By Jessica George, Director of Word of Mouth Marketing, Empower Media Marketing

Butterflies. Uncertainty. Anxiety. Panic.

We’re all familiar with the pre-date jitters. We remember what it was like getting ready to meet someone for the first time—that ridiculously awkward, dissonant feeling of hope (“not another dud who loves long walks in the park and his Chia Pet”) and fear (“please don’t let this one stalk me in Walgreens”).

These feelings are similar to those our clients express about engaging in social media. And, believe it or not, social media marketing and dating have more in common than just pre-date jitters.

The bad news? We have to overcome those jitters and get comfortable with a medium that puts us closer to our consumers than ever. The good news? If you’ve ever gone on a date, you know more about social media than you might think.

Let’s break it down by comparing common dating “dos and don’ts” to best practices for social media outreach.

Know where you stand

Before accepting that first date; we ask questions – and lots of them—to gauge potential. Who is he (audience)? Could he be a viable love interest (prospect)? How old is he? What does he do for a living? Where is he from? Who does he hang out with? What does he do for fun? Does he call his mom regularly? And so on.

The next questions are usually about you. What does he know and think about me? Why does he want to go out with me? Was this his idea? What does he expect from our first date?

Regardless of the specific questions, it all comes down to knowing what we’re getting into—and with whom—before engaging for the first time.

One of the beauties of the digital space is that we can use it to collect that information upfront in a fairly easy and cost-efficient manner compared to, say, focus groups. So rather than pulling our hair out trying to decide which of the barrage of social media tools to use, we first listen and learn from what consumers are saying about our brand, competition and respective category, then develop social media strategies from those insights.

Check your ego at the door

The reality is, consumers govern the digital universe and if we’re going to engage in personal, human dialogue; we need to take a personal and human approach.

Similar to a first date, if you talk only about yourself, don’t let the other person get a word in and – worse – act as if you don’t care about what he has to say – you can bet you’re going home alone.

It’s the same when engaging with consumers through social media. It is not just about you. We can no longer communicate with our consumers in a one-way monologue over which we have complete control. The heart of every successful social media strategy is building meaningful and lasting relationships with consumers. Instead of assuming that consumers live and die by our brands, we now have to understand what our brands mean – physically and emotionally – to our consumers and work to weave our brand into the fabric of their lives in meaningful and relevant ways.

The best traditional marketers have always understood this; social media makes it imperative.

Don’t play games

Don’t wait two days after a date to call. Don’t say you’re going to call if you’re not going to. Don’t lie about what you do for a living or how much you make. Don’t even lie about liking lobster, if you despise seafood.

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) has a code of ethics centered on transparency. Never “flog” or participate in blogs and discussions forums under an alias. If this is happening, you need to stop it immediately, fire the agency that recommended it and report them to WOMMA.

Give your consumers the respect they deserve as fellow human beings by being candid and honest. That applies – even when you’re in the wrong. Honesty and transparency are how you build trusted relationships in the digital space.

Take it to the next level

As Dr. Phil says, “spice it up and keep the relationship interesting.” Reward consumers for their time and attention. Make your time together engaging and fun. Most important, respect that your brand image is dictated by the consumer and learn to value his or her point of view.

Respect breeds rapport, rapport breeds relationships and relationships breed loyalty. At the end of the day, building loyalty is what will put you ahead of the game.

Now what?

If you don’t know what consumers are saying about you in the social media space, find out. (My company and some others out there have tools to help you do this.

Similarly, if you don’t have a social media policy, think about creating one for your company. Not only are your consumers active in the space, but your employees, as consumers themselves, are as well. To leverage social media effectively, your entire company – from the receptionist to the board of directors – needs to know the “dos and don’ts” of being active in the space.

Jessica George is Empower’s director of word of mouth marketing and can be reached via e-mail at jessica.george@empowermm.com.

Image via Super Stock

By Rosanna M. Fiske

The past five years have been a remarkable time for marketers, communicators and public relations professionals. Twitter, podcasts, blogs, Facebook, et al. (Quora, anyone?) have infused a new and refreshing vibrancy into our respective professions, making them more relevant to consumers and the public, and equally valuable to the business community.

But that increased value comes with greater responsibility. More specifically, a responsibility to ensure that the same ethical standards and best practices developed by WOMMA and PRSA, which are widely regarded as the benchmarks for their respective professions, are instilled in today’s emerging marketing practices.

Unfortunately, many times, those ethical benchmarks are missing, or loosely applied, across the digital side of the marketing and public relations spectrum. And that’s a shame because we have the resources, collective intelligence and call-to-action from the public, business community and government regulators to do so much more.

