The Digital Third Place: Facebook
Many years ago, Starbucks set out to become a “third place” for customers, an inviting and welcoming community between home (the first place) and work (the second place). The concept is derived from The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg who argued that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

Certainly, Starbucks’ third place strategy has proven profitable, but it is the digital third place – social media, and in particular Facebook – that has recently added an interesting layer to Oldenburg’s concept.

According to Oldenburg the hallmarks of a true “third place” are: free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible; involve regulars – those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there. Sounds a lot like Facebook to me, except for the food and drink part. Though now, through Starbucks Give Real, Facebook users can even share drinks with friends by applying gift credits directly to their credit or debit card.

Consumers Want More Exchange with Companies Online, Not Less
We all know that traditional marketing techniques have become less effective as technology has become better at deterring them. DVRs erase TV commercials, satellite radio bypasses radio commercials, anti-spam ware diverts email campaigns, and caller ID and the do-not-call registry thwart telemarketers. But according to a recent study of active social media users, consumers want more exchange with companies online, not less.

Learning about New Products is an Important Driver of Social Media

According to a new study by Invoke Solutions, active social networkers find benefits of social media use beyond just staying connected with friends and family and viewing the latest funny cats YouTube. Active social networkers say an important driver of social media use is sharing and gathering information and learning about new products.

• 63% say sharing information with network is very or somewhat important
• 59% say gathering information from network is very or somewhat important
• 58% say to learn about new products is very or somewhat important

Active Social Media Users Want More from Brands
Given that active social media users are looking for information about products and brands online, how well do they think companies are doing leveraging social media to these ends? Well, let’s just say there is room for improvement.

• 46% said companies are not doing well using social media to listen to customers
• 46% said companies are not doing well using social media to deliver better customer service
• 50% said companies are not doing well using social media to learn about unmet customer needs

Well, companies, here is some low hanging fruit for you.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been asked the following question an unprecedented number of times – “How would you describe your sales philosophy?” As an independent marketing consultant, I can say that I have never once thought about having a personal sales philosophy. Yet, it is a fair question. Selling, after all, is an essential function of business and one that has traditionally been given a bad name (think polyester suit and cheesy hairpiece).

In 1973, Peter Drucker stated “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him or her and sells itself.” As a social media marketer, this is how I have approached selling my services. I think of myself more as an educator and business partner than a vendor.

In its most powerful form marketing is an orientation, not a function. A company’s brand (the embodiment of its marketing) should be embedded in sales, operations, finance, corporate strategy, and in every employee, not just in a silo-ed marketing department. A company’s brand should represent the promise made by the product or company to the consumer. Brand should extend the values of the company and permeate the entire organization. Examined in this light, sales is simply and extension of the company promise and values.

When urged to articulate a personal sales philosophy, I would say it all about my values and my promise to my client or partner, too. My values should be clearly visible and they should guide every decision I make and every contribution I add.

In social media marketing and in social commerce more broadly, a sales philosophy must stand for something that is authentic, resonant, relevant, and sustainable. Honesty and self-reflection are essential. After all, social media networks are not sales channels, they are listening and sharing platforms. Anything other than authenticity just won’t fly.

Many Companies Haven’t Articulated Their Brand Identity Clearly

When I’m working with businesses and individuals on social media and marketing initiatives, I hear the following quite a bit. “We know we need to do social media, but we just don’t know how to do it.” To this, I often start by explaining that social media in its most basic form is simply a conversation between two people. It just so happens there is a whole lot of new and fast-changing technology involved.

Mastering the technology, however, is never the core challenge businesses face when adopting social media marketing initiatives. Most individuals are perfectly willing and able to listen and learn about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Most people find it exciting and fun and full of possibilities. What I consistently find is a challenge for companies is more about marketing fundamentals. In particular, many companies haven’t clearly articulated their brand identity.

