Yesterday Facebook announced its much anticipated entry into the location based services. Unlike Google Places which is a search tool, Facebook Places is a check-in service focused on social interaction. You simply use your phone to tell people where you are, who you are with and find out others nearby. This then can also be broadcast on their Facebook page.
The integration of a check-in service to the already dominant roster of services that Facebook offers is a boon for users and further solidifies Facebook’s hold on its community and their interaction (not to mention social supremacy over Google). Yes, it raises privacy issues (again), especially when a friend checks-in for you without your permission, but my focus is what it means form the (former) leaders in the marketplace, Foursquare and Gowalla.
From a branding pointing of view, there is one place that Foursquare and Gowalla do not want to be – in Facebook’s shadow. While Holger Luedorf of Foursquare claimed that Facebook’s entry into the space validated the market, and Chris Cox of Facebook attested to the power of location-based tools when married to the memories stored on Facebook, there is little doubt that this is the long goodbye for any other player in the field.
Yes, Foursquare or Gowalla did a stellar job of defining and carving out the marketplace. Along with Yelp and Booyah, they even came to an agreement with Facebook that you’ll be able to check-in and publish data to your Facebook feed. But the writing is on the wall for all of them and here’s why.
Leaving aside the vast advantage in numbers that Facebook holds, none of the other players created a unique offering or distinct brand personality. It’s that personality that engenders brand loyalty and forces late comers like Facebook to the field to fight for supremacy. But as it stands, Foursquare and Gowalla simply offer similar products and services without the added benefits of Facebook.
This serves as a sobering reminder that social media tools are not an end in themselves. They are best characterized as technology in the service of day-trading in social emotion. Technology companies must establish themselves as clearly defined brands with compelling personalities and voices to take root within the social ecosystem. It’s the difference between someone ‘using’ Foursquare and ‘loving’ Foursquare. Or, at least, feeling sad as we say goodbye.
Do you agree Foursquare and Gowalla were faceless? Or do you think they will survive?
More from my site
Facebook’s Open Graph: Is privacy a given or a taken away?
The New Marketing M.O. – Revealing The Authentic Meaning Behind Your Message
Is Facebook really the one with the identity crisis?
3 Winning Marketing Strategies for the Super Bowl XLIX
Is Facebook really to blame for your privacy issue? 
Why Facebook and Instagram have a lesser margin for error with users than ever
I have mixed feelings about this. For one, I've used Foursquare for well over a year now and really like it. My friends use it, so I use it (if they didn't, I'd have no reason to use it IMHO). I also have a different network on Foursquare than I do on Facebook. That really relates back to how I use Facebook, which is obviously up to each individual.
I don't think that Foursquare or Gowalla have done an exceptional job of building a strong brand presence, but that doesn't mean that I'll stop using Foursquare for Facebook just because Facebook launched Places. To me, the point will always be this: I'll use the app that my friends use.
For me it's way more about functionality than brand.
Katie
Community Manager | Radian6
@misskatiemo
Welcome to We First! When you consider Wikileaks, protests in Egypt, the
Pepsi Refresh Project, and the online outcry against the BP oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico, it’s easy to see how influential social technology is
becoming in our political, business, social and personal lives.
The We First site will feature:
• The latest social technologies across mobile, social, and gaming
platforms.
• Creative uses of social media by business, non-profits and government.
• Fresh strategies for how companies use social media to build brand
communities, profits and positive impact.
• Step-by-step plans for how to use emerging technologies to maximize your
return on investment.
So click NOW and check out our new We First Website!
[2]www.wefirstbranding.com
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You can also PRE-ORDER copies of We First at [3]www.wefirstbook.com for
yourself and others interested in this message. It explains how brands and
consumers use social media to build communities, profits and a better world.
Links:
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Thanks in advance for joining the We First community and we look forward to
collaborating.
