In the latest findings of Technorati’s 2013 Digital Influence Report, it discusses how “consumers are turning to blogs when looking to make a purchase.”

It should come as no surprise that blogs outrank social when it comes to influence, they’re often a viable resource that consumers rely on prior to making a decision.

As conventional advertising withered, digital provided measurable results that marketers could scale quickly . Then social came along, touted as a new equalizer that kind of grew to  a new spam channel to replace email, with  the amount of noise often deafening. But all the while, online brands were being built and some bloggers have developed audiences and trust.

An endorsement from influential bloggers is worth a lot more than 100,000 tweets or likes, which you can now buy for maybe fifty bucks. Although it would depend who tweets, the fact is the conversion isn’t the same as when a site or blog with any degree of authority gives you a mention. Sound good? How do I get mine mentioned?

The challenge lies in the fact that this isn’t advertising. You’re asking these influencers for access to their audience, something they’ve built through a lot of hard work. You’ll need to give them a reason to consider engaging the idea and put on your PR hat. Like any pitch, knowing their subject matter and audience will make the difference.

While this isn’t news for some, inbound marketers and SEO’s have known this for some time. And with the recent Google updates (Penguin/Panda) it’s likely this approach will continue to become popular. In many ways, it’s like PR has been rejuvenated. One thing’s for sure, with all the options vying for attention, leveraging another audience surely beats trying to build from scratch.

Developing an audience requires a content strategy, where inbound marketing feeds an essential need of one’s audience when properly executed.

Online businesses fall into a few categories – product, service, or media,  and breaking ahead of the pack requires strategy to differentiate and communicate the value offered over the dozens or hundreds of others in the same space.

There’s one company that’s killing it in their market. And part of their approach is creating new markets.

Their mantra? Think Different.

If only the answer were obvious, but with each case being unique, analysis is necessary to get a subjective viewpoint. Sometimes a company is so ingrained that their unable to see things clearly and new blood with a fresh pair of eyes can help.

Naturally the need for quick wins goes without saying. But at the same time, think bigger, to enjoy big wins down the road.

There’s a lot to be said about what others say about you. The consensus can can determine your fate.

Let’s assume your site looks fine. But that isn’t always what it takes to convert alone.

You’re online brand is only as likable as perception dictates, and influencing this drives conversion.

In many cases, a prospect has found you and before they click to buy, they hesitate. Who are you? Next thing you know they have a new tab open on their browser and their not searching a product anymore, they’re searching you.

Ever wonder how it is that some brands manage to leap ahead, even when they don’t focus on things like quality, price, or customers?

Beyond the site itself, content strategies have influence over customer decision. Managing perception is often something overlooked unless a pr crisis surfaces. Not always the way to go.

Stop racing after every new fad and focus on making consistent, emotional connections with consumers. If you stand for nothing, you fall for everything.

Kevin Roberts, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi

It’s easier to love a brand when the brand loves you back.

Seth Godin

You can dress up a pig, but it’s still a pig. Or is it? Influence shapes perception, and it’s a powerful strategy towards digital and conventional branding.

Slap a website together and hang out your shingle, if only it were that easy. Reputation management still has some growing to do.

Many companies measure the success of online advertising or social media simply by the increase in web traffic versus their usual traffic volume. Defining your goals is the ideal place to start for online advertising, search marketing, online branding, or social media. Some of the goals you might pursue for these are;

Realizing it’s an earthquake, I checked Google News for any info. Nothing.

Then I searched twitter and found lots of people mentioning it. To see in real-time, I went to monitter.com

As I watched the stream of comments from people about their chandelier swinging and similar it became all too real.

The Vancouver earthquake reports say 7.1 and 7.7 on the richter scale, about 7 more than I’d care to be around.

A tsunami warning was issued for the North tip of Vancouver Island to Alaska as well, hopefully not.

In the last 15 minutes, I kept an eye on both twitter and google news, but twitter had a lot more info. Google news only had one mention for 15-20 minutes, and stories have started to trickle in , although its mostly repeats of the same info.

This reminded me of situations that you hope no one would have to go through where social media is truly valuable. Things like the Fukushima, and other types of disasters where it creates both a source of information and line of communications for those affected.

