Brian Solis is making quite a name for himself as more than the ‘father’ of PR 2.0, but as an author.
Brian’s latest book is, arguably, his greatest. No matter the topic, he impresses the pros and informs the masses on social media engagement done right.
It’s called “Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web” and if you don’t already have a copy or haven’t read it yet – get to it! Brian and I talk about the business value of the tome – social media or no social media on The A-List. Don’t miss the archive here:
A transcript of this show is available after the jump.
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Brian is no stranger to The A-List, he was on the program last year to discuss his previous book, “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR,” which became a best seller in the communications industry.
Program Transcript
Show: Brian Solis, PR 2.0 Pioneer and Author of Engage!
Aired: 6/25/2010 7:00 PM UTC
Host: Jennifer Neeley
Description: Brian Solis is making quite a name for himself as more than the ‘father’ of PR 2.0, but as an author. Brian’s latest book is, arguably, his greatest. No matter the topic, he impresses the pros and informs the masses on social media engagement done right. It’s called “Engage!” and if you don’t already have a copy or haven’t read it yet – get to it! Brian had taken is wealth of experience and shared it with us – the masses. Please tweet, Facebook or email in your questions for this fascinating guest!
[Jennifer Neeley]
0:04: Welcome to the A-List with me, Jennifer Lindsay. Every week we chat with an influencer to see what makes them tick. And today, Friday, June 25, 2010, we will be joined by Brian Solis, he is the PR 2.0 Pioneer and author of the book Engage! Hopefully you’ve had the opportunity to pick Engage! up. As you may know it has incredible buzz. Brian, are with us?
[Brain Solis]
0:32: I sure am!
[Jennifer Neeley]
0:34: Fantastic! Now Brian can only spend a few minutes with us today. So, we really want to get down to it. Engage! It’s been hugely popular, and not just in the sense of fail, but everybody I know that has read the book cover to cover always comes away with, you know, even the most experienced they’re coming away with, “Wow, I really learned something,” or you put in a way that I, you know, can then articulate to others. So, you know, I think had high aspirations somewhere along those lines when you were writing this, didn’t you?
[Brain Solis]
1:09: Yeah, well, you know, I feel why I wrote it and, it might sound a little silly but I wrote it with my wife in mind as well as all of the champions out there who have to struggle with trying to convince executive management about the value and the promise of social media or socialized media. And, you know, really, I was watching my wife really struggle, we’re trying to get information about, you know, really, how do I take Facebook, and Twitter, and blogs, and sell it to decision makers, you know, what is it that we’re suppose to do, what is it that we’re suppose to measure because all I can find out there are, you know, people making the case for social media. People talking about how to engage in social media but not necessarily how to effectively harness social media communities, and how to transcend that or translate that into something that’s going to be very tangible for decision makers. For example, one of the most amazing question that I got all the time is, “Hey, I set up my Twitter profile, I set up these Facebook pages, what do I do in a way that shows value to the business and the bottom line of the business, or to the goals and objectives of the business?” And when I went out and Google’d, you know, answers for that, I was really struck by just how few articles or white papers or books held the insight necessary for you to be able to go out and effectively create a plan, and execute against it, measure it, and then report the progress to your bosses or your executives or just middle management, what have you.
[Jennifer Neeley]
2:50: So, one thing I really liked in the video — if you go to Amazon, I know, and there’s pretty much every retail outlet has the book and I highly recommend that you get it, and again it’s called Engage! by our guest, Brian Solis, but the video on the amazon.com page is really cool because one of the things I love that you said is, “I run a business!” So, how much of what you do is based on, kind of — or at least at some part in the journey that your — because since you’ve had this business for so long — or, you know, in relative to the internet and the social web since the 90’s, you know, how much of it is, sort of, you know, this is what we did as a best practice ourselves and made it successful? I guess the larger question is, what are the stories that resonate the most and do they relate to your own business story?
[Brain Solis]
3:50: Well, my business story is — if you know what I mean — my customers are essentially clients, clients who are looking for me and to the team to help them, basically embrace the idea of social media, you know. And why I say the idea of social media because –really, there has to be some purpose, some mission, something that intrigues value to those people that they’re trying to connect with and at the same time, there’s value in that engagement for the business itself. And so the best practices I have learned were really going to be on a case by case basis, proven by my own experiment, and my own experiences going back to even before I started the company, in message boards, in discussion forums, etc. And what I had really found was, you know, you can’t talk to this stuff and a lot of people really do, and end at the same time, you can’t necessarily apply your personal experiences because there as a totally different dynamic between, say, the work you’re doing and conversations that you’re having around your personal brand versus trying to move and catalyze that audience around the mission and purpose of a brand, and its service, and its product. You know why you might be familiar with an interface and, sort of, the dynamics of conversation. I really needed to get my mind and heart around how to make this matter in a way that was going to be supported and also scaled because it worked not necessarily doing it because we had to do it.
