Let’s Debate: Does Your Brand Have Social Momentum Or Are You A Legacy Brand?

Posted on 05. Oct, 2011 by kristie.

This week’s #bizforum debate asks the big question…Does Your Brand Have Social Momentum?

Social Momentum is the public perception that a brand is up-and-coming, exciting, and a must-be-followed. By contrast, a legacy brand is seen as having achieved its full potential; nothing new or exciting is expected from this company. Today’s fickle, over-stimulated consumers are more interested in companies – and their products – that have social momentum.

Our special guest this week is Social Media Master Deb Weinstein, president of Strategic Objectives, a leading Public Relations firm and Sam Fiorella, our moderator for the #bizforum chat, shares a couple of questions to kick the conversation off:

1: Building Social Momentum has become more important than building a solid product.
Understandably a short term strategy, the modern audience is increasingly social and has developed “Look-a-Squirrel!” syndrome. Anticipation has become more important to selling a product than launching with a great product. The product can be improved through crowdsourcing and beta-testing, but without anticipation & buzz you’ll not have the critical mass to crowdsource to.  Agree/Disagree/Why?

2. Social Momentum becomes increasingly harder to achieve the older a business is.
The bigger a business gets, the less flexible and open it becomes yet the characteristics of a business building and maintaining social momentum include the willingness to embrace crowdsourcing & new technologies such as mobile, constant re-invention, openness and empowering employees to engage in social communications. Agree/Disagree/Why?

3. The concept of “momentum” can only be achieved in the modern era through social channels.
We can all agree that online channels are part of the overall marketing communication mix for most businesses and should not be embraced in isolation; however, given the increasing adoption of social communications, is the social channel not the only way to capture the imagination of early adopters and build this momentum?  Agree/Disagree/Why?

4. Social Momentum is required in our modern social-economy to “stay on top”.
No business will survive long-term without a great product or service along with the ability to earn a profit. Yet leading an industry and beating the competition in our modern era can only be achieved through building and maintaining social momentum. Agree/Disagree/Why?

To participate in the #bizforum chat:

• Time: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5TH at 5pm PST (lasts one hour)
• Follow the hashtag #bizforum on Twitter
• When you want to respond to a comment posted or add your own thoughts on the topic, add ‘#bizforum’ at the end of your tweet to ensure it is seen by everyone.
• Using a service like Tweetchat helps you stay on top of the discussion – just enter the room name (e.g. #bizforum) in the box at the top of the page, follow the discussion and post if/when ready.

And if you would like to dive even deeper into this topic, we invite you to join us for the Social Media Masters Toronto event on October 7th where Deb will share even more insights in her PR Meets Social Media session.

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Just Announced: Social Media Masters Toronto Schedule

Posted on 30. Sep, 2011 by kristie.

We put together a great day of programming for you and have provided ample time for the consumption of new ideas as well as opportunities to keep yourself hydrated and fed, and added some networking opportunities in there too.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6TH (6:00PM – 8:00PM)

Social Media Club and Sensei Marketing invite you to join us for the welcome reception being held in a private room at the Strathcona Hotel. It is open to all local Social Media Club members and Social Media Masters participants, speakers and sponsors. Space is limited, and registration is required.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7TH (8:00AM – 6:00PM)

The Social Media Masters conference takes place at the St. Andrew’s Club and the agenda is as follows:

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Social Media Masters Session: The Future of Social Intelligence

Posted on 26. Sep, 2011 by kristie.

Cities Available: Toronto (October 7, 2011)

Companies are just beginning to grasp the true power of social data. The ability to collect feedback without the need for costly market research studies, surveys, and focus groups is a relatively new prospect. But as brands have started measuring, many sense that they could (and should) be doing much more with the abundant data at their finger tips. Simply collecting data is not enough. To remain competitive, marketers must fully realize the breadth and depth of knowledge and insights they can gain from online conversations.

Scott Briggs will discuss the state of social media intelligence today and where we are headed in the future. He will outline the advanced techniques that forward-thinking brands are using to move from simply collecting data to truly analyzing and drawing insights that are fueling smart business decisions.

The future of social intelligence is predictive, strategic, and unlike social measurement as you know it today. Are you ready?

Presented by: Scott Briggs

Scott Briggs is Sr. Director of Social Strategy and Insights at Alterian and an award winning thought leader in data analytics and marketing automation. Scott has over 15 years’ experience spanning multiple disciplines including social media, database marketing, email marketing, analytics and business intelligence. His career includes experience in the following verticals: credit card, retail banking, insurance, retail, trave, auto and nonprofit.  Most recently Scott’s focus has been on developing measurement techniques and establishing best practices with regards to Social Media and Analytics.

