How does one convince companies and institutions to use social media in their communication? Until very recently I would surely not have recommended to explore the possibilities by using a virtual world such as Second Life. Virtual worlds seem to be for companies and institutions which are already very familiar with new media. Today however Cybergrrl Oh (Aliza Sherman) made me think again.
Cybergrrl Oh talked in Second Life about cross-marketing via Second Life and social media. Of course, it was a bit like preaching for the choir when she said that Second Life should not be separated from other social media.
People in Second Life tend to be early adopters who use Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, wikis, Ning, blogs and forums. It is safe to say that they spend a good deal of their life online, using social media other than Second Life. It seems logical to consider Second Life as a hub in order to reach those people.
Cybergrrl than told us the more surprising story of the Rasmuson Foundation which supports non-profit projects in Alaska.
She guided them into Second Life and in fact this was at the same time an entry-point for the foundation in social media. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, it came after Second Life.
This was a good strategy, so Cybergrrl explained, because coming into Second Life makes a client discover how being social is of prime importance.
I thought this over and I must admit, it is not that self-evident for a company or an institution to be “social”. All these years after the Cluetrain Manifesto companies still believe in hysterical marketing campaigns, which make them feel very proud while at the same time the audience at large considers their campaigns as untrustworthy marketing exercises.
Engaging into conversations, something most human beings are rather familiar with, seems to be very, very difficult for companies and institutions. Just look at publicity, read press releases, and you know what I mean.
Second Life was a marketing disaster for many big consumer brands. Not only because the numbers were not there, but also because the average avatar was completely uninterested in the campaigns or, even worse, made fun with them.
Smart companies and institutions however first observe, listen, and participate on a human scale in-world. They learn how to talk, how to make fun, how to care even. In other words, they learn how to engage into a normal human conversation.
Further down the road they’ll discover the many other social tools such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc, but they’ll use those tools in the same human way. Starting out on a smaller scale in Second Life will give them a huge advantage in the learning process. More concrete: the relations they engage in will be more durable.
Spikes in traffic after a campaign will not be followed by a steep drop, making yet another (and even more expensive) campaign necessary. If the relations are more durable, it simply means that after a spike traffic will fall back a bit, but will stay on a higher level after that.
Cybergrrl did agree that Second Life or other virtual environments are not a good solution for all clients and in all situations. Anyway, I do agree that engaging in Second Life is a very rewarding way to start out in social media, not only in terms of learning about the newest tools, but most importantly because of this very basic but crucial lesson in “being social”.
Do you think starting in out in Second Life in order to learn about social media makes sense? Or is Second Life primarily for “advanced” netizens?
Roland Legrand
