Do you know what Bloggers and Business Brands Want? You’ll be surprised… I recently attended Social@Scale Summit, a Sprinklr event that was hosted by Lenovo. Sprinklr builds software and offers the only Social Media Management System that enables global scale for every social enterprise with social media analytics. Sprinklr is really about enhancing the online social experience for their clients and has a strong belief that people never forget how you made them feel. Sprinklr coordinates this event and it is hosted by their clients all over the world. Just take a look at their events calendar and you’ll see what I mean. Maybe you are conveniently located in a city where a future Summit is being hosted and can attend. I’d definitely encourage your attendance, it’s a awesome event with built in networking breaks. I walked away with an upgraded perspective of what a positive online social experience should be. I was able to connect with different people from a variety of businesses and I’ve already followed up with them and we are going to see where these new connections take us. I’m excited…

The Social@Scale Agenda covered topics like social experience management, conversation management best practices, collaboration management best practices, content management best practices along with frequent networking break opportunities. What I took away from Social@Scale is that brands need to learn the benefits of fostering relationships with their clients and potential clients online and off. Brands also need to engage with people that are already talking about them. The brands social relationship infrastructure is the 5 C’s: Conversation, Community, Collaboration, Campaign and Content. David Zimmerman from Sprinklr stated that “Engagement Marketing is the new battleground.” In my experience of being a lifestyle blogger I was able to relate to a lot of what was being said because bloggers have to brand themselves too, engage online and even more so as a brand ambassador representing a company. Brands love when consumers share their experiences online with others. That’s original content that they can use as a testimonial of sorts. There’s nothing like using co-created content from a satisfied customer. That’s real time marketing!

While I was listening to the presentations I realized that bloggers and brands both have a lot of the same common goals. I love to talk online and generate conversations around different subject matter. A business is super smart to leverage influencers online to generate conversation about their brand. It’s not very expensive for a business to expand their reach. As a blogger I have participated in countless twitter chats and parties that were brand specific creating fresh, relevant and interesting content online. Many brands work with bloggers (Brand Ambassadors) and blog networks (Campaigns) to expand their reach. Every brand is different and will utilize their communities in different ways. Some brands deem reviews a critical part of their business to showcase their product or service to the masses. Reviews are created content that should give ones genuine and honest opinion and are often consumer driven. I can agree with that statement because I personally always look at hotel and resort reviews when making travel plans. I’ll also ask my online network for recommendations and base decisions of where I’ll book my reservation on my findings. Kelly Voelker from InterContinental Hotel Group shared that “Reviews are critical to the hotel business!”

I started blogging in June of 2009 and I have built my online social media presence organically on all my different channels. I will tell you that Twitter is my 1st love and where I put most of my efforts. My personality shines through when I am talking to people online. You definitely get a sense of who I am and it’s not that different than meeting me personally. The key to online engagement is being genuine. Cassie Callon from Chiquita said that she “treats online engagement like a face to face conversation.” Lastly, I’ll talk about the mixed media plan and content management strategies. Mixed Media Plan = create content, aggregate, syndicate/engage and optimize in real time! Content Management has three phases: Plan, Create & Promote! When I look at these two particular strategies I know that as a blogger I have similar strategies whether I’m creating sponsored content or not. The end goal (for a business) is to be visible and captivate a loyal audience/consumers online that will keep them coming back to hear what you have to say and buy your products. As a blogger I’d say the end game is quite similar. You want a loyal readership and the opportunity to build relationships and your brand. (If your blog is your business, you want to monetize it and make money!)

I think that Sprinklr is a great software for big businesses that are trying to leverage their reach online, engage with clients, uphold positive brand reputation and measure their social media analytics. Check them out, I love everything I saw and heard at Social@Scale! In another post I’ll share tips on how bloggers can get on a brands radar, especially if you’d like to establish a working relationship or partnership with them. Oh, and in case I didn’t mention it… brands want to work with bloggers! I hope this post was insightful!

Disclosure: I was invited to the Social@Scale Summit by Sprinklr as a guest of Lenovo. I am a Lenovo Insider Participant, all views and opinions are solely my own.