Brand Identity: An Outward Expression of a Company’s Core Promise

A brand identity is simply the characteristics of a brand (company, product, or service) that differentiate it from other brands. It is an outward expression comprised of the visual and verbal language representing the company’s core promise to customers. Branding certainly has a lot to do with visuals – the color scheme, logos, and naming conventions, but it also encompasses the unique associations that can be created and conveyed through dialogue. Key takeaway: there is a huge opportunity to create and share compelling brand expressions and associations via social technology.

Use This Framework to Articulate Your Brand Identity

Here is a simple brand identity framework that organizations can use to articulate their brand associations. Having a clearly articulated brand identity is necessary to appropriately frame conversations through social media. The brand identity provides guidelines and a structure for the types of messages individuals should be conveying both through social media and other traditional marketing channels. Here are the 9 questions making up a simple, but effective, brand identity framework.

1. What are the original strengths of your product or service that made the company great on which you want to build?

2. What is the relative value of your company in contrast to the alternative choices in the market?

3. Who are the customers (define their attributes) for which your company is always the best choice?

4. What customer need does your company fill?

5. What is the single most compelling (and competitive) reason for the target customer to chose your brand?

6. What are the differentiating functional benefits that motivate consumers to choose your company? What are the emotional benefits that motivate?

7. What are the values, beliefs, and personality of your brand?

8. What proof do you have the support your promises?

9. What is your core promise to your customer?

The Process of Developing a Brand Identity

The process of a developing a brand identity should be inclusive in order to leverage the best thinking in the company. Individuals from all levels and functions should be engaged in a series of short workshops that are designed to answer the above questions. Depending on the size and scale of your organization, you can also consider involving brand consultants and designers to help facilitate the process.

A Brand Identity Guarantees a Consistent and Compelling Message

The benefits of having a clearly established brand identity are manifold. It assures that a consistent and compelling story is communicated across all communication channels, including social media. The identity enlivens and humanizes the brand both internally and externally. And finally, it facilitates brand engagement and brand awareness – all good stuff.

What other benefits do you see? Have you used other frameworks to help articulate promise? Let’s talk more over a cappuccino at Starbucks, okay?

Is it Ethical?

On May 10, 2010, Andrew Sullivan, blogging for The Atlantic, posted a blog entitled “So is She Gay?” in reference to Elena Kagan. His post began:

It is no more of an empirical question than whether she is Jewish. We know she is Jewish, and it is a fact simply and rightly put in the public square. If she were to hide her Jewishness, it would seem rightly odd, bizarre, anachronistic, even arguably self-critical or self-loathing. And yet we have been told by many that she is gay ….

Sullivan’s post generated a firestorm response with many critics raising concerns over the ethics of a blogger – not a traditional journalist – floating rumors about a political figure’s sexual orientation on a well-respected news site.

On July 7, 2010, another online backlash ensued after a new blog at the popular and highly-regarded ScienceBlogs called Food Frontiers promised the following in its first post.

The focus [of this blog] will be on innovations in science, nutrition and health policy…We have some exciting things planned for this project, including a video series that will begin with a look at the role the food industry plays in health issues, and how industry research into chemistry, physiology, neuroscience, behavioral economics, medicine, and nutrition can improve health outcomes around the world…

Sounds great and many scientists welcomed the addition until it was revealed that this “nutrition” blog was written by PepsiCo scientists.

New Media Strategies Create New Leadership, Governance, and Ethical Dilemmas

In a world where consumers increasingly turn to the Web and social networks for information to inform decision making, it has become imperative that organizations and businesses across industries and sectors adopt new media strategies, including blogging, microblogging, and social networking. Since companies with corporate blogs see 55% more traffic to their Website than companies that do not have a blog, it is of strategic importance.

In the online world, the division between private and public information is blurred and companies gain unprecedented access to information about customers and their behavior. Many questionable practices have emerged to date. For example, employees of companies may join social networks aiming to gain consumer insights and competitive advantage. In addition, bloggers with large followings have come under fire for receiving payments to review or write about products and services without disclosing the fact.

