This is a guest post from Lisa Petrilli.

I just spent two full days in a phenomenal leadership simulation program entitled, “Magnetic Leadership” that was conceived, created and offered by Profitability Business Simulations.

I had the privilege of playing the role of the customer throughout the simulation, and then coaching the teams and their leaders after each simulation round was completed.

During each round, one person on each team was appointed “CEO” and was responsible for determining the overall direction and strategy for their team of eight people.

They had one hour to prepare the team for the 10-minute, high-stress simulation in which they were given a business challenge along with a fickle customer (me) and tasked with meeting the challenge while satisfying the customer.

Three Overarching CEO Success Principles

There were three overarching principles that were critical to the CEOs’ success that surfaced during the simulation.

As I was reflecting on how I would talk with my leadership-focused clients about how the experience confirmed the importance of these principles, I realized that it was imperative to talk with my social media clients about the experience as well.

Why?

Because these principles are such that they must be communicated and absorbed throughout the entire organization, so that the company can exude them and live them on a daily basis. As a critical part of marketing, sales, business development and customer relationship building, employees on the front lines of social media must also exude and live these principles through their work.

Vision

As someone committed to ‘visionary leadership’ I was thrilled to see how the high-ranking leaders I was working with understood the importance of vision to their success, and how they got better over the 2-day experience at clarifying and communicating their vision:

“In an organization, those individuals on the front line of social media must clearly understand the vision for the organization in order to exude that vision when talking, and sharing content with, customers.”

For example, though Patagonia does not have a formal vision statement, it shares its vision when it writes about its “Reason for Being:”

“Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing – as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running. These are all silent sports. None requires a motor; none delivers the cheers of a crowd. In each sport, reward comes in the form of hard-won grace and moments of connection between us and nature…

For us at Patagonia, a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them, and to help reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of our planet.”

Patagonia’s vision is to enable its customers to experience that hard-won grace and moments of connection with nature, and to express its love of wild and beautiful places by saving them.

Now see how Patagonia’s social media efforts further their vision to enable customers to experience that hard-won grace and those moments of connection with nature…especially the wild and beautiful places.

From Patagonia’s Facebook Page:

Picture Story: Conditions
Another in our occasional series of posts for the more visually oriented. This one goes out to all those lucky enough to charge off the couch and into the unknown without looking back or thinking twice . . . or doing much thinking at all, for that matter.

And from Twitter:

It’s clear to me that Patagonia employees immersed in social media understand the company’s vision and how critical it is to share it, and inspire through it, via what they communicate.

Values

It was striking how in such short leadership simulations one’s personal and leadership values became so immediately obvious.

For example, whether or not a leader valued the input of others was demonstrated by how well they listened, because there’s a difference between asking for someone’s opinion “to appease that person” and asking because you truly want to know. Of course, this is just one of so many ways to demonstrate values.

It’s critical that CEOs not lose sight of the fact that the values that are rewarded in the organization are those that will ultimately be imbued in conversations with, and content shared with, customers socially.

Contrast the fact that I worked with a client who would not allow me to tweet birthday wishes from the organization’s Twitter account to some of our most loyal and active members, with the following, recent tweets from Patagonia:

Which organization would you naturally gravitate toward; the one that allows itself to be human and places value on sharing the human experience or the one that believes doing so just isn’t professional?

Value Proposition

Your company’s value proposition is what sets you apart from your competition; what makes you unique and provides that niche in which you cannot be rivaled.  For Apple and Disney it’s about customer experience while for Walmart it’s low cost and for Nordstrom it’s service.

If Disney social media employees tweeted about low-cost tickets to Disney World or asked Facebook fans to share stories about how to explore the park on a budget, it simply wouldn’t fit with the brand’s value proposition.

Rather, you see tweets about unique customer experiences that cannot be had anywhere but Disney World:

And yet, without guidance and clear communication from the CEO, employees immersed in social media might make the mistake of expressing the company in ways that are in direct contrast to its value proposition.

It is the CEO’s responsibility to ensure that all employees understand the vision, values and value proposition (amongst other things!) that the company is committed to, to be their head steward, and to never lose sight of how critical it is to align these principles with their company’s social media efforts.

• If you’re in the C-suite of your company, ask yourself if you’ve communicated your vision, values and value proposition well enough so that employees in social media roles may do their jobs to the best of their ability and are empowered for success. If not, you run the risk that what they share socially may not be aligned strategically!
• If you’re in a social media role and you realize you’re not clear on these principles and priorities, make sure you ask and get clear direction!

Your thoughts?

