Jason Dominy, who I’d consider one of many Atlanta Coffee Experts (not an official designation), takes his message to local businesses and clients, brewing fresh coffee and answering questions. He uses social media to broadcast each “Coffee Ambush,” and this underlines a great marketing & social media message: exceed individual expectations, provide great service, and allow others to share your passion.

Coffee Ambush: MailChimp Style! from Jason Dominy on Vimeo.

Ingredients:
(feeds 2 Hungry Hippos)

4 tilapia fillets (approx 1lb.)
1 lime
1 serrano pepper
1 shallot
1 bunch asparagus
Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Heat olive oil in skillet on medium heat. Saute fillets for 7mins, then heat reverse for 5mins.

Mince shallot & serrano pepper in a bowl. Zest & squeeze lime. Add extra lime juice as necessary. Add touch of EVOO & salt and pepper to taste.

Saute asparagus for 5mins, turning once halfway through.

Total prep time: 40mins.

This meal is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and sugar-free. Feel free to substitute butter for EVOO, but then you’ll need to cross “dairy-free” off the list.

Ted Wright of Fizz gave a great opening keynote. For those of us who are veterans in presentations, panels, SXSW, social media, public relations, and marketing, the “skeptic filter” is finely tuned to spot imposters and fluff. Ted provided great content on word-of-mouth marketing, and fittingly discussed that consumers also have their “skeptic filters” on & operational. For businesses to create and sustain relationship with their audiences, they need to shift away from broadcast marketing and embrace word-of-mouth.

• 76% of consumers believe that companies lie in ads
• Conversions from word-of-mouth recommendation approaches 90%. Broadcast (mass-market) media conversion is at 3%. Businesses who shift their approach will sustain growth.
• An individual would need to spend 18 hours each day to fully process all the advertisements presented (billboards, TV, online, radio, etc). Instead, we tune out information that’s not relevant.
• 19% of sales can be tied back to a word-of-mouth recommendation.
• 76% of Americans discuss at least one brand each day
• 15% of  conversations daily reference a brand
• Influences discuss twice as many brands as the average American
• 10% of word-of-mouth “conversations” occur online; 71% occur in-person. Use online and mass-media content to generate offline conversations for your audiences.
• A brand’s sustainability is in its story. Products without a storyline are fads.
• Individuals share stores that are relevant, interesting, and authentic
• Influencers are not motivated by new experiences with friends, not by money
• 90% of any population/demographic follows the recommendations & advice of the influential 10%
• Influencers will share stories — a manageable “soundbite” is 32 seconds. Can others recap your brand’s unique story or core identity quickly?
• Not all influencers are talkers
• Word-of-mouth (influencer) campaigns typically take 4-7 months to see measurable results, and those results will often be curious or unexpected. Behind this data lies the key to who understands and influences your business’ identity through word-of-mouth.
• 2 Rules of Engagement: Never interrupt. Never intercept.
• Public relations adds velocity and validation to word-of-mouth efforts
• Fans, followers, and Likes are suboptimal metrics. The average person has 4 people who they trust with their life, 9 people who they trust with their children, and 123 people who they influence.
• What’s important: #1 The Story, #2 The Influencer, #3 The Conversation

Want another perspective on Digital Atlanta? Check out Ogilvy’s PR blog.

Wait, what?

My client is satisfied, and the rapidity of the fan count increase has (mysteriously) slowed somewhat, although it is still growing much more quickly than before. I, however, am not satisfied. The resolution of this dilemma has created more questions than answers for me. In an industry (profession?) that is so new, there aren’t hard and fast answers to ethical questions. Which means we have to decide what our ethics look like. I’d love your take.

Are we naïve to think that social media can and should stay “pure?” I love Jay Baer’s quote about social media; he says something like, “It’s about making your company more like a person and less like a machine.” I might scream if I hear the word “transparency” at another panel, but it really is true that we expect people and brands to be authentic on Facebook (or Twitter, or wherever). We don’t have the same expectations in other marketing or advertising formats. No one thinks that a television ad is supposed to be transparent, an honest representation of a brand; we expect a company to put its best foot forward and woo us with witty copy, amazing images, etc.

Do the ends justify the means? Does it really benefit a brand that much to hit the 1,000 fan mark? Mr. T tried to tell me it would help with Edge Rank on Facebook, but I can’t find any evidence and don’t have any experience to support that. In my (albeit limited) understanding of Edge Rank, one’s Edge Rank is driven by engagement, and fake fans don’t engage. I kind of agree with him that the more fans a page has, the more legitimate it looks, and it takes a long time to build a large community in some sectors (such as Ms. X’s). So maybe it doesn’t matter if you pad your fan count with fake profiles if the goal is to use them to get real fans. What do you think?