The immediacy, speed, reach, and ease of sharing information on the Web also pose a dilemma to industries and individuals – like the founders of ScienceBlogs – who haven’t typically been in the “content” producing industry, and who are also struggling to monetize their work. Additionally,  many CEO’s of publicly-held companies are struggling to provide both the transparency demanded by consumers and the risk management demanded by investors. Simply stated, consumers want CEOs to blog, but CEOs are afraid of saying the wrong thing and getting sued by investors.

The Ethics of Blogging, Microblogging, and Social Networking

As more and more people turn to the Web for community, information and news, the need for strong ethical practices and guidelines increases. The examples described above, however, can be viewed through already established principles, including:

1. Fiduciary principle – requiring diligence, candor, loyalty to company, disclosure of conflicts of interest
2. Property principle – requiring respect for others’ property
3. Transparency principle – requiring accuracy, truthfulness, and honesty prohibiting fraud, deceit, misrepresentation
4. Citizenship principle – requiring civic contribution prohibiting injury/damage to society
5. Responsiveness principle – readiness to listen, responding to complaints/suggestions, addressing legitimate concerns of others¹

Because new media is still in early stages of adoption, it may be tempting for companies like PepsiCo and journalists like Sullivan to test the waters of a seemingly fluid environment, where standards, guidelines, and regulations have yet to take hold.

However, the risks of doing so are great. By permitting Pepsi to promote content (or should it be termed advertising?) on its site, ScienceBlogs damaged its credibility, the credibility of its scientists, and years of hard work building a respected brand and readership. In fact, ScienceBlogs lost its most popular science writer, who left because of the gaffe. The Atlantic faced similar brand damage. In sum, company ethics and conduct in the online world have strong implications for its functioning, ability to manage risk, reputation management, and standing in the community in the offline world.

Establishing New Media Standards

To establish blogging and new media standards, companies need look no farther than to widely endorsed standards like the GBS Codex or, in the case of blogging, the American Society of Magazine Editors, who have been dealing with these kinds of conflicts of interest for years.

As companies enter new media, they must also adopt new internal controls, including policies and guidelines for company use of social networking, microblogs, and other third party Websites. These policies must include clear guidelines on the intent of new media engagement, use of company brands, tone of voice, editorial content, approving or making “friends” online, when it is okay to retweet and link online, advertising versus sharing, and other legal and rights issues, to name a few.

The good news for companies getting started with these internal controls is that in the spirit of transparency demanded by the online world, many existing corporate new media polices – like Microsoft’s and the BBC’s – are widely shared on the Web. What internal controls has your company used and been successful with in this regard?

¹ Source: Based on Lynn S. Paine, Rohit Deshpande, Joshua D. Margolis, and Kim E. Bettcher, “Up to Code: Does Your Company’s Conduct Meet World Class Standards?” Harvard Business Review (December 2005).

Good Strategy + Good Execution = Good Management

“Among all things managers do, nothing affects a company’s ultimate success or failure more fundamentally than how well its management team charts the company’s direction, develops competitively effective strategic moves and business approaches, and pursues good day-in, day-out strategy execution and operating excellence.”

-  Arthur Thompson, AJ Strickland III, and John Gamble

Search the term “business strategy,” and Google returns 55 millions results. That’s a lot of talk. You’ll also hear the term bandied about in company meeting rooms day in and day out. Given the importance of the high level business strategy, it is unfortunate that the term is over-used and misapplied, often referring to actions or decisions that are considered important (or relevant to business) instead of aspects specifically relating to the company’s Strategy-with-a-capital-S.

It’s important to differentiate the business level or capital-S Strategy (how a company competes in the marketplace) from decisions that are strategic (a.k.a. important). But where should a business leader start? Well, we know that companies generally don’t fail because they have a poor strategy (there are lots of good ones out there). Instead, companies wither because they fail to execute their strategy effectively. Thus, focusing more time on strategy execution is wise, with many academics and professionals suggesting an 80-20 split.