In some ways, social media is underestimated.

Update – over 30 minutes later the media made an announcement

 An earthquake registered at 7.7 appears to have hit off the coast of Vancouver Island, Earthquake Canada reports. A tsunami warning is in effect for coastal areas of BC and Alaska from the northern tip of Vancouver Island. More to come…

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/earthquake+hits+Haida+Gwaii+Region/7459506/story.html#ixzz2AYvQcKRC

Full story at Vancouver Sun

Developing a bond with customers, like any relationship, is tied to trust. It can be difficult to create emotional connections in some markets, but isn’t to say it can’t be done. Sometimes it isn’t just what’s said, but the actions a company takes that speak to their character.

Customers of Tom’s shoes are brand advocates, supporting the commitment of the company’s program to provide a child in need a pair of shoes for every pair that’s sold. Starbucks’ approach to ethical sourcing of coffee are values some of their customers can get behind. And then there’s Zappos, which earned its relationship by focussing on what they call fanatical customer service that made people feel as if the brand cared for them as individuals.

Consistent cues that consumers identify with that are aligned with personal beliefs and values suggest purpose, can create strong impressions, and act as a narrative towards building brand equity. You can’t manufacture authenticity, doing so will be transparent as ambiguity isn’t well received.

An interesting thought in the book ‘Fierce Conversations’ mentions;

“Our lives succeed or fail gradually, then suddenly, one conversation at a time. While no single conversation is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a business, a marriage, or a life, any single conversation can. The conversation is the relationship.”

This can ring true to an online presence and how we engage, from social media to the tone of the copy on a website, why are so many afraid to be human? While most would be more than content with creating a sizeable amount of advocates, few are capable of entering an intimate relation with consumers. If you compared the relationship of brands with that between humans, its sort of a one-sided affair. Those that go the extra mile can receive admiration and respect.

Social media is an important tool to engaging in conversations, but its only part of the picture. It does have the distinct advantage of being a voice that can display personality and engage with consumers, which has proven to fuel a fan base, but humanizing a digital brand often requires the creation of an emotional connection.

Like any relationship, things don’t happen overnight. There’s a number of steps that can be taken to initiate humanization of your brand. While each might seem insignificant, many small gestures can make the difference.

Start by taking a look at the About page of your website. Does it read like your typical corporate rhetoric offering vision and mission statements? People instinctively gravitate towards this page, probably because deep down we all want to believe that somewhere beyond the pixels on their screen, there sits a human being. If you keep it light-hearted yet professional and interesting you can lose the impression of a faceless corporation. Including staff photos, not just headshots but activities of employees is not only good for your customers, it can also influence top talent to have interest in joining an organization by showing culture, socializing, and how cool it would be to work there and join a great team.

David Aaker, a well known marketing professor at Berkeley has suggested that brand personality as “a set of human characteristics associated with a brand” and imagery beyond identity can help establish in the minds of the consumers the desired traits that create its unique personality.

As brands continue to evolve within the digital space, efforts toward humanizing its presence is an approach marketers are using online more often. It’s hard to be noticed, but doing something different that your customers value has its rewards.

Marketing has talked about using SWOTs to find that USP (unique selling proposition) for years, but change to the process is at work, and its called disruption.

Disruption Marketing is about creating new opportunities and possibly shaking up the norm.

The concept isn’t that new, but the approach is becoming more main stream as a strategy. When radio came along, many said it was the print trade killer, then there was television, then the internet. Few innovations can dry up an industry, but in certain situations that’s been the case.

Industries like music, banking, print media, photography and more have all experienced a disruption in the last decade. Take the music industry as an example. Apple was a big disruptor with the advent of iTunes and the iPod. Not long ago if you wanted new music you would walk into the store and purchase what you’re after. Now it’s difficult to even find a music store. Shops like HMV are closing, and the music section at Best Buy keeps shrinking.

