The document discusses the decline of traditional media models and the rise of social media and word-of-mouth marketing. It provides several examples of traditional media outlets that have declined or shut down and data showing drops in newspaper circulation and TV viewership. At the same time, it outlines how social media usage and trust in peer recommendations are growing. The document advocates learning new skills like engagement and conversation over traditional advertising and presents several case studies of companies successfully using social media.

2. The sky is falling, the frog in the pot has come to a boil and, oh yeah, we are, most of us, exquisitely, irretrievably fucked. Bob Garfield, Advertising Age Welcome!

3. As of mid-February 2009 , 71% advertisers reported having slashed their 2009 budgets, and 6% more said cuts were on their way. Bernstein Research predicts a 20% to 30% drop in 2009 US TV station ad revenue. According to Nielsen Media Research , in the last reporting period, CBS's prime-time audience was down 2.9%. ABC was down 9.7%, Fox was down 17.5% and NBC was down 14.3%. Amid 23% population growth in the past two decades, U.S. newspaper circulation has dropped 20% (during which time Craigslist has siphoned off $7 billion worth of classified revenue) Bob Garfield, Advertising Age The squeeze is on

4. Traditional media models are in decline In 2008 , news-stand sales fell 12% Gross ad pages in 2009 have dropped 22% -- coming off a dismal 2008 Condé Nast has folded Domino , Meredith has folded Country Home , Ziff-Davis has folded PC Magazine , Hearst has folded CosmoGirl and O at Home , The New York Times has folded Play , and Hachette has folded Home . TV Guide magazine , the 17 million-circulation goldmine, was sold in October to OpenGate Capital for $1 , or $2 less than a copy at the supermarket checkout. Bob Garfield, Advertising Age

5. “ We are living the Chaos Scenario!” ITV records £2bn loss 17% decline in ad revenues predicted in Q1 2009 Mass media thrived on the economics of scarcity The internet represents an economy of unending abundance Advertising simply cannot support all the media that's out there Wendy Harris Millard, co-CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

7. Media behaviour is changing… spending on social media and conversational marketing will outpace that of traditional marketing by 2012 TWI Society for New Communications Research

8. … because consumer behaviour is changing Britain has the highest proportion of internet advertising of any developed economy. By 2012 , £1 in every £5 of all new commerce in this country will be online.

9. Meet Panacea81 Lauren Luke 27 year-old single mum sells make-up on Ebay posts pictures of herself wearing the make-up she is trying to sell

10. An Alternative Model superstar! 5 million views on own branded YouTube channel most popular single home-made make-up tutorial video attracted 2.5 million views launched own cosmetics line : By Lauren Luke global book deal Guardian column

11. The future is here. Nearly half of young consumers rely on advice from friends and family to choose products Twice as many as the previous generation 60% of European youths talk to friends about products and brands via forums, blogs and IM

12. It’s about more than reach… 61% of online shoppers check reviews, blogs and customer feedback forums before buying a new product or service 8 out of 10 said online recommendations had affected their decisions Online shoppers value consumer reviews higher than professional reviews Opinion Research Corporation

13. It’s about trust Businesses today exist in an era in which it's nearly impossible to escape the likelihood of being evaluated. There's nowhere to hide. Linda Shea, Opinion Research Corporation

15. If you want to join the party… social media has changed the consumer-brand paradigm marketers perceived to force-feed opinions on to ‘consumers’ consumer voice given a platform to rival that of brand owners potential customers can interact in neutral environments where marketers are banned customers listen to each other more than they listen to advertisers ‘ influential’ consumers taken on the role of advocates and have the power to make or break product campaigns and brand reputations

16. … you’ll have to learn new steps

17. Don’t focus on presence, think engagement! Avoid random trial and error Don’t pretend to be something you’re not Don’t talk before you’ve listened Don’t expect too much, too soon Don’t try to control what is said What doesn’t work Don’t start off trying to extract value Don’t register people to your communities without getting to know them Don’t be there just to make sales

18. Be passionate! Engage Appoint a ‘ persona manager’ for each OSN Add value to the conversation Respond Encourage friends to invite friends What works Listen Develop meaningful relationships Keep it personal