How to Assess Strategy Execution

There are essentially three reasons why your strategy isn’t working (i.e., your products and services aren’t selling). People don’t know about you. They can’t find you. Or, they simply don’t like you.

Passed down to me from Fiona Wilson, this simple framework helps diagnose problem areas in strategy execution. If your performance isn’t where you want it be, you can begin to uncover sources of error by asking yourself these three questions. Do my customers know about me? Can they find me? And, do they like me? Here’s a closer look at each.

Do my customers know about me?

This question is all about marketing. To answer it, examine your marketing efforts and return. Aspects to evaluate include: total marketing spend compared to key competitors, brand awareness levels in your industry, purchase intentions for your product relative to rivals, and customer service satisfaction levels. And remember this, you can’t execute well unless you have a crystal clear understanding of your target customer, their needs, and their preferences.

Can people find me?

This is a sales and distribution question. To answer it, take a look at sales force and channel management. Benchmark your sales force levels and distribution channel penetration against key competitors. Take a look at consumer shopping behavior, asking yourself “where are my customers likely to shop?” and “am I adequately staffed there”? As more and more businesses develop online distribution channels, knowledge of target customer’s online habits is essential, too.

Do people like me?

Though she’ll be forever mocked, Sally Field hit the nail on the head when she effused “you like me, you really like me!” And from a business perspective, this is aabout product development and innovation capabilities. It gets at your ability to develop products and services that match your target customer’s preferences. This is, again, why it is essential to have a target customer in mind.  If your offerings don’t align with their preferences, it is time to innovate or check the evolution of customer preferences.

What’s this got to do with social technology?

I’ve written before on how social technology can help companies execute corporate strategy and on how marketing should be an orientation of a company (not just a segregated business function), and I’ve expanded on it here by providing this simple execution framework.

Social media shouldn’t be viewed simply as a marketing tool and marketing shouldn’t be left to the marketing department only. Social media is an ideal tool to help you assess your strategy execution through market research, information gathering, brand management, product innovation, and other initiatives. Embrace it throughout your organization. I’d love to hear your stories on how you do this.

Why Marketing is Going Social First

As of now, the marketing function has been the first to enter into the social media sphere. As the business function charged with communicating between brand and customer, marketers have been the first to feel the effects of a significant shift in how people communicate, consume information, and make purchasing decisions.

Marketers have run up against the walls people have built to block out traditional marketing channels. These traditional marketing techniques have become less effective as technology has become better at deterring them. DVRs erase TV commercials, satellite radio bypasses radio commercials, anti-spam ware diverts email campaigns, and caller ID and the do-not-call registry thwart telemarketers.

Clearly marketers are going on-line because they can reach their consumers there. Yet, beyond the marketing silo, social media and inbound marketing can help businesses in many ways, including improving execution on corporate strategy.

Why Corporate Strategy Should Go Social

Internally, business management can use social media platforms to facilitate communication within the firm as well as promote employee engagement and execution along corporate strategy. This application of social media is far from mature, but those firms adopting social media for these purposes have an opportunity to strengthen an entire firm’s alignment between strategy and execution.

A brand identity should reflect a company’s goals, values and vision. Guided by its values and vision, the company strategy is its plan of action for achieving its goals. You’ve heard it said again and again, but I’ll say it again. Companies don’t fail because their strategy is flawed. They fail because their strategy execution is flawed.

What if senior leaders applied the principles of inbound marketing to their internal brand building? Just as individuals value co-creation and content sharing as consumers, they value the same as employees. Inbound marketing isn’t reacting to a change in the field of marketing. It is built on a change in people’s behavior. Just as the brands who best embody the values underlying Web 2.0 will be most successful at capturing consumer loyalty (and dollars), the firms that best embody these values internally will be the most successful at engaging employees, executing on strategy, and capturing those dollars.

Yet, most firms are still trying to keep social media out of the work place.

How can marketers push their social media success beyond the marketing silo? How can leaders convince naysayers to try this experiment?

