Adam Singer from thefuturebuzz.com was approached by Warner Bros as part of their social media strategy, however in this case the approach backfired and resulted in negative publicity. This story provides an interesting insight into how a major brand approach their social media campaigns, and also highlights the risk of recruiting key opinion formers. Their initial email to Adam read as follows:

Hello,

I am a part of the Warner Brothers word of mouth marketing team and recently came across your blog! Your blog uniquely stood out as dynamic, informative and highly creative. We are seeking bloggers that are passionate about entertainment to help us engage your readers with content that would be interesting to them.

We would like to have you join our WB Word marketing team to let fans know about our latest releases and relevant content/products. As a member of the team, you will be asked to display photos, clips, and stories on your Blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts. The best part is you will get paid! Additionally, we may even debut event previews and new content so that fans like you get to enjoy it first.

Read the full story here http://thefuturebuzz.com/2010/07/29/warner-bros-spams-bloggers/

10 convincing reasons to get involved with social media courtesy of http://thewordmonger.wordpress.com.

1. Social media is now the number one online activity beating porn and personal email to the top spot.
(Nielsen Wire)

2. Two thirds of the global internet population visit social networks.
(Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Places)

3. Time spent on social networks is growing at three times the overall internet rate, accounting for 10% of all internet time.
(Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Places)

4. Online including social media has become the most influential source in helping consumer make purchasing decisions.
(Weber Shandwick Inline Research)

5. Social media is like word of mouth on steroids.

6. Social media is democratizing communications.
“Technology is shifting the power away from the editors, the publishers, the establishment, the media elite. Now it’s the people who are in control.”
(Rupert Murdoch, Global Media Entrepreneur)

7. Millions of people are creating content for the social web.
Your competitors are already there. Your customers have been there for a long time. If your business isn’t putting itself out there, it ought to be.
(Business Week, February 19, 2009)

8. The next 3 billion consumers will access the internet from a mobile device.  Already 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices.  People update anywhere, anytime. Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences!
(Mashable.com)

9. In almost all cases social media is free.  All it will cost you is time.

10. Social media has incredible broadcasting power:

Years to reach 50 million users:
Radio – 38 years
TV – 13 years
Internet – 4 years
iPod – 3 years
Facebook added 175 million users between in less than 11 months

If Facebook were a country it would be bigger than the USA and the 3rd largest in the World

1. China
2. India
3. Facebook
4. United States
5. Indonesia
6. Brazil
7. Pakistan
8. Bangladesh
9. Russia
10. Nigeria

Marta Kagan, managing director of the full service marketing agency ‘Espresso’ has published a very useful checklist which is an invaluable reference when planning any social media activity.

View the list

America’s Federal Trade Comission has released new guidelines concerning the use of testimonials and endorcements in advertising and social media. This marks an important turning point in the way paid bloggers can operate in the US, which will almost certainly filter to the rest of the world in due course.

…bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service

Read the full press release here:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm