By Robert Wheatley

Still sitting in the wings, or actively participating…

Not a day goes by without yet more evidence that social media platforms are no longer add-ons but integral to brand communications strategy. Yet many organizations still remain on the sidelines unsure of the right path or unconvinced that there’s any there
there with respect to meaningful outcomes.

If you can buy the idea that peer-to-peer influence is powerful and that conversations are occurring all around us on a daily basis about brands and business, then we have common ground to discuss the dimensions of this new media space. Here’s a quick digest to help absolve some of the lingering skepticism.

By now you may have seen the awful YouTube video about seriously misguided Domino’s Pizza employees abusing the food. Yet another story that demonstrates the ability of average people to gain instant global notoriety, good or bad, in today’s wired and transparent world. Buts social media should not be looked upon as simply a technology enabler for mischief.

What does this media environment look like?

As defined by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, here are the general categories of social media communication and their basic functions:

1. Viral Marketing
   Messages and communication designed deliberately to achieve pass-along distribution.
2. Community Marketing
   Create and support special interest communities (user groups, fan clubs, discussion forums) by providing interactive tools, content and information.
3. Evangelist Marketing
   Coalescing and cultivating brand ambassadors, advocates and volunteers to help spread brand messages.
4. Influencer Marketing
   Engaging experts, opinion leaders, people in positions of respect and authority to help educate and influence the views and attitudes of others.
5. Referral Programs
   Tools intended to help enable current happy brand fans to recommend and refer brands ton their social circles and family.

These categories ladder up to new ways of interacting with current and potential customers. The genesis of all this in response to overwhelming evidence that pushing messages through interruptive media channels alone is no longer the best path to constructing a sustainable brand/consumer relationship.

You are definitely in good company…

Social media is no longer a horizon opportunity, employed by a hand full of risk-taker brands. Here’s a look at the current state of affairs in social media activation.

According to Netpop Research LLC, of the 136 million US broadband users over the age of 13 years, 76 percent of them (105 million) are now contributing to social media through a variety of activities ranging from uploading photos and videos to blogging, tweeting as well as rating and reviewing products. Since 2006, of the total period spent on line, time spent communicating has grown by 18 percent, while time spent in entertainment pursuits has declined by 29 percent. Communication is evolving to become a form of entertainment.

So brands and businesses are responding by investing in and building their social media participation. New research recently released by Aberdeen Group profiles the new era of social media programming as a core element of brand marketing communications strategy:

58% of companies have dedicated resources devoted to social media marketing.

61% of companies have online community platforms (e.g., discussion forums, ratings and reviews, etc.).

68% of companies increased their investments in social media marketing while 34% are keeping their investment level that same as last year.

84% of companies aim to track and measure the ROI of their social media marketing activities.

58% of companies have dedicated resources devoted to social media marketing.