That is one of the reasons why PRSA has advocated for strong ethical standards across all marketing disciplines for more than 60 years. Like WOMMA, we understand and respect the value that ethical communications and marketing have toward serving the public good and helping businesses prosper.

But we also understand the time and resource constraints placed on modern communicators. We’re in an era where incorporating such norms as disclosure isn’t necessarily in “vogue.” It’s a time of rapid-fire online engagement between brands and consumers, where greater emphasis is often given to reaching the biggest influencers, rather than how well you connect with and inform your core audiences.

That leaves the ethical marketer stuck in the middle between aiming high with disclosure and other ethical standards, but possibly feeling constrained by time, resources and client pressures. Not to mention the increasingly abbreviated space available to actually provide proper disclosure. (Hello, 140 characters! Actually, make that 120 characters, if you want to get retweeted …)

The corollary is that trust between brands and consumers has been shaped in the eyes of numerous recent digital marketing mishaps. From cheating allegations in the Pepsi Refresh campaign to concerns over data scraping within online message boards to a less-than-receptive response from some online ad and marketing firms to the FTC’s efforts to allow consumers to opt-out of having their browsing data tracked, a view from the outside would likely show a profession that is incredibly innovative, but struggling to convince consumers that it has their best interests in mind.

Not all is bleak, however. The 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer found that trust in businesses has stabilized and is trending upward, going from an all-time low of 36 percent in 2009 to 54 percent in 2010.

And out of the ashes of numerous recent corporate crises has arisen a greater understanding and respect among executives for the strategic value of ethical WOM and public relations. No longer seen as merely a series of “one-off” campaigns to build brand awareness and “buzz,” these distinct disciplines now comprise the pinnacle of a global movement toward developing and sustaining companies that are aligned with the goals and collective norms of a global society.

All of which makes 2011, I have to believe, the year when we finally find that happy middle ground between real-world marketing realities and instilling modern ethical standards for modern marketing practices.

Rosanna M. Fiske, APR, is chair and chief executive officer of the Public Relations Society of America. She is also program director of the Global Strategic Communications master’s program in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Florida International University.

A company’s social media policy serves, in its simplest form, as a guide to how a business, its employees, and anyone else speaking on behalf of the business should share opinions, beliefs, and recommendations with customers online.

Fast Company magazine recently examined social media policies from a range of businesses and found there “there is little consistency in the policies” and “the complexity of a corporate social media policy depends on the robustness of the corporate culture.”

Surprisingly, Walmart’s social media policy, especially with Twitter, is decidedly hands-off. Best Buy’s policy includes a long list of “dont’s.” CNN’s policy is rather strict. Read the full Fast Company article for great insights into the do’s and don’ts of drafting a social media policy.

WOMMA members have told us designing an effective social media policy isn’t easy. It requires a balance between using proper legal guidance with relevant marketing practices.

Recently, we held a webinar sharing insights into designing a social media policy. On the webinar were two lawyers and one marketer. Anthony Diresta (WOMMA’s General Counsel, Partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP) and Luis Xavier Hernandez-Ochoa (Category Regional Counsel at Unilever) represented the lawyer side and I represented the marketer’s point of view.

This webinar coincided with the release of WOMMA’s Guide to Designing a Social Media Policy (.pdf file). Like the webinar, this guide offers a legal view and a marketer’s view. The legal view in the WOMMA guide comes in the form of a lawyer-friendly template policy. The marketer’s view is a three-pager detailing important decisions a company must make in developing their social media policy.

For an overview of both the legal side and the marketing side to designing an effective social media policy, watch this archived webinar…

Last month I wrote an article for the Social Media Examiner sharing three steps marketers must take to keep word of mouth credible in social media marketing. The article addresses long-standing WOMMA Ethics Code themes of disclosing relationships, honesty of opinion, and monitoring compliance.

To read the article, click on the image below…

WOMMA has been all over the social media marketing issues related to transparency and disclosure. We’ve held open discussions on the Living Ethics blog, hosted webinars, shared legal perspective, and delivered panel presentations at conferences. And now we have issued a GUIDE TO DISCLOSURE IN SOCIAL MEDIA.

BACKSTORY
The issue of ethical word of mouth marketing has taken on new prominence given the rise of social media websites like Twitter and Facebook. Many brands and agencies are designing word of mouth marketing programs to foster relationships with online influencers.

To foster these relationships, brands and agencies will sometimes give bloggers material compensation (loaner product, free services, in-kind gifts, and special access privileges) and/or actual compensation (cash) in exchange for talking online about a product/service a business provides. For such testimonials and endorsements, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now requiring marketers and bloggers to be 100% transparent in disclosing any material relationship between the two.

