It seems like the pendulum has swung too far on social media.  There are some camps that treat social media as a panacea: “Anyone can do it and it’s free!”

That last part really irks me.  Sure, there are lots of free tools that can help you monitor conversations, distribute content and engage with influencers, but unless you think your time isn’t worth anything, social media is most certainly not free.  Cost-effective, yes, but like most things, it takes time to do it right.  And for most people, time is valuable.

But beyond the financial question, effective social media requires a sound strategy based on developing answers to some key questions:

• What are my business goals?
• Who are the influencers shaping my market?
• What topics are those influencers discussing and where is the discussion taking place?
• How can I contribute to the conversation and engage those influencers?
• What does success look like for my company?

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It’s tempting to think about user-generated content, peer influence and viral communications as new concepts.  But the reality is that these social concepts have been around for a long time.  When we were sharing the Architecture of Influence concept with Chris Shipley, she pointed out that housewives in the 50’s were coming up with jingles and entering contests — a form of user-generated content.  The product company — whether cereal or dish soap — got creative ideas and very engaged customers, for little cost.  Tupperware and Amway are two other classic examples of the power of word of mouth and peer influence at work.

And don’t forget the classic chain letter.  I remember painstakingly copying letters and sending them on to my friends, for fear of breaking the chain and incurring the wrath of the broken chain letter gods.  “Do not break the chain!”, the letters admonished, always citing examples of the poor sap who got hit by a truck or some other calamity.  Turns out the concept of the chain letter goes back to the Middle Ages, when a letter, purported to be from an Emperor of Rome, made the rounds in various forms.

As anyone with email knows, the chain letter is alive and well.  There are entire web sites devoted to chain letters.  http://chainletters.net/chainletters/ The web has breathed new life into many classic forms of communication.  It’s easier than ever to come up with your own content and share it with friends and colleagues.  Some might argue it’s too easy.  But either way, the sharing culture is firmly entrenched and here to stay.

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Increasingly, marketing executives are being asked to show how social media strategies drive sales leads. There is ongoing debate as to whether social media has the potential to serve as a lead-gen tool. On the one hand, some experts don’t think social media channels are scalable enough to drive sales: how much bang can you get for your buck, and can you invest the necessary amount of time to make the channels worthwhile? These points need to be taken into consideration when determining how, and to what extent, companies want to leverage social media channels to share information and receive feedback.   On the other hand, as more and more companies track success of their social media strategies, the indication is that business goals – including lead gen – can be supported. According to a recent BtoB article, a Business.com study did find that “purely” social media channels such as microblogs function strongly as lead gen channels, even to the point of helping build databases of prospects. Entrepreneur also covered this debate recently, citing Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell, who points to evidence of national brands using social media to drive sales. For example, Southwest posted Twitter specials resulting in $3 M in sales. The potential shouldn’t be ignored, and best practices are cropping up everywhere to help track success of social media programs. This list of 20 metrics is a great place to start, and this list of metrics focuses specifically on lead gen.    Bottom line: an integrated communications campaign helps increase mindshare, site traffic, and can also have a hand in generating trackable sales leads. And while there still may be many questions about social media lead gen, we may as well have some fun trying to find the answers.

We’ve never been on the bandwagon that has declared brands are dead but we do understand why the claims are being made.  There is now a lot more that goes into buying decisions by consumers and business buyers than just brand awareness.  But to claim that brands don’t matter is naïve.  I guess Yahoo agrees based on its latest search offering.

And yet the Yahoo search filter seems to suggest that, just possibly, the idea of the brand isn’t dead after all. With branded search filtering, Yahoo is acknowledging that many searchers don’t want results from just anywhere, regardless of how algorithmically relevant those results may be. Searchers want results (from trusted Web sites) — which is to say, from trusted online brands.

Source: c__

We’ll be talking a lot more about the need for looking at communications and marketing in an entirely new light–one where search, branding and word of mouth need to coexist for companies to really take advantage of all channels to create awareness and preference for their offerings.  I get a chuckle…and some times totally annoyed…when I see dramatic claims about PR being dead, social media being free and branding irrelevant.  Glad to see that others agree.

