Why another social media blog in a sea of blogs? Why get involved in what can sometimes seem like the echo chamber of Web 2.0?
Like it or not, social media is here to stay in one form or another. The tools might change but the internet has taken what made small town life so engaging and made it available on a global level. Want to know what your neighbor is driving? You used to look out the window at your neighbor's drive way- now that conversation has been taken to a new level. Now you can know what your first boy/girl friend in high school is driving. Perhaps the high school friends' choices in cars don't have a huge effect on your car purchasing decisions but your trusted friends' choices likely will. The conversations that used to happen around kitchen tables are now taking place on Facebook and Twitter. Who just bought a new device (and what was it?) or what is the hottest new band? You can see what your friends are doing with a few clicks of a mouse.
These conversations, which used to be private, one on one are now happening in public or semi-public and brands are taking notice. It is an opportunity to make a sale or lose a lead, depending on how the company handles the conversation. With the right amount of listening and sensitivity, the commitment to having authentic conversations, a brand can help co-create a conversation around their product or service.
The Community Managers work on the front lines of social media and brand, it's a hybrid of PR, Customer Service, Marketing, Product Management and "den mother". It's an interesting job description that is just becoming codified in corporate life and we wanted to have a place for that conversation to happen. A community of community professionals, as it were. This is a collaborative effort between Morgan and I and we will have guest bloggers from time to time, to get new discussions going.
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