[Jennifer Neeley]
5:32: So, what are some of the stories or some of the examples that you gave? Or you feel like you really were able to do something that was a little bit different, that was uncharted territory that was able to convince the C-Suite, that social was important?
[Brain Solis]
5:51: Well, you know, a lot of it is structured, right? Because I can tell you that even today, a lot of the programs that I’m working on are rooted in experience but more driven by data, science, and then theories based on that data and science. So meaning that we do a lot of fun and work before we start, in terms of research, you know, looking at the market, looking at the people who are engaging around these topics or competitors where to what extent, you know, what volume, and I really try to, sort of, analyze the trends, garner some sort of insight that can inspire a program that’s not going to just be participatory but is going to be value added. And then also introduce, you know, what I’ll call clicks to action so that I can understand, you know, what is it or how is it that we’re going to define the experience once we get in there, right? It can’t just be a matter of chatter; it has to be able to drive and define action as it impacts the business and then turn helps those individuals that are seeking direction or insight. And then a little bit of what I’ll call conversion science which I haven’t really talked about in the book although I talked about the idea of defining the experience, clicks the action and then how to maximize those clicks to actions and experiences but conversion science is the idea that is not new to internet marketing but it basically says, “Okay, if we’re able to get these clicks to action then how is it that we’re, you know, what’s the conversation ratio, based on what it is we’re trying to convert and how do we improve that over time?” And so, really, it’s just an ongoing customized program and campaign that’s really just driven by the information that’s out there. It inspires the program and inspires the strategy and the creativity. So that really, we’re not coming out here with just something that’s clever or just something that’s just bland, it is absolutely what is needed as dictated by the people you are trying to engage.
[Jennifer Neeley]
7:48: Interesting. So, you feel like that. How do you present that to the — I mean, because I think one of the challenges is, you know, first of all getting the right information, data, and then presenting it in the right format can also be a challenge because social can kind of cross the typical silos in organizations, so that can be part of the challenge. How do you find it’s best to sort of share data at the high data driven conclusions at a high level?
[Brain Solis]
8:20: Well, I love this question and here’s why — it’s almost as if you help me set up a segway, that is, the book is really rooted in the idea that social media is not owned by any one division that every business in some shape or rather is going to basically have to socialize in general, meaning that, customer service, marketing, product development, human resources, it depends on the size and shape of the organization. Any part of it that is affected by outside behavior is going to have to have some sort of social semblance, there’s some sort of social strategy. Whether it’s participating and engaging and introducing contents, or it’s just merely listening and learning from that activity. And because of that then, each one of those silos is going to have to determine the value of that activity and as it correlates to their role within the business. And that aid is there, I didn’t get into marketing and business strategy or planning, because I was merely into numbers and data, in fact, it’s quite the opposite but because it’s so prevalent and so available — readily available, it’s so real-time. You know, why wouldn’t you embrace it in order to help, say, translate that information to the feast — let me tell you a little bit about that now. Obviously, your role within the organization depending on which division you are in is dictated by a certain day to day necessary element that then translate into some sort of outcome and some sort of bottom line impact, and social just becomes an extension of the things that you might already be trying of the thing you might be already be trying to accomplish, but they just introduce ways to augment that, you still have to pick the same spreadsheet and power point to C-suite in order to report your activity, your progress, and your accomplishment.
10:14: So, how you take that data that’s happening out there, understanding that you as an individual might already be familiar with Facebook and Twitter, but that the people that you are reporting to are probably not. And trying to figure out the value there is not going to happen, you have to help them get there based on how you’re already recording information to them if that makes sense.
[Jennifer Neeley]
10:35: That does because it sort of, you know, whatever language they speak and you have to play to it. And with that I know you have a fire that you’re putting out, I would love to spend more time talking specifically about the book because I think there are so many learnings there. One question before I let you go, and that is — I’m you’ve been — we talked a lot about some of the question that you’ve been asked quite a bit. What’s something that you wished someone would ask you about?