19. Who are your Influencers? Influencers/Advocates make product recommendations based on superior or exclusive experiences and information their motivation is ego: enhanced social status and a reinforced sense of social belonging use referrals as social currency – rewarding their everyday contacts with meaningful conversations that add personal value Influencers tend to be early adopters , with large social networks and high status opinions are sought-for , trusted and acted-upon followers (early majority) use Influencer recommendations to validate brand performance claims and reduce risk of purchase

20. Think the C word.. Communicate Connect Collaborate Co-create Collect Wisdom Customise Converse Community Change

21. Expect barriers Expertise & Resource – who is the social media knowledge holder in your organisation – who wants to be? Fear of loss of control – are you prepared to let your consumers tell your story for you? Inadequate metrics – tracking the effect of changes in sentiment, advocacy, face-to-face recommendations etc. requires corporate acceptance of new tools and new measures. Organisational Culture – moving from command and control to connect and collaborate requires a change in behaviour and management throughout the value chain. Difficulty with internal sell-through – you need a long term strategy to reap benefits but quick wins help to drive change.

22. The way ahead. cautious experimentation knowledge gathering re-allocation of resources strategic planning

24. Case Study 1: Graco car seats and buggies manufacturer listened in to online chat of Mum-fluentials via conversation mining tools didn’t try to force the brand into their communities- chose to facilitate relationships between ‘influencers’ and then get invited to the conversation series of Graco blogger ‘Get-Together’ events across the country followed by launch of Graco parenting blog authored by employees – issues, stories, advice complementary use of Flickr, YouTube and Twitter online chatter doubled since launch positive sentiment increased to 83%

25. Case Study 2: Fox TV Fox TV pairs with social networking service Passenger to create online community for viewers 2,000 viewers asked to preview new shows, interact with TV producers, post comments, engage in online discussions and take part in polls Input also used to develop network promotions and marketing campaigns, plus shape content on Fox.com “ We’re giving viewers a seat in the decision-making process.” – Melva Benoit SVP Fox

26. Winkling out the bright ideas

27. 2 3 A nalyse Analyse your target groups, define and identify lead users A C T 1

28. A C T 1 2 3 C reate Lead User Program focused on exploring ideas and solutions to improve your products and services

29. A C T 1 2 3 T est Test the best ideas in the market

30. Get in touch Caroline Holt T +44 (0)7808 720150 [email_address] Happen Ltd 28-29 Great Sutton Street London EC1V 0DS UNITED KINGDOM Tel: +44 (0)20 7250 0234 Fax: +44 (0)20 7250 0014 Find out more at HappeningWorld.com Registered offices: 1 Nella Road, London W6 9PB, UNITED KINGDOM. Registered in England No. 6079733 happen® and the sun device are registered trademarks of happen ltd

32. 50 ways you can add social media to the mix… Add social bookmark links to your most important web pages and/or blog posts to improve sharing. Build blogs and teach conversational marketing and business relationship building techniques. For every video project purchased, ensure there’s an embeddable web version for improved sharing. Learn how tagging and other metadata improve your ability to search and measure the spread of information. Create informational podcasts about a product’s overall space, not just the product. Build community platforms around real communities of shared interest. Help companies participate in existing social networks, and build relationships on their turf. Check out Twitter as a way to show a company’s personality. (Don’t fabricate this).

33. How many have you tried? Couple your email newsletter content with additional website content on a blog for improved commenting. Build sentiment measurements, and listen to the larger web for how people are talking about your customer. Learn which bloggers might care about your customer. Learn how to measure their influence. Download the Social Media Press Release (pdf) and at least see what parts you want to take into your traditional press releases. Try out a short series of audio podcasts or video podcasts as content marketing and see how they draw. Build conversation maps for your customers using Technorati.com , Google Blogsearch, Summize, and FriendFeed. Experiment with Flickr and/or YouTube groups to build media for specific events. (Marvel Comics raised my impression of this with their Hulk statue Flickr group). Recommend that your staff start personal blogs on their personal interests, and learn first hand what it feels like, including managing comments, wanting promotion, etc