I’d like to hear your thoughts.

“To connect with today’s buyer, you need to stop pushing your message out and start pulling your customers in. The rules of marketing have changed and the key to winning is to use this change to your advantage.”

– Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

A search of the term “inbound marketing” in Google yields about 1.1 million results in a quarter of a second. So, it is official. Inbound marketing has become a “buzz word” with many marketing and social media “experts” offering the term up as a magical marketing fix.

As Halligan and Shah state above, with inbound marketing you stop pushing your message out and start pulling your customers in using blogs, social media, and search engine optimization.

It sounds inherently magnetic and magical.

The not so flashy truth, however, is that it takes well thought out planning, flawless execution, and tireless management to make inbound marketing magic.

Rest assured, ultimately, it is worth the investment.

In her recent book, Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead, Charlene Li runs the numbers and demonstrates that the benefits of open leadership, built on the principles of social technology and inbound marketing, are enormous – ranging from 94%-605% return on investment.

Those are very nice numbers, but it is important to be prepared for the reality and recognize the myths of social technology and inbound marketing. Perhaps the biggest inbound marketing myths to be aware of are 1) inbound marketing is easy, 2) inbound marketing is inexpensive, 3) inbound marketing is for everyone, and 4) inbound marketing is all the marketing you need.

Myth #1: It is Easy

Low cost has lulled many small businesses and marketers into improvising communication and marketing across various social media platforms. Now recognizing the time consumed by social media management (creating content, keeping up with technology, learning new platforms, tracking results, etc.), it is clear that there is a direct cost and a well-thought out social media and inbound marketing plan is necessary.

Myth #2: It is Inexpensive

According to Kuno Creative, the costs associated with inbound marketing are approximately $5000 per month for routine inbound marketing (including time spent on content creation, blogging, SEO, and social media engagement) and $2000-$10,000 for special projects and campaigns per month.

Myth #3: It is for Everyone

Given the above calculations, the bottom line budget range is $84,000-$180,000 per year. These are serious investments for small businesses and suggests that inbound marketing tactics may not be for all businesses. At the very least, small businesses need to carefully weigh and manage investment in these indirect and direct costs.

Myth #4: It is Enough

According to HubSpot, Halligan and Shah’s company that sells inbound marketing web analytics software, the general trends in marketing spending show a shift away from traditional “push” marketing channels.

Clearly social media and inbound marketing techniques are being adopted more often, but they don’t answer or eliminate the fundamental marketing questions 1) How do we manage when and where we reach customers? 2) Once we reach them, how do we manage the challenges of conversing with consumers? and, 3) How do we interpret and learn from conversations?

Thus, inbound marketing isn’t the only marketing you need. It is a marketing tactic, not a marketing plan or strategy. Inbound marketing should supplement, not supplant other marketing strategies and plans.

To this point, today, I received a traditional paper flyer in my Zappos order. It is for the CEO’s new book, Delivering Happiness. I’m going to buy it. I wouldn’t have known about it except for the prehistoric flyer. A flyer. Yep, still relevant. Supplement, not supplant.

The risks and benefits of outsourcing are pretty well understood, yet the management of outsourcing relationships still demands tremendous time and commitment from companies. A recent experience with Ann Taylor, the professional woman’s clothing store, has me thinking about using social technology to monitor and improve outsourcing relationships.

What kind of company charges customers for paying on time?

Earlier this year, I opened a credit card with Ann Taylor to take advantage of a great sale. Typically, I don’t do this. I’m what credit card companies call a “balance payer” and would rather carry one credit card and pay it all off each month. Keeps life simple.

I signed up for online bill pay and electronic statements. The first statement never came. Luckily, I am hyper-organized, and when I got a funny feeling about the account one day, I checked for myself. Just in time, too. That first payment was due the very day I checked online.

This is where it gets interesting. When I went to pay my balance on time (Can I say that again? On time.), I was charged a $10 penalty fee called an “expedited payment” fee.

