(click the image for an easier-to-read version. Note that this a ‘living’ chart that I have been soliciting feedback/input on – if you have any suggestions/additions/changes, just post a comment below or at the SlideShare page!)

I’ve already noted how social media is not the same as Word of Mouth. And as the social landscape broadens, it’s simply causing more confusion as the term “social” gets slapped on just about anything to make it sound cool and relevant.

Above is a chart I’ve been working on that tries to illustrate the “social” landscape in terms of tactics and goals. You should be able to take any social touchpoint/tactic/business model (brand community, Twitter profile, blogger outreach, CGM sweepstakes) and plot them on this chart.

Essentially, this chart segments the social landscape into four quadrants… as a function of:

• CRM (social CRM or sCRM)
• Marketing (social MARKETING)
• PR (social PR)
• Media (social MEDIA)

The horizontal axis represents “owned” social channels (that you own/control) versus “leased” ones (i.e., paying a company for access to their network of consumers willing to try and/or talk about your product). The “partially owned” area represents social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook where yes, you can establish a brand presence but you don’t own any underlying data and are at the whim of the service provider in terms of metrics or even having your account suspended. The vertical axis represents the depth of engagement from very 1-to-1/personal to impersonal/3rd-person – i.e., “engagement” vs. “reach”:

In conclusion, there is nothing wrong with leveraging the social web to facilitate high-impact, quick hit consumer promotions, but at the end of the day was your goal to “reach” 1,000,000 consumers with a message about your product, or simply “acquire” a 10,000 email addresses into your company’s email database? As the social landscape broadens, marketers need to ensure that their success metrics are in line with the tactics they are leveraging. And that unfortunately can’t happen until you have properly educated the folks holding the pursestrings.

Your product is being talked about everywhere by everyone.  A single product review can be seen by millions.  This realization can be terrifying, or it can inspire you to take advantage of this powerful word-of-mouth opportunity.

1.    Harness the power of positive. Your product isn’t going to satisfy 100% of consumers.  People are going to dislike it or have a bad experience, it’s inevitable.  But chances are there are customers who love your product, who have gone as far as writing a positive review or telling a friend about their experience.  They don’t have to do that.  That’s a conscious decision to take time out of their day to promote you.  These are your advocates.  Identify them, support them, and encourage these actions.  If you can’t find advocates, create them.  Find a consumer who has had a terrible experience and go above and beyond anything they would expect to make things right, for example.  Chances are that brand detractor becomes your brand ambassador.

2.    Energize. What better place to start the Word-of-mouth movement than on your home turf?  Invite your advocates to join a conversation together with you.  Reward them for their contributions.  Not only  does  this empower your customers to spread your message, it  facilitates a dialogue with your most loyal customers to gain insights and research into purchase decisions and habits.  Create a Groundswell.

3.    Cultivate and amplify the message. Use this groundswell as your opportunity to create a unified voice among your advocates.  Educate them and supply them with the resources to educate others, and the tools and means necessary to spread the word!

Apply this method effectively and let your customers do the rest. This assuming that your product doesn’t suck.