy sites. It is intended to help in a number of ways…

1. As a form of validation to show executives that social media is not a fad and that it’s bigger than Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Pinterest.

2. To motivate teams to find new ways to think about social media and explore new ways to improve experiences and relationships.

3. Provide a top-level view to help strategists study the landscape as they plan their next social media strategy.

History: When were the previous versions released?

1.0 = August 2008 (pictured above)

2.0 = March 2009

3.0 = October 2010

4.0 = July 2013

What’s new with Version 4.0?

Version 4.0 is the latest update in the two-and-half years since 3.0 (pictured above) was introduced in 2010. It also features an entirely new design.

Version 4.0 brings about some of the most significant changes since the beginning. In this round, we moved away from the flower-like motif to simplify and focus the landscape.

With all of the changes in social media, it would have been easier to expand the lens. Instead, we narrowed the view to focus on those that are on a path to mainstream understanding or acceptance.

The result was the removal of 122 services while only adding 113. This introduces an opportunity for a series of industry or vertical-specific Prisms to be introduced.

Overview of Categories Added:

1. Social Marketplace

2. Enterprise Social Networks (shortened to “Enterprise” for formatting, companies included here were previously grouped under “Nicheworking”, which we redefined.)

3. Influence

4. Quantified Self

5. Service Networking

Categories Removed

1. Virtual Worlds

2. Blogs/Conversations

3. sCRM

4. Attention/Communication Dashboards

5. DIY + Custom Social Networks

6. Collaboration

Why is it Called a Conversation “Prism?”

I get this question all the time. And in light of activity related to the NSA, Prism takes on an entirely new meaning. Additionally, the Conversation Prism is often referred to as a color wheel, but to do so, takes away from it’s the beauty of its design and purpose.

Using a “prism” metaphor was intended figuratively and literally…

Using the traditional definition, a prism separates white light into a spectrum of colors. The “white light” in this case, is the focused stream of conversations that are often grouped, but not separated by voice, context, source, or outcome. We take this beam of dialog and blast it into a spectrum of discernible light, let’s call it enlightenment, to see, hear, learn and adapt. We quite literally bring conversations to light. Used figuratively, it references the clarification or distortion afforded by a particular viewpoint…for example, “We view conversations across the networks through the prism of our social dashboard.”

Each shade of color represents an entirely unique reflection of light, meaning separating context and intention by network.

Original designs refracted the light of conversations vertically, like so many traditional prism images you see. But, as the social web grew, we shaped the refracted light into a circle to help everyday people understand that the days of one audience, one voice, one story were over. We now had to envision, organize, and understand that conversations take place in communities that we don’t yet realize…obviously far beyond Facebook and Twitter.

The Age of Context: Context is King!

The social landscape is evolving with increasing acceleration. As you can see throughout every iteration of the Prism, the number of networks that vanish and emerge is staggering. But more importantly, the nature and focus of how networks are used is also dramatic in its changes. In some cases we see the move to smaller or more concentrated networks and at the same time the visual “social” web is becoming more pervasive. We are moving into an era of context where what we share, how we interact and how we form relationships is moving away from a general social graph to a distributed yet organized network defined by shared interests.

The Conversation Prism is available as a poster for $20 or as a free digital download in a variety of resolutions and sizes. 4.0 is available exclusively at www.conversationprism.com

For more, please visit:

Mashable

The Next Web

All Twitter

LaughingSquid

Cool Infographics

Alltop

 

 

Your invitation to events in Paris and London

These last few months have certainly been a wonderful whirlwind. With the debut of What’s the Future of Business (WTF), a research report co-produced with Altimeter Group colleague Charlene Li (The Evolution of Social Business: Six Stages of Social Media Transformation), and the roll out of the all new Conversation Prism (v 4.0), I’ve been inspired by all of your support each step of the way. Thank you.

It is with great privilege that I announce a special book tour in Paris and London July 8th to the 15th. To mark the occasion, there are several events that I’d like to share with you. RSVP information below…

PARIS
July 9th – 19h-21h – VIP Paris Yacht

 

A floating networking + cocktail reception on the Seine.

Hosted in partnership with WIHP (a premier hotel marketing agency), Elegancia Hotels (I’m staying at Hotel Armoni) and VIP Paris, we will toast to you and the future of business!

VIP Paris Yacht: Port de la Rapée, 75012 Paris

Please RSVP: virginie@wihphotels.com

July 10th – 18h30 – 20h – Paris

 

A private salon where I will present themes and findings from WTF. Attendees will receive a complimentary copy of the book. This exclusive event is sponsored by SFR and hosted by Béatrice Duboisset of TweetBosses and Francois Vogel

Please request an invitation.

LONDON
July 11th – 18h30 – The Clubhouse London

 

Join us at the style Clubhouse for a cocktail reception at 18h30. Organized by WIHP, LikeMinds, The Clubhouse and hosted by the lovely Gabrielle Laine-Peters, we will celebrate the evolution of new media and business and our role in defining its future!