In friendship,
[4]Simon Mainwaring
Founder/CEO We First
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A struggling economy, a world in crisis and new social technology has left
brands scrambling for profits and consumers desperate for change. What if we
could achieve both? What if brands and consumers could partner using social
media to build communities, profits and a better world? That’s the promise
of a We First world.
Simon Mainwaring is an author, blogger, speaker and founder and CEO of We
First, a social branding consultancy. A former Nike creative at Wieden &
Kennedy, Portland, and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy,
he is a member of the GMI Digital Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the
Center for Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, AdAge’s Power150 and is
an Expert Blogger for Fast Company.
What people are saying about We First “In the most important business book
since Freakonomics, Simon Mainwaring’s transformational opus illustrates
that doing good and doing well go hand-in-hand for 21st century
corporations. A groundbreaking approach to marketing, We First teaches
brands how to tap into a world of 600 million friends and billions of daily
personal news feeds by making an impact one person at a time.” _Jay Samit_
Former EVP Sony Corporation of America
“Few understand the power of brands and consumers better than Simon
Mainwaring. In We First he presents a truly compelling vision of how to
transform that power to the benefit of society and the good of
capitalism.” Jeff Jarvis
Author of What Would Google Do?
“We First is a critical resource for corporate leaders and will inspire
consumers, individually and collectively, to recognize their inherent
strength. It is an invaluable blueprint for building this new societal
structure we so urgently need.” Philip Seib Professor & Director, Center
on Public Diplomacy,
USC Annenberg School
“We First is as prescient as it is visionary – a must read for marketers and
consumers intent on creating a prosperous future for all.” Rishad
Tobaccowala
Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer for VivaKi, Publicis Groupe
“Mainwaring is an inspiring leader that truly understands the dynamics in
play in the new world of business, online consumer behavior, and how they
can collaborate to rethink and rework paths to true global renewal.” _Brian
Solis Author of _Engage
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We First book launch
Hello!
Simon here. I hope all is well. I’m really excited this month because, after
three years of work, the launch of the We First book is only four weeks
away. So I wanted to explain a little about why I wrote We First and its
purpose.
We First is not an idea anyone can own. It exists in the collective and is
merely there to serve as a platform on which to celebrate all those people
who are making an effort to serve the interests of others as well as
themselves. These include brands doing CSR initiatives or cause marketing,
non-profits and foundations, social entrepreneurs, government and NGO
efforts, and every regular person that is consciously thinking about the
social impact of what they buy or sell every day.
My hope with the book is that we can all work together to shift the
conversation in the private sector about the responsibility that we all have
to contribute to building a better world. Obviously, launching a book is a
community effort and I’ll be looking for your help in the next month to
amplify the We First message so we can convert this conversation into
substantive change.
It’s my firm belief that if we make enough noise we’ll look back in five
years time and see a dramatic change in the way companies and customers work
together to scale positive social change.
I invite you to preorder your copy of [2]We First now at wefirstbook.com.
Here are a few things that you will get out of it.
Links:
2. http://www.wefirstbook.com?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=76f4f7ad1e-We_First_Newsletter_May_06_2011&utm_medium=email
• How to shift our thinking and behavior to better serve the interests of
others and ourselves.
• How brands and customers work together to have a positive impact through
the things we buy every day.
• How companies can make money from social media by building communities
that drive profits.
• How customers can think and act in ways that is both good for them and the
planet.
• How companies and customers integrate purpose into profit to create change
that is sustainable.
• How we reengineer the way we do business to leave a better world for our
kids.
As you can see, We First is perfect for you, your boss or colleague,
marketing specialists, a graduating student, a mom and anyone who
contributes or works with causes and non-profits. I so appreciate your help
in sharing the message. Together we can improve the lives of millions of
others and our own.
