At first, I thought big data was simply a term to refer to the steady aggregation of ALL the data and data sets that ever existed. Well, I suppose that’s partially correct.

In fact, I wasn’t really keen on the topic as I mused more about how big data’s rise would affect the development of the semantic web.

source: datanami.com

And then I started having impromptu, at times lengthy tweets with Yosem (@Liberationtech) on the subject , and my focus shifted.

Our discussions kept me in check and afforded me to consider a range of interrelated subjects in sociology, psychology, statistics etc when assessing how I and others perceive big data—in fact, data, in and of itself.

Don’t worry, I won’t go off on a tangent and start deconstructing the meme (as much as I’d really love to). Instead, this May 29th (what did Chris (@sourcePOV) call it, Off cycle Weds? :) I’ll turn the mic over to you.

Now I know y’all have had some exposure to #bigdata. As professionals in your respective fields, I’d like you to put on your #bigdata tinfoil hats and throw in a few cents on the following:

Q1 Does #bigdata play a role in anything you are working on at the moment (ie., project, assignment, research, campaign etc.). If so, are you optimistic of the desired results (why/why not). If not, are you keen to be involved and why.

Q2 Marketers: how would you ‘market’ #bigdata? In fact, should marketers even care? (I asked this before and a few diehards in the Twittersphere started chirping ye olde “of course! absolutely! what a dumb question! ..) Really?? Thoughts?

Q3 Name your top 3 concerns about #bigdata and why you think the #1 concern is very important, who’s affected most and why that matters.

Q4 #Bigdata is somewhat of a self-evident meme. So here’s a fun question to cap off the hour: describe to me what #smalldata would (or should) be about.

About Off Cycle Wednesdays
After soliciting #smchat participants on what we may consider discussing on the off chance there is a 5th Wednesday in a month, Chris (@sourcePOV) agreed to my suggestion that we devote this spot to discussing emerging trends in technology: trends that not only are morphing from memes into everyday language but also, and more importantly, affecting how we live, work and play.

Future topic suggestions most welcome!

Like so much else in the 21st century, social-happy world, we’re quick to coin a new phrase, assign it a hashtag (like #socent for example!) and start talking about it like it was always there.

Not so fast, this time.

If we’re going to achieve meaningful social change of any kind, we need to tap into and amass innovators of a special variety, people who understand social forces, with innate skills for building social capital and stakeholder networks, while having both the drive and stamina to survive constant challenges, dead-ends, and frequent demands to regroup.

I’ve seen several articles that describe the characteristics of Entrepreneurs.  Here’s a great one from The Huffington Post that recaps the 21st century Entrepreneur quite well, written by Faisal Hoque (and shared via a timely tweet by Ann Marie Bland).

Bookmark this post and refer back to it, as I will.  It’s a great launching point for our discussion.

So let’s imagine one of the people he describes.  A Social Entrepreneur would have tenacity and social skills, deep levels of energy and drive.  They’d be a strategic thinker who wants to make an impact.   It’s someone we’d clearly like to partner with, to support, or even just to get to know.  It’s a compelling role model.

Trouble is, where do we go to find people like this?  After all, people look pretty much like people.

I think we need some clues that will help us track down these prized agents of social change, and add them to our social networks.

At #SMCHAT WEDS 5/22, we’ll start to unpack the challenge of networking with Social Entrepreneurs, and knowing how to recognize one when we find them. Here are some questions to frame the pursuit.

• Q1. What are the telltale signs of a Social Entrepreneur in public settings? What will they be doing?
• Q2. Where do Social Entrepreneurs like to congregate?
• Q3. What will a Social Entrepreneur be looking for, and how can you help them?
• Q4. In what social change scenarios .. and in what conditions .. will a Social Entrepreneur drive the greatest impact, and why?

I hope you’ll join us for the conversation, and share your ideas.  Social Change is hard work, and it will take a small army of Social Entrepreneurs to even start to make a dent.  We might as well a start now :)

As always, looking forward ..

Chris aka @sourcepov

Ugh.

