The marketing landscape is an arena where individuals and brands must realize that consumers lack confidence in advertising. Audiences have a knack for recognizing pitches and sales tactics aimed at bottom line growth. Markets are bombarded with messaging from all sides aimed at their wallets and attention leading to reluctance over purchase intent and a lack of authenticity. Chris Brogan and Julien Smith call this a trust deficit.

The most successful companies are those who engage in relevant conversations and create experiences that resonate with changing consumer tastes. Trust is a glue that helps capture attention, build advocacy, and establish repeat business. People are the core of business.

The Web has changed to be more humanized, and the people who will succeed in understanding this and using the Web to build businesses are called Trust Agents.

The United States is getting younger thanks in large part to the growth of minorities who not only overindex in technology adoption but serve as pioneers and mainstays in social media activity. The rising influx of digital natives and social media butterflies has created an atmosphere of marketing and communications where technological aptitude and digital savvy separate the haves from the have nots.

Likewise, there are people out there right now working to understand these new technologies and learning everything about how to use them--from etiquette to audience building and beyond.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing many marketers and small business owners is the reluctance to grasp the potential and legitimate value found in social media strategy. Time and significant effort are valid reasons for apprehension but this does not slow down the movers and shakers in new media from capturing attention, maximizing opportunities, and establishing a lasting presence.

Like your kids, they know more about technology, and maybe even more about people, than you do; and that makes them very powerful.

"Action beats inaction."

The real movers and shakers recognize that it's better to be moving and building momentum. 2011 can be summed up as the year of engagement and relationships in motion setting the stage for a year of action and lasting impact.

This year provided a fantastic opportunity for individuals on the Central Coast and Silicon Valley to come together and address some of the hottest topics facing the Latino market. Latino2 and #Cause2012 SCtSMC stand out as two shining moments of 2011.

Latino2 in Silicon Valley

What do you get when you invite aspiring Hispanic engineers, bloggers, entrepreneurs, a new media guru, passionate foodies, and the White House to take over a computer history museum right smack in the middle of Silicon Valley?

A whole lot of reverberating forward motion across the Latinosphere and an engagement think tank.

"What you don't know about your online reputation is going to hurt you." - Brian Solis on the need for brands to be in-tune with the many conversations taking place across the social media landscape.

#Cause2012 Social Change through Social Media Conference

Real purpose and meaning form the core of a true differentiation strategy. Success isn't built on ability and processes alone. The most important question facing today's organizations is the question of "Why?" 

We know who you are and what you do but we don't quite understand why you do it. Purpose matters in the eyes of consumers who are increasingly searching for brands and individuals who not only offer great widgets and remarkable experiences but also lead the pack in manufacturing meaning.

Video Link: (The new face of America.)

Having a unique story and sharing it with the world is something special.

Who would have thought that on a brisk October morning on a wonderful stage set in a beautifully intimate theater with a rich 45 year history where the likes of Kathy Bates, Robin Williams, and Belita Moreno (among others) have delighted crowds that we would find some of California's most dedicated agents and artists of community building?

On October 29th, 2011 the PCPA Theater at Allan Hancock College (A Hispanic-Serving Institution) was transformed into an ideation hub where the center of focus included social media best practices for driving organizational capacity building, increasing Latino engagement, and community organizing.

"Mi Causa es Su Causa." (My cause is your cause.) sums up the atmosphere rather nicely.

Both of these landmark events served as some of the most rewarding and engaging experiences of 2011. A huge standing ovation to all the outstanding individuals and organizations who made Latino2 and #Cause2012 a reality. The takeaways are numerous but none greater than the chance to call some great people...friends.

Here's to a great 2011 and a divine 2012!

Popularity is a tricky thing. It's measure can reside with the masses or take up camp in the mind of an individual striving to capture attention and generate interest. In the journey towards validation, we often mistake a good sized crowd for an engaged audience. In the world of social media, being present matters over presence.

There is no engagement in numbers. Data might paint a nice picture and speak to quantity but quality interactions and true conversation take a crowd from mass to measurable impact.

Let's not strive for numbers but rather value-added interaction.

This is where true synergy lies.

If you're using Foursquare or a similar location-based service, you know that feeling you get when you walk in to an establishment and find a bright shiny orange announcement on your device letting you know that there's a "special nearby." It's exciting and you eagerly investigate to see what the fuss is all about. When the opportunity to take home some swag presents itself you leave a happy camper. However, a recent stop at a top notch burger joint leaves this uber-geek feeling really bamboozled.

