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Blogger David Armano was in town yesterday, and one of the things he addressed at a talk at the Boston Digitas office was how agencies and marketers soothe the worries of clients and companies who fear the loss of control of their brand and its message in the lawless Wild West of the emerging media network....
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Digitas VP (and Daily Fix contributor) David Armano was in Boston yesterday – the first stop on his two-city tour of the agency’s offices, where he’s giving an internal presentation called blog's eye view: looking at the social network from a blogger's perspective.
Forrester’s Peter Kim, an invited guest along with me and the Boston Globe’s Maura Welch, later wrote, “Blogging is still foreign to many companies, but agencies have particular pressure to get ahead of the curve and help clients capture value from the medium. Digitas has embraced Armano's work and he has great lessons to share from his personal experience over the past eight months…” which is when David launched his excellent Logic+Emotion blog.
David says that the keys to embracing emerging media are Empathy. Experience. Curiosity.
“As more agencies understand this, they will be in a better position to serve their clients,” Peter wrote.
Yeah, but…what about the companies who get freaked out at the very thought of riding a horse in the perceived wild west lawlessness of the emerging media network?
In the Q&A afterward, David addressed the question of how agencies and marketers soothe the worries of clients and companies who fear the loss of control of their brand and its message.
David’s advice, expanded on by me:
1. Let management know what they are signing up for. Educate your clients about how social media works, and let them know that transparency, honesty and dialogue work best in this space.
2. Prepare for different scenarios. How will your client roll with negative reactions on blogs? How will they react to public accolades and criticism? When someone in the audience compared a company’s interaction with emerging media as “swimming rather than standing,” David wholeheartedly agreed: “Teach them to swim.”
3. Be honest with your clients. It’s ok for you to say, “I’m new to this, too.”
4. Use canned goods sparingly. Don’t trot out a canned message to community cheers or jeers. Be authentic and sincere in any response.
5. At a minimum, monitor the conversation. In any case, your clients should be monitoring what’s being said about them in the emerging media network. Use tools like technorati and blogpulse to hear what’s being said.
On a personal note, it was a total kick to finally meet David in person, after months of corresponding online and supporting each other in recovery. Sometimes you finally meet someone and it’s bit of a disconnect, and you don’t hit it off as you’d assumed. Not so with DA – he’s the real deal, and every bit as genuine in person as he is in his blog.
Here's a photo of me, David and Maura Welch after David's talk yesterday.
And p.s. -- what a relief to hang out with someone who lives each moment as I do, with digital camera and this phrase always at the ready: “I’m so blogging this!”
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Comments
Ann,
I wish I had been aware of the presentation: I would have attended.
Everything you and David say is 100 percent right on. I believe the challenge lies here:
"Educate your clients about how social media works, and let them know that transparency, honesty and dialogue work best in this space."
If your clients (and bosses) don't believe this, education won't work. Instead, change management must be applied, which can require months or years to result in those kinds of communications.
Keep in mind: This subject is not about tools. It is about communications' models and philosophies. Tools are easy to launch; communications thinking is difficult and sometimes impossible to change.
Lewis
Posted by: Lewis Green | 10.17.06
Lewis -- You would have been a great addition to the gathering! If you hurry, you can still catch David in NYC today, or hook up with him and some others tonight. David, CK, and a few other NYC-area bloggers are gathering there this evening.
Posted by: Ann Handley | 10.17.06
Unfortunately and fortunately, I am making a presentation re: direct marketing on a shoestring in greater Hartford this evening.
By the way, I am leading a networking roundtable in Burlington, MA, Friday lunchtime. My wife may be with me but anybody want to meet us for coffee?
Posted by: Lewis Green | 10.17.06
DA where is the freakin' video on YouTube!!!
I can see that I am SO going to get to use the line 'I knew David Armano BEFORE he was an A-Lister Rockstar blogger!' very soon ;)
Sounds like you guys had a blast, and DA is spreading the good word. Really proud of DA and great to see him getting the success and praise he deserves!