Please RSVP: virginie@wihphotels.com

July 12th – 9:00 – Adobe, May Fair Hotel, London

 

Adobe hosts an exclusive event for brands and agencies where I’ll speak about What’s the Future of Business and the rise of the connected customer. It’s also an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

We’ll also discuss…

- How leadership can survive Digital Darwinism

- The Four Moments of Truth

- Navigating the evolving landscape of new consumerism

- How to align user experience with innovation and leadership to improve business performance and engagement

Space is strictly limited to 200 by invitation only. The first 100 to register will also receive a copy of WTF.

Please RSVP.

July 12th – 18h45, B2B Huddle

 

Sponsored by Dell and hosted by Microsoft, the B2B Huddle will comprise a blend of listening and learning alongside meeting and speaking, plus a strong element of social with a light dinner and drinks. The event is organized by Neville Hobson and Kerry Bridge.

I will share highlights from WTF, explain the evolution of the B2B customer journey and also answer your questions.

Please RSVP here.

Thank you

I do hope to see you at one or more of these events!

None of this would be possible without the help of amazing people of course. I would like to take a moment to send a very special, heartfelt thank you to…

Phil Butler, Pamil Visions

Martin Soler, WIHP Hotels

Béatrice Duboisset

Francois Vogel, Textuel La Mine

Pascale Azria, Kingcom

Gabrielle Laine-Peters

Jeremy Waite, Adobe

Natacha Heurtault

SnapChat Targets Tweens with SnapKidz – Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husband…

Snapchat has yet to show any signs of self-destructing. In fact, it’s blowing up. Nielsen recently reported that Snapchat had more than 8 million unique users in May 2013 with adults on Nielsen’s U.S. panel accessing the app on average 34 times that month. Snapchat now sees 200 million snaps exchanged per day, up from 60 million in February. According to my good friend Jennifer Van Grove at CNET, that places Snapchat in the league of the majors. Facebook for example,sees 350 million photo uploads per day.

The young company also recently snapped up $60 million from Institutional Investment Partners at an $800 million valuation. Yes, it’s close to joining the billion dollar club. In this round, the company’s cofounders, Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, reportedly sold personal shares in a secondary offering at $20 million or $10 million each.

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t – From SnapChat to SnapKidz

As the network continues to mature, it must explore new tools and services to help ease concerns of a provocative subculture that knows no age limit. To do so, SnapChat introduced SnapKidz, an age-gated version for honest users (aka kids or tweens) under 13. I shared some of my thoughts on the new app with Joanna Stern over at ABC News. I’ve shared part of the discussion below…

SnapKidz is a clever app and an even more ingenious solution to address Generation Z. SnapKidz is embedded within Snapchat and unlocks automatically when children indicate that their age is in fact under 13. The modified app however doesn’t allow younger children to sure pictures however. But, they’re permitted to capture pictures and add captions and drawings to each. I’m sure it’s fun in its own way and of course, kids will find a way to share them. They will not self-destruct however.

Generation Z is an important market for the future of mobile and social networking. If we thought that Millennials were digital natives, Generation Z will make everyone blush. Providing them with an app is part branding and part CYA. While popular, Snapchat is also synonymous with adult-like interactions that really are meant to self-destruct. To comply with COPPA (the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), Snapchat offers a proactive age-gate fix for kids interested the app with safety nets built in for those who tell the truth. This is noteworthy and important. Not only are kids prevented from sharing, they are also protected from receiving explicit content from older kids and adults.

While I believe that many children will use the app, I also believe that kids will be kids. The appeal of Snapchat isn’t the ability to take pictures and caption or draw on them. The attraction is the self-destruct feature which naturally begets curiosity.

Be warned however. Treat Snapchat as if the pictures you share can find a way online. There are always interesting ways discovered to take a screenshot of a supposedly self-destructing picture. My advice here is to parents…please check your kid’s phones. They need supervision and guidance. And, parents also need to be aware. Just because they don’t understand this world doesn’t excuse the fact that these new worlds exist. Let’s not forget that Instagram is taking off among Generation Z not because it was “safe,” but instead because parents initially mistook the thriving social network as a simple camera app.

Yes…you can find me on Snapchat.

#WTF

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Doing Good Means Good Business: Peter Glatzer and Adrian Grenier Make SHFT Happen

Conversations about the environment and sustainability are important. But, there may be a prevailing sense that those doing the talking might inadvertently create an “us versus them” conversation. Instead, there is an opportunity to consider everyday lifestyle center point to then examine how the choices we make impact society from a personal point of view. Lifestyle is also something that’s aspirational and as such, requires an ecosystem to inform and empower our everyday decisions without reproach.

“SHFT Environmentalists Say”

SHFT is not just another site about becoming environmentally friendly or promoting sustainability. Those are antiquated and anachronistic according to co-founder and indie film producer Peter Glatzer. Instead, when Glatzer along with Entourage star Adrian Grenier discussed the original idea, the duo set out to shift how people today embrace and promote positive changes in consumer and lifestyle behavior.

Instead of launching just another blog or online network dedicated to environmentalism, Glatzer and Grenier invested in building a digital media platform where people can read, watch, shop and share all things sustainable. Today, it’s a thriving community to explore and share products and ideas appealing to non-treehuggers.

While at SXSW 2013, I spent some time with Glatzer at the official SHFT party hosted at Springdale Farm in Austin. We discussed SHFT, its future, as well as the debut of the new label of SHFT’s sustainable wines.

“We don’t think of ourselves as a movement. When you look at environmentalism, it’s ghettoized. What we’re trying to do is fold the idea of being conscious about the environment into everything we do in life…all the choices we make in life.”

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Small Business Survey: Technology a Challenge and Opportunity, Steve Jobs Recognized as Idol

Did you know that the 23 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. sales?

Did you know that small businesses provide 55% of all jobs and 66% of all net new jobs since the 1970s?

While big business has eliminated four million jobs since 1990, small businesses added eight million.

Why the focus on small business today? It’s National Small Business Week in the United States and to commemorate the occasion, I partnered with Cox Business to discuss the importance of connected consumerism amidst the release of its inaugural small business survey (#SBWSurvey).

Available at CoxBLUE.com, The #SBWSurvey was conducted nationwide among 605 small business owners. The findings were intended to help business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs gain perspective on the state of small business and to better understand what’s on the minds of their peers.

Let’s jump in…

When asked why people started a business in the first place, two-thirds set out on their own path to become the boss. They were inspired by the freedom of owning their own business or the idea of building something of their own. After all, that’s what entrepreneurialism is all about.

Even during the darkest days of this tumultuous economy, a strong number of businesses never considered closing shop. In fact 43% stayed true to their vision, embraced courage, and buckled up for the wild ride.

So often in my experience, business owners and managers, of any size, tend to underestimate new technology and overestimate their product or service as a means to growing their business. This is simply not the case and according to the Cox Business survey, 56% believe that emerging technology can only enhance business rather than disrupt it.  With that said however, all isn’t clear in how to embrace new technology or exactly why for that matter.

The survey introduced the concept of Digital Darwinism to small business owners. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, it’s the phenomenon I explored in depth in The End of Business as Usual and What’s the Future of Business. Digital Darwinism happens when technology and society evolve faster than the ability to adapt. To see just how big of a deal it is, take a look at this infographic.

The rate of innovation and new technology is only accelerating. I was pleased (or relieved) to learn that 37% of small businesses feel that they’re evolving along with digital trends. However, another third feel that they were attempting to but didn’t think they could really keep up with the tsunami of new communities, networks, apps, and devices.

Perhaps feeling overwhelmed is a symptom of the reality we choose to see. If we choose to live in our comfort zone and see business opportunities as the proverbial glass that’s half empty, we are prone to already see things from a negative perspective. On the other hand, new technology opens new channels, which creates new touch points. And, as we learned in Google’s Zero Moment of Truth, connected customers, or Generation-C as I refer to them, will refer to as many as 11 sources to discover products, services and information during the decision-making cycle. This is a number that has doubled year over year.

One of the most troubling stats from the report though was the number of small businesses that rely on email as the tool most critical to the success of their daily communication. While email may represent a vital conduit between small businesses and traditional customers, it certainly doesn’t signify the future when considering how Generation-C prefers to connect. It’s akin to relying on fax and The Yellow Pages in a time when a generation exists that has either never touched or seen either in real life.

Equally striking was the number of businesses (one-third) that do not use social media AT ALL as part of their marketing mix. Considering that web sites, even today, are largely useless, broken, or ineffectively design (or all of the above), social media represents a more efficient and human way of connecting with customers, where conversations and community can provide utility and foster goodwill. Reciprocity converts to acquisition better than the conversion rates of a generic email blast…I assure you.

Small business owners were also asked to reveal their entrepreneurial idol. I smiled when I saw two my top three make the list. At number one, Steve Jobs accounted for 21%. Believe it or not however, Ben Franklin came in second with 17%. And, running a close third was Walt Disney with 15%.

Certainly Steve Jobs is up there in that he built Apple from the ground up of course, but also he ran it at its height as a passionate entrepreneur. Across the board, Jobs, Franklin, and Disney embraced the importance of experience through invention, innovation, and passion. These are three traits that are vital to success regardless of the economy or the state of technology. Living life, building businesses, not from templates or best practices, but instead as blank canvases, opens doors to new opportunities.

As I’ve always believed, constraint forces creativity. And, that’s the point.

Technology isn’t going away. It’s not a fad. We are not going back to the good old days. In fact, we’re living the good old days right now. It’s time to move away from our comfort zones or positions of convenience. It’s time to allow curiosity to trump skepticism. It’s time to embrace the unknown to realize everything we need to know.

This is our time…and what an exciting time it is. These are the days that the future of business is either written or getting re-written.

Read the survey and view the infographic at CoxBLUE.

The story continues…

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