As marketers, how much psychology do we need to understand to make sense of what our customers are doing socially?

Are they trying to tell us what they want or need by engaging? Or, is it simply that they are utilizing social networking to become influential among their peers?

What happens when a customer becomes popular within his or her chosen social network? What are the chances that a brand can piggyback on this newfound influence (i.e. brand evangelism or word of mouth)? On the other hand, could popularity and potential narcissism cause a customer to leap to a more desirable brand that is as equally popular as them?

We know that people join social networks because they want to be part of a group. Should marketers be required to have a deep understanding of group dynamics in order to analyze group interactions and how they may or may not impact business efforts?

Will the more socially advanced organizations expect that their marketers will understand how social networks and psychology affect market dynamics in order to project future revenues?

Psychology Today: The Psychology of Social Networking

“One intuitive hypothesis is that “popular” people (those with vast, far-reaching, and significant networks or contacts) will have connections both in the real as well as in the virtual world; thus the number of people one deals with in the real or physical world should be positively correlated with the number of virtual or electronic contacts one has.”

Alexandra Samuel: Group identity and the psychology of social media

“One of the primary themes of my dissertation was the power of group identity as a motivation for participation. Reading the social psychological literature on group identity, it became clear that people join groups that reinforce positive ascriptive identity — those identities that are positively valued in our society. The practical implication is that you need to organize your community’s membership around identities people feel good about: I’m far more likely to identify myself as a member of ‘parents of gifted children’ than I am to join up with ‘compulsive nail-biters’.”

The Layman’s Guide to Psychology: The Psychology of Twitter, Facebook, and Other Social Networking Devices

“Narcissism is generally not a celebrated trait. Why then is social networking so widely accepted if it is so related to narcissistic tendencies? Is it possible that the internet merely allows an all-to-easy outlet for these tendencies to surface from people who may otherwise not possess them? According to one study, this seems to be the case.

Some people are far more shy than others but to a certain extent we all possess a little of this–even the “kings of narcissism”. Being shy is a defensive measure that allows an individual to protect themselves from ridicule, or worse. The internet has allowed individuals an uncanny intimacy while maintaining a near-infinite level of physical separation.”

CompuKol Connection: The Psychology Behind Social Media

“If you approach your social media marketing campaign from a psychological angle, you will see that people respond to your business offerings and to you as an individual. You will see that they will gladly spread the word about your products and services as well as your expertise in your niche. People will be speaking about you and on your behalf before you know it and that, of course, brings you another step closer to great success.”

MIT Press Journals: Simulating Market Dynamics: Interactions between Consumer Psychology and Social Networks

“Watts and Strogatz ^[18] proposed a model for social networks that describes the small-world and clustering characteristics in networks. This model includes empirically found characteristics of social networks, namely the small-world effect ^[11] and the clustering effect ^[12]. The small-world effect refers to the experience that despite the large population, the map of who knows whom is such that we are all very closely connected to one another. The clustering characteristic refers to the existence of clusters in social networks. People’s circles of acquaintance tend to overlap to a great extent. Your friend’s friends are likely also to be your friends.

Amaral et al. ^[1] showed that the scale-free network hypothesis is more complex. They analyzed different types of networks and found also networks that followed the power law up to a sharp cutoff. For example, a highly connected node may refuse to accept new connections because of capacity and cost constraints, or a well-connected node may die. Amaral et al. ^[1] proposed an adjustment of the Barabasi-Albert model by including the option that a node in the network becomes inactive with a certain probability. Since new nodes can only connect with active nodes, they are able to reproduce different classes of observed networks. This approach may be more correct in modeling consumer networks, as consumers functioning as a hub in a network will be limited in the number of contacts they have.

The results presented in this article indicate that besides psychological needs and decision processes, also the size and shape of the network involved in consumer decision making have an important influence on how the market organizes itself. Especially when the satisfaction per unit of consumption is high, as is often the case with products that satisfy lower needs, the results suggest that the shape of the network has serious consequences for the number of products that dominate the market. The results show that a scale-free network yields a market dominated by far fewer products than in the small-world network with a limited number of random links. Even for low visibility products the hubs have a strong influence on which products other agents consume.”

Happy reading!

[Image Source: thisismarilyn.com]

I would be completely remiss if I didn’t put a spotlight on SXSW Cares this weekend.

