Update: companion piece posted at Strumpette.
Time for another Moment of Venn:
- Transparent
- Advocate
- Professional
- Transparent + Professional = Reviewer
- Professional + Advocate = Astroturfer
- Advocate + Transparent = Customer Evangelist
Transparent + Professional + Advocate = Social Media PR Pro
Now – a little explanation about why the guys in gray are facing an uphill battle. The communities that “P.R. 2.0” is so eager to “engage” and “influence” does not want them around.
It’s okay to go in as a reviewer with no financial ties to the outcome. It’s even better to be that amateur with a great love for a product or service. You can try to cultivate those, but you have to watch out that you don’t violate the rules of Word of Mouth marketing. It goes without saying that the Astroturf crowd is just a PR backlash waiting to happen. So why would anyone have a problem with someone who sits squarely in the center of the diagram? A clearly-identified professional advocate, there to share possibly valuable and fun information? [Read more…]