We First book tour and Broadcastr
Over the next few weeks I’ll be traveling a lot talking about the We First
message. One of the ways I’ll stay in touch is by using Broadcastr, a great
new app that lets you geo-tag audio about what you’re up to and then share
it across social networks. The app also lets you take a walk around while
stories about your surroundings stream into your headphones automatically
based on your GPS location. So it makes social media hyper local. Look out
for these tweets and check out Broadcastr for yourself as it’s a great tool
for brands and regular people to enjoy. Here’s where you can download the
app for free and a link to listen to my book tour updates:
Download the free app for iPhone here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/broadcastr/id423169367?mt=8&ls=1&utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=76f4f7ad1e-We_First_Newsletter_May_06_2011&utm_medium=email
And for Android here:
[4]https://market.android.com/details?id=com.electricliterature.broadcastr&f&utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=76f4f7ad1e-We_First_Newsletter_May_06_2011&utm_medium=email
eature=search_result
Or visit this link to hear Simon’s updates on the Web:
http://beta.broadcastr.com/Echo.html?author=SimonMainwaring&utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=76f4f7ad1e-We_First_Newsletter_May_06_2011&utm_medium=email
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Using social media to build your brand
Social media allows you and your community to work together to help build
your brand, increase your profits, and have a positive impact in the world.
But this can only be done if you build a genuine relationship with your
community through authentic and consistent engagement. With that in mind,
let’s look at a few insider tips specific to two popular platforms, Facebook
and Twitter.
_Top five Don’ts for Facebook:_
1. Don’t participate if you do not intend to invest time and energy into
long-term relationships with your fans.
2. Don’t participate if you are not willing or capable of moderating the
conversations you start on a daily basis.
3. Don’t measure success by the number of fans or followers you have, but
rather, how deeply they are engaged.
4. Don’t treat social media like direct mail where you simply talk about
yourself tirelessly in shorter sound bites.
5. When you make a mistake, don’t get defensive or self-righteous, but
rather, accept responsibility, apologize and do what you can to make up for
it.
_Top 5 Dos for Facebook_
1. Do bring consistent creativity to your Facebook ‘Like’ page to inspire
engagement.
2. Do respond to negative comments in order to turn a brand critic into a
brand advocate.
3. Do recognize your brand loyalists and reach out to them to build them
into brand ambassadors.
4. Do keep up to date with the latest applications and plug-ins that add new
dimension to your ‘Like’ page.
5. Do recognize that your are effectively bidding for people’s attention in
an overcrowded marketplace and that their time deserves to be rewarded.
_Top 5 Don’ts for Twitter_
1. Don’t buy followers. It’s a waste of time and money.
2. Don’t spam your audience with constant messages about yourself.
3. Don’t forget to bring some humor and wit to your communications so that
people want to read what you share.
4. Don’t forget to retweet what your followers share.
5. Don’t forget to be interesting. You must demonstrate your passion for
your topic.
_Top 5 Do’s for Twitter_
1. Do engage with a follower when they reach out to you with a question or
information.
2. Do post between eight and ten times a day and spend the rest of your time
on engagement.
3. Do share photos, video links and text messages to inspire interest.
4. Do stay consistently engaged to avoid community attrition.
5. Do monitor your tone carefully, because it only takes 140 characters to
undo all your good work.
Overarching all these pointers is a necessity for your brand to be clearly
defined, to know its core values, and to demonstrate those consistently.
Social media tools are not an end in themselves, but rather another way to
connect with people emotionally to generate word of mouth advertising. If
your brand is clearly defined and your core values consistently on display,
your community will reward your engagement by promoting your brand for you.
Thanks for being a part of the We First community and I hope you enjoyed the
newsletter. Look out for a big announcement in next month’s issue!
A struggling economy, a world in crisis and new social technology has left
brands scrambling for profits and consumers desperate for change. What if we
could achieve both? What if brands and consumers could partner using social
media to build communities, profits and a better world? That’s the promise
of a We First world.