If you aren’t familiar with South by Southwest (SXSW), it’s one of the largest conferences and festivals in the world that brings music, film and interactive together every year in Austin, Texas. On the eve of this year’s Interactive portion, an unthinkable act of nature hit Japan and devastated a country and its people.

I wasn’t able to attend SXSW this year and while I missed seeing my friends and connecting with new ones, I’ll be honest—I didn’t miss the often narcissistic ‘see and be seen’ party atmosphere. That said, the beauty of SXSW is that it is what YOU make of it.

That is why I was so proud when I started hearing the news about SXSW Cares, which was started by my friends Leigh Durst and Deb Ng (along with Rob Wu of CauseVox, Jess Lin and The American Red Cross). It would have been so easy to get swept up in panels, book signings, parties, socializing and photo ops, but this team was heads down in trying to make a difference and trying to help those who needed it most.

Sadly, it appears that some companies still have not learned how social for good works as apparent by their attempts to use social capital for their own good. Another lesson learned by companies who still think ‘inside out’ versus ‘outside in’. They blew it and their lack of social etiquette tarnished their brands. It is back to the social drawing board for them. What a shame…

There are three ways you can help today!

1. DONATE – Make a donation [at sxsw4japan.org] or text your donation to the American Red Cross (90999)
2. SHARE- On the web, on Twitter, on Facebook, on your blog (Use hashtags: #sxswcares and #sxsw4japan)
3. CREATE A FUNDRAISING PAGE – Start a page so your friends and family can donate to disaster relief.

For more information, or to make a donation, visit: http://www.sxsw4japan.org

Live Path (Leigh Durst): The True Spirit of SXSW – The Genesis of #SXSWCares

“Before we launched, we had driven the donations on our site alone from about $600 to about $2k in donations. In just 24 hours, we have generated more than $7k in donations. On Friday night, during interviews for the Statesman… We created some sxsw cares cards and are circulating them, and watched mentions in posts, articles and tweets at the hashtag #sxswcares skyrocket on Twitter. Since then, we’ve all continued to work proactively and inclusively in a joint initiative to drive support for Japan.

While we’re missing out on panels, discussions and even a few meetings — all of us involved here agree that this is THE MOST important work we may ever do at SXSW. In the true spirit of crowd-sourcing, collaboration, rapid, iterative design and development, we are excited about the future.”

Kommein (Deb Ng): Calling B.S. On the Retweet

“I appreciate retweets. They help to get the word out. Yay. And they lead to other retweets and even a few donations. But that’s it. It’s over. Most of the influencers tweeted out the #SXSWCares hashtag once, never to look at it or talk about it again. A couple made it clear they didn’t want to retweet more than once for fear of looking spammy and a few said they would help to spread the word and never did. Some didn’t even want to get involved at all.

Taking action beyond the 10 second retweet is when true leadership and influence shine through.”

Conversation Agent: The Stream Comes First

“How can you watch what is happening without wanting to do something about it? Now individuals have the ability to do something about it.

It is about both/and — watching and doing. That is the future of news — and of business. If you’d like to contribute or spread the word, here’s how you can do it. The stream comes first means you take care of what is most important — the people who need your help, now.

This is why social is the best part of media”

Samsung USA Tube: The #SXSWcares Story and How Social Helps Communities Through Crisis (Part 1 & Part 2)

MTV Iggy: SXSW Cares, Raises Money For Japan Earthquake Relief

“The website is simple and the logo looks like it was scrawled on a cocktail napkin, but there is a powerful social networking component that allows users to set up a page for themselves to encourage family, friends, and various members of their social network to donate. As of now they have raised more than $35,000 and set their fund-raising goal at $50,000. At this rate, they could easily meet that goal too, as they will be raising money for the rest of the festival, which runs until the 20th. Go Internet!”

Geoff Livingston: Galvanizing Your Organization to Help in a Disaster

“When your cause or company’s employees and stakeholders want to act and participate on the frontlines of the relief effort, there are several things you can do. Whether it’s leveraging your online community, offering financial resources or volunteering, almost every person and organization has assets to offer.

Before going too far, please ensure that the organization is motivated by a clear desire to resolve or provide relief to a devastating event. If your goal is to market or strengthen the social responsibility factor of your brand, the disaster campaign could easily achieve the opposite and tarnish your brand with an opportunistic hue (consider Spirit Airlines oil spill faux pas). Disasters are a time for social responsibility and altruism.”