Rather than seeing this as an impediment for developing a quality program, the industry is beginning to understand the shotgun approach of getting involved in a wide assortment of discussions may not be a sustainable solution. Advances in analytics and increasingly impressive efforts by national brands on select platforms indicates that a message can be delivered when it’s focused, clear and treats the consumer like they’re not dumb. Where before marketers had to make the best use of limited resources and spread a msg to as many people as possible as simply as possible, there’s now a challenge to impress or risk being shut out for good.

Polishing the sales pitch and maximizing every engagement is now a clear priority and component of social campaigns for brands trying to not only be an effective provider to potential consumers, but also be digital thought leaders.

This framing brings us to the #smchat’s discussion points:

Q1: Is there still potential for success in mass-distributed/non-personalized #marketing via #social? How?
Q2: What’s one brand that’s changed how they approach #social #marketing for the better?
Q3: How best can a brand establish authenticity in their #marketing efforts in #social?
Q4: What are some ways a brand’s #social #marketing dept can engage customers proactively w/out being intrusive?
Q5: Is a #social #custserv dept required for a brand to engage in #social #marketing?

We look forward to you joining in the #smchat discussion Wednesday, May 14th at 1 PM EST!

We have talked a great deal about the rapid global penetration of smart devices, it currently exceeds 1.5 billion by some estimates. We have also talked about mobility vs mobile. Mobility is focused on customer behavior beyond devices, it has more to do with utility not merely how one uses a phone or a tablet.

This announcement from AT&T raises some interesting questions about the future. The proliferation of mobile technology opens the door for whole new ecosystems to evolve offering tailored and personal services we may have seen in futuristic science fiction.

Imagine an integrated suite of products and services that will allow you to:

• Lock/unlock doors
• Monitor home environment
• Track inventory in the refrigerator/pantry then reorder when low
• Manage home entertainment systems

Most of these services already exist is some form or another, as far as I know no single service owns a customer base that offers this entire suite. But what if Google or Amazon were to create this kind of ecosystem, it isn’t that hard to imagine.

Let’s have some fun and talk about the possibilites.

Here are the questions for the chat.

Q1 I listed a few integrated suite products/services what are some others?

Q2 What are the benefits to a new integrated mobility ecosystem?

Q3 How about the data and privacy risks?

Q4 What are the marketing implications?

Q5 Do you see this kind of ecosystem evolving from an existing company?

SMCHAT is 4 (it’s a celebration)

People have birthdays.  Weddings have anniversaries.  What do you communities have?  I suppose they have founders days, heritage days, and festivals of all varieties.

So how do you commemorate community that’s built on friendship?

I guess that’s the challenge with a place like #SMCHAT.  Seems we always come back to learn new things, but deep down, we’re really coming back because we value the people .. the way we feel when we’re among friends.  That sense that we know we’ll get a lift .. a laugh .. and something to take away with us.  Sometimes, it might be nothing more than a smile.

In a way, it’s like coming home.

Or maybe it’s more like Cheers .. where everyone knows your name .. or at least, your Twitter ID.

When a few of us started using the #SMCHAT hashtag in April 2009, we were exploring what was possible in social media.  Why would people want to tweet or blog?  What was the difference between broadcasting and engagement?  What would the social ROI turn out to be?  These were the question in 2009.  Now, all this time later, we’re still asking questions.  But I’d have to say they’ve taken on a new character.

• Q1. Looking back, what’s surprised you most about socialmedia’s impact?
• Q2. What lessons does the corporate world still need to learn to tap the value of social?
• Q3. Socialmedia for social good seems intuitive, powerful. What must happen to advance opportunities in this space?
• Q4. What would you change to make socialmedia more accessible and intuitive?

I hope you’ll join us for our 4th ANNIVERSARY GALA event this WEDS, 4/24 at 1pET.

Several of our charter members have said their coming back for a bit of a reunion, which is a GREAT cause for celebration in its own right. Let me take this moment to extend my deep gratitude to them, and to you, for being a part of all this.  It’s been a great 4 years, and I hope there are many more ahead.  A warm thank you, from all of us at #SMCHAT.  We couldn’t be here without you.

If you stop in, leave a comment.  As always, we’d love to hear from you ..