[Brain Solis]
11:06: Huh, that, you know, I can’t say something…
[Jennifer Neeley]
11:11: I guess I’m leaning towards — you know, you feel like there’s something — sometimes when people ask me questions, I know at conferences or that, you know, social media club events, I got, if they had asked it in a different way I might have gone on and talked about this which is the larger picture, and sort of how the big picture fits together. So, I guess that’s the question is, you know, is there any — people looking at it into micro manner? Do they need to have a better macro vision of the whole evolution in place of the social web in our world and life?
[Brain Solis]
11:51: I think that if you — maybe the best way to answer this is — I actually try to pick and pick consideration of all the questions that I’m asked and the questions that I’m not asked every time that I present or talk, and really, the book Engage! was to answer the questions you didn’t even know to ask, which I believe is really important because social media is coming to the organization from the bottom upright and from the outside meaning that there’s no IT department for social, you don’t just start your job, get an email address, and notebook computer, and ask the phone, and then a Twitter account, and a Facebook profile, you brought those into the organization. They did exist at the top, so we’re creating this show within the organization but we’re __12:31__ feeling that really requires at some point a top down structure in order to then allow for that bottom up impact to continue. So I believe that those champions who are really looking to have an impact within their business are going to have to start asking questions about how it is that they get through the C-Suite and really start the transition from a champion to this idea of a diplomat or a politician, where you can then pick what it is you know, how you know it, and apply it to the way that individuals above you need to hear it, the way that they need to see it, to taste it, to feel it, and understand it because that’s going to be your job and that’s your opportunity, really is, let’s get out of the minutiae of Twitter and Facebook, and figure out exactly where we need to be, why need to be the value that we can bring to the table, and then how to measure it, so that essentially what we’re doing is evolving the business from your perspective, from your view, so that you become not just the change agent but actually someone who is able to help change the culture of business entirely, and that to me is the real value proposition, and all this.
13:45: This book could be social media, this book could be new media, this book is a guide for strategy. For just the web in general and social media just happens to be the catalyst.
[Jennifer Neeley]
13:58: Actually, you know, business in general because you do have to — I mean, the thing is — it’s hard to relate this to some of the people that you work with, I’m sure that they’ve had to take things to the C level, that maybe they’ve not done before, so really it’s looking at strategies to engage the C-Suite, to care and understand why something is important. Anything, really, in business contacts.
[Brain Solis]
14:22: Yeah, absolutely, you nailed it right on the head with that one. So this is a book that basically just — because everything’s changing, communications, relationships, information, how we get information, how we share it, this is a strategy guide, it’s a business guide or it’s basically the new web. And social media is just the latest chapter in the ongoing program of new media in general, and so really this book has a long lifespan and I really hope that people embrace it and realize that there’s a lot to learn from it, that this isn’t a book about shortcuts, this is a book about helping you become more valuable to the organization you represent today and tomorrow.
[Jennifer Neeley]
14:55: Very well said, and with that, Brian Solis, author of Engage, I will let you get on to the fire you need to put out.
[Brain Solis]
15:04: Thank you so much and I look forward to coming back on.
[Jennifer Neeley]
15:07: Alright, sounds great. Thanks Brian. So again, that was Brian Solis, you may know as the Pioneer of PR 2.0, but more importantly at the moment, the author of Engage which is just a fantastic book. As I said, I think it’s not only a book that, you know, would fall on the social media category but really can fall in lots of different categories. So, we thank him for taking a moment even though his own business has some pressing needs that he had to get to today. I wanted to take a moment transitioning a bit to tell you about a couple of upcoming events happening specifically in the bay area and around the world. So, social media day is on Wednesday, June 30th, and if you want to get involved, you can simply go to mashable.com/smday and if you didn’t that, you’re welcome to get in touch with me via Twitter, Facebook, email and certainly on my website, jenniferlindsay.com. The others that I’ll be speaking on a panel actually, and I actually think this is a valuable conference with or without me. Social Media Marketing 2010 held by an organization, influence people that recently had a similar event in London are doing it July 8th at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco to the Union Square area. So, just very cool event, very cool speakers, again, a very good opportunity to get some questions answered, and I think some really interesting panels as well. And with that, I thank you for listening to a shortened version of the A-List today. Have a wonderful weekend.
[End of Transcript]
Learn more about Brian from his bio:
Brian Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has influenced the effects of emerging media on the convergence of marketing, communications, and publishing. He is principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning New Media agency in Silicon Valley, and has led interactive and social programs for Fortune 500 companies, notable celebrities, and Web 2.0 startups. BrianSolis.com is among the world’s leading business and marketing online resources.
