Top 15 trends and observations on social media as shared on July7th at the Third Tuesday meeting of Toronto social media experts

1. 15 Key Trends & Observations for Leaders of Great Brands Bob Pearson President, The Social Media Business Council July 7, 2009

2. 1) Customers are co-shaping your reputation everyday Are you accidently outsourcing the building of your brand?

3. 2) Leaders will identify issues before they happen Customers assume we are listening to their issues in real time

4. 3) You Realize that Your Customer Does Not Care Where You Want Them To Go Customers are part of their own liquid network Become a friend who can be trusted

5. 4) You Know that <1% of a Customer’s Time is Spent Purchasing a Product 99% of time is spent browsing and socializing You build trust by being there when you are needed, not when you need the customer

6. 5) E-Commerce Will Become E-Community Reality -- <1% of time is spent buying online. 99% is spent browsing & socializing Peer Influence – 3 of 4 customers look to their peers for advice on a purchase Integration – why would we ask a customer to go to multiple sites? The value is…….? Convergence is led by convenience

7. 6) You Focus on How People Consume Content & Understand How it is Changing Customers decide where they will learn It is not via advertising……

8. 7) The Media World isn’t Changing…..it Changed Media Outlets – 74 of top 100 outlets for Techmeme are blogs/online sites Bloggers – 3 of 4 look to each other for their next story Customers – 3 of 4 look to each other for purchase advice Conversations – are the driver of SOV, influence and recommendations Don’t define it as offline or online. It’s all one media world. Just know which conversations are defining your brand

9. 8) There Isn’t a Destination for a Customer Visiting your site is not their goal, no matter how pretty it looks We are expected to just sort of “be there” when needed

10. 9) Syndication of Content MattersMore than Site Traffic Micro-Communities – the social media world grows & fragments, simultaneously Customer-Driven Preference – “I want what I want where I want it”. Stop “spamming me”. Participation is a Choice – if companies don’t listen, customers vote via lack of traffic and participation. What is your content syndication plan?

11. 10) 10-20% of Your Customers Will Call You Each Year Due to a Problem 80-90% will not call you despite a problem Few will call you just to catch up

12. 11) Customers Want to Do Three Things to Help Each Other Share ideas, share product knowledge and solve problems

13. 12) We don’t have to measure trust internally, we live it Our employees feel free to help each other and, as a result, our company Leverage the world’s greatest operating system – the web

14. 13) We Judge a Person on How They Interact With Us Guess what….customers do the same thing when they shop with us online

15. 14) We Know Preparing for Yesterday is Ineffective Old models and habits hold back innovation Watch for “antibodies”

16. 15) We Understand Ethical Behavior is a Key Part of Maintaining Trust We don’t support Flogs or Splogs We would never create a fake ad, so why a fake blog post?

17. We know that Leaders will enter and become relevant in conversations that occur everyday in every language all around the world in communities of importance to our customers Companies that cling to the past may not realize it, but they will lose relevance.

18. Key Coordinates The Social Media Business Council -- www.socialmedia.org My personal blog -- www.csmg.us Everything else -- www.twitter.com/bobpearson1845