Simon Mainwaring is an author, blogger, speaker and founder and CEO of We
First, a social branding consultancy. A former Nike creative at Wieden &
Kennedy, Portland, and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy,
he is a member of the GMI Digital Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the
Center for Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, AdAge’s Power150 and is
an Expert Blogger for _Fast Company_.
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We First is here!
Well, today is the day! After almost four years of work, my first book ‘We
First’ is now available. I am so excited to share this with you and invite
you to order a copy for yourself and your colleagues of friends. The book
offers you enormous value in the following areas:
How does a business use social media to build its profits and brand
community.
How do regular people use what they buy and social media to have a positive
impact on our world.
How does the business work with its customers to great a new pillar of
social change that can build a better world.
My hope is that We First will enrich your business and personal life. Our
world desperately needs new ideas that can improve the lives of others and
ourselves. Thank you so much for your support and for sharing the message.
Watch the brand new We First Launch Film: ‘We-defining Me’
http://www.vimeo.com/24580586?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=952bfa7746-We_First_Newsletter_June_08_20116_8_2011&utm_medium=email
A ‘We First Special’ Offer
Visit http://wefirstbook.com?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=952bfa7746-We_First_Newsletter_June_08_20116_8_2011&utm_medium=email now and order your copy! You’ll instantly
receive:
A free We First white paper on the ‘7 Keys to Brand Positioning in the
Future.’
A free podcast on ‘The Future of Ad Agencies.’
A free podcast on ‘The 7 Stages to Becoming a Tech-savvy & Socially
Responsible Consumer.’
Plus 10% of the book price will be donated to ‘Girl Up, a campaign of the
United Nations Foundation.’
Also, when you enter your email address at http://wefirstbook.com, you’ll
get instant access to ten free videos about how to use social media to build
your community, profits and positive impact.
Independent Reviews of ‘We First’:
[5]http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/non-fiction/simon-mainwaring/we?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=952bfa7746-We_First_Newsletter_June_08_20116_8_2011&utm_medium=email
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-Kirkus Reviews
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-Publisher’s Weekly
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-Inc Magazine
What is We First?
We First is a way of looking at the world. It asserts that we now live in an
intimately connected, mutually dependent, global community. It recognizes
that selfish Me First thinking hurts business, people we care about,
millions of strangers and the planet. It embraces the seismic impact of
digital and social technology that is transforming our professional and
personal lives. It accepts the challenge of millions of consumers who want
brands to be a force for change in return for their loyalty, goodwill and
purchases. It believes that this unprecedented collision of global needs and
personal wants, of human emotion and social technology, of powerful brands
and newly empowered consumers has the potential to transform our world.
Ten Core ‘We First’ Beliefs
1. An inter-dependent, global community requires an expanded definition of
self-interest.
2. The future of profit is purpose.
3. Technology is teaching us to be human again.
4. Consumers want a better world, not just better widgets.
5. Brands must become architects of community.
6. Brands must become day traders in social emotion.
7. The evolution of revolution is contribution.
8. We cannot separate living and giving if we hope to build a better world.
9. Life’s necessities must generate the necessities for life.
10. Prosperity is not the wealth of a few but the well-being of many.
TEDxSF: Watch Simon Mainwaring TEDx talk from this weekend
In his talk, ‘From Me First to We First Living’, Simon explores how we
change the way we think and behave using social media to build better
businesses and a better world.
http://tedxsf.org/2011/04/events-page-simon-mainwaring/?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=952bfa7746-We_First_Newsletter_June_08_20116_8_2011&utm_medium=email
Recent Articles in Mashable and AdAge
The 7-Stage Evolution of a Socially Responsible Consumer
http://mashable.com/2011/04/22/csr-company-stages/?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=952bfa7746-We_First_Newsletter_June_08_20116_8_2011&utm_medium=email
How Digital Tech Can Help You Become a More Socially Responsible Consumer
http://mashable.com/2011/05/20/socially-responsible-consumer/?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=952bfa7746-We_First_Newsletter_June_08_20116_8_2011&utm_medium=email
From ‘Me First’ to ‘We First’: Five Tips for Social-Media Marketing
http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/tips-social-media-marketing/227857?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=952bfa7746-We_First_Newsletter_June_08_20116_8_2011&utm_medium=email
/
A struggling economy, a world in crisis and new social technology has left
brands scrambling for profits and consumers desperate for change. What if we
could achieve both? What if brands and consumers could partner using social
media to build communities, profits and a better world? That’s the promise
of a We First world.