ZDNet: SXSW Interactive 2011 and The Japan Crisis

“In fact, tech companies that have attempted to capitalize on the tragedy have become the equivalent of tarred, feathered and hung out to dry.

Some are also openly asking for Facebook “likes” in exchange for Japan donations. The issue is that we attendees all seeing how commercialized this typically indie-flavored conference has become, and realizing that while some may have the best intentions, asking for social capital in exchange for donations does not seem appropriate.

I mean, if you tell me you’ll give me something ‘for free’ in exchange for my likes, an RT, or a ‘follow,’ then it’s not really free, is it?”

Please consider donating today… Japan needs your help!

[Image Source: Samsung]

It’s 2011, do you know where your social media strategy is?

As a marketer who has been in the social media game for a while now, I understand why companies struggle with social media. There is much misunderstanding between the concept and the tools—and the benefits of either. There is confusion as to why social media tools can’t be used just like e-mail, direct mail and advertising. There are also power struggles internally for who should own social media and who has control over what is for public consumption.

What’s a Marketer To Do?

That’s the question author and social media expert Paul Chaney discusses in his latest book, “The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media.” (Paul’s first book is “Realty Blogging: Build Your Brand and Out-Smart Your Competition.”)

The answer? Start a conversation. However, the smart thing to do before diving into any conversation is to understand the new rules of communication, why they matter, and the five trends turning the business world upside down.

• Consumer Skepticism
• Fragmented Media
• Loss of Control
• Niche Marketing
• Customers are in Control

Trust me. Your customers will thank you for taking the time to understand these tectonic shifts.

I get it, things have changed. Now what?

Great attitude! Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Lucky for you, Paul provides seven proven strategies to help you become successful with your social media strategy. Now, I know what you are thinking… Why can’t I just share my press release on Twitter and Facebook and call it a day? Well, I suppose you could, but I am not sure how much ROI you’ll get from it. And isn’t that what management is demanding from social media? (Psst! We all know that asking for ROI is secret code for “We don’t get this, so we’re going to challenge it.” Be smart and prove them wrong!) Ready?

• Business Blogging
• Social Networks
• Niche Online Communities
• Microblogging
• Video
• Podcasting
• PR 2.0
• RSS, Tagging, Bookmarking and more!

The Digital Handshake

All of these strategies mean nothing without a plan of action that includes listening, engaging and measuring. In that order, too.

I love that Paul positions listening as the new marketing. I couldn’t agree more! And marketers, I am sorry to say, but you aren’t very good at listening…only talking. Now is your chance to understand why listening before engaging will determine whether your social media plan will be successful or not.

You’ve met customers offline, right? What is the first thing you do? You shake their hand. Now you can do that digitally. We call it engaging. Paul offers tips for how to best engage in online conversation and his “table” metaphor is spot on and so are the tactics he shares for getting a seat at someone else’s table or setting a table of your own.

Finally, here’s where you get to show your management team just how smart you are. All of those digital handshakes are measureable. Paul shares a whole bunch of tools to help you along the way. Some are free and some are paid, but either way you’ll have more than enough to select from.

About Paul Chaney

I would be remiss if I did not share with you that Paul is a friend of mine and when reading his book, I heard his voice in my head. The topics he covers in this book have provided the two of us with hours of conversation and debate over the years whether it’s been face-to-face, on the phone or, yes, even digitally. What’s that mean for you? Well, my hope is that you will believe Paul is extremely passionate about social media. I hope you will become so as well once you finish The Digital Handshake.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of The Digital Handshake from Paul Chaney. This review is based on the contents of the book and my belief that marketers (and their management teams!) could really benefit from reading it.

[Image Source: odesk.com]

This is something that has been bothering me for over a year and I am not sure why it took me so long to write about it, because it’s really three simple things that stop me from sharing content.

I really want to put a spotlight on the smart thinking I come across that I think deserves attention, but sometimes it’s just too time consuming to do so. Perhaps others are feeling this way too? After all, we are all busy and strapped for time.

This isn’t an all-inclusive list (I am sure you could add more), it’s just my list of what stops me from sharing blog posts—even from some of the most popular and experienced bloggers. I don’t have all of the answers on how to fix this (technologically from WordPress to TypePad to Blogger), but thought I’d kick off the conversation.

