High Value Adopters Gone Social

Should the still limited universe of corporate participants in online communities dampen the interest organizations have in adopting social media marketing in their external communications mix?

It's an issue that comes up in nearly every sales presentation I have given during the past 18 months.  And it's a fair one. 

Marketing leaders in business-to-business and public sector oriented companies continue to struggle with the appropriate resource investment for a channel that reaches a fraction of their targeted audience.

Even in vertical markets like government with significant adoption of social media by the customer and partner communities, the non-participants still far outnumber those engaged.  For instance, there are hundreds of thousands of buyers, yet only 35,000 have signed on to Govloop. 

There are a near equivalent number of prospective teaming partners, however govWin and the Federal Contractor Network combined offer access to only about 40,000 users.

My counsel to clients is two-fold:

1.  Social media should be considered another channel to reach key audiences, yet does not replace traditional communications activities such as advertising, event participation and sponsorship, public relations and direct marketing.

That being said, consistency in messaging, as well as a credible amount of cost efficiency can be gained through the appropriate re-purposing of promotional content for social networks.

2.  Social media participants tend to be early adopters, often vocal in their support of vendor solutions and influential in the buying interests of their peers.  This makes them of great value to organizations seeking a measurable ROI from their marketing communications activities. 

By ROI I'm referring to lead generation, cultivation of prospect relationships and deal capture, rather than merely brand positioning and awareness.

Ultimately, this is the reason why I believe the shift in influence from traditional sources of credibility (i.e. trade press, industry analysts, conferences, etc.) to social networks and online communities will continue to accelerate.  It's the most engaged and opinionated who have gotten social.

The Unproductive Fallacy

The case for unfettered employee access to social networks in the workplace is compelling.

Team collaboration...creativity and idea creation…office morale…all typically receive a spark from empowering staff to engage in online communities such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIin and Govloop.

Yet, a myriad of executives at commercial and government organizations hold tight to the mistaken notion that social media in the office is cancerous. For instance, a survey conducted last year by Robert Half Technology found that 55 percent of employers banned all access to social networking sites.

While legitimate security concerns related to data leaks, viruses and malware are often cited, right up there on the list of “why we block” is the rationale that social media breeds a lack of productivity.

This is simply not true. I have personally found that an organization that treats its employees like mature and experienced professionals is rewarded with a workforce committed to performance and success.

Several years ago Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) adopted a core principle to promote and support a healthy work/life balance for all employees. More than a work from home policy, we view the job as something you do, rather than a place you go. Our employees work where they want, when they want and how they want.

My role as CEO is to be clear and consistent on expectations, and then hold my colleagues accountable for performance.

We had some staffers flame out in this environment. One account executive chose to spend time on his own consulting endeavors. A sales rep simply stopped working all together. Both are no longer employed at Strategic.

Yet, by and large, this flexible work environment has been one of our wisest decisions as a company.

This same philosophy of treating adults like…well…adults applies equally to social media access in the workplace. Yes, there may be some who abuse the system by passing their time on trivial pursuits. The performance review process should weed them out.

Executives should demand the doors to social media be thrown open. Give them Facebook. Allow them to tweet. Embrace LinkedIn. Network on Govloop.

You’ll be rewarded with more than a thanks. You will also realize a measurable return in productivity, creativity and, ultimately, revenue and profit.

Feds and Social Media: Numbers Reveal Good…and Bad

Located just outside of Washington, DC, the Tower Club is one of those swank business networking venues that plays host to a myriad of corporate and government-focused events.

This morning was no exception as industry research shop Market Connections in partnership with TMP Government unveiled the latest edition of its “Federal Media and Marketing Study.”

Good news: the number of federal government workers who are actively engaged in social media and online communities continues to increase at an exciting pace.

Bad news: only 20 percent of the 2,303 survey respondents are allowed to access social sites from their government office, while nearly half were unclear if the government agency where they are employed has a social media policy.

OK…there is still quite a ways to go for social networks to emerge as the bedrock of professional insight and intelligence. Yet, when you look at the continued decline in traditional media readership and trade show attendance, it’s apparent there is an ongoing shift in influence.

Here are a few additional highlights from the study:

--52 percent of the respondents work for civilian agencies with the remaining 48 percent working in defense/intelligence.

--75 percent of the respondents are at least 45 years of age. (Yes…there is going to be a mass exodus of retiring federal workers in the next 5 to 10 years.)

--Most often cited federal government trade publications read are: Government Executive (51%), Federal Times (46%), Federal Computer Week (42%), Government Computer News (30%) and Defense News (26%).

--Web sites most often visited for news include: CNN.com (47%), GovExec.com (44%), MSNBC (36%), FoxNews.com (36%) and WashingtonPost.com (35%).

--Social networks most frequently visited are: Facebook (39%), YouTube (33%), LinkedIn (16%), MySpace (12%) and Twitter (11%).

--Two additional social networks – Govloop and GovTwit – were mentioned as influential in the federal market.


Full disclosure: Govloop's parent company is a Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) client. We also helped build the GovTwit community in partnership with our client BearingPoint.

Healthy Balance Delivers Impact

During a sit down with government 2.0 wunderkind Steve Ressler a few weeks back I asked him when he knew the GovLoop community he created had the potential to be something very special.

Ressler thought for a moment and then said, “When reporters began to call me about it.”

Readers of this blog know of my conviction to the belief that there has been a shift in influence in the market from traditional sources of credibility -- such as journalists, analysts and industry conferences -- to social networks and online communities. This transition of power will accelerate, further eroding the value and ROI of traditional advertising and public relations programs.

Yet, the media’s sway remains, and respected editors, writers and pundits continue to serve as a critical audience for any company with growth aspirations.

I was reminded of this when Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) was tasked by long-standing client GovDelivery to announce their acquisition of GovLoop.

We tapped into social networks and connected with a myriad of Web 2.0 influencers to share this exciting news. However, it was the good, old fashioned press coverage we generated from business, financial and trade media that truly made this a portfolio-worthy effort.

Social Networking Entrepreneur Taking It to the Next Level

Facebook for Government Enters New Phase


Social Network GovLoop Sold to GovDelivery


Facebook for Feds Social Networking Site Acquired


The take-away here is when it comes to marketing promotion, PR professionals should strive for a healthy balance. It’s critical to connect with key audiences through a mix of both traditional and emerging channels of communications.