The interesting thing about the shift with music is how other revenue streams spawned as a result. While licensing of music had always existed, it became more prevalent in ads, games and film (B2B) as much of the lucrative younger consumer segment was increasing their use of file sharing. Additionally, there was a time a consumer had to purchase the entire CD (or cassette/album) and the digital download shift permitted the purchase of individual tracks. At first it seems a 99 cent song purchase might canabalize the market, but the lower cost reduce the barriers to purchasing, and the volume of song sales likely offsets to difference in sale price for an entire CD/album. But the biggest gains in digital downloads are likely the reduced cost of distribution. Rather than shipping truckloads of CDs all over, they exist in the cloud through a purchase from iTunes, Amazon, or even Walmart.

One instance that really changed the market is home video. In the early 90′s we rented VHS (or Beta…) and that evolved to DVD, but now it’s near impossible to find a place to rent a DVD (and most of the Blockbuster stores have closed in the last few years) and the shift to digital downloads or on demand has taken over. Another being the advent of digital cameras, forcing Kodak to realign its game plan after probably 100 years of business.

Great ideas can disrupt business as usual, as it’s difficult to stop what people want to have.

Further examples of disruptive innovation and the shift taking place:

Marketers need to consider how tech changes affect purchase behaviour, how the web has empowered (and added complexity) to customers lives, and how businesses can adapt to thrive in our new connected world.

Many of the recent success stories in business are based on a disruptive marketing approach, from Groupon and  Airbnb to SalesForce and more. Shaking up how business is done is becoming a competitive advantage to new startups for some time, and it’s on the rise. Even Facebook would fall into this category with the way it’s changed how millions engage and interact through social media.

A disruptive approach can also be part of a brand strategy, take Apple’s cube store in New York. It’s the most popular tourist destination in the city (surpassing the statue of liberty) and the 28th most photographed landmark on earth.

Today’s brands are taking disruption to the digital front, where marketing is more cost effective and proving to provide a better ROI than their analog predecessors. A disruption that’s started is mobile, but did you know that by 2016 over 1 billion smartphones and tablets will be in people’s hands? Prepare for a BIG shift in the next few years. Some are saying this is the new mode of doing business, and I tend to agree.

If you think no one is listening, you might be surprised. As companies experience increases in public scrutiny (thanks to social media) there is more at stake to protect their brand. This is more than a shift in marketing, a rewiring has taken the front seat and companies that choose to stand on the sidelines rather than manage it are at risk.

The first thing to realize is you are not in control, and you never were. Conversations about companies always existed, but now they’re more accessible than ever. Before the web, word of mouth was a slow moving beast that many organizations chose to ignore. Fast forward to today and a bad experience can quickly become an epidemic should a customer become vocal online. The poster child example being United Airlines, which mishandled a customer’s grievance, and the whole thing went viral.

An entire cottage industry of online reputation management has emerged over the last few years as a result, with service providers like hootsuite, radian6 and dozens of others, all geared towards helping you to monitor online conversations.

Most consumers turn to the web when investigating a product, service, even a person, and there’s a good chance a dialogue already exists. Do you know what they’re saying?

A sample of  social media failures from around the web.

The official Twitter account of Chrysler brand vehicles dropped the F-bomb in an update from an employee at the automaker’s social media agency

Don’t know what ‘Loaf n Jug’ is thinking…

McDonalds launched a Twitter campaign using the hashtag#McDStories and asked users to post nostalgic stories about their experiences on Happy Meals, but the #McDStories campaign quickly took a whole different turn very quickly as users started using the hashtag to instead share horror experiences and shock tales, and the McD campaign turned negative attention back to itself.

Fox and NBC’s twitter accounts were hacked and some terrible messages were posted.

Chick-Fil-A pretended that it had discontinued its line of toys itself for safety reasons, and it appears they may have created fake Facebook accounts using stock photos to defend themselves. They denied accusations of creating an invisible Facebook army.

Probably one of the biggest mistakes – that anyone would think “2 girls 1 sub”, even for a minute, would be a good idea.

Based on something you don’t want to see, this would go down as one of the worst decisions in a social media campaign.

But it’s still unknown if it’s a Quiznos marketing fail, or if it really was produced without their sanctioning, as they officially denied.

Others:
Dominoes social media mess

United breaks guitars

How not to use twitter – case study