Scott started his career as a researcher and economist within the Federal Reserve System.  Since the late 1990’s, Scott has worked with several technology companies focused on marketing automation and analytics. Scott holds a Master’s degree in economics from the Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor’s degree from Western New England College.

To hear Scott, and more of our Social Media Masters in Toronto:

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Social Media Masters New York: Summary

Posted on 26. Sep, 2011 by kristie.

Thank you again to all of you who joined us for the Social Media Masters event in New York. Several of the speakers posted their presentations online and you can find them at:

• Brandon Eley – Mobile Marketing Mastery
• Kat Mandelstein - Becoming a Social Business: IBM’s Journey
• Sam Fiorella – Building Enterprise Cross Silo Social Media Team
• Sean Moffitt – Word of Mouth Marketing, Creating Buzz and Engaging Influencers

We pulled a few of the tweets and photos that were captured during the day:

We would also like to thank our conference sponsors for their support and participation in this event:

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Let’s Debate: What is the Social Media Trend of TOMORROW?

Posted on 20. Sep, 2011 by kristie.

This week’s #bizforum debate will focus on social media trends, or “Trend Currents” as our guest Steve Woodruff likes to call it. Steve believes “Trend Currents” are the large-scale cultural, economic, and technological shifts that drive our ongoing communications revolution. Marketers in this digital age find themselves having to stay ahead of the curve and keep on top of not only what is hot ‘right now’, but more importantly, what will be hot ‘tomorrow’. Social networks come and go (/waves hello to her pals at Friendster), and it is critical in this day and age that you expect the unexpected and be nimble enough to adapt to where your market is living online.

Our chat moderator, Sam Fiorella, lays out a few of the trends he believes will take place:

• #1: Social Networks will decentralize & become feeder sites to a ubiquitous overarching network.
• #2: Social Search will make “Influencer Outreach” the No. 1 activity for brand marketers.
• #3: The expectation of “social privacy” will diminish.
• #4:  “Social Media” will die and revert back to “Digital Media”.

This week’s #bizforum chat is sure to generate a good healthy discussion, and we would love you to join us.

To participate:

• Time: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st at 5pm PST (lasts one hour)
• Follow the hashtag #bizforum on Twitter
• When you want to respond to a comment posted or add your own thoughts on the topic, add ‘#bizforum’ at the end of your tweet to ensure it is seen by everyone.
• Using a service like Tweetchat helps you stay on top of the discussion – just enter the room name (e.g. #bizforum) in the box at the top of the page, follow the discussion and post if/when ready.

And if you would like to dive even deeper into this topic, we invite you to join us for the Social Media Masters New York event taking place Friday, September 23rd, where Steve will share even more insights in his Trend Currents in Social Media session. Register now and save 20% by using the code ‘smcfriend‘.

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Social Media Masters Los Angeles: Summary

Posted on 14. Sep, 2011 by kristie.

Thank you again to all of you who joined us for the Social Media Masters event in Los Angeles. Several of the speakers posted their presentations online and you can find them at:

• Matt Hicks – Going Beyond Likes on Facebook
• Patrick O’Keefe – Online Community Building
• Sam Fiorella – Building Enterprise Cross Silo Social Media Team
• Tin Dizdarevic – How To Blog Like Your Business Depended On It

We will update this list if more become available in the coming weeks.

Here are a few of the photos we captured during the day:

We would also like to thank our conference sponsors for their support and participation in this event:

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Just Announced: Social Media Masters New York Schedule

Posted on 13. Sep, 2011 by kristie.

We put together a great day of programming for you and have provided ample time for the consumption of new ideas as well as opportunities to keep yourself hydrated and fed, and added some networking opportunities in there too.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND (6:30PM – 8:30PM)

The Social Media Club New York Chapter is co-hosting a tweetUp at the W Hotel (Downtown) for local members and Social Media Masters participants, speakers and sponsors. Space is limited.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD (8:00AM – 6:00PM)

The Social Media Masters conference takes place at the Digital Sandbox Network and the agenda is as follows:

Information about the conference venue:

The Digital Sandbox Network
55 Broad Street
New York, NY

Website | Map

Directions from Subway:

• 2,3 Train to Wall Street. If you are coming from Brooklyn, exit from the last car. If you are coming from Uptown Manhattan, exit from the first car. You will be exiting from the Wall Street/ William Street exit. Walk towards Broad Street and make a left on the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street.
• 4,5 Train to Wall Street. You will be exiting from the Wall Street/Broadway exit. Walk towards Exchange Place and make a left on Exchange Place. Go straight for 2 blocks and make a right on Broad Street. We are on the Northeast corner of Broad and Beaver Street.
• J,M,Z Train to Broad Street. We are located on the North East Corner of Beaver and Broad Street.

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