About the author: Lisa Petrilli is Chief Executive Officer of C-Level Strategies, Inc. and is passionate about visionary leadership. She helps C-suite executives and emerging leaders create strong visions for their companies and for themselves, and then bring these visions to fruition with clear and aligned strategies focused on leadership, marketing, and social media. You can find her on Twitter @LisaPetrilli and running #LeadershipChat every Tuesday night at 8pm ET, and she welcomes your emails at Lisa@CLevelStrategies.com.

image: Joelk75

3 Things CEOs Should Never Lose Sight of in Social Media originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

More advertising?

More time on the social web?

Work longer hours?

Cutting costs?

All of these tactics can provide short-term gains … but they’re not really strategic. Your competitors are probably trying to do the same thing, aren’t they?  So if they are, how is this going to create ADVANTAGE for YOU?  There is only one way to create competitive advantage in the long-term:

Listen to your customers more effectively and respond more rapidly than your competitors.

That’s it.

I’ve just saved you a ton of money on business books because every successful strategy is based on this idea and every great product innovation has this concept at its foundation. So if times are still tight and you’re looking to make cuts in your business, don’t jeopardize your relationships with your customers.  In fact, this is the time to embrace them more tightly.

The social web provides a great way to connect more deeply with customers. Mastering that skill really can lead to competitive advantage.  So even when times are tough, keep listening, keep responding, keep innovating!

About the author: Mark W. Schaefer is the Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, and has more than 25 years of global sales and marketing experience as well as advanced degrees in business and applied behavioral sciences. You can follow Mark on Twitter or read his daily blog to learn more.

Are You Strategic? by Mark W. Schaefer originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

This is a guest post from Christina Klenotic. Christina is a vice president at Dix & Eaton who specializes in digital communications, media relations and guerrilla marketing. You can visit Christina on Twitter or visit her on her blog, Beyond Social.

It’s been just over 30 days since Mom Dot launched its PR Blackout Challenge. The controversy was covered by a number of bloggers and mainstream media, including Danny Brown, Dave Fleet, Newsweek and PBS. So what have we learned?

As a PR professional who routinely works with clients on traditional and blogger relations campaigns, my most important takeaway is that pitching media bloggers and working with indie/mommy bloggers are two very different things. Here are four reasons why:

Not all bloggers are journalists

Outreach to indie bloggers who are not tied to a media outlet, like mommy bloggers, should be much different than traditional PR pitching to media bloggers. Think of the word “pitch” as a swear word. Instead, engage bloggers in conversation to forge a relationship and accept their honest feedback when they give it.

For moms who write about their experiences as a mom and occasionally pimp out a brand they love, more often than not a giveaway in exchange for an unbiased review is the way to go. The benefit to a company is that an influencer of its target audience will serve as a one-woman focus group about its experience. Blog followers who chime in after a post with their own feedback are a bonus.

Commercial blogging is here to stay

The evolving commercial momosphere was a hot topic during July’s BlogHer Business conference. While the controversy over the concept of mommy blogging becoming too commercial is not expected to dissipate anytime soon, there is an audience of bloggers who embrace their mommy blogger label and also welcome working with PR pros.

Transparency is non-negotiable

Because mommy blogger endorsements are under the microscope, it’s paramount for both PR professionals and bloggers to disclose expectations and commercial ties up front. Following the FTC’s guidelines for blog product endorsements is the only option that preserves credibility on both sides and is fair to readers.

Strategic targeting is essential

More than ever before, PR pros need to be very savvy in helping clients select the right bloggers to approach who can make a positive impact on potential customers. Mommy bloggers are not homogenized. Some write about their experience as a mom related to a niche such as travel, home improvement, work/life balance, etc. It’s a no-brainer that reading and following a blog is the only way to get a sense of whether a blog’s target audience and your client’s are a good fit.

Thoughts?

Blogger Outreach 2.0 originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

This is a guest post from John Haydon. John is a guy of many talents. He’s a teacher, a learner, a singer, a comedian with a very dry wit and one of the nicest guys you could meet.

He’s also a damn fine blogger and the Blogger Outreach partner for 12for12k. I’m delighted to have John here today.

An ancient Buddhist parable involves a young Zen monk asking his teacher about the difference between Heaven and Hell.

His teacher replies, “Both Heaven and Hell have an expansive dining hall with a steamy vat of noodle soup at the center of the hall. The soup smells delicious and everyone has equal access to the soup. The strange thing is that each diner has to eat this soup with chopsticks that are 4-feet long.”

Puzzled, the young monk asks, “So, if both Heaven and Hell have this huge dining hall with this great soup and these strangely long chopsticks, then aren’t they the same?”

The teacher replies, “Yes, they appear to be the same. But how the diners eat is the critical difference.”

“How’s that?” asks the student.

“In Hell, everyone starves because no matter how hard they try, they can’t get the noodles into their mouths. The chopsticks are too long.

“In Heaven, each diner feeds the person sitting across from them at the dinning room table. Everyone is happy and eats to their hearts content.”

