Looking for clarity in the role of brand participation in a conversational world…

In the bright new realm of “permission” based brand and user relationships, the motivation to engage in conversations with consumers and their trusted influencers is growing. Exponentially. Social media is now a rising star in brand communications plans. That said, we continue to see vexing questions about how best to engage and participate. How do you optimize social media strategy? Read on.

Not surprising it feels foreign, as this media environment does not operate like the old command and control marketing model. There are new rules to understand.

Days of yore:

New world order:

The momentum to get serious about strategic involvement in social media is compelling. A little evidence: Below is a Google Trends chart showing the growth first in Internet searches on key words Social Media, as well as the mounting stack of news articles on the same subject, shown below. Notice the sharp the rise in 2009?

Social media hinges, operates and moves on the passions and interests of people. So rather than look at this as business-to-consumer communication, perhaps it’s best to recast as business-to-people? So how does a brand find its way to a place where conversation works effectively — and yet the effort still contributes to the ultimate goals of commerce and business growth?

Social Strategy Insight: Finding Your Higher Purpose

Brands must identify a sweet spot where the lifestyle interests of their consumers align with some form of authentic value the brand can bring to the party. Jason Baer of Convince & Convert blog fame delivered a terrific presentation for MarketingProfs recently on the subject. His deck showcased a worthy poster-child example of real purpose. Interestingly he chose a case study from one of the most seemingly benign product categories you can imagine – scissors. I’d like to recap his insight and comments here:

Fabulous Fiskars!!

Fiskars makes scissors. Good ones. In fact they may be superior to other brands. Much thought has undoubtedly gone into the design of the blade, the ergonomic shape of the handle, the metal used that retains its sharpness. Yes, you could ladder up a nice feature/benefit statement that flags their scissor superiority.

But then the scissors would remain scissors nonetheless. Instead the brilliant marketers at Fiskars devoted energy to gaining insight about heavy users of scissors. They discovered that hardcore scrapbookers are big users. They determined that scrappers are passionate about what they know. Additionally they like to share their ideas and creativity. Turns out there are many forms, varieties and occasions for scrapping. A lot of this is integral to charting family events, history and milestones.

It is emotionally rich territory to be sure, a powerful zone of human passion and engagement. So the brand works to build a Web based community platform around scrapbook making and invites consumers to become Fiskateers. The brand sets the community stage and helps enable the lifestyle interests of these premier scissor users. And in doing so acquires value and relationship engagement far, far beyond the comprehension of anyone thinking scissors is simply a commodity category.

What’s Your Higher Purpose?

This is not easy to determine. For guidance take a deep, close-up look inside the lives of your best users. What are they into? What are their interests? If you listen hard enough they’ll tell you. Baer has other examples: Volvo determined that safety was an issue to a segment of car buyers. Nordstrom discovered that fanatical customer service was fuel for loyal customer relationships. Pampers discovered that becoming a knowledge broker on parenting advice is more powerful than product driven messages on absorbency.

Finding passion is the starting point. This leads to securing permission for a brand/user relationship, thus opening the door to engagement on product outreach. Once you’ve determined your strategic mission, one that transcends product features and benefits, you can work from there to assemble the proper tools to activate communications successfully in social media. More on that later.

What do you think?