We couldn’t let tonight’s premiere of the new TV series “Eastwick” go by without a little fanfare.

For those of you who don’t know the story behind our name, here goes:

When Patrick Corman (former Regis McKenna colleague of Elaine Cummings and Nancy Blake, two of the three original founders of Eastwick) found out about our plans to start a new agency, he couldn’t help but comment: “Oh my, sounds like ‘The Witches of Eastwick.’ ”

Nancy Blake

Needless to say, the comment stuck and, lo and behold, Eastwick Communications was founded.  While it was clear that I was the Susan Sarandon character (redheads unite!) Elaine and Nancy always had to fight over who was Michelle Pfeiffer (both blondes) and who had to dye her hair for the Cher character.

In the early days, our clients endearingly called us “the witches.”  Here are five things that the current coven of witches and warlocks has in common with our TV counterparts:

1. We don’t always behave ourselves…meaning, we like to break the rules.
2. We’ve been known to turn some frogs into princes with the right spell.
3. We see a change coming and are looking forward to it!
4. In the words of the Houston Chronicle TV reviewer who recently reviewed the new show, we have the “potential to be great frothy fun.”
5. And in a similar review from The Detroit Free Press we can be “a charming and beguiling show(agency) that has enough estrogen and star power to keep viewers (clients) coming back for more!”

Life’s a “witch” and we love it!

Elaine & Barb on Halloween

Last September, Sequoia’s RIP Good Times presentation was making the rounds and sending shivers down many a spine.  We certainly felt the reverberations here.  But what the slide deck really seemed to do was to get marketing people and agencies even more focused on quantifying and delivering real value for the money spent.  Eastwick responded with a presentation of our own — on how to get great results on a shoestring (something we’re very good at doing, by the way.)  The reaction was positive and we brought in new clients looking for not only good value, but a smart, strategic approach to communications that helps them engage with the people who matter most — customers and key influencers.  So guess what?  You can have it all, or at least most of it.  Maybe not all at the same time or on the broadest scale, but you can keep a targeted, results-oriented communications effort going without busting the bank.

Josh Hilliker

Intel, Intel, Intel… is it the unsung hero of effective B2B social media?

I’ll be asking that very question of Josh Hilliker, one of Intel’s key B2Bcommunity leaders and evangelists when he joins me on our podcast, Break through the Noise.

[Listen]

Until then, learn more about the man of the hour, in his own words:

Josh Hilliker is the Enterprise Evangelist / Community Manager for Intel®  vPro™  Expert Center, in End-user Platform Integration (EPI), part of the Digital Enterprise Group (DEG) within Intel.

In this role, he engages the Intel® vPro™ community as a champion and community advocate for the products, technologies, and Intel.

Josh joined Intel in 1995 within Information Technology, created the Internet / intranet and external e-Commerce help desks, established customer support, and paved the support path for future e-Business applications.

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Guy Kawasaki

With a guy like Guy, where do you start?

Throughout the highs and lows (has he had ‘lows’?) of his career, his winning personality has endured. Positive, yet candid and - dare I say - ballsy, Guy Kawasaki is a survivor and a true Silicon Valley original

We are thrilled for him to join us on our Break through the Noise podcast. As an influencer himself, his perspective is truly unique and we can’t wait to see what he has to say next.

[Listen]

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Brian Halligan

It always amazing to me how companies can have a ‘persona,’ seemly without even trying.

That’s one of the many things that fascinates me about HubSpot.

Right from the home page you get the sense you’re in the company of friendly individuals and - with the free tools they offer - in the company of people who know their respective, ’stuff.’

On today’s edition of our Break through the Noise podcast, we’re going to ask Brian about if their persona has been a factor in their rise to becoming a clear influnder in the makerting space - seemingly overnight.

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Chris Heuer, Source: chrisheuer.com

It’s an unfortunate aspect of live as a grown up that sometimes you have to associate with people you don’t especially like.

That couldn’t be further from the truth with today’s Break through the Noise guest, Chris Heuer (and for that matter, this wife Kristie Wells, too).

He’s a genuine person who happens to be whip-smart when t comes to social media. And as a founder of Social Media Club, he really practices what he preaches.

[Listen]

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