Not long ago I spoke at Online Market World about, among other things, social networking in the B2B space. About a week before the event I listened to Andrew Keen (author of The Cult of the Amateur) speak on the MacNeal-Lehrer Hour about the ills of social networking:
"The key argument is that the so-called 'democratization' of the Internet is actually undermining reliable information... with user-generated content, we're actually doing away with information, high-quality information, ... and replacing it with user-generated content, which is unreliable, inane, and often rather corrupt."
In counterpoint is a blog on Enterprise 2.0 from Harvard Business School professor Andrew McAfee who ended his post with:
"Why are online communities so often so frightening? And when, if ever, are the fears warranted? I have so far seen virtually no evidence, and heard no stories, that corporate digital communities of practice blow up in the faces of those who host them."
Interesting counterpoints, aren't they? And of course they're both right, in a way.
While McAfee writes about Enterprise 2.0 business communities, Keen is speaking about the Internet in general, and his points are often well taken. Those issues can creep into the business space in unmoderated forums. The issue is, how do you implement corporate social marketing strategies correctly? Here are some tips:
- Don't just create communities for their own sake. Create a social marketing strategy. Think about how communities will achieve your key business goals. (But to be fair, if you lack Web 2.0 justification today, remember this: 10 years ago people were saying "I don't know why, but I think we need a web site" - and they were right!)
- Think about how you will both nurture and monitor your Web 2.0 initiatives for quality and accuracy. Don't expect your community to do your marketing and support work for you.
- Actually use the interactive and collaborative features of blogs and wikis; don't just use them as simple CMS systems for static content. This especially holds true for interactive online presentations: just making a podcast of a speech isn't enough.  Break it down into easily consumable segments, and use interactive tools like those built into Webex Event Manager to make it interactive and participatory.
- Consider who will do the work: IT departments aren't typically tasked with letting barbarians through the gates, and likewise marketing folks are trained to control the messages. One common strategy is to outsource your social marketing forums to collaboration vendors skilled in user experience design, application hosting, and moderating. (Hey, Crimson can do that for you!)
- Develop a set of metrics by which to measure success, and revisit your strategy quarterly, because flexibility is important.
Link to original post