Ann Taylor charges customers for paying on time. Or, do they?

I disputed the charge, since I had no way of knowing when the billing cycle was on that first bill. You can imagine where this story goes. I have had a heck of a time getting this issue resolved.

I calculated my customer lifetime value and, conservatively, Ann Taylor is risking $100,000 loss over a $10 charge for paying on time. Why would they inconvenience their customers by paying on time? Why would they risk $100,000 for $10 and bad publicity? It just doesn’t make sense to me as a business and marketing professional.

Then I realized why it didn’t make sense. Ann Taylor, the clothing store, wasn’t enforcing this policy, the company they outsourced their credit card services to was, which happens to be WFNNB (no website), a subsidiary of AllianceData.

What I want to know is does Ann Taylor realize this? Do they support this policy? It seems awfully disrespectful to customers. Yes, they can pay early, but do you really build customer loyalty through coercion? Especially when we know that credit cards lead to increased sales.

Social Technology is a Win-Win for Consumer and Company

Yesterday, I finally posted my complaint to the Ann Taylor corporate Facebook account. After months of trying to resolve this issue over the phone and via email with the financial services company, I got an immediate and courteous email and phone response.

In this case, Facebook benefited Ann Taylor, by providing a feedback mechanism on services they chose to outsource. Social technology also benefited me, the customer, since my voice was amplified by the fact that 31,498 people (Ann Taylor Facebook fans) were listening.

What I am really curious about is whether or not Ann Taylor uses the feedback to improve their management of WFNNB?  In today’s networked marketplace it isn’t enough to listen, you’ve also got to respond.

I’m curious, how are you using social technology to strengthen your strategic partnerships?

Open Leadership by Charlene Li (Book Review)

I’ve spent the last month writing about the wide range of opportunities social technologies provide business, also thinking about how to overcome typical barriers to adoption. So shiny, new, and fast moving, social technology has gotten a lot of buzz, especially by marketing and sales functions. Yet becoming a solidly entrenched buzz word won’t convince most CEOs and skeptics that blogging and tweeting are worth the time and risk, let alone essential for today’s leaders.

Few people have taken the time to fully understand the underlying principles pulling social technology into business and leadership. Charlene Li is now a most noteworthy exception. In her forthcoming book, Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead, Li builds a strong, holistic business case for integrating social technology into leadership and corporate strategy.

Social Technology, Competitive Advantage, and Return on Investment (ROI)

Chapter 4, Understanding and Measuring the Benefits of Being Open, captured much of my attention because it is where the rubber meets the road. Li digs into the measurable benefits of open leadership, and convincingly argues that social technology integration can help build competitive advantage. Open leadership and social technology help businesses improve reputation management, scale efforts, increase employee and customer commitment, pump up word of mouth marketing internally and externally, ease information gathering and sharing, improve hiring, and much more.

Li organizes the benefits of open leadership into four basic categories: learning, dialog, support, and innovation. She then calculates stunning ROI  for open leadership adoption. Learning – 94% return. Dialog – 1667% return. Support – 307% return. Innovation – 605% return.

These numbers speak for themselves, but Li keenly reminds us via John Hayes, chief marketing officer at American Express, “We tend to overvalue things we can measure, and undervalue things we cannot.” She reminds us that generally half an operating budget is spent on activities that have no direct impact on the bottom line. Thus, ROI shouldn’t be the sole driver of open leadership adoption. “What’s the ROI of a fire insurance policy or a handshake?”, she asks, pointing out that important business choices don’t necessarily benefit the bottom line directly. After all, leadership and business, just like social technologies, are about relationships and the people within them.

Recognizing people aren’t necessarily swayed by numbers contradict their world view, Li also includes compelling and clearly presented case studies to support social technology adoption in leadership. She describes how Comcast drove customer sentiment from 30% negative down to 10% in two years with blog and Twitter initiatives. She presents pertinent information on how Dell Outlet increased sales of $3 million in its first year on Twitter. She discusses how Sodexo embraced social technology to increase job applicants by 25% giving them strong competitive advantage in an industry notorious for high turnover. This book is packed with examples and case studies that might just convince the most die-hard social technology curumudgeon.

