Crowdsourcing and social media: the future of engagement

#Crowdsourcing and #social media: influencing the future of engagement

By Catherine Loiacono@cat_loiacono

#newhouseprsmAugust 1, 2013

Crowdsourcing and social media are breaking down the silos of public relations and marketing and helping create authentic engagement.

R1: How are businesses using crowdsourcing and social media to engage key audiences

R2: How is crowdsourcing and social media transforming the way we look at PR and Marketing?

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Theory and Research Q’s

Thought leadersMark W. Schaefer is a globally-recognized blogger, speaker, educator, business consultant, and author who blogs at {grow} — one of the top marketing blogs of the world.

Mark has worked in global sales, PR, and marketing positions for nearly 30 years and now provides consulting services as Executive Director of U.S.-based Schaefer Marketing Solutions. He specializes in social media training and clients include both start-ups and global brands such as IBM, AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, and the UK government.

Author of Return On Influence, Born to Blog, and Tao of Twitter.

Mark Schaefer@markwschaefer

Tennessee/New York businessesGROW.com

Thought leadersDavid Meerman Scott is a marketing strategist, advisor to emerging companies, bestselling author of eight books including three international bestsellers, and a professional speaker on topics including marketing, leadership, and social media.

David serves as an advisor to emerging companies in the marketing technology category including HubSpot, GrabCAD, Libboo, VisibleGains, ExpertFile, GutCheck, and Newstex.

Author of News Jacking, Real-time Marketing and PR and the New Rules of Marketing and PR

David Meerman Scott@dmscott

Bostondavidmeermanscott.com

Thought leadersJohn Winsor is a leading strategic marketing and product innovation thinker known for his work in collaboration, co-creation and crowdsourcing.

He is the CEO of Victors & Spoils, the world’s first creative advertising agency built on crowdsourcing.

Named to:• Agency A-List 10 to Watch list • Mashable’s Top 5 Digital Agencies.

John Winsor@jtwinsor

Boulder, ColoradoVictorsandspoils.com

Social Media Social media is a powerful platform that encompasses countless virtual communities and networks where people can :

– exchange information

– express ideas

– share opinions

– create content

– seek out new knowledge.

“The town hall has probably given way to the internet as the most prominent and accessible dimension of the public sphere.” -Calhoun

Social Media

Uses today include:– Generates revenue and opportunity

– Powerful distribution channel

– Communicates your point of view

– Compelling and Addictive

– Creates the strong “feeling of connectedness”

– Accessibility to brands and leaders are now accessible.

If you create great content that’s worthy of attention, the world will show up and talk about it.” – Jeff Bullas

Social Media From a PR perspective:– Two-way symmetrical communication– never have word of mouth or peer to peer influence been more ubiquitous than today

From Marketing Perspective–Social Media is a powerful marketing medium to generate revenue and distribute content– 93% of marketers use social media for business

From a Marketing and PR perspective:– Web 2.0: no longer passive browsers of the

web, but we are the web.

Crowdsourcing: what is it? Coined by Jeff Howe in a June 2006 Wired magazine article:

“Crowdsourcing is the process by which the power of the many can be leveraged to accomplish feats that were once the province of a specialized few.”

An effective way for orgs to get best ideas from online communities and build communities.

Still in infancy phase, trying to carve out its space– Curated Crowds– Quality improvements– Standardizing– Early adoption phase–Gaining corporate acceptance

Crowdsourcing: in the making

Crowdsourcing: its uses Ways to use crowdsourcing:•Generate solutions to questions•Ask for suggestions•Encourage people to vote or rank a list

of items•Slice a large project into smaller tasks•Get expert opinions quickly•Solicit donations•Generate interest in attending an

event

In the last three years, global firms are picking up on this new means of engagement

Market demand for crowd-sourced work quintupled in 2010 & almost quadrupled in 2011

Starting to see more partnership with crowdsourcing firms and agencies

Crowdsourcing: gaining momentum

Crowdsourcing and Social MediaFirms are using crowdsourcing and social media to complete marketing-related tasks.