Chris @sourcepov

Several years ago, I came across the Conversation Prism (above) by Brian Solis and Jess3 and it really opened my eyes to the number of social media sites where people could engage on so many different levels. I tried a few, no way could you truly participate in them all, and found that one of the places that I felt most comfortable to share, learn and sometimes just shoot the breeze, was Twitter, and specifically Twitter chats like #SMchat. I’ve “lurked” and actively participated in chats, and have been moderating for more than 3 years now. Not only have I been updated on breaking news, current events and best practices online and off, but I’ve met some amazing people on Twitter as well. One of those people, Dawn Westerberg, started out as a “Twitter friend” and over the years we’ve become “Facebook friends” and actually met in real life. On Friday, Dawn posted a Mashable link to an infographic of social media demographics (say THAT 3X fast!) and it made me think about my social media usage and the usage of social media by my company’s customers.

The Mashable article contained information within a new study from the Pew Research Center and Docstoc on just who uses social and on what platforms. Some of the findings made sense to me, but others were quite a bit different from I expected. According to the demographics presented in the infographic, I shouldn’t even be on Twitter…in fact, even though I’m in the age group with 77% social media usage (there’s a 20-year age range for you to guess how old I am), I’m substantially older than the demographics for Twitter, Facebook or Instagram according to the results showing which networking sites are most appealing to different age groups.

Here are my 5 questions on who uses social media and how:

1. Which social network(s) do you use most often, how do you use them and why?
2. Do you agree with the demographic breakdown of social media sites found in the infographic on Mashable?
3. Are you able to predict which social media networks will engage with your brand? How?
4. Usage by 18- to 29-year-olds dropped to the lowest levels in 2 years, is that age group “bored” with social media?
5. Is social media just shiny object syndrome for marketers, or is there real ROI gold to be found?

Do you think about your social media usage and those of your online visitors/customers? Please share your insights below and join us on April 17, 2013 at 1PM ET for #SMChat!

I was captured by an article’s headline today, “Increase in Customer Service Experiences Shared via Social Media Sites.”  The headline wasn’t as interesting as this statistic: “nearly 40% of consumers continue to avoid products and services two or more years after a bad customer service experience.”  Two years you could lose a customer due to a bad customer service experience and to top it off, people are 1.5 times more likely to share a bad experience via social networks.

Still many companies undervalue and overwork their customer service groups.  They also overlook the value in integrating social media monitoring and training.  People seem to be less forgiving when someone makes a misstep/mistake via social media, it seems that smart companies are emphasizing integration and training to avoid some costly blunders.  Blunders that can lead not only to the two year loss of a customer and potentially a few of their friends, but add the amplification that social media offers and it can be catastrophic.

This week for #SMChat at 1pm ET, April 10th, we will discuss how companies look at the social media channels they use and what valuable metrics/plans can be gained.  Our questions are as follows:

Q1. How do you monitor your company’s customer service offered via social media channels?

Q2. Is there a plan to escalate specific customer service issues? What are the criteria for escalation?

Q3. What metrics are monitored via social media?

Q4. What is the biggest obstacle to providing customer service via social media channels?

Q5. What is the top benefit, to your organization, from providing customer service via social media channels?

I hope that you are able to join us at 1pm ET, Wednesday April 10th…it’s sure to be a lively discussion! 

A recent Neilsen’s report highlights how global mobile phone ownership ‘has reached critical mass’. While appearing to state the obvious where the logical growth of the mobile experience is concerned, the report highlights equally intriguing results including profiles on smartphone ownership, types of mobile-based activities (texting, shopping), content consumption (video), mobile app usage and more.

There will always be loads of new developments coming at us where mobile is concerned. And Where it concerns our professional interests in particular, yes, we will always be drawn to examining the latest and greatest (e.g., the rapid development, penetration and assimilation of tablets into our day-to-day lives) [thanks Joe! @SMSJOE ;].

The developing tech behind what makes the mobile experience more and more sophisticated (thus making our lives seemingly more convenient) will always fascinate us. And we do typically dedicate about an hour to exploring how the tech affects, influences and shapes our behaviours.

But by far, what has recently resonated so well with me is being reminded of the global perspective and how valuable it is to ponder and analyze trends based on this point of view (now I’m clearly stating the obvious).