Simon Mainwaring is an author, blogger, speaker and founder and CEO of We
First, a social branding consultancy. A former Nike creative at Wieden &
Kennedy, Portland, and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy,
he is a member of the GMI Digital Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the
Center for Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, AdAge’s Power150 and is
an Expert Blogger for Fast Company.
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Hi everyone!
It’s the last day of the launch week for We First, and we really need your support today, because with a little help, we’re hoping to reach the bestseller lists next week. So, if you haven’t already, please order your copy of We First today by clicking this Amazon link: http://amzn.to/mMKMK8.
If you have ordered a copy, THANKS! We’d love for you to please share this link with your friends and communities.
There are many benefits to buying this book today:
1. If you’re part of a company, you will learn how to use social technology to drive profits.
2. If you’re a concerned consumer, you will learn how to use social media to have a positive impact.
3. And, everyone will learn how to use social media to build a world we want to live in.
Order today, and you will receive 3 additional FREE GIFTS on the future of branding, advertising and socially responsible shopping.
We can’t thank you enough for your support, it means a lot.
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Hi Everyone!
I can’t believe this is the last day of the launch week for We First. I started working on the book 4 years ago, and I’ve been really encouraged by the response of companies about the greater role they can now play in scaling positive change. I wanted to ask your help one last time on this last day of the launch week of the book.
My hope is to make this conversation one of the most important issues for business today. That’s why I would so appreciate if you order a copy or even better yet copies of We First today. This way, the sales can contribute to the best seller lists that will then keep this conversation top of mind with an even broader audience.
So, thanks for your support this week, thanks for your patience on all of our emails and thanks for helping us over this final hurdle by ordering your copy today. Here’s the link: http://amzn.to/mMKMK8. And remember, 10% of all proceeds from the purchases of We First will be donated to ‘Girl up,’ a campaign of the United Nations Foundation.
We so appreciate your support, it means a lot.
– Simon Mainwaring
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We First Hits the Bestseller Lists
I wanted to thank everyone for their support in the launch of We First. We
are so excited that the message is resonating and that it is contributing to
the conversation that is changing the role of brands and the private sector.
Here’s how We First fared on the bestseller lists:
#4 on the New York Times Advice/How To bestseller list
#5 on the New York Time Hardcover Business bestseller list
#2 on the Wall Street Journal Business bestseller list
#4 on the USA Today bestseller list
…as well as being a #1 bestseller on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Finally, last week, Amazon named We First as one of the Top Ten Business
Books of 2011 so far.
This would not have been possible without all your support and from everyone
here at We First, a huge thank you.
_We First on Non-profits:_ One of the themes that We First explores is how
non-profits can become more effective marketers to help further the
important work they do. Here are a few thoughts on some of the challenges
that non-profits face.
Understandably, social media has been hailed by many non-profits as a
critical tool to help them fund-raise and do their valuable work more
effectively. Success stories like fund-raising for victims of the Haiti
earthquake and Japanese tsunami victims are proof of the ease with which
non-profits can now make people aware of a crisis and allow them to
contribute to the urgent needs of others. But there can also be a downside,
one that non-profits must be aware of if they hope to leverage social media
to their advantage.
