The balance of power has also shifted dramatically. No longer do you need money to have a voice. Individuals (and groups) now have the ability to engage with and influence thousands (even millions) of people around them. It’s the biggest change in communications technology since the invention of the printing press.

Yet, there are still naysayers. Everyday I hear people say, “Twitter is just a fad.” or “Facebook is just a waste of time.” The answer to some is to ignore the technology. They turn their back. They dream of moving to the cabin in the woods. They think of ‘the good old days’.

And who can blame them?

Instead of using these new tools to change the world (pick a cause: poverty, hunger, peace etc) or connect deeper with our friends, we choose to brag and share crap with each other.

“Hey check out my trip to Mexico!”

“I just bought new shoes.”

“I just sent you a link to a puking dog…check it out!”

Instead of having meaningful conversations with people, we ‘like’ and post quick snippets on our friends pages – as if this will somehow make us closer(?). Instead of going out for coffee or flying to visit, we poke each other.

*stepping up on my really tall soapbox* Really? Is that the best we can do with our new printing press?

The way we communicate may have changed, but human nature has not.

Social media will no doubt evolve. Will we?

If the goal the marketer is to move people from some general state of being unaware to one of extreme engagement (purchase) and loyalty (advocacy) then escalation of commitment is a tool you need to be well-versed in.

For a masters class in escalation of commitment you should check out Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church (whether you’re religious or not, this book is a great marketing resource). In it Warren describes how he systematically built his Saddleback Church to over 10,000 plus loyal followers using two basic concepts: market segmentation and escalation of commitment.

Like any great marketer Warren recognized early on in his career that people have different needs. And, if you could fulfill those needs it would lead to greater levels of trust and commitment. As he built his Church he would systematically assimilate (his words not mine) members of the general public with the ultimate goal of moving them to his inner core. His five stage process moved people from being members of the Community (people not attending church), to become part of the Crowd (attenders but non-believers), then the Congregation (members of the Church), onto being Committed (Disciples), and finally the Core (leaders/evangelists).

Throughout each step he asked his members for a deeper level of engagement and, not surprisingly, a greater level of commitment. For example, before a member of the Crowd can become a member of the Congregation they are asked to take a class (101) and sign a contract outlining their responsibilities. And, again, before moving from being part of the Congregation to the Committed, members are asked to take a class and sign another contract – one that details even greater responsibilities. To ensure members live up to their commitments other Church members are asked to ‘police’ each other’s behaviours. If you break the contract, you’re out. There are no ‘loose contacts’ in Warren’s Church.

Throughout this process Warren systematically uses communications and well-designed programming to encourage people to make the next level of commitment. For example, he ensures that he creates specific sermons targeted at the Crowd, to make sermons more accessible for the unbelievers. He asks his devout to refrain from speaking in tongues (as to not scare away the public). He uses language that is easily understood (refrains from teaching biblical history). He connects with the needs of the average person (trying to make the sermons applicable). He uses upbeat music to make it a fun atmosphere. The list goes on. It’s all a system designed to move people to the next level of engagement. As Warren describes, it’s about creating an “Army.”

So, why am I babbling on about this?

Well, for starters, if social media is all about membership then I think there are some good lessons to be learned from Warren:

1. Don’t treat everyone the same. Create well-defined target audiences, segmented around ‘level of engagement’ and then choose the correct combination of tools and communications to increase engagement over time.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask for commitment. If you are adding value to your audience (or customers) then having them further engaged with you will only add further value to both of you. Remember it has to be a mutually beneficial relationship. Know who to ‘unfollow’.

3. Define your purpose and then do everything with purpose. If you can’t seem to find the purpose of your activity then it’s likely your audience will find it pointless as well. Without purpose you just have a crowd. Before you tweet ‘just washed my hair’ ask yourself why?

4. Start from the outside and work your way in. Start with the crowd and build a following. Don’t try to convince your ‘friends’ first.

5. Empower your following. Help them find and take action on their purpose. There is no greater reward then teaching somebody to teach.

6. Remember escalation of commitment is a powerful force, and developing a following is an enormous responsibility. Don’t use these strategies to create the next Jonestown.*

*I really want to emphasize this point…that shit is sad.

Realizing that you are replaceable is hard for individuals and organizations to come to terms with. Yet, the reality is that 99.9% of the time we are completely interchangeable. Accepting this is the first step to increasing your odds of success.

When businesses (industries) fail it’s because they ignored the fact they were replaceable. Newspapers are being decimated by the internet. The local bookstore is being replaced by Chapters. And, Chapters (and the local bookstore) is making way for Amazon.

Innovation means change, and people fear change. But, the fastest way to ensure your demise is to try to ignore innovation. Bill Gates once said, “People feared electricity when it was invented, didn’t they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines… There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear.”