1. Bloggers don’t use tools like TweetMeme (or similar), Facebook Like, Facebook Share and LinkedIn Share. Or, other plugins like Sociable or Sexy Bookmarks (Blogger and TypePad users – help out here?)
2. If bloggers are using TweetMeme (or similar) they don’t use their Twitter handle when setting up TweetMeme (e.g. RT @Name…) If I have to take time to find your Twitter handle to give you credit for the post, I probably won’t share it. (Note: Your blog name doesn’t really matter if there isn’t an RSS feed associated…right?)
3. Bloggers need to make sure that their social media information is clearly visible on every page of their blog. So, if I do have to find it (because you haven’t done 1 or 2), it’s easy to do so. Don’t make me search your about page, please?

Maybe it is too much to ask, but I’d like to share blog posts with one click. I mean, you took time to write the post—don’t you want it shared? And yes, as silly as it may sound taking 30 seconds to one minute to share a post is way too long. Especially after I’ve taken the time to read it and the additional time I’ll need to add a comment when I share.

While these are my pet peeves, I think these issues also have business implications. What if I am your customer and new to reading blogs and sharing them on Twitter? Don’t you want to make it easy for your content to be shared among industry professionals? Why make me figure it out…make it convenient.

Anyone else? What would you share with bloggers (including me!) that will make content easier to share?

[Image: ima2four7.blogspot.com]

Last night on our weekly PR 2.0 chat on Twitter (anyone can join this weekly chat Wednesdays at 8pm EST. Search on hashtag #pr20cat and join in!),  we discussed branding and PR 2.0 and why PR folks (and marketers, that’s a topic on integration for another day!) need to understand branding and how it affects their interactions with constituents (or publics). 

If you’ve hung out in social media circles long enough, I am sure you’ve heard “you don’t own your brand, your customers do.” Nothing can be further from the truth and why we need to be very careful with how we phrase this as marketers, consultants, agencies, etc. 

FACT: You do own your brand and brand messaging
FACT: You don’t own relationships customers have with your brand 

I kicked off by asking people’s definitions of branding and a lot of people responded with a brand relationship definition, which is great but I think it also leads us to, as marketers implementing social media, to want to easily hand over the keys to the castle a little too easily. 

For some people it’s a chicken and egg situation. Do you love the logo or the company that produces the product/service first? Vanessa French asked me (paraphrased) “what if your mom gave you Pepsi as a kid, you’d have a relationship with Pepsi (based on emotion).” My response was “what if your mom served you Pepsi in a plastic cup and you never saw the bottle?” 

People tend to identify with a brand (i.e. logo, message, etc.) first and then they relate to it. I think it explains why there are so many fake bags (Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, Hermes, etc.) not to mention other products on the market. It’s not that people relate to the company that owns the brand it’s that the brand (in this case a logo) gives them a perception of inclusion without the sting of the price tag. If they truly had a relationship with the brand they would never by fakes. Unfortunately, the perception of others is what spurs on the fakes market. 

From “Driving Brand Value” by Tom Duncan & Sandra Moriarty (what I shared during the PR 2.0 chat): 

Brand relationship is driven by: 

• Trust
• Consistency
• Accessibility
• Responsiveness
• Commitment
• Affinity
• Liking

(Sounds a lot like what we talk about with social media, huh?)

Five Levels of Bonding:

• Awareness
• Identity
• Relationship
• Community
• Advocacy 

I think we also tend to mixed up brand perception with branding and brand relationship. My perception of a brand comes after my relationship with the brand. For example: 

I bought a Jaguar and it was a piece of junk that could never be fixed. The Jaguar dealer and Jaguar wouldn’t do anything about it. I bought based on the brand (awareness/identity), my relationship was affected by lack of trust, consistency, accessibility, etc. My perception is that Jaguars are bad cars. I am sharing my story (WOM) on my blog (social media). 

So, if you are Jaguar’s PR folks and I had consistent blog about this and chatted on forums, you might want to pay attention. I would hope.

The tenets of branding are still viable, but just like everything else with social media they are more visible today and brand relationships and perceptions are out in the open. 

But we DO have control over our brand and messaging! You might want to reconsider using “trust” in your brand (logo) or messaging if the case is that the brand relationships and perceptions indicate that you are not an organization to be trusted. 

By the way, Driving Brand Value was written in 1997, and yet offers lessons that we still have not learned. It’s available on Amazon starting at $0.38 USD. I suggest you snap up a copy. 

Also, grab Integrated Branding by LePla and Parker while you’re at it… 

What do you think?

[Image: David Armano]