So in the spirit of leveraging global, diverse profiles on the mobile experience I propose we advance our discussions by examining aspects of mobile that do not quickly appear so evident to us and determine if our collective input may reveal some unexpected perspectives:

Q1 - What are your top 3 mobile activities and how do you think your own mobile behaviours influence the way you develop mobile strategies?

Q2 - How do you think mobile advertising will evolve? Will it evolve much at all? Are you even in the ‘mobile ad zone’?

Q3 - I can only assume (based on what I have gleaned from a tweet by Chris (@sourcePOV) that #smchat prides itself with a fairly global audience/group of participants. Based on your geo and market, what are some of the priorities you and/or your org are looking to surface and finesse with respect to developing mobile experiences for your target audience(s)?

Q4 - And finally, an out-from-left-field (though it may have an impact on you too) burning question: Do you really think Facebook should have its own phone? Why, why not? Will it have any impact on you?

As always, comments welcome and encouraged.

In our new Social Change series at #SMCHAT, we’ve been discussing how to recognize a Social Entrepreneur, a person who is intentional and focused on advancing the social good in a sustainable way.

It’s a noble pursuit, but one that can be extremely difficult to pursue in a vacuum.

So let’s ask a relational question. Why should Social Entrepreneurs Collaborate?

Why should Social Entrepreneurs Collaborate? Chris Jones @sourcepov | CC3-AR

Reflect on the chart shown here, as we attack the following four questions at #SMCHAT on WEDS 3/27 at 1pET.

• Q1. TALENT.  While SE’s bring considerable talent to the development task, where & by whom are their skills first shaped, honed?
• Q2. IDEAS. Brainstorming is a classic sweet spot for the collaborative process. Can connected SE’s expand the potential for breakthrough? 
• Q3. ABILITY TO SCALE. A common hurdle for SE’s. How does a stakeholder network change the game? 
• Q4. RESOURCES. The dollars and influence of any one SE are limited. What is possible when the SE’s network grows?

We will continue to build on these ideas in our Social Change series each 4th WEDS at 1pm.  We hope you will join us.

For a deeper dive? Check out the original Queen City Forward Lunch and Learn “New Thinking for  Social Entrepreneurs” PDF, a Charlotte workshop in which I first developed and shared these ideas.  This material is CC3-AR (Creative Commons 3, attribution requsted.)

See you online – for this #SocialChange conversation – and each 4th WEDS at hashtag #SMCHAT.

Chris

March Madness Marketing Mashup

It’s March Madness time, so between the distractions of trying to get my picks in to the office pool (hey, there’s a trip to the Final Four on the line if you win!) and watching my hubby play in a local basketball league (check out his moves in the pic to the left), I’m having trouble deciding on a topic for this week’s Marketing #SMChat topic. So this week I’m going to try a mashup of topics that have caught my eye recently. According to Wikipedia, the main characteristics of a mashup are combination, visualization, and aggregation.

Here’s a combination of two of my marketing “go to” resources – an article in MarketingProfs with the visualization of an infographic by Mari Smith that provides tips on how to get more Facebook shares. (I’ve added it to my Pinterest board full of other great infographics if you’re interested. Also, if you’ve got any infographics that I’ve missed, please let me know in the comments.)

1. What role does engagement play in your Social Media strategy?
2. What is your favorite tip on getting Facebook shares by Mari Smith and Shortstack?

Regular #SMChat poster, Heidi Cohen has aggregated some Nielsen statistics into 7 actionable social media tactics to get us thinking. According to her post, about 2/3 of respondents plan to increase their social media advertising spend and about 1/3 plan to keep it the same.

3. How is your social media spend (both media costs and soft costs) changing in 2013?
4. Who is leveraging social media presence to continue their connection beyond the initial contact?

The final piece of the March Marketing Madness is a post I read by Scott Hardigree about Newsjacking your email campaigns. Why “Madness” you ask? Scott doesn’t just mean adding in some keywords to your emails based on current events, but rather, truly connecting a newsworthy event to your brand and your products to make your emails stand out from all the others in the Inbox. For those without an editorial calendar, it could become marketing madness!

5. What tips do you have when “newsjacking” events for an editorial calendar?

Please join us for the March Madness Marketing Mashup on #SMChat, March 20, 2013 (and every Wednesday) at 1PM ET. We look forward to chatting with you!