Raise Your Social Voice or Else…

BIG Rewards await those who are outspoken, relevant,  trustworthy, and willing to contribute…

Aim: Assist professionals and/or businesses that are resisting Social Media to see why embracing it now to develop social relevance,  monitor market conversations, and potentially develop social communities is critical in establishing or maintaining competitive advantage.

I spend a great deal of time thinking, writing, and speaking about how to apply innovations to businesses.  This week I re-examined some of ground breaking books that shaped my professional beliefs to see if certain theories regarding innovation have stood the test of time and if they would apply to the Social Technology phenomenon.  In doing so I discovered that the social revolution is not really a revolution at all but instead it is a evolutionary transformation whose time has come.  If you don’t really see the value or the point, think it is a waste of time, or just waiting to see if it will last, I want to encourage you to embrace it now or quite possibly in a year or possibly two, it will be too late…

The Moore Things Change, the more they remain the same…

In 1991 (the same year the world-wide web was launched), Geoffrey Moore introduced “Crossing the Chasm“.  Moore’s book began by expanding on a theory first published in 1962 by Everett Rogers, “Diffusion of Innovation“.  Moore argued that with discontinuous or disruptive innovations there is a chasm in the technology adoption life-cycle that must be crossed before widespread acceptance of the innovation and critical mass adoption would occur.  His book became a bible of sort to technology entrepreneurs and through word-of-mouth marketing it sold over 300,000 copies…

Prior to Moore, Everett Rogers identified five characteristics that contribute to the rate of adoption.  These same characteristics apply today however Social Media can impact the viability of each.

Rogers suggested that when moving towards critical mass adoption certain characteristics  either restrict or accelerate the adoption process…  The process by which information was communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system impacted overall acceptance of the innovation.  This was noted in 1962 and by the way, Rogers was studying adoption of a hybrid corn seed by farmers.  I point this out because as I write about innovation I may tend to write about technology because that is my background however the concepts apply to any innovation.

His study focused on adoption by a single culture however it was derived from studying earlier works regarding the spreading of ideas, technologies, language, styles, and religions across cultures by Alfred Kroeber in 1940…  To make a long story shorter, what I found amazing is that in the last 100 years or so most major business revolutions tried to understand and expand on this theory of adoption dating back to 1890.  In the last half century, about every 15 – 20 years an innovation comes along to accelerate the adoption of other innovation and adds validity to what we have known fundamentally for quite some time.  When someone can make sense out of these studies it tends to popularize opinions and enlightens other to take action on applying these new technologies in forwarding their business objective.

Social Implications

Individually and organizationally we have a huge opportunity to engage the masses. Never before in the history of man has there existed the ability for one person (YOU), to have access to 1.5 billion people (web population), the potential to converse or generate interest around a common cause/interest, to do so in your spare time, and the best part… at no charge.  All of this is made possible NOW through Social Technology.   Simultaneously there has never been an opportunity like there is now for customers to create collective opinion regarding their experience (good or bad) with a product, person, company, or organization through social democratization channels as there is today through social technology.  Three primary voices are enabled; the voice of opinion leaders, users, and communities (groups of users or interested parties). The ability to produce cultural change, adoption, and velocity is what makes this such a powerful tool to exploit and such a dangerous phenomenon to ignore; especially considering the fundamental need for businesses to gain new customers and keep the customers they have considering the skyrocketing cost to acquire them.

To fully understand the implications of social media and its importance let’s examine the type of value being sought by adopters of new innovation.  Innovators and early adopters are seeking some strategic value from the new innovations.  These individuals or companies are driven by the vision of how the innovation will drive competitive advantage.  As Moore’s theory suggest, significant momentum is generated once the adoption chasm is crossed.  This is a critical point where word of mouth creates rapids acceptance and others more readily adopt the innovation. Because the market potential is now proven, increase competition enters the market attempting to either out perform the market leader or provide a less expensive alternative.  The market itself starts to take on a life of its own as prospective buyers seek differentiated value from the multitude of choices now available to them. News rapidly spreads concerning product quality or the lack thereof, end user experience, and nuances of the solution.  Finally as the market becomes more saturated, buyers realize their personal value requirements and seek solutions that meet their needs as economically as possible.

