Many people and businesses become disenchanted with social media because the time involved does not provide a Return On Investment (ROI). Some even begin their foray into social media without a frame of reference for understanding why or how it works. Let’s clear the deadwood. Social media works if you:

• Are talking about something you deeply understand,
• Provide information that is compelling and topical,
• Present your information  in a way that is unique or entertaining

Understanding Social Media

Now that we have the elements for success in place, we need to examine what we understand about social media. Let’s take a moment and think about how our frame of reference has changed in the last 10 years and how we view personalities vs. influencers. Don’t worry. If you don’t understand the difference between a personality and influencer, we’ll get to that!

For an example, let’s consider talk radio. Remove the subject matter and how you may feel about certain talk radio personalities and consider the relationship. The host of the radio show talks about certain subjects and then clearly breaks for commercials. Some radio hosts are the voice behind the commercial. Even when that is the case don’t you know it’s a commercial? You don’t for a minute think that the personality is talking about the product out of a sincere interest in the product even if the personality says, “I use it and I like it”. I think most people know that the personality is paid by the radio station(s) or that the air time is funded by the products. There is also a certain level of suspicion that the personality is, like an actor, playing a role geared towards ratings.

It’s all about You!

In the late 1990′s a fundamental change started to occur. We saw individuals starting to market themselves. In 1997 Tom Peters at FastCompany published an article called “The Brand Called You“. For many, this article summed up the conversation of the times which highlighted the power of the individual. Even some progressive personalities like tech journalist Leo Laporte started personalizing their conversations. Leo turned his audience into a community which helped his independent endeavor “This week in Tech” turn into a multimillion dollar business.  Robert Scoble became the mouth piece of Rackspace.com and since has built a personality that far exceeds his employer Rackspace. “The Brand Called You” said, “Along the way, if you’re really smart, you figure out what it takes to create a distinctive role for yourself — you create a message and a strategy to promote the brand called You.”

Business Success Using Social Media

You may be thinking to yourself. Okay great for Leo. He had an audience from his radio and television shows that appealed to a niche market and he capitalized on it. You may also be thinking, “Is Rackspace crazy? What company in their right mind would take an employee and fund the growth of their own personal celebrity”? The effect of having a spokesperson for a company is obvious. The effect of having a spokesperson who can be a real person and speak honestly about the company is powerful. If a company is really focused on providing value, a good spokesperson can turn the customer base into a community. This is a double edge sword. The representative needs to be a cheerleader for the brand. For the best results, the individual/company shouldfollow a QFD (Quality Function Deoployment) plan that is further supported with external data collection tools. QFD is a process that turns customer demands into future quality. Real life representatives for a company can help shorten the life cycle of gathering information and making improvements. A focused plan is the only way to ensure full product cycle ROI.

The Big Bang of Influencers

Representatives in the social media landscape can quickly become influencers. Influencers can persuade individuals to make purchases or upgrades which can be directed through specific channels to quantify the results. Product codes, landing pages, and campaign centric phone numbers are often used to separate the influencers traffic from regular marketing efforts. It’s important to understand that influencers appeal to a community, not an audience and therefore are held to higher ethical standards. Take for example, David Pogue of the New York Times. David recently came under fire for not disclosing his book deals about tech devices he was also reviewing. Because of this, the Times now references his other work at the bottom of the articles. There are no concrete ethical guidelines for disclosure at this time. It is also apparent that the rules are not the same for all influencers. A fine line between disclosure and the monetization needs to be walked. Knowing the community and utilizing social media tools to communicate to the vocal minority is the best way of protecting your social media investment.