Upon arriving at the local Chili's Grill & Bar, a nice shiny announcement about a nearby special caught my attention. I checked out the link and was delighted to see that there was an offer for "free chips and salsa." What followed is an experience that led to this post.

After feeling quite chipper about my free chips and salsa, the euphoria of a freebie came to a crashing halt when it was brought to my attention that everybody gets free chips and salsa in the lounge area. Talk about a slap in the face!

Oh well...next time I won't be so perky when requesting that our chilihead please review my offer code.

A special thanks to Jesse Luna for sharing this information on the Malcolm Baldrige award including social media in its criteria.

• 68% of all Americans (internet users and non-users alike) said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to communicate with members. Some 75% of internet users said that.
• 62% of all Americans said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to draw attention to an issue. Some 68% of internet users said that.
• 60% of all Americans said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to connect with other groups. Some 67% of internet users said that.
• 59% of all Americans said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to impact society at large. Some 64% of internet users said that.
• 59% of all Americans said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to organize activities. Some 65% of internet users said that.
• 52% of all Americans said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to raise money. Some 55% of internet users said that.
• 51% of all Americans said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to recruit new members. Some 55% of internet users said that.
• 49% of all Americans said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to impact local communities. Some 52% of internet users said that.
• 35% of all Americans said the internet has had a major impact on the ability of groups to find people to take leadership roles. Some 35% of internet users said that.

Nonprofits and a diverse collection of organizations throughout the counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and beyond are presented with a powerful tool for interest generation, stakeholder education, empowerment, and audience engagement.

Read more about the social side of the internet.

• Social media is not a catch all but rather a powerful extension of Marketing and Public Relations.
• Being conversational is still an element of driving authentic trust and affinity.
• Offering something of value is the most important dynamic regardless of channel.

Participating in social media takes a tremendous amount of investment. Inputs can range in time and scope making it necessary to measure the amount of return that one hopes to gain from tweets, blog posts, and other various forms of content. True success in the digital landscape requires substantial investment of an individual's time and effort.

Benchmarks

Before investing in social media, marketers and storytellers alike must identify concise objectives. These goals will help keep all efforts focused on the tasks at hand and open up opportunities for improvements. Benchmarks allow an individual to identify their target results.

However, before we focus too much time on retweets, likes, comments, subscribers, friends, followers, listeners, and so forth...let's stop for a moment to recognize the value of residual returns on our social media investment.

Here are a few questions to ask as you begin on placing a value on your social media marketing efforts:

• Is your content so good that people actually gained value from reading or sharing?
• Do you place enough of an importance on the value of reciprocity?
• Is social capital a vital component of your strategic efforts?
• Is your network (comprised of friends, followers, etc.) coming back for more?
• Does your audience care about you enough to actually share your content even when there's nothing new to share?

Residual returns on social capital can provide a unique benchmark for measuring the success of your continued investment in social media.

What do Kobe Bryant, Jay Baer, and Coca-Cola have in common?

They dominate their industries with style, grace, and precision that simply outshines their competition. On one hand we have an athlete who shoots the rock with such deadly accuracy that time and time again leaves the competition asking themselves "what just happened?" and on the other a similarly talented artist who takes his athletic prowess to the world of new media striking up informational slam dunks of social media strategy.

Both these individuals are at the top of their game on a consistent basis much like Coca-Cola which always seems to capture audience attention and generate renewed interest.

However, these three have much more in common than industry leading ability. Kobe, Jay, and Coca-Cola are storytellers. 

They understand the importance of offering audience value and ensure that their every step, post, and branding measures up to the expectations of their fan base.

They are storytellers who make it easy for others to share their story.

They're not selling shoes, books, or beverages...no...they have moved past that arena and are telling stories that capture audience attention and generate a groundswell of conversation.

Twitter is not just 'en vogue'...it is a powerful microblogging platform and engagement tool.

The reason for this post is due to an interesting conversation which took place today in which tweets were under direct attack as being just some miscelaneous recreational undertaking. Sorry but for those of us who use twitter on an almost daily basis understand its true importance and impact in helping us communicate, network, and become informed. For some, twitter is just the new kid on the block and for others it is an essential component of creating a strong online presence.

Here are two good sights full of statistics to share and help you make the most of those "So what?" conversations.

50 twitter goodies

The Ultimate List: 100+ twitter stats