DISCLOSURE MATTERS
At the most basic level, if there is a relationship between a blogger and a brand that might affect the credibility of an endorsement; such a connection must be adequately disclosed. This act of disclosure protects both consumers and advertisers because it assures consumers that testimonials are truthful and trustworthy, and it offers marketers a proven way to reach audiences with credible information. The matter of disclosure is vital because word of mouth works best when it is 100% credible.

While the WOMMA Ethics Code, updated most recently in September 2009, is compliant with everything the FTC is now requiring from marketers and bloggers, our member companies have asked for more specific guidance as it relates to adequately displaying disclosure online.

BEST PRACTICE GUIDANCE
WOMMA’S GUIDE TO DISCLOSURE IN SOCIAL MEDIA was written and vetted by a cadre of industry leaders, WOMMA members, non-members, academics, and social media participants. This guidebook details how and where to make online disclosure clear and prominent. It also outlines the responsibilities of marketers and bloggers to ensure adequate disclosure happens.

Key online platforms covered in this Disclosure Guide include: Blogs, Online Comments, Twitter, Social Networks, Video Sharing websites, Photo Sharing websites, and Podcasts.

Perhaps you know someone at your company who needs to get up to speed on word of mouth and social media marketing. Perhaps that someone is you. WOMMA is here to help.

Beginning Jan. 5, WOMMA is offering WOM-COMM, a seven-week online course sharing best practice education on how to more effectively and ethically use online and offline word of mouth marketing. You’ll learn the core strategies and tactics benchmark businesses are using to get customers talking. And, you’ll gain the knowledge needed to best measure the success of your next WOM marketing program.

The faculty for WOM-COMM is top-notch with practitioners (not pundits). At the recent CREATING TALKABLE BRANDS Conference, the WOM-COMM faculty gave us a sneak preview of what to expect.

Interested?

Click to learn more about WOM-COMM.

We’re continuing to share perspectives from WOMMA members on how their companies are incorporating and interpreting the new FTC guidelines.

Tyler LeCompte is the director of operations at MeHype, a company that connects brands with amateur and professional video filmmakers who produce online marketing videos in support of a product or service. Tyler shares his take at three questions we’re asking WOMMA members to sound off on.

Q1: What concerns have your clients raised to you about the FTC requiring disclosure?

TYLER: “ Of the clients that have been paying attention to the recent FTC guidelines, most have expressed that they are happy to have some documented guidance from a leading source such as the FTC about required disclosure for any ‘sponsored’ blogging/review programs that they have either been participating in or have been considering for integration into their Word of Mouth Marketing efforts. Luckily, none require many changes to their current internal guidelines since they all subscribed to the WOMMA Ethics Code as previously defined prior to the FTC ruling which encouraged transparency and upfront disclosure for any questionable relationships.”

Q2: What steps is MeHype taking in designing marketing programs to comply with the disclosure requirement?

TYLER: “None of our existing clients have much internal changes to make to their existing programs, mainly simply integrating the newly required disclosure statements and defining more clearly their ‘sponsorship’ payments, be they either cash or otherwise. Going forward, we will be including a specific disclosure agreement contract that adheres to the FTC guidelines as well as the updated WOMMA Ethics Code.”

Q3: Have you seen a best practice example of disclosure? If so, do share who is doing what and why you see it as a best practice.

TYLER: “ I believe IZEA has been leading the charge as to proper disclosure, and will continue to be a leading force in the bloggersphere for proper disclosure of sponsored conversations (relevant to blogs versus reviews). Any of their member blogs all have the required disclosure statements built into their sites and required statements for each particular post easily available for each member to use. As with most Social Media tools, making the ability to integrate/share these tools and disclosures easy for the end user will improve the overall success and adoption of the FTC guidelines.”

More perspectives from WOMMA members on the FTC Guidelines to come …

We’re continuing to share perspectives from WOMMA members on how their companies are incorporating and interpreting the new FTC guidelines.

Blake Cahill, vice-president of corporate marketing with Visible Technologies, steps up to plate and take his swings at three questions we’re asking WOMMA members to sound off on.

Q1: What concerns have your clients raised to you about the FTC requiring disclosure?

BLAKE: “We have a wide variety of clients that are investing in listening, learning and engaging with their customers in the social media channel and the most important attribute they share is being transparent when they engage. They really want their customers to know who they are.”

Q2: What is Visible Technologies doing to ensure compliance with the disclosure requirement?

BLAKE: “Well, we don’t execute marketing programs on behalf of our customers but our technologies require that brands or agency domains be used when responding using our technologies.

Q3: Have you seen a best practice example of disclosure? If so, do share who is doing what and why you see it as a best practice.

