At the end of last year, as a part of CIC's annual internet word-of-mouth (IWOM) summit, I hosted 17 separate meetings with marketing communication directors, managers, and CxOs from CIC's key clients. The purpose was to discuss findings from our upcoming research on IWOM in China and introduce recent developments in the IWOM industry in China and abroad. In addition, we looked at how IWOM is impacting and redefining the brand-consumer relationships and what this means for brands in China. Here are some of the key takeaways from these enlightening meetings.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
I found that many of the talking points this year were similar to those discussed last year at our 2007 IWOM Summit (particularly with our new clients). This doesn't mean the IWOM environment is stagnant. On the contrary, it signifies that these are the core topics around which brands will be discussing and refining their IWOM strategy for years to come. These points include:
- The shift of IWOM from "nice to have" to "must have".
- Uncertainty over who "owns" IWOM (PR, marketing, marketing research, etc.)
- How IWOM fits into existing KPIs
- How to manage IWOM ethically in a sometimes unethical environment
L-K-P, and especially P
Some of our more experienced and strategically thinking clients have been following our "Listen -- Know -- Participate" framework for some time, and are now beginning to focus more on PARTICIPATE, having already developed an understanding from listening (to what's being said) and knowing (the culture behind what's being said). While we don't do marketing ourselves for our clients, we do provide them and their agencies with some "best practices" for participating on the Chinese web. These best practices aren’t "tactics", but rather "strategy-driven actions" similar to what I described in a previous article about Johnson Baby and Intel.
Building an IWOM ecosystem
More than 1 year ago I began talking about the idea of larger, more strategically thinking organizations creating IWOM manager positions, and we are seeing more and more clients creating such positions, or at least assigning clear responsibilities for IWOM to higher level staff. We are increasingly seeing this happening as part of a bigger movement to create an IWOM 'ecosystem' across the organization and agency partnerships. The basic principles we see for creating an effective IWOM ecosystem are:
1. Consider IWOM as a strategy/mindset (not a tactic)
a) Express your voice (not your message)
b) Develop platforms, not just campaigns
c) Hire a dedicated person or team for vision/execution
2. Leverage IWOM strategy across the marketing organization (not siloed)
3. Utilize an execution agency with a real understanding of IWOM
4. Utilize trusted, third-party research/consulting for non-biased strategy and management
Different roles of SNS, blogs and BBS for communication
The fact that social networking sites (SNS), blogs, and bulletin board systems (BBS) all require different approaches as connection points to the internet community generated a good bit of interest from IWOM summit participants. We discussed how blogs are driven by self expression (i.e. content driven by 'me'), BBS are driven by information/topics (i.e. content driven by topics), and SNS are driven by relationships. The marketing content/approach to each of these channels should be adjusted accordingly. More on the nuances of different platforms in our IWOM white paper here and my previous article here.
Finding the "right" voice for IWOM
One of the most interesting discussions we had during the meeting was with one of our luxury brand clients. This client is one of the more progressive brands we work with in terms of understanding and leveraging IWOM. When the discussion of "finding the brand voice" within IWOM came up (see here for background), the client inquired about the best way for a luxury brand to "express" its voice. A basic assumption in social media strategy is that you need to engage your customers wherever they may be on the web -- essentially, brands should be ubiquitous in their conversational presence. However, being ubiquitous may not be entirely appropriate or desirable for luxury brands that maintain a certain distance or "mystery". In the end, a brand’s "voice" within IWOM must appropriately resonate and reflect the brand's nature and image.
Conclusion
As brands become increasingly familiar with and active in social media, questions of how to build an effective social marketing organization, the role that each social media platform plays in social marketing campaigns, and how to find an appropriate voice for your brand online will become increasingly central, and brands that start answering these questions for themselves now will find themselves ahead of the pack.
Sam Flemming is CEO and co-founder of CIC.