How does this relate to social media?

• Understanding technology is important. Twitter’s potential is lost if all you do is post what’s new with you, just like long chopsticks aren’t placed at tables for one.
• Giving to others nourishes our souls, just like feeding each other brings joy and full bellies. Supporting other people’s agendas with social media has surprising and immeasurable business value.
• Everything works better if you put them together, like the two pairs of chopsticks work by feeding each other. There is no “Twitter or Facebook?”, only “Twitter and Facebook.”
• Are you ready for another bite? There is a very good reason that Listening is the very first step in most social media strategies. Why boil more Spaghetti when all along they wanted Soba?

And finally:

There is enough noodle soup for everyone.

• John Haydon does social media strategy and training for non-profits and small businesses. He is also a songwriter and a father to a 5-year old boy. You can find out more by subscribing to his blog or connecting with John on Twitter.

The Difference Between Heaven and Hell in Social Media originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

Recently I enjoyed  a great conversation with Tom Cunniff on Twitter. It revolved around social media definitions and how brands and voices could be heard across the sphere. I was so intrigued by Tom’s views I asked if he’d guest here. I’m thankful he said yes.

People talk about Social Media as if it’s one thing. This is the source of a lot of “you-just-don’t-get-it” arguments online: people fight holy wars to defend their “it” vs. someone else’s “it” and never see that two sides can never agree because they’re not talking about the same thing.

I don’t think Social Media is one thing.  I believe it can be more accurately described as a continuum, with “Social” at the far left and “Media” at the far right.

On the “Social” side of the continuum, it’s all about the conversation.  So, let’s start there.

THE SOCIAL SIDE OF THE CONTINUUM

For small businesses – especially consultancies — Social Media is 99% social and maybe 1% paid media. In fact, there are so many conversations going on that some people need assistants to help them manage all those conversations at once. This is the world of Twitter and Facebook and FriendFeed: a very human, very time-consuming world.

Social Media works brilliantly for consultancies because these are and always have been relationship businesses. Start with light conversation, spread some thought leadership, and build a few important business relationships.

The intimacy of scale matches the intimacy of the sale.

Because it works so incredibly well for small businesses, a lot of social media experts seem incredulous when you ask whether social media can scale.  Surely if a tiny business can have huge results with social media, a big business would surely have even bigger results, right?  Are big clients insane? Why aren’t they all over this? I mean, duh!

Well…  not so fast. The physics out here in big-bizland are dramatically different. So much so, in fact, that the time investment can balloon out of control while the payback shrinks so small that you can’t measure it.

THE MEDIA SIDE OF THE CONTINUUM

Large product businesses can’t survive selling to dozens of people per year. If you’re a consumer packaged goods manufacturer (think Crest toothpaste), you need to sell to millions of people, and you have to do it fast because you have to drive fast product turns at Wal-Mart.

A dozen conversations won’t cut it.  A hundred won’t do it either.  Even thousands of conversations won’t do it.  You literally need millions of conversations and you need them fast.

Here’s the point where everyone trots out the “influencing the influencers” argument: win over a few key influencers and the rest follow.  In some extremely high-involvement categories, this may work. But in low-involvement categories, I don’t see it.  Imagine you work for Charmin bathroom tissue.  Who are the key influencers for toilet paper? You get the idea.

So if you work for a CPG (consumer packaged goods) company, it starts to be necessary to consider buying Social Media at scale.  But once you start looking at that, it rapidly turns into 99% media and maybe 1% social. Why? Because one of the only ways to get massive scale is to buy space next to somebody else’s conversation.  This is the stuff we used to call “advertising” back in the day.

To understand why, you need to understand the currency.

WHAT’S THE CURRENCY OF SOCIAL MEDIA?

The currency of social media is a human conversation. Those one-on-one conversations don’t scale well. A million very shallow conversations would require 10 million individual, costly, well-trained human minutes. This goes double (quadruple, actually) if there are regulatory or safety issues.

Another hurdle: the intimacy of the medium requires a slower pace. Jumping right into a sales pitch is seen as a violation of trust. And automation is problematic, because people feel (correctly) like they’re talking to a robot.

WHERE ARE YOU ON THE CONTINUUM?

What do you think about this continuum idea? Is it consistent with what you’re already thinking, or do you find it challenging? If you buy the idea of a continuum, where do you think you can offer the most value? Where do you offer the least value? Who does the social side best? Who does the media side best?

I’m curious to hear your comments.

• Tom Cunniff has been an ad agency creative director, an interactive agency owner, and is now on the client side. “The more perspective I get,” Tom says, “the more I appreciate the scope of what’s still left to learn”. You can find out more about him by reading his blog or connecting with Tom on Twitter.

photo credit: Ferran.

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The Continuum Theory of Social Media originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.