I heard a marketing colleague say to me the other day, “Isn’t Twitter over yet. I was hoping it would go away.”…

Post Script:

I love this comment from Kari, “Hmmm. Keep replacing yesterday-you with tomorrow-you. And keep making tomorrow-you smarter, more experienced, more connected, less mired. Tomorrow-you should make yesterday-you look stupid, which is a hard thing to do. Most of us don’t like looking stupid, even if it’s in-the-past-us. Twitter isn’t going away, thankfully.”

The big problem with advertising is that it’s getting more difficult by the second to be effective, and poster blindness is rampant making getting attention an almost an impossible, and increasingly more expensive, task.

On the flip side social media tools are generally easy to use, have very little direct cash costs and can be quite effective at reaching targeted audiences. However, leveraging social media is not necessarily the Utopian picture that many pundits try to paint.

First, using social media effectively is not a ‘fire and forget’ tactic(s). You can’t buy your way in. You can’t bribe the bouncer at the door. It’s a long-term venture that requires a deep organizational commitment to open two-way communications which is authentic and transparent (no small challenge to say the least). And, despite what some say, social media is not free. It’s a strategy that needs continuous input and monitoring – both of which cost time (equating to money).

At the very least, as a general rule of thumb, I would estimate that for each social media tool you are using it will take a minimum of a half hour of work each day. This should cover making quick updates, monitoring/reporting activity and responding to comments. So if your involved in Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn plan to spend roughly 1.5hrs. As well you should be spending at least a half hour each day monitoring (For a great read on building your own ‘listening post’ please visit this .eduGuru article: http://doteduguru.com/id3764-building-your-own-listening-post.html).

If you are also blogging, plan for about 1-2 hrs of time for every post. This should cover the writing, research and editing etc. So, for a blog that is updated daily you would be spending roughly 10 hours a week on your blog.

So, let’s add this up:

Social Networking: 1.5 hrs per day (3 tools) x $20/hr* = $30/day
Blogging: 2 hrs per day x $20/hr = $40/day
Monitoring: .5 hrs per day x $20/hr = $10/day
Total = $80/day
Monthly (x 30 days, as social media doesn’t follow the work day schedule) = $2400
*rate used for illustration purposes only

Finally, depending on the size/complexity of your organization you should account for time in building support for new tools. For a small business this time may be negligible, but for large organizations each new tool could require up to 50-60 hours in consultation time.

As you can see all of the ‘soft costs’ associated with social media can add up in a hurry. So, if you came to Facebook looking for silver bullet solutions then you may be better off just buying an advertisement.

Five predictions for 2010:

1. Increasing transparency (decreasing privacy). The lines between online and offline will dissolve. Your online identity will be your identity. Privacy will be a quaint notion that we conjure for nostalgia. Google buys Facebook and your Facebook profile will be your key to the internet. You are now part of the Borg collective.

2. Time will become further entrenched as the currency of social media. Will you spend your time consuming my content? Will you spend your time sharing my links? Can you spare a moment to read my blog post? “Hey brother spare some time?”. By year’s end Google engineers perfect cloning.

3. Mobile will become the de-facto standard. Being chained to a desk (or a laptop) will be an antiquated form of low-grade torture. We will be always on, from anywhere.

4. The lines between what’s real and what isn’t will start to fade. QR codes and augmented reality will increasingly be used to add interactivity to tangible objects.

5. Robots. Evil Roombas will plot to destroy the world. Judgement Day is real.

In the new year a typical advertisement will read: “Hello Mike Klein, do you have 15 seconds? How’s that Starbuck’s coffee you are drinking at the corner of 45th and 3rd? Your friends who bought coffee this morning also enjoyed a bagel. Click here (a button is projected onto your cup) to purchase a bagel and a robot will bring it to you shortly.”

When you speak to your customers do they trust you? Or, do they wonder what angle you are working and how much is it going to cost them?

Do you wear a white jacket and a stethoscope? Or a fancy suit?

Does your relationship start with a friendly hello and end with a lollypop? Or, does it begin with an non-disclosure agreement and end with a bill detailing 15 minute increments?

Do your customers confide in you? Or do they make jokes about you being on the bottom of the sea?

Trust (permission) is systematically established through consistently positive interactions. It takes a long time to build and only a short time to destroy.

What are you doing to build trust? What makes people distrust you?

1. Who is your audience and what MOTIVATES them to take action?
2. What MESSAGE are you sending to your audience?
3. What is your audience’s MEDIA appetite – feed them (they’re hungry).
4. How do you MAXIMIZE your investment in marketing?

Marketing is not enigmatic. It’s quite simple. Find out what makes your audience tick, deliver a motivating message, serve it up hot and fresh, and, finally, repeat or delete as necessary. However, despite it’s simplicity, most marketers fail to even get past the first step. Stop. Don’t write a sentence more in that marketing plan unless you are willing to understand your audience.