What is Facebook’s role in policing fake profiles? Companies like Usocial have gotten cease and desist letters from Facebook in the past, but there’s no evidence that this is a real area of focus. And yet, when I tried to set up a dummy account on Facebook so that I could see my new timeline the way an outsider would see it (you know, for science), I got totally denied. I can’t remember the exact wording, but the response was something like, “Nice try, dummy, but we can tell this is fake. Get out of here.” Now, granted, I made absolutely no effort to be at all stealth, but if they can bust me, why can’t they bust whomever it is that is creating these fake profiles? Unless, and here’s where I’m going to go all conspiracy-theorist on you, unless Facebook is creating the fake profiles to count as “likes” for the sponsored stories they are selling?

Last, what can or should social media companies guarantee their clients? The first red flag popped up for me in this situation when Mr. T guaranteed Ms. X 1,000 fans in three months. Now, I’ve created campaigns that resulted in 1,000 (or more) fans that quickly, but I would never guarantee it. I guarantee a set of deliverables that relate to my work outcomes, but I never guarantee a specific number of fans – because I don’t think that matters. Or should matter. But maybe I’m just being naïve?

Social media practitioners of the world, weigh in. What do you think of all this? Am I crazy, naïve, dumb, or what? What do you think?

I recently uncovered a plot to fake Facebook, and I’m still having a hard time unraveling it.

Here’s the short version of what happened: My client, Ms. X, participated in a pilot program being tested by her parent company. The pilot program was designed to make Facebook work better for the individual franchisees by increasing fan count and, ultimately, engagement. The parent company hired a consultant to work on the project, and my client signed up. The consultant, Mr. T, told Ms. X that he would increase her fan count from its current 130 to 1,000 in three months. He also said that her Page wouldn’t work until she got to 1,000 fans.

Ms. X was intrigued. She paid up.

I asked Ms. X what Mr. T’s methodology was to increase the count. Because she didn’t know, she connected me with him. We emailed, and he told me he was using Facebook Sponsored Stories and pay-per-click advertising. I started watching the number of fans of her Facebook Page go up. There were 66 new fans in one day; many more in the next 48 hours.

I started worrying that I had missed something huge on Facebook, some obvious and easy way to drive fan count that Mr. T had mastered and I had not. I was concerned that I had failed to stay in the loop and gotten left behind.

So I started digging.

I looked at every one of the 66 fans that were new that first day. I clicked around on their profiles over and over again, trying to figure out who they were and why they had liked the Page.

What I discovered was that the fans were fake.

All of Ms. X’s new fans had similar problems with their profiles. Here’s what I found:

• There were no current cities or home towns listed. By contrast, I looked at 20 random profiles, and 17 out of the 20 list a town of some sort.
• An unusually high percentage (50% of my sample) identified themselves as liberal Catholics, much more than the general Facebook population.
• No friends showed up on the left side of any of the profiles. (This was pre-Timeline).

Most damning, none of them ever posted anything or completed any activity on Facebook. Their Walls all said, “There are no more posts to show,” and no activity was listed. With people who haven’t posted in a long time, the Wall is blank with a link that says “Older Posts.” With people whose privacy settings are on lock down, you can still see some activity, and there is some indication that privacy settings are preventing you from seeing. It says, “Kelly only shares some information with everyone. If you know Kelly, add her as a friend.”

So, I presented my evidence to Ms. X, who directed me to present it to Mr. T. Mr. T replied by rapidly traveling through the stages of grief.

Denial – You have no idea what you’re talking about. Those are not fake. I’ve done this many times before, and it works, and they are not fake. Also, they aren’t fake.

Anger – If you weren’t so terrible at everything, I wouldn’t have to do this. (Mr. T also hung up on me as part of his anger phase).

Bargaining – Listen, don’t spend too much time worrying about this. It doesn’t matter either way, because we are only working with Ms. X for a short period, and then you can do whatever you want.

Depression – {This stage was handled privately by Mr. T. And by that I mean, he did not feel depressed because he had her money already.}

Acceptance – After he hung up me, Mr. T called back to discuss further. He basically said that, while he didn’t directly purchase fake fans for Ms. X, he doesn’t care whether they are fake or not. In his view, the ends justify the means, because legitimate potential fans will take her more seriously and thus be more likely to join her community with more fans.

So, there you have it.

[END OF PART 1]

What questions would you ask of your client or Mr. T (not this Mr. T)? How would you proceed?

There were three panel discussions Friday. I’ll review the sessions I attended — feel free to post highlights from other discussions below:

Understand the hidden cost of social media
Most social media networks are free to participate — but organizations should invest time and resources into connecting with audiences and curating relevant content.

Content and expertise is your business — not social media
If you’re an artist, create art. If you sell a product or service, iterate & improve continually. Merely talking about other artists, services, or products will not achieve long-term results if you are not driving your own development offline.