BLAKE: “From a best practice perspective, I am seeing domains and twitter handles being created that embed the brand name or department as part of the .com address or twitter handle. For example @comcastcares or @ask_wellsfargo. This way end customers can see and know that it belongs to the brand or department because it is also promoted or mentioned directly on a customer’s website or other forms of regular customer notification.”

More perspectives from WOMMA members on the FTC Guidelines to come …

We’re continuing to share perspectives from WOMMA members on how their companies are incorporating and interpreting the new FTC guidelines.

Today, we hear from Steve Hershberger, ComBlu principal and co-founder. ComBlu designs and manages influencer marketing programs and brand-related communities, so the new guidelines from the FTC play a role in how ComBlu does business. Steve smartly riffs on three questions posed to him.

Q1: What concerns have your clients raised to you about the FTC requiring disclosure?

STEVE: “The alarming thing is that this topic has not been socialized enough through the brand management corridors at big brands, let alone smaller marketers and even agencies, with only a few exceptions. Nine times out of ten, this is a topic we bring up with clients and prospects as part of a strategic planning initiative or at least include in a deep dive landscape review. I am not yet convinced that marketers realize the business implications, including risk, that is involved in social media, which is why the adoption and adherence of standards and accepted best practices is so crucial.

When or if we get pushback, we have a conversation similar to the one I’ve outlined above. If they are not willing to adhere to a set of best practices and standards, we simply won’t work with them. The risk is too great.”

Q2: What steps is ComBlu taking in designing marketing programs to comply with the disclosure requirement?

STEVE: “We have built our social marketing processes, both planning and execution around a set of living best practices. Because of this, any of the programs our brands are involved in have the tools and approaches necessary to comply baked right in.

Lastly, we would also suggest quarterly meetings to ‘audit’ social media activities. This can be done simply by creating a social media best practices checklist and requiring your marketing teams to review planning documents, processes, activities, and resources to align with the items on the checklist. Self policing is better than mandatory policing (think Sarbanes-Oxley).”

Q3: Have you seen a best practice example of disclosure? If so, do share who is doing what and why you see it as a best practice.

STEVE: “A number of big brands are starting to do it well. Intel, Dell and Best Buy are three that come to mind. I think the biggest reason that Intel and Dell are doing well at it has to do with one key decision they have made. Both have set up centralized, cross-functional teams that are Centers of Excellence. These teams own the responsibility to set up, train, develop and deliver best practices approaches that hold brand teams and marketers accountable for both FTC compliance, as well as, delivering meaningful, true programs that deliver real value.

The good news is this approach is transformative. Marketing is changing for the better, this is a driver of that. So the short term pain is well worth the long term gain.”

More perspectives from WOMMA members on the FTC Guidelines to come …

It was a few weeks ago when the Federal Trade Commission released its updated guidelines on endorsements and testimonials used in advertising. Word of mouth marketers are focusing on the impact these revised guidelines will have on social media marketing activities.

(There’s a half-day session on this topic at a upcoming word of mouth marketing conference you may have heard about.)

Over the next month we’ll be sharing perspectives from WOMMA members on how their companies are incorporating and interpreting the new FTC guidelines.

The issue in all of this for word of mouth marketers comes down simply to disclosure. If a brand/agency designs a program where a blogger receives in-kind gifts (free camera), special access privileges (trip to visit company’s HQ), and cash (moola, dinero, benjamins) as part of a marketing program designed to spark word-of-mouth, that material connection must be fully disclosed by the blogger.

This act of disclosure protects both consumers and marketers because it assures consumers that product testimonials are truthful and trustworthy, and it offers marketers a viable way to reach consumers with credible information.

Rod Brooks, chief marketing officer with PEMCO Insurance, is pleased to see the FTC stepping up to provide guidance:

“In marketing there are shades of gray … but in terms of these new FTC regulations, it’s back and white. PEMCO strives for transparency in all of our business practices and across all mediums. We’re pleased these new industry guidelines support our longstanding belief that there’s no right way to do the wrong thing.”

MeHype is deep into the user-generated marketing waters. The company links brands with amateur and professional video filmmakers who produce online marketing videos in support of a product or service. Tyler LeCompte is the director of operations at MeHype and he is also pleased with the recent FTC happenings:

“[Clients] have expressed that they are happy to have some documented guidance from a leading source such as the FTC about required disclosure for any ‘sponsored’ blogging/review programs that they have either been participating in or have been considering. Going forward, we will be including a specific disclosure agreement contract that adheres to the FTC guidelines as well as the updated WOMMA Ethics Code.”

More perspectives from WOMMA members to come in future posts…