As a marketer, it’s very important to maintain transparency while engaging in social media.

For the first time since the 80’s the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is revising policies regarding testimonials and endorsements. Today, more marketers are utilizing social media so the FTC is attempting to enforce stricter policies regarding social media and transparency. The goal is to hold marketers responsible for false claims and penalize them for not identifying their motives in the social media arena. I’m sure here in Canada policies are also being revised I was unable to find any Canadian articles addressing the issue.

Don’t wait for regulations to mimic how you interact with your target, remember what marketing in the social media space means. It involves searching out the target and asking permission to engage with them. It’s not like traditional media where you shout and hope they listen, for this honesty is always the best policy. If you don’t identity yourself it will likely come out later and result in distrust with brand.

I currently comment, post and Twitter for a variety of different clients. In all cases I’ve made it clear I represent a particular brand with motives of engaging with consumers and potential purchasers. Before jumping in I make a point of familiarizing myself with the discussion. It helps me find the right moment to introduce myself. Commenting on something already being discussed will increase chances that forum readers are more likely to read and engage rather than scroll over my message like they do most spam messages.

In my introduction post I always inform every one of my name, my company and the client I am working with. In most cases forum readers were pleased to see their brand reaching out to them. I’ve received a lot of very insightful feedback from consumers regarding the brand. I’ve made connections and am certain that in the future if I need any consumer insights for a category I will have these relationships to draw from. I trust their feedback and I hope they feel they can trust me.

In closing I’d like to reiterate my point - in the world of social media honesty is currency to build a relationship between customers and your brand.

I found a great article on New Scientist the other day by Michael Bond, How Your Friends’ Friend Affect YOur Mood

Here are some excerpts:

“Christakis … found that a person’s happiness is dependent not only on the happiness of an immediate friend but - to a lesser degree - on the happiness of their friend’s friend, and their friend’s friend’s friend. Furthermore, someone’s chances of being happy increase the better connected they are to happy people, and for that matter the better connected their friends and family.”

“Two factors appear crucial: the frequency of social contact, and the strength of the relationship. This is not too surprising: we know that emotional contagion requires physical proximity. It is also likely that the closer we feel to someone, the more empathetic we are towards them, and the more likely we are to catch their emotional state. However, how these two factors play out in day-to-day interactions is uncertain. What is also unclear - because it has never been properly tested - is the extent to which emotions can propagate through virtual networks, where the opportunity for physiological mimicry is much reduced.”

Networks of Influence: New Scientist

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The New York Times launched a very interesting product today called ‘Times Widgets’. It’s still in Beta, but I believe the concept is somewhat of a game changer - especially considering the industry on whole is in flux and the future is somewhat uncertain.

In my opinion, this adds rocket fuel to the NYT’s content distribution strategy. This comes off the heels of an excellent and well coordinated acquisition campaign from the publication blending celebrities with other NYC personalities and Times writers alike. Here are a couple of the videos (the entire campaign can be seen at: nytimes.com/conversations

At Mindblossom, we get asked almost daily about widgets, widget strategies, successful widgets, monetization, engagement, an so on. We have been fortunate to have built a one or two somewhat successful ones in the past, but I would argue that the maturity of these digital assets had not peaked until this year. I am quite bullish on the future of widgets and believe this will be something we push much more heavily into especially with iPhone and other devices coming to market. For the most part, these devices have the widget concept at their core.

If any one can share more real world examples in the same vein (and calibre) shown within the NYT strategy outlined above, I would really appreciate it.

Cheers!

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…