Posted by: Mack Collier | 10.17.06
Ann - Just wrapped up in New York and we had a great event down here as well. Standing room only. I saw your post over at my blog and per your suggestion, I did give David a smack for you. ;-)
Posted by: Greg Verdino | 10.17.06
Mack, I think it's time for me and you to get the hell out of the South. Seems like all the action is up in the Northeast!
Posted by: Paul McEnany | 10.17.06
Thanks guys. Ann is was a pleasure to meet you finally! And same to you—you are the same person that you convey through your writing.
Mack, I wonder if Rockstars have 30 e-mails lined up regarding client work after they finish their tours. :)
I am exausted, so keeping this short. But great write-up Ann, you saved me some work.
:)
Posted by: David Armano | 10.17.06
- Ann,
Stunning words of wisdom to share and forward without limits. Lucky you to be there! If I could swim a few days in a row, I'd cross the Atlantic to join the event (can't fly either, so sorry!).
- Lewis,
YES! You're totally right to focus on communications' models and philosophies rather than on tools. Misunderstanding this leads clients (and bosses!) to hire internet webmasters instead of "communicators". On the contrary, understanding it opens new opportunities to brands and companies.
One detail. I like the name of the event "Blog's eye view" brilliant metaphor and summary of the three keywords : empathy, experience and curiosity. Someone should think about Wikipedia, come on guys!
Posted by: Mindblob | 10.17.06
Great post, Ann. Having caught the "NYC leg" of Armano's tour, it was not only a great presentation, it was such a treat getting to meet bloggers that I read and respect.
In addition to David Armano, I was able to meet Noah Brier, Joseph Jaffe and Max Kalehoff.
Lewis: I'm sorry I'll miss your prez on Friday (good luck!) but we'll definitely meet up soon either in CT or down in NY. And Ann, I can't wait to meet you someday soon, too.
I think my next stop for client work is Dallas (so I get to meet Hee-Haw/BMA Paul).
Posted by: CK | 10.17.06
Thanks for the comments, all. It's truly great meeting other bloggers.... it's like meeting old friends for the first time!
CK, Paul, Mindblob & Mack: I look forward to the day.
David: So glad NY went well! I can imagine you are exhausted... I noticed you online at what... 5 AM?
Greg: Thanks for giving David the smack, all the same.
Lewis: Will email you. I have a meeting in Cambridge at 11 but would be nice to say hi.
Posted by: Ann Handley | 10.17.06
I've been reading the world is flat by Tom Friedman and came across Technorati. I like to think of myself as progressive, but blogging is new to me. You all seem like genuinely nice people, but how do you control forces that wish to spread disinformation. Is it by, for examples in this case Ann filtering what is to be displayed on her blog. Just trying to understand the media.
Posted by: Scott Ettinger | 10.18.06
Scott, welcome to the addiction ;) There are tools you can use directly in managing your blog, such as monitoring comments, and there may be times when you have to remove comments that are purposely antagonizing, or attempting to 'hijack' the conversation and turn it into a flame war. Only you can make the call as to when, and if to do this.
But as for controlling misinformation OUTSIDE your blog, this is where your community can come to your rescue. If you have embraced your community, then you'll likely find that your evangelists will correct misinformation out in the community(Blogs, forums, offline) when they come in contact with it. A GREAT byproduct of community-empowerment, because to the average person it carries MUCH more weight if a 3rd-party sets the record straight, rather than yourself.
But in the end, especially with a blog, the longer you can hold off on censoring comments, the better. Granted, some people might simply have malicious intentions, and these you should probably deal with. But many times someone may simply be posting inaccurate information that was given to them by someone else, or that they read from someone else.
Be cautious, but aware.
Posted by: Mack Collier | 10.18.06
Lewis,
I'm right in the area. Would love to join your networking roundtable in Burlington!
Posted by: Jaynie | 10.18.06