The hybrid roles created by digital

Let's face it, there's lot's strange and merged job descriptions knocking around the online / digital industry. Here's some you may have come across:

• Developer evangelist
• Strategic online project manager
• Chief Digital Officer
• Owned, Paid and Earned Marketer
• Programme Architect

These are all job roles I have seen in the last 12 months (although some of these may be familiar to regular readers as I blogged about the Chief Digital Officer one only a few months ago).  And to be totally transaparent, I've even applied for a consulting role as one of these... although I'm not going to admit which one it is.

 

To some people in the industry these newly-invented titles might seem unnecessary and even a little ego fluffing... but there's no doubt that the new economy is creating new types of jobs that have never arisen before.

 

I think this trend is only going to continue and admit to a slight curiousity as to what wierd ones will appear in the next year or so.

Show me the Social Media money!

My, I must be getting sensitive after all these years in the digital industry. I've just got a bit annoyed after reading a single tweet.
No, it wasn't a rant by one of the angry accounts I follow, nor a bigoted response to a pressing social matter... It was this one:
"The number one objective for social media strategists is to evangelise a new initiative"
(I've withheld the name of the person who tweeted this, but if you have the skills.... You can find out who it is yourself).
No!
In my honest opinion this is NOT the first objective of anyone in social media, let alone someone responsible for the strategy.
Let me explain...
I believe that the most important role of anyone in any company is to support the organisation in its business objectives and responsibilities. These typically are to make money and reduce costs.
Sure, it is also the role of most employees to: take responsibility for their work, think innovatively (although perhaps more those in a more supervisory / management position) and question traditional business practices. But for a social media strategist to consider the evangelising of a new initiative as their principle role..... Is surely missing the point?
Are they not there to: asses, measure, understand and come up with strategic initiatives that make a difference to revenue, operational efficiencies, brand value, etc.?
I would very strongly reconsider the position of someone employed at a senior strategic level who does not understand this economic fundamental.

Clarification:
I'll keep my original posting above, but provide clarification after some subsequent information has come to light (thanks Gabrielle). The Tweet I referenced was not actually the thoughts of the person (Jeremy) who tweeted it: https://twitter.com/#!/jeremywaite/status/179667787705364481
but a quote from someone else at SXSW who made this statement.

Brand Evangelists

Back in April I wrote about customers being Brand Evangelists. I've recieved positive feedback about this posting so I've decided to progress this subject further.

So how to you get the most from these unique individuals? How do you influence people who have no financial incentive to do what they do, just passion?


1. Understand them

What is an evangelist is and does your company have any? (You may be suprised to find out)

- Are they your target customer?

- What is it that they talk about? (and who do they tell?)

- Why do they feel they own your brand?



2. If you don't have any, roll your own

Employees can be great evangelists for your products or services and are probably doing the job already in some way. Encouraging innovation, providing the right environment for them and supporting their activities all plays a part in getting them to fly your brand flags.
One of the most impressive brand evangelists I know is Phil Mooney, the Coca-Cola archivist (basically a professional Coke collector for the last 30 years) who now has his own blog.



3. Empower them

Give them the materials and support they need.

• Content (RSS feeds, targetted news releases, etc.)


• Portable assets (image and video placed out there on available sites, e.g. Flickr, YouTube, etc.)


• Tools and toys (widgets and other stuff they can put in their blogs, sites, etc.)

Note: Liana Evans posting on the same subject here also includes coupons & exclusive opportunities



4. Be transparent / human / accessible

One reason that some companies have a lot of evangelists is because people identify and believe in them. I am certain that there is a relationship between the number/proportion of brand evangelists and the openness of the organisation.
Note:
I'm definately not saying that just having these properties in your brand statement will give you instant unpaid advocacy. You must practice what you preach and your customers must be able to tell (you will hopefully tell when you find you have more brand evangelists)

However some companies may find this more dificult than others due to the amount of cultural shift required, however the advantages should out-weight the drawbacks.



5. Allow their input

Your evangelists won't last long in a social vacuum and like any relationship (some do have a lot of passion) they want some reciprocation of their affection. Every sports fan has their own opinions on which players are best (hence Fantasy Football/Cricket/etc.) and speak to other fans, use old media (radio call-in shows) & new media (chat forums and discussion boards) to make their points known.
Likewise every evangelist has an idea for your brand. These may anything from a better way of phrasing the content on your website, through to entirely new product ideas. This feedback is invaluable... its your decision if and how you use it.

Companies pay hundreds of thousands of £'s * to figure out how to create brand loyalty whilst ignoring their brand promoters & evangelists... why? Your evangelists are some of your best: sales people, R&D and customer services representatives. And they do it for free.


What other method of influencing customers has that ROI?



*and to keep this blog equal, lots of money in every other major currency as well

Customers can be brand evangelists

I'm constantly surprised by how evangelical some customers are about products they like. Just like those people who provide a stream of negative reviews/comments, there are those who provide the counter-balance and take every opportunity to say great things about companies & brands.
During a recent Forrester Marketing presentation I heard about Jen Segrest from Ohio. She runs a website dedicated to all things IKEA in Ohio. She even invented the idea of Saint Tokig, the patron saint of IKEA.

This would be a fascinating case study on evangelistic company blogs in itself, were it not for these more interesting facts:

• IKEA contacted her to ask that she remove all mention of IKEA from her website and URL (Apparently because she was getting a higher search place than a lot of their activity)
• IKEA declined her application for a job in one of their stores.

A lot of companies would have to pay a lot of money for this sort of marketing/PR activity. Its more than a little daft to try and stop this positive activity.