July 1, 2008
Social media is a hot topic these days. Books are being published faster than social networking sites, mashups and aggregators pop up. In any list of books on social media The Cluetrain Manifesto is going to be at the top. It deserves to be there if for no other reason than that it was written in 2000–a good five years before social media was on anyone else’s radar. The Cluetrain did indeed foresee the dramatic dynamics that the voices of crowds create as their voices are just as accessible as main stream media. Communications professionals are experiencing the challenges that come when a search for a popular brand can result in links to an angry consumer’s YouTube video or blogger’s dissatisfied rant. Power is shifting from brands to consumers. There are plenty of examples of social media corporate meltdowns. But despite the gaffes social media is creating an incredibly rich fabric of knowledge, community, and sharing that can be leveraged to the benefit of both corporations and consumers.
But this isn’t a review of Cluetrain, it’s a review of Groundswell. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff are both Forrester analysts. Perhaps their slightly more professional context, or maybe their data orientation makes their book Groundswell clearer and more acceptable than Cluetrain. Their day jobs, advising large corporations and enterprise level executives, give them a voice that’s more considered and detailed. But don’t get the wrong idea, Groundswell is not at all dry or dispassionate. Both authors are deeply enthusiastic and excited about the benefits to be gained from the rise of social media. But they offer their vision and insight in a reasoned, balanced way that other books in the vein of Cluetrain do not. Where Cluetrain’s overstated assertions declare “all marketing is conversation,” Groundswell would say that in addition to other forms of marketing, social media presents opportunites to engage in conversations: listening, talking, energizing, helping and embracing consumers.
When I read Cluetrain I was inspired despite the arrogant tone of the manifesto. When I read Groundswell I felt inspired and hopeful, especially now that I have a book I could confidently recommend to my clients that will impart a vision for navigating the social media landscape.
Groundswell is surprisingly practical, providing a metric for evaluating the various opportunities that fall under the social media umbrella. They’ve developed a matrix called “The Social Technographics Profile” (a data analyst’s title if ever there was one). It categorizes various groups of people into social media participation tendencies. Groups are broken down as Creators, Critics, Collectors, Joiners, Spectators, and Inactives. Depending on the engagment level of a particular group across these traits, certain social media opportinties will be more fitting than others. They give examples such as “Alpha Moms.” Alpha Moms, according to their data tend to be critics and spectators more than creators or joiners. So for them an emphasis on forums, ratings and reviews would be more effective than social networks.
I appreciate Charlene and Josh’s patience with their executive audience. They understand that social media is not only new, but hard to explain and integrate into today’s corporate culture. They encourage people to begin by just listening to the groundswell before leaping in, or kicking off a “social media campaign.”
If you’re trying to get a foothold on social media pick up a copy of Groundswell. I don’t think there’s a better epicenter for orienting yourself to this rapidly spreading technological and communication shake up.