We Are All Leaders Now

Open Leadership also offers guidance on becoming more open as a leader, as a company, and as a culture. There are many a number of diagnostic tools provided in the book and on the book’s website. These tools can help individuals gain more insight into their own leadership or company.

With social technology, we have all been given a platform to share our views and to impact the world of business and the world beyond. Whether you are a hierarchal leader or an everyday leader, whether you are a social media enthusiast or skeptic, this book offers insights on leadership that will help you build more meaningful relationships, trust, and influence.

The book comes out May 24. I urge you to pre-order today. Buy now >>

How We Live is Changing

In his Social Media Revolution video, Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business, convincingly supports the notion that Americans are using technology to communicate in two fundamentally new ways, on-line and on-the-go. He asks two key questions “Is Social Media a Fad? Or, Is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?”  Qualman’s statistics convince many that social media is here to stay. To call a new method of communication a revolution may be a tad extreme, but one thing is for sure – social media are reshaping how we live and work.

As they expand and evolve, social media are both replacing and complementing many human behaviors, and for businesses this means adjusting how they function across the organization not just in marketing and sales. Social media is not just about socializing, it is the information source for entertainment, products, services, news, and just about all things.

In many cultures, social media are replacing newspapers, magazines, publications and catalogs, direct mail, phone time, TV time, radio time, face to face time, visits to the mall, snail mail, and much more. Overall, social media represents a shift in where we spend time and communicate. Smart leaders must ask themselves “What does this mean for my business?”

How We Work is Changing

As social media replace many traditional information and communication channels, they are also expanding and complementing traditional information. For example, the technological foundation of social media itself provides access to increased real time information on consumers, consumer feedback, news, advertising, and other information. This data complements market research, advertising efforts, and provides a “multiplier” effect for word of mouth referral.

The shift toward social media communication, thus, provides businesses with many upsides and downsides. Businesses have access to more information, but it is increasingly fragmented and located in highly segmented populations online. Social media allows direct communication and feedback with consumers, but this demands increased time and effort to create meaningful real-time relationships across rapidly changing, highly fickle technology platforms.

Businesses must begin to examine how social media will impact its internal and external functioning

The movement toward social media communication is growing and moving at market speed. According to Qualman, it took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, 13 years for TV to reach 50 million users, 4 years for the Internet to reach 50 millions users, and just nine months for Facebook to reach 100 million users. In 2009, Boston College stopped issuing e-mail address to freshmen because Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé. Clearly for Generation Y and Generation Z,  as well as early technology adapters, social media is here to stay.

The social media platforms may evolve and change, but the manner of communicating in shared, virtual spaces will continue to spread. Some may consider the social media movement a generational movement, yet the fastest growing demographic on Facebook are Baby Boomers ages 55-65 increased 922% in 2009. Furthermore, as the number of Generation Y – almost 100% on social networks – is set to surpass the number of Baby Boomers in 2010, this trend will only strengthen.

What does this have to do with women leaders?

When the default image of a CEO, leader, or technologist is male, women are not provided the benefit of the doubt when it comes to technological expertise and savvy. Thus, women must to be expert in the business implications of the social media (r)evolution. Furthermore, women need to understand the basics of the platforms. Women risk confirming stereotypes when they say “I don’t tweet”.

How We Lead & Build Influence is Changing

Sherry Perlmutter Bowen, a gender and communication professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, says she sees men using social media to build expertise and influence. She doesn’t, however, see women doing this. “I see males espousing their wisdom on social media sites and using social media to sell, to compete, to ‘climb the ladder,’” she says. Clearly, many women are using social media to build a following and connect for impact.

This is a long way of saying that women who aren’t using social media to build expertise and influence are missing the opportunity of a lifetime. Please don’t be one of them.