Over the past year, there has been a frenzy over Facebook. And it hasn’t just been the Gen Yers and Xers that are frittering hours blogging, chatting, and posting comments in discussion groups. Our entire culture is mad about social media—the authenticity, the community, the right to be heard and understood. 

In keeping with this trend, organizations are learning how to harness social media to gain brand recognition. Here, Karen Post, the Branding Diva, talks straight about the benefits and snares of using social media to market to your consumer. Karen is one of the founders of OddPodz, a social networking site for creative professionals.

B&S: What is “social media”?

Karen Post: It is the media used to build online networks for communities of people who share special interests. Most social networks are web-based and provide various tools for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, and discussion groups. The main types of social networks are those which contain directories/categories and a means to connect with friends. Social media recommender systems are linked to trust.

How can social media benefit an organization?  

Social media is the very best of marketing: Connecting to your market with relevance. It’s much more like PR than a hard sales method. Social networking provides you with the audience, and you provide useful information and solve problems through authentic relationships. In fact, it’s about the relationship more than it’s about the transaction. Once the relationship is built, then the transaction happens.

Should organizations develop their own social network?

They don’t have to. Many organizations develop relationships with established networks, like Facebook or Linkedin. These types of social networks allow you to set and join groups, through which you can communicate events and content as well as facilitate connections and community. Additionally, organizations can use these established social networks to post banner ads and sponsor content for further brand visibility.

But some organizations are setting up their own social network platforms, either via an active blog or message forum or with branded social networking tools straight from their site. Should an organization decide to develop their own platform, they need to understand that there is a huge difference between website development and social network development.

When you hire someone to develop your social network, make sure they understand the user experience—what works and doesn’t work. Also, organizations need to consider if they will be able to provide quality content and adequate engagement opportunities for members.

Give an example of an organization doing social networking well.

Organic Valley is a group of farmers who produce organic products and have built community. Together, they communicate their brands to a targeted audience.

I first learned about them through M.O.O., Mothers of Organic™, an online community about parenting the organic way. In M.O.O., members interact with biologists, pediatricians, lunch-lady chefs, gardening farm moms, and parents who share similar values about organic products.

Any cautions about social media?

Social media is very much like public relations. Be strategic and proactive in what you put out there. And be prepared for good, bad, and surprising market opinions.

Are the conversations with your clients or constituents “naked”?

According to Shel Israel, key technology player and innovation expert, the conversation between organization or corporation and customer should be as revealing as possible. And through blogs and other social media, you can engage in real, ongoing conversations. In this interview, Israel reveals why it’s essential to jump on this bandwagon.

B&S: What has changed in the blogging world since you published your book on social media?

Shel Israel: We finished the book in August 2005. Most of our book was dedicated to blogs. We gave two pages to wikis and two paragraphs to online videos.

Now, an entire social media warehouse of tools enables online conversations. Social networks are burgeoning in every country of the developed world. Back in 2005, social media was driven by geeks. Now, it is driven by young people and embraced by a growing number of enterprise decision makers.

Who is doing this effectively, and why are they successful?

Difficult question. It’s like asking, “Who is using the telephone effectively?” Social media is a new way to conduct conversations. It is very different from a marketing campaign, in which the objective is to impart messages and measure the number of readers exposed. The objective of social media is to communicate with people who are relevant to you or your business. The measurement is a work in progress.

Are blogs dying? Or worse yet, doing more harm than good?

A huge number of blogs have been abandoned. I’ve abandoned a few myself. I doubt there are 100 million active blogs in the world. The bigger problem is that too many blogs are mediocre. They are becoming brochure-ware. They are becoming as useless as static websites.

For some of our clients, the thought of hosting a blog for their clients, or in the case of universities, their students and alumni is nerve-wracking.

It shouldn’t be unnerving to start, join, and monitor relevant conversations. In social media, you hear from the most passionate people. It gives you a good sense of what the mainstream of your community is thinking. If a bad comment is posted, the university knows it’s just one dissenting voice. But if more people reply and comment, the institution sees that it needs to respond. The first step is to demonstrate that you are listening.

Universities have little choice but to embrace social media. It’s driven by their customers—young people. These young people influence each other much more than a traditional marketing campaign or authority figure. If you don’t join the conversation, you are likely to become irrelevant.

Can smaller organizations afford the resources necessary to create and maintain a blog? Can they afford not to?

Naked Conversations is filled with examples of small- and medium-sized companies that have achieved global reach with social media. A person sitting alone at a computer can talk with customers, employees, editors, and analysts. He or she can respond to false charges, thank others for praise, and view comments about the company’s market. A small company’s advantage is speed and agility. If a company ignores the most agile tools available, I would be fearful for its future.