Now let’s look at how Social Media plays a role in the adoption process.  During early stage adoption trusted opinion leaders provide thought leadership regarding the innovation and its potential.  The experts paint the vision for how this or that will change the world as we know it.  Recently Steve Jobs told the world about the iPad and how it will change the world.  I don’t doubt that he’s right however other than innovators and some early adopters, many may ask themselves, “Why do I need a larger iPhone?”  Similarly however, when many technology companies were focused on building better PDAs, Apple was delivering the first iPod; the rest is history…   As soon as the product becomes available, I’m sure a lot of people will purchase it for its cool factor.  They will be the innovators and early adopters, however it will not reach widespread acceptance or adoption until consumers begin to advocate the benefit derived from it.  Initial momentum will be developed by thought leaders that paint a vision for its use. Gaming executives and developers are already describing the future of the iPad albeit the initial appeal is to iPhone users… Later in the adoption cycle, the momentum is based upon the collective eWord of Mouth experience of the consumer.

So what does all this mean and what should I do about it?

Social Media will impact innovation adoption rates enabling the sharing of insights by Opinion Leaders or Opinion Experts.  These visionaries provide the voice of the experts and will drive early adoption by discussing the potential competitive advantage or strategic value enabled through new innovation.  This addresses the first characteristic identified by Rogers, relative advantage. Additionally they will begin to address the complexity and compatibility challenges to be expected.  Early Adopters will not waiver balancing risk/reward from gaining competitive advantage vs. following the leader. Their higher risk tolerance will serve the Early Majority and being the voice of the users they will substantiate value through eWord of Mouth.  After they experience the reward for their risk they will share what they did to overcome any challenges thereby addressing some of the complexity concerns of the Early Majority.

The success of the early adopters will be the stories on blogs, in trade rags, and the buzz across multiple communication mediums. The market will gain momentum. Early Majority adopters will begin to feel a bit more comfortable and the voice of the community share their experiences including the compatibility of the innovation in the current environment. Remember they will speak out about both good & bad experiences.  This will allow other potential consumers to mitigate risk based upon the trial experience and observation of other early consumers. These testimonies point to Rogers’ five characteristics that effect rate of adoption and the ability to cross the chasm identified by Moore.

Not only will other potential consumers be listening to the voice of the users and the voice of the community but also potential competitors.  Competition will enter the market with more complete solutions including products, services, support, terms, options, accessories developing a value chain and potentially an industry around the innovation. Think about the many accessories for the iPod and the number of modifications that have been made to iPod/iPhone enable different products…  These adopters represent up to 70% of the available market.

Whether launching new innovations or accelerating growth for current offerings, social media will have a larger voice in market acceptance and sales growth than any other medium.  The more complex the product, the more the customer will rely on thoughts and opinions from trusted expert sources.  Trust is not developed overnight but instead over time.  Regardless of if you’re an individual or a company it is critical to develop a social media strategy, to develop your social voice, and to monitor the voice of your consumers to ensure differentiated value is being delivered and realized.  This is not something that you execute as an event.  It is a strategic investment that takes time to develop however the rewards are huge.

Whether you’re an individual or organization selling new innovations or complex products, ask yourself these questions:

• Do my customers see me or my company as opinion experts, a trusted supplier, or a vendor of products & services?
• Am I influencing the market based upon my experience, relevant observation, or strategic vision?
• What category of buyers represent my largest opportunity and what am I doing to develop my online relationship with them?
• What is my competition doing in relationship to developing online communities or relationships with the market?
• Do I know what my customers are saying about me through the socialsphere?

If your not sure of the answer to these questions or the answer is no…  It’s time to RAISE YOUR SOCIAL VOICE… or else…

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Copyright 2010 by SalesFX, Inc., All rights reserved

Vaughn Rachal is President of SalesFX, Inc.