The ability of a non-profit to use social media to build a dialogue with its
community forces it to define itself in ways that often weren’t necessary
before. The fact that non-profits can now market to consumers in ways
normally reserved for for-profit brands means that they must become more
effective marketers. These new expectations include the following:
_1. SELF DEFINITION:_ All non-profits do incredibly meaningful work but to
be most effective as marketers they need to define themselves within the
cause category that they work in. There needs to be a unique point of view
on the cause itself so that one non-profit can distinguish itself from
others working in the same cause category.
_2. ENGAGEMENT:_ One of the great challenges for non-profits is the constant
need to fund-raise. Yet with staffing and resources spread often spread so
thin, it’s difficult to have enough employees to engage with your community
on an real-time basis as well as do the meaningful work that’s required in
the field. Yet this is necessary if a non-profit hopes to sustain an active
and engaged online community.
_3. REPOSITIONING:_ Non-profits benefit greatly from partnerships with
for-profit companies, but for that to happen non-profits must to be able to
make their case as to the value of the partnership to the for-profit brand.
Too often, non-profits pitch themselves on the basis of the cause that they
are supporting alone. But as with any pitch situation, the offering must be
framed in terms of the needs of your potential client – in this case the
for-profit brand.
_4. CREATIVITY:_ Donor fatigue is an enormous challenge for non-profits at
any time, especially after a series of natural disasters as we just saw with
Haiti, Pakistan, and Japan. While social media gives non-profits the ability
to engage with their community more easily, they must become more creative
in their strategies and messaging to sustain their interest and support
through a series of natural disasters.
_5. TECHNOLOGY:_ It’s hard enough for a for-profit company to keep pace with
the marketplace with all the resources that it possesses. It’s even more
difficult for a non-profit with its limited resources. Yet the non-profit
world must become increasingly tech-savvy so that they know how their
donor-base is relating with each other and what tools are most appropriate
to help them reach their goals.
The challenges that social media presents to non-profits are as daunting as
they are for for-profit companies. The ability to connect with people so
easily brings with it the expectation of constant engagement and sustained
results. As such, it’s critical for non-profits to add to their skill sets
and become effective storytellers fascinated with emerging technologies. We
First was written to help non-profits do this by laying out a step-by-step
action plan for how brands use social media to build their communities,
drive their fund-raising, and help build a better world.
_Featured reviews of We First:_
[2]Social Media Drives Social Change and the We First Community
Links:
2.
By Melissa Rowley
[3]Book: We First: How Brands & Consumers Use Social Media To Build A Better
World
Links:
3. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-230-11026-7?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d32cacc983-We_First_Newsletter_July_15_20117_15_2011&utm_medium=email
By Beth Kanter
_Featured guest posts:_
[4]Four reasons we must re-engineer market capitalism [5]10 actions
consumers can take to reinvent capitalism
Links:
4.
5. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-230-11026-7?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d32cacc983-We_First_Newsletter_July_15_20117_15_2011&utm_medium=email
A struggling economy, a world in crisis and new social technology has left
brands scrambling for profits and consumers desperate for change. What if we
could achieve both? What if brands and consumers could partner using social
media to build communities, profits and a better world? That’s the promise
of a We First world.
[6]Twitter4 [7]facebook [8]Linked in [9]YOU TUBE
Simon Mainwaring is an author, blogger, speaker and founder and CEO of We
First, a social branding consultancy. A former Nike creative at Wieden &
Kennedy, Portland, and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy,
he is a member of the GMI Digital Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the
Center for Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, AdAge’s Power150 and is
an Expert Blogger for _Fast Company_.
