Those 20-somethings won’t join companies that ban Facebook on company time. Executives that don’t allow texting during a meeting are considered out of touch. Companies that don’t blog have missed out on the conversation that is the marketplace (their customers, prospects, and even competitors).

Wake up! It’s a new world.

Web 2.0 and social media are here to stay. These tools, technologies, features and Web platforms have forever changed user behavior online, as well as user expectations of the companies they purchase from. It is important for companies to understand and participate in this new Web.

Social media offers new opportunities to engage customers directly, influence the marketplace, increase brand awareness and affinity, build a better customer experience, and collect market intelligence. Now, why would you want to ignore that?

Learn and Apply

Today user-generated content (UGC) in blogs, podcasts, wikis, social networks, communities, virtual worlds, product reviews/comments, and videos is fast becoming the bulk of content on the Web. No longer can corporate websites, branding activities, and mainstream press programs alone drive the conversation online.

The vast amount of information created by customers, prospects, and industry bloggers through these new media vehicles can help employees gain a better grasp of trends, customer sentiment, competitor activities and product and service requirements. So encourage all of your employees to get online and learn!

In addition, employees can enhance and extend the company’s customer experience by creating and distributing content that adds value, and learning from and applying information created by external audiences. In the old-fashioned, hierarchical workplace, executives want absolute control over information going out of the company. That’s understandable assuming there are some crown jewels to protect.

But the wholesale rejection of employee blogging or interacting with social media as a part of their job is a grave error in judgment. The opportunity cost to a company can be huge. To meet the needs of both sides, there must be rules in place that guide employees through their online interactions.

Responsible Participation

Social media interactions and blogging by employees should be designed to build relationships with customers, partners, and bloggers, attract prospects, initiate or add value to the public discourse and embrace outside interaction. Employees can be encouraged to interact responsibly on social media such as blogs, wikis and through comments.

Getting involved in social media should be the choice of each employee. Anyone with a passion or interest should be encouraged to create a blog or participate in a group blog. Start with internal blogs to get a feel for how it works. And make sure you have written social media guidelines that every employee reads in advance. I’ve written in the past about specific guidelines that help employees make good decisions.

It’s critical at this point that you don’t let fear of the unknown hold you back. It’s okay to take baby steps. At least you’ll be walking in the right direction.

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More great news I’m excited to spread. The highly prestigious and notable National Best Books 2008 Awards gives a nod to The Age of Engage.

The Age of Engage continues to win praise and awards. You can download excerpts here.

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Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas created this [a new] visual model of the social media tools that can be used to create, extend and enhance conversations online. [You can find it here.] [The starfish model below was created by Robert Scoble.] This is an These are excellent visuals for use in internal presentations to management when you need to explain how all of these tools/apps/sites relate.

You can find Brian’s post here.

I’m inspired by this diagram to create one for the social media monitoring, managing, analysis tools since that’s what people ask me about most often. Jesse, Brian, would you like to help?

Update September 26, 2008. (Jesse, thanks for the corrections.)

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I’ve always considered myself pragmatic, logical, and clearly even-keeled. Then, Ori Brafman sent me his (and brother Rom’s) book Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior. It’s a magnetic read and I zipped through it in 2 quick sittings.

I rather like books that make me think twice about truths I hold self-evident. And Sway certainly made me think. Did I pre-judge my employees based on what others had said about them, or their previous jobs? Do I make rash (and possibly dangerous or stupid) choices when I’m committed to a certain plan of action and feel any diversion would be a loss? I certainly look for fairness in my business and personal transactions. But is fairness the key metric? Maybe not.

The book has opened my eyes and mind to new ways of approaching my business activities and relationships and family interactions. Hopefully I will recognize in advance a moment where I might act rash or choose the wrong — irrational — path and think again about my choices.

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If social media has done anything it has given a voice to people who want to complain, argue, rant, and attack your company or you personally. CEOs are grappling with the choice of ignoring this behavior or inviting it onto their home page. Bloggers, authors, radio hosts, and others are often surprised by the personal vitriol directed towards them. Most everyone is concerned whether or not a single negative voice can ruin their reputation.

I chatted with Jennifer Jones at Marketing Voices on this subject last week and you can listen in.

[audio:http://www.ageofengage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Podtech_Marketing_Voices__Interview_wi.mp3]

The reality of the live Web is that negative commentary and attacks that used to occur offline are now online. That’s actually a good thing. Companies and individuals can understand better what customers actually think. Many companies are finding out about product issues they didn’t previously know about. It’s better to invite this conversation than ignore it.

It’s also important to draw a line between what is acceptable negative commentary and what is slanderous, libelous, or threatening behavior. Most personal attacks by a single commenter go unnoticed and rarely appear high up in search results. They can be ignored. Not everyone is going to like you or agree with you.

Focus on your message and ideas, and make sure you get your message out and optimized to appear in search results. You want people to find the positive. You also want to know what people are saying about you or your products so make sure you’re monitoring the conversation. You can use Attensity, Nielson BuzzMetrics, Andiamo Systems, or free Google Alerts to do that.

Andy Beal at Marketing Pilgrim has co-written a new book on the subject of managing your image online titled Radically Transparent (love the title). This is a subject every marketing professional should be well-versed in.

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