Focus on three broad areas:• product development • advertising and promotion • marketing research

Some examples:• American Idol and X-Factor• Brandbowl 2011• Seth Godin using crowdfunding to

publish book

Threadless.comT-shirt company started out as a high school project over ten years ago by owner Jake Nickell

Org. is integrating crowdsourcing, social media, marketing and public relations

Crowdsourcing is the primary goal but spin-off benefits are just as vital• 2-way Communication• Promotion• Profit• Building community

My Starbucks Idea

Victors and Spoils

V&S is based on the principles of crowdsourcing. First open ad agency.

• Goal: solve some of the issues that exist in the application of crowdsourcing to Big-Brand Marketing or Advertising Strategy.

• Fan Machine is a Facebook app by Victors & Spoils that allows any brand’s fans to submit ideas against various briefs that the brand puts forth – right on that brand’s Facebook fan page.

#Skills4BC campaign

Findings from thought leaders

The key to consistently tapping the wisdom of crowds is to encourage affinity groups to form – and then provide them with context, constraints, and even expert guidance. That way they can channel their energy and thinking into actionable insights to help the org. -@markschaefer

When people help you answer a question via crowdsourcing they feel a sense of ownership. Participation turns spectators into supporters - @dmscott

Collaboration, co-creation and crowdsourcing are the future of not only advertising, but business itself; and that a deep dedication to becoming a social business can make the world a better place. - @jtwinsor

Findings from thought leadersWhat we are experiencing is the most important communications revolution in our history since the printing press, 600 years ago.

Crowdsouring and Social media are, no question part of the comms revolution

Crowd sourcing and social media are two small pieces of it. At a micro level they are helping enable this revolution.

David M. Scott@dmscott

Findings from thought leadersWith crowdsourcing you can ask for opinions about features that go into a product.

With social media you can engage in the two-way symmetrical communication.

People will blog about it, they feel connected to the product and brand.

The silos in marketing and PR are clearly being broken down, but it is much more than crowdsourcing and social media.

On-line there isn’t a mass demarcation between marketing and PR, consumers are don’t care where they get their content.

David M. Scott@dmscott

Findings from thought leaders10 years from now, people will look at crowdsourcing and social media like we do plaid pants because it’s simply another aspect of Marketing and PR.

Through opening up of communications, crowdsourcing becomes marketing and PR.

With the evolution we are seeing right now, 10 years from now, marketing and PR will be one.

David M. Scott@dmscott

Findings from thought leadersWe are in the first phase of this transformation.

I believe that more than the silos of marketing and public relations are being broken down. Silos of innovation to purchasing to vendors are all being integrated.

Every part of the organization is changing. Today, it is total new way of doing business.

John Winsor@jtwindsor

Findings from thought leadersSocial media started to build audiences. In the last year, now that those audiences are built, business are asking what can I do with them?

One of the stumbling blocks is that brands are used to controlling and commanding the message.

If brand has a strong community than crowdsourcing and engagement becomes easier.

John Winsor@jtwindsor

Conclusion: Crowdsourcing and Social

• Social media is transforming the way we think of crowdsourcing.

• Social media is becoming an essential component to crowdsourcing as it allows organizations to reach a wider audience faster, cheaper and more efficiently than ever before.

• Current crowdsourcing campaigns almost always use social media to obtain a higher number of contributions

• Can lead to a better quality idea, service or whatever the desired end-product might be.

• As social media monitoring technology becomes increasingly popular and sophisticated more organizations will pay closer attention to how social media can be used to fuel their crowdsourcing campaigns.

Conclusion: Crowdsourcing and Social

• Crowdsourcing and social has the potential to:– build trust with consumer, – allow for authentic engagement,– two-way communication – enables community to help shape future of

organization– Stimulates innovation– AND, helps solve problems.

Conclusion: big picture • We are in the midst of a communications revolution and each

of us is contributing to its shape.

• Crowdsourcing and social media are breaking down the silos of public relations and marketing and helping create authentic engagement but they are only two components of a larger communications revolution.

• Businesses are catching on and Marketing and PR together can drive this change.

• 10 years from now, crowdsourcing and social media will be looked at as something we did.

• Marketing and PR will be one.

Questions