Day: February 4, 2011

Everything you wanted to know about influence but were afraid to ask

Flickr: bighugelabs
Influence.

One word that seems to be getting more attention with every new Twitter and Facebook account that’s added.

What does it mean, is it important, how do you measure it and which tools and methods best reflect this ephemeral new elixir? The Social CMO Crew has now been hard at it for just over a year generating more than 300 posts and I thought this would be a great opportunity to take a retrospective look through these focusing on this theme of influence.

In looking at all the blogs we’ve created, there are four words that resonate and help us to better frame this discussion, and these are Trust, Relationships, Social Capital and of course… Influence.

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Don’t Simply Ride the Social Media Wave… Guide it with Strategic Intent!

Social media is hot, hot, hot, and it can be tempting to just dive in and ride the social media wave without any specific plan.  That’s a great way to guarantee misjudging the swell and getting tossed around underneath the wave.  That’s what social media marketing without strategic intent will get you– possibly a few lucky “rides” for your brand messaging, but also a predominance of mis-steps and wasted time and effort.

Now that more businesses are getting on the social media marketing bandwagon, it’s no longer enough to just include a generic “use social media for marketing” line item in your brand growth strategy.  You need strategic intent. Gary Hamel defines strategic intent as “An ambitious and compelling dream which provides emotional and intellectual energy for the company and defines the journey to the future.”

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