In the first of a series of interviews on ‘onlinemomentum.net’ I talk to Joanne Jacobs, one of the top social media figures working in the UK and talking at this weeks ‘Social Media in Business‘ event ( #SMIB09 ).

For those who haven’t come across Joanne then go to:

http://joannejacobs.net/or catch up with her on http://twitter.com/joannejacobs

1. At what point did you decide the career path you’ve chosen and what drew you to it?

I started my first website production agency in 1994, I was teaching in electronic publishing and e-business back in the late 1990s, and in 1999 I co-wrote a radio series called ‘In the Pipeline’ for ABC radio and online in Australia.  So I’ve been in this business a long time.  I decided to leave academia at the end of 2006 and focus entirely on my consultancy practice in strategic use of internet technologies, and I came to the UK at the end of 2007.  The UK attracted me because I found there was so much small-business driven innovation in social media and technology production.  I haven’t been disappointed.

2. What excites you most about the growth of social media?

I think what drives my passion in social media is the absolutely belief that social media are changing the way citizens are engaging with ideas and with goods and services.  To me, this is a monumental shift in business, and I think it’s only just now beginning to make its effect known.  It’s been obvious to me for some time that traditional marketing, market research and product development practices have been inefficient, and based on appearances rather than genuine value.  This is both frustrating for users and inevitably destructive for businesses.  You can’t make products better when all the stakeholders in the supply chain are lying to you.  Authenticity, or at least a more reliable measure of value can be achieved through social media and consumers are already taking a very active role in promotion of what they value.  Traditional marketing is changing, and quickly.

3. Why do you think that so many businesses are fearful or are struggling to come to terms with the social media world?

Simple: they risk losing their dominance.  Marketers and advertisers in particular, are likely to suffer in an era of authenticity.  No longer will a slick campaign be sufficient to overcome the weaknesses of a product.  Product makers won’t be able to offer substandard goods.  For too long, businesses have profited from poor quality products dressed nicely.  It’s no longer enough.  It probably hasn’t been since the mid 1990s, but its only now that consumers are beginning to understand their power over product development and promotion.

4. You’ve written books on blogs . What one piece of advice would you give someone starting a blog?

Dedicate at least 4 hours per week to blogging and blog post research.  Otherwise you’ll never attract significant following or engagement on ideas.  You should also always ask questions of an audience rather than merely reporting facts.  Use WordPress. Don’t use blogger.

5. How much time do you feel a company should devote towards social media (per day/week)?

At least 1 day per week, but this should include blogging, tweeting, Facebook/LinkedIn/MySpace/Bebo (etc) page management and responding to client queries through social media interface.  In order to generate true leads from a social media strategy, it’s more like 2 days per week, full time.

6. Why do you feel Marketing departments are slow to adopt new online techniques, particularly PR companies who seem to be slow-adopters to change?
There are three primary reasons:
a.  Existing channels will remain and will still need a marketing focus, thus marketing agencies are happy to stick with their current revenue generation specialisation;
b.  Online channels often threaten alternative channel strategies in budgetary terms, so marketers again wish to dominate spending, and their existing relationships with clients empower them to influence the decisions of clients in channel strategies;
c.  The rules of consumer engagement have changed. PR agencies have to unlearn what they have learned to be able to mobilise these technologies effectively.  This makes most PR professionals extremely uncomfortable and resistant.

7. If a colleague (or client) was going to sum you up in 5 words what do you think they would say?

Efficient, constructive, versatile, engaging, blunt.

8. What’s your vision for marketing, on and offline for 2010 and onwards?

Increased focus in online; death of the passive consumer/maturity of the creative and productive consumer; integrated cross-platform engagement.

9. How should we be measuring success in this ‘social’ world?

By matching it with the strategy rather than mere sales.  By developing a clear execution strategy for all campaigns and not being unrealistic about viral campaigns, particularly when it comes to timing.  By measuring cost per action, rather than cost per visit or per click.  For goodness sake, site visitors, followers, subscribers, bounce rate and time on a page is not nearly as important as usability and customer satisfaction.

10. What’s your definition of social media?

Any technology that enables users to share their own content and ideas to an audience without substantive moderation (that is, moderation that would otherwise only allow content that reinforces company-directed brand messages).  Social media must be inherently 1:many:1 communication, not broadcast communication – 1 (or few):many.

You’re comments are welcome…