The volunteer team who organized Social Media 2010 deserve a hearty round of applause
Many thanks to the panel speakers, sponsors, host sites…as well as organizers. They’re too numerous to list here and I’m afraid I’ll omit someone. My suggestion: If you attended a panel or chatted with an organizer or volunteer during the week, shoot them a quick note of thanks…and spread the word for Digital Atlanta 2011!

Follow on Twitter: @DigitalATL or #digATL

Read my other 2010 posts

A sampling of the rockstar presenters from Friday:

@tessa
@jonathan_baker
@centerstageatl
@richsullivan
@chadrad
@joshjackson
@TNicolePR
@lilacina
@davidclinchnews

Questions? Comments? Did I miss some insights? Leave a comment below…

There were several overlapping sessions Thursday. I’ll review the sessions I attended — feel free to post highlights from other discussions below:

Individuals trust recommendations from someone they know
Your organization’s social efforts will increase loyalty and yield new customers if you connect them with their friends.

Social media conversations are just the beginning
Social media should impact the behaviors of loyal fans and prompt action from new customers.

Individuals have a voice that extends beyond the end of their driveway
You must monitor what people say about your brand; the image and perception is no longer controlled within your walls.

Connect with your audience on all 4 screens
Connect with users on television, computer, tablet, and mobile. Engage uniquely with audiences, and watch the shift as these screens begin to overlap and consolidate.

Add value & content and audiences will find you
Be a hub of information and your organization will increase in influence in impact.

Follow on Twitter: @DigitalATL or #digATL

Read my other 2010 posts

Read Olivia Patrick‘s recap of her moderated panel: Generation Y & Social Media

A sampling of the rockstar presenters from Thursday:

@dorothea007
@scott_regator
@iRollo
@yvettevans
@wildfireteam
@jbeisner
@dave360

Questions? Comments? Did I miss some insights? Leave a comment below…

There were several overlapping sessions Wednesday. I’ll review the sessions I attended — feel free to post highlights from other discussions below:

Facebook features are a moving target — sometimes that’s a good thing
Facebook Pages receive upgrades every few months. A recent (good) innovation: Reveal Pages. For new visitors, admins can create a call-to-action. Existing fans/likes can be routed directly to more interactive or premium content.

Finding social media champions within an organization is critical
Your organization’s employees (or volunteers) best know your products and services. Channel their passion into publicity so they can connect with target audiences.

Decision-makers listen to metrics
When making a case for social media adoption, hard analysis will always rule the day. Tracking metrics & resources to garner sales/engagement is persuasive. Your organization’s executives may be even more receptive if you can show how competitors are seeing tangible successes from social media.

Decide how online feedback is internally processed
Good flowcharts exist on responding to online comments. Suggestion: assign threat levels to online comments and delegate these responses to various individuals within your organization. For example, interns can handle all basic social media responses, but legal/managerial/executive should respond to product recalls or crisis communication issues.

Pick a social media strategy that’s best for you
Some strategy options:

• Increase brand awareness
• develop e-commerce
• troubleshoot customer problems
• customer retention

Know what types of conversation are appropriate for various social media channels

• Facebook is a pub
• LinkedIn is a trade show
• Twitter is a cocktail party (or bazaar)
• YouTube is Times Square on New Year’s Eve

Follow on Twitter: @DigitalATL or #digATL

Read my other 2010 posts

A sampling of the rockstar presenters from Wednesday:

@jacquichew
@somediastrategy
@tuanhpham
@jasondominy
@willedmond
@douglehman
@notesfromkris
@60secondtweets
@benag

Questions? Comments? Did I miss some insights? Leave a comment below…

On Tuesday we had many overlapping sessions. I’ll review the sessions I attended — feel free to post highlights from other discussions below:

Measure your effectiveness
Eighty percent of companies do not measure their return on investment (ROI) in social media. Money & resources will flow to areas where decision-makers can see cost-per-customer.

Know your audience(s)
Begin by understanding your audience demographics, geographics, likes, and interests. Different segments will respond to different messages. Don’t be afraid to produce equally compelling (yet different) content to multiple groups.

It’s never too early to develop content & community
For startups, put sweat equity into building a loyal community of followers – they can provide encouragement and offer feedback. Established brands should, at the very least, drive thought leadership in their industry – this can lead to further innovation.

Measure social stats — but don’t stop there
Track your trends on connections, views, friends, and likes…but stay focused on long-term engagement and traction.

You need help. Ask for help.
It can be an agency, an outside consultant, internal experts, or interns. Find people who are passionate about your product & who can help you reach your business objectives. If talented voices are speaking for and about your brand, you can be sure spirited conversation will follow…and attract the right kind of attention.

Follow on Twitter @DigitalATL or #digATL

Read my other 2010 posts

A sampling of the rockstar presenters from Tuesday:

@jeremyporter
@radrice
@lance
@laura_nolte
@whiskawaynic
@sadevries

Questions? Comments? Did I miss some insights? Leave a comment below…