A recommendation is only as effective as the trust earned by the source.
 
The true effectiveness of online engagement is its ability to influence. Earn the trust of your Online Influencers through authentic, transparent interaction that adds value to the community.
 
There is often only one shot at getting this right.
 
A buzz marketing campaign around your brand or new product launch can be effective if you want to drive short-term attention. However, the process of doing so can be harmful if you also intend to build long-term relationships with influencers with the goal of driving sustainable word of mouth.


So take your time.
Today it might be Twitter.
Tomorrow it's a Facebook page.
As you take your first  steps into the living web,
listen, learn, and ask questions - of everyone.

The people you meet along the way can become your biggest advocates. And in the process, you will earn the kind of trust that elicits advocacy.

• How many people are recommending your brand right now?

• Is there anything you could do to thank them?
  

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View more presentations from Bud Caddell.

Bud Caddell, over at Undercurrent, put this great presentation together that illustrates what it means for a brand to become an authentic participant in the living web.

If you aren't already, you should follow his work on Twitter @bud_cadell and his blogs.


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Last week, I was floored by the wit and humor of McDonald's new commercial featuring a fish singing, "Bring me back that filet o' fish, bring me that fish," before a bearded gentlemen enjoying a sandwich in an otherwise ordinary garage.

"My first reaction was to rewind, watch, rewind, watch again [hat tip to TiVo.]
Then I went online to send it to friends."

Expecting to see the entire commercial available on YouTube, I was surprised to learn the commercial was not uploaded by McDonald's or their ad agency responsible for the shoot. Instead, there were three handheld dubs of the commercial - wobbly, out-of-focus, and showing the frame of the TVs from which they were ripped.

With all issues of media format migration aside (and the copyright issues embedded within that old argument,) I was thankful that these other consumers found the same humor in the commercial - enough so that they spent the time converting the format by hand and uploading to YouTube.

If you are a brand of any size creating content that is meant to be viewed, make it just as easy to share.

If the content is good, as good as McDonald's and singing fish, your consumers will maximize the reach if you just make it easy and meet them halfway.



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