34. How many will you try? Map out an integrated project that incorporates a blog, use of commercial social networks, and a face-to-face event to build leads and drive awareness of a product. Start a community group on Facebook or Ning or MySpace or LinkedIn around the space where your customer does business. Example: what Jeremiah Owyang did for Hitachi Data Systems. Experiment with the value of live video like uStream.tv and Mogulus, or Qik on a cell phone. Attend a conference dealing with social media like New Media Expo, BlogWorld Expo, New Marketing Summit (disclosure: I run this one with CrossTech), and dozens and dozens more. (Email me for a calendar). Collect case studies of social media success. Tag them “socialmediacasestudy” in del.icio.us . Interview current social media practitioners. Look for bridges between your methods and theirs. Explore distribution. Can you reach more potential buyers/users/customers on social networks.

35. Who is your knowledge holder? Don’t forget early social sites like Yahoogroups and Craigslist. They still work remarkably well. Search Summize.com for as much data as you can find in Twitter on your product, your competitors, your space. Practice delivering quality content on your blogs, such that customers feel educated / equipped / informed. Consider the value of hiring a community manager. Could this role improve customer service? Improve customer retention? Promote through word of mouth? Turn your blog into a mobile blog site with Mofuse . Free. Learn what other free tools might work for community building, like MyBlogLog . Ensure you offer the basics on your site, like an email alternative to an RSS subscription. In fact, the more ways you can spread and distribute your content, the better.

36. Have you got a social media strategy? . Investigate whether your product sells better by recommendation versus education, and use either wikis and widgets to help recommend, or videos and podcasts for education. Make WebsiteGrader.com your first stop for understanding the technical quality of a website. Make Compete.com your next stop for understanding a site’s traffic. Then, mash it against competitors’ sites. Learn how not to ask for 40 pieces of demographic data when giving something away for free. Instead, collect little bits over time. Gently. Remember that the people on social networks are all people, have likely been there a while, might know each other, and know that you’re new. Tread gently into new territories. Don’t NOT go. Just go gently. Help customers and prospects connect with you simply on your various networks. Consider a Lijit Wijit or other aggregator widget.

37. Adopt? Integrate? Change? Voting mechanisms like those used on Digg.com show your customers you care about which information is useful to them. Track your inbound links and when they come from blogs, be sure to comment on a few posts and build a relationship with the blogger. Find a bunch of bloggers and podcasters whose work you admire, and ask them for opinions on your social media projects. See if you can give them a free sneak peek at something, or some other “you’re special” reward for their time and effort (if it’s material, ask them to disclose it). Learn all you can about how NOT to pitch bloggers. Excellent resource: Susan Getgood . Try out shooting video interviews and video press releases and other bits of video to build more personable relationships. Don’t throw out text, but try adding video. Explore several viewpoints about social media marketing .

38. It’s not the future. It’s today. Women are adding lots of value to social media. Get to know the ones making a difference. (Check out BlogHer as an event to explore). Experiment with different lengths and forms of video. Is entertaining and funny but brief better than longer but more informative? Don’t stop with one attempt. And try more than one hosting platform to test out features. Work with practitioners and media makers to see how they can use their skills to solve your problems. Don’t be afraid to set up pilot programs, instead of diving in head first. People power social media. Learn to believe in the value of people. Sounds hippie, but it’s the key. Spread good ideas far. Reblog them. Bookmark them. Vote them up at social sites. Be a good citizen. Don’t be afraid to fail. Be ready to apologize. Admit when you’ve made a mistake. Re-examine who in the organization might benefit from your social media efforts. Help equip them to learn from your project. ChrisBrogan.com

40. How Twitter measures Infuence Reach – the number of people you can get your message to (basically your followers, and their followers) Velocity – the average number of people who have started to follow you on a daily basis Social capital – the value of your followers’ networks, eg. how many followers do your followers have? Centralisation – how dependent your reach or influence is on a few ‘superstar’ followers who bring large communities with them

42. Who’s doing what social media Wiki

43. Who’s doing what

44. Who’s doing what

45. Who’s doing what

46. z Ivan Palmer CEO Wildfire Grand prix winner of WARC's 2008 Global Word of Mouth award 77 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JS T: 0044 (0)203 037 3063 M: 0044 (0)7917 509 109 E: ivan@wildfirecompany.com