Links:
6. http://twitter.com/simonmainwaring?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d32cacc983-We_First_Newsletter_July_15_20117_15_2011&utm_medium=email
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9. http://www.youtube.com/WeFirstTV?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d32cacc983-We_First_Newsletter_July_15_20117_15_2011&utm_medium=email
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We First Hits the Bestseller Lists
I wanted to thank everyone for their support in the launch of We First. We are so excited that the message is resonating and that it is contributing to the conversation that is changing the role of brands and the private sector. Here’s how We First fared on the bestseller lists:
#4 on the New York Times Advice/How To bestseller list
#5 on the New York Time Hardcover Business bestseller list
#2 on the Wall Street Journal Business bestseller list
#4 on the USA Today bestseller list
…as well as being a #1 bestseller on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Finally, last week, Amazon named We First as one of the Top Ten Business Books of 2011 so far.
This would not have been possible without all your support and from everyone
here at We First, a huge thank you.
_We First on Non-profits:_ One of the themes that We First explores is how
non-profits can become more effective marketers to help further the
important work they do. Here are a few thoughts on some of the challenges
that non-profits face.
Understandably, social media has been hailed by many non-profits as a
critical tool to help them fund-raise and do their valuable work more
effectively. Success stories like fund-raising for victims of the Haiti
earthquake and Japanese tsunami victims are proof of the ease with which
non-profits can now make people aware of a crisis and allow them to
contribute to the urgent needs of others. But there can also be a downside,
one that non-profits must be aware of if they hope to leverage social media
to their advantage.
The ability of a non-profit to use social media to build a dialogue with its
community forces it to define itself in ways that often weren’t necessary
before. The fact that non-profits can now market to consumers in ways
normally reserved for for-profit brands means that they must become more
effective marketers. These new expectations include the following:
_1. SELF DEFINITION:_ All non-profits do incredibly meaningful work but to
be most effective as marketers they need to define themselves within the
cause category that they work in. There needs to be a unique point of view
on the cause itself so that one non-profit can distinguish itself from
others working in the same cause category.
_2. ENGAGEMENT:_ One of the great challenges for non-profits is the constant
need to fund-raise. Yet with staffing and resources spread often spread so
thin, it’s difficult to have enough employees to engage with your community
on an real-time basis as well as do the meaningful work that’s required in
the field. Yet this is necessary if a non-profit hopes to sustain an active
and engaged online community.
_3. REPOSITIONING:_ Non-profits benefit greatly from partnerships with
for-profit companies, but for that to happen non-profits must to be able to
make their case as to the value of the partnership to the for-profit brand.
Too often, non-profits pitch themselves on the basis of the cause that they
are supporting alone. But as with any pitch situation, the offering must be
framed in terms of the needs of your potential client – in this case the
for-profit brand.
_4. CREATIVITY:_ Donor fatigue is an enormous challenge for non-profits at
any time, especially after a series of natural disasters as we just saw with
Haiti, Pakistan, and Japan. While social media gives non-profits the ability
to engage with their community more easily, they must become more creative
in their strategies and messaging to sustain their interest and support
through a series of natural disasters.
_5. TECHNOLOGY:_ It’s hard enough for a for-profit company to keep pace with
the marketplace with all the resources that it possesses. It’s even more
difficult for a non-profit with its limited resources. Yet the non-profit
world must become increasingly tech-savvy so that they know how their
donor-base is relating with each other and what tools are most appropriate
to help them reach their goals.
The challenges that social media presents to non-profits are as daunting as
they are for for-profit companies. The ability to connect with people so
easily brings with it the expectation of constant engagement and sustained
results. As such, it’s critical for non-profits to add to their skill sets
and become effective storytellers fascinated with emerging technologies. We
First was written to help non-profits do this by laying out a step-by-step
action plan for how brands use social media to build their communities,
drive their fund-raising, and help build a better world.
_Featured reviews of We First:_
[2]Social Media Drives Social Change and the We First Community
Links:
2.
By Melissa Rowley
[3]Book: We First: How Brands & Consumers Use Social Media To Build A Better
World
Links:
3. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-230-11026-7?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dda31996e4-We_First_Newsletter_August_15_20117_15_2011&utm_medium=email
By Beth Kanter
_Featured guest posts:_
[4]Four reasons we must re-engineer market capitalism [5]10 actions
consumers can take to reinvent capitalism
Links:
4.
5. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-230-11026-7?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dda31996e4-We_First_Newsletter_August_15_20117_15_2011&utm_medium=email
A struggling economy, a world in crisis and new social technology has left
brands scrambling for profits and consumers desperate for change. What if we
could achieve both? What if brands and consumers could partner using social
media to build communities, profits and a better world? That’s the promise
of a We First world.
[6]Twitter4 [7]facebook [8]Linked in [9]YOU TUBE
Simon Mainwaring is an author, blogger, speaker and founder and CEO of We
First, a social branding consultancy. A former Nike creative at Wieden &
Kennedy, Portland, and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy,
he is a member of the GMI Digital Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the
Center for Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, AdAge’s Power150 and is
an Expert Blogger for _Fast Company_.
Links:
6. http://twitter.com/simonmainwaring?utm_source=We+First+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dda31996e4-We_First_Newsletter_August_15_20117_15_2011&utm_medium=email
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Thanks, Katie. I totally understand. it's hard to distinguish whether you
enjoy the connection that the LBS tool enables or your experience of the
brand itself. I just wish they had more clearly defined personalities so
that their brands were a known quantity rather than an expression of new
technology. They may yet survive but I fear Facebook will understandably
overwhelm them. Thanks, Simon
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Hi Simon, I think FB's move will be a very substantial challenge to Foursquare and Gowalla and hopefully they will respond by redefining their purpose (or, arguably, even defining it in the first place). Where I might take issue with you is that you seem to see FB as the default platform for one's social presence that all other need to displace.
I see it much more as a pallette of platforms with each having a different place in my life. It's a personal view of course but FB for me is a really trivial place that's all about certain, quite limited and rather distant aspects of my past and so it's largely somehere to go when I'm in the mood for looking back. Twitter is much more immediate and valuable and really concerned with what might happen next.
I have found Foursquare no use at all so far, but have been watching to see how brands apply it. I hope that brands do not now give up on it and Gowalla and focus location based applications exclusively on FB. I hhink they would be excluding huge numbers of consumers. Yes there may be 500m FB accounts but a) that certainly ain't 500m people and b) that's a tiny fraction of any given market.
Thanks, Nigel. I take your point. I don't think FB can compete with the immediacy of twitter and each holds a place in our lives. I think the advantage FB has is simply numbers right now. I think brands will continue to support LBS because they make so much sense for real time offers/incentives. But like people, they will probably default to the simplest way to consolidates their efforts and reach the most people and FB's brand is just so strong. You're right, its not 500m people and no one stays dominant forever but I question whether Foursquare and Gowallla can survive in Facebook's shadow. If nothing else, its a great lesson in the need to clearly define a brand so that your users come to your support. Thanks for the great feedback, simon
I also joined Foursquare to find out what the potential was to brands. When I'm explaining it to others, they do give me a kind of 'what's the point' look but I figured it was early days and it had lots of potential so stick with it. The useful part to me is the map that comes up when you check in to a place, if I'm on my way somewhere but am a bit lost, I use the map to get me there. And I use the tips as I like having insidery knowledge. But I find sometimes it only shows 1 tip or no tips. If this feature was better designer it could have more value. I'm hoping Foursquare has some extra features up its sleeve to trounce Facebook. If not, it could become second fiddle. Having said that, Facebook is so mainstream now, some brands could use Foursquare as the 'cool' version for those who see themselves as 'beyond Facebook'. It's up to Foursquare to give us a reason to stay.
Thanks and yes, I agree that extra features would be a way for Foursquare to distinguish itself and force Facebook to work a little harder in this space. You make a good point though, maybe Foursquare as a function of its size could add an extra cool factor to Facebook. Like you I'll see what they do but the onus in on the brand to step up because consumers will always move to the most dominant and effective brand in the space. Thanks so much, Simon