Here’s a great deck on the state of social media in 2012 from Esteban Contreras

Great slide deck from David Armano on Social Business Planning

[slideshare id=10595521&doc=socialbizedelman-111214162029-phpapp01]

Here’s the results of a comprehensive survey of 9,000 consumers in 35 countries about their social usage

Australian retailers are finally leaving the shores of social media apathy and are attempting to navigate the treacherous waters of consumer engagement. No doubt spurred on by the negative PR associated with non-engagement, retailers are also sensing the hidden treasure to be found with consumer loyalty. The social media wave started several years ago, and it still baffles me why has it taken retailers so long to take social media seriously?  Read more... (518 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Word of mouth marketing is not new. It started around the camp-fire when people debated over what were the best hunting tools, and conversations continued into market places where trade flourished. But since the invention of the TV, which radically changed the way brands spoke to consumers; many big brands have either forgotten or ignored the levers that drive word of mouth marketing.
The science of how you measure word of mouth marketing is still in its infancy, and no doubt organisations like WOMMA will continue to promote various metrics to try to standardise the way word of mouth can be measured. But there are some quite simple initiatives that marketers can do to maximise the word of mouth marketing effect of their campaigns.
Here’s a check-list that it worth considering as part of every campaign or activity, which should help you enhance the word of mouth marketing impact.  Read more... (483 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Great presentation looking at where Social Media value occurs

Here’s a recent presentation from Jeremiah Owyang which examines the various team structures used to drive social media within corporations, and forecasting the changing challenges.

It suggests that 2011 will be a year where integrating social media into other web activities.  This tends to be a gradual process often impacted by desire to deliver engagement metrics.
I’m hoping that 2011 will be a year of Engagement Metrics – a year where they can be clearly seen to impact brand health.

Here’s an insightful look at the social media marketing trends from @tiphereth

Having worked in Knowledge Management for a large multinational I have had experience in the challenges involved in realising the value of shared wisdom across the organisation, without enforcing the burden of overcomplicated information categorisations.

So I read with excitement this manifesto on Social Architecture which provides a cleverly thought out view on how organisations can embrace socialisation to generate real value.