By Katie McClammer on 5/28/2008 10:03 AM

Community Analytics Chosen as a Panelist for HR.com’s Latest Webinar

 

BALTIMORE (May 2008) – Entitled “The Power of Human Networks®,” Community Analytics’ CEO Myra Norton will team up with Ken Boughrum of Stromberg Consulting and Ketchum Communication’s Rob Flaherty to host HR.com’s  latest webinar designed for Human Resource and Marketing professionals. The webcast is scheduled to air on June 5th and will be made available for listeners to access the information session beginning at 11am ET.

 

The interactive session will focus on developing more effective ways to engage your workforce and influence key people in your communities through the use of Network Analysis. In order to accomplish this, Norton, Boughrum, and Flaherty plan to explain how this research process enables you to map informal networks in order to more efficiently shape opinion, speed decision making, and influence behavior within organizations.

 

 

HR.com intends for its audience to not only learn more about the history and methodology of social network analysis; but more importantly, educate them on how important social networks are in today’s hyper-communication environment. Listeners will be able to take away concrete examples and key insights that will allow them to improve business performance and efficiency.

 

“As organizations seek to achieve greater levels of customer loyalty and drive deeper employee engagement, a concrete understanding of the influence that human networks have in the workplace will become essential for driving organizational effectiveness. I look ... Read More »

By Katie McClammer on 5/28/2008 9:41 AM

Myra Norton to Reveal Methods for Optimizing Market Spending 

 

BALTIMORE (May 2008) – Community Analytics, a research organization that applies the principles of social networking to drive organizational performance, will present at the 2008 BMA Annual Conference on June 11-13th in Loews Lake Las Vegas, Nevada. The Annual Conference will feature a theme of "Marketing in High-Definition: Ideas and Innovations for Visionary Marketing Plans," and intends to help business-to-business marketers crystallize their marketing programs, advance their brands, and network with their peers.

 

 

Community Analytics’ Chief Executive, Myra Norton will co-host a session entitled, “Optimizing Marketing Spend through Influence Networks.” Along with Steve Patrizi (Director of Advertising Sales, LinkedIn Corp.), Tom Michael (VP/Strategy Practice Lead, Jack Morton Worldwide), and Matt Goddard (Co-founder and CEO, R2integrated), the panel intends to educate attendees on methods to develop relationship capital and how community engagement empowers marketing communications. This panel discussion will align with the day’s theme of “Maximizing Marketing for Business Growth.”

 

Along with presenting, Community Analytics will also be sponsoring the event. “The BMA is an excellent organization and we are honored to partner with an association dedicated to increasing the value, importance, and impact of B2B marketing around the world,” Katie Weishaar remarked.  

&a ... Read More »

By Katie McClammer on 5/22/2008 8:46 AM

AdvertisingAge recently published an article, “CMOs, Stop Obsessing Over the Tenure Stat.” Carlos Cata explains, “CMOs should be asking themselves: What is the proper role of marketing at my organization, and how can it be used to create as much value as possible?”

 

 Creating value is about executing on two efforts:
1. Customer retention
2. Customer acquisition

 

Those two efforts require far less mass communication and much more two-way dialogue. Current and future marketing leaders must generate trust and build connectivity through their organizations and among their target audiences.

By Myra Norton on 5/19/2008 7:36 AM

Client Connectivity

Last week I focused on the importance of efficiency within the organization. What I didn’t talk about however, was the fact that this type of effective behavior extends far beyond the bounds of an organization.   There are ways to not only successfully operate your business, but also work to better serve your existing clients and obtain new clients as well.

 

How? By identifying and fostering the existing relationship capital of your company and your clients. Termed Client Connectivity, this form of analysis helps you identify and build on the connections between and amongst your (1) clients, (2) potential clients, and (3) employees. In its most simple form, this analysis draws from the ability to cross reference these three networks and use them in a way that adds value to your firm and to your current and prospective clients. For example, if two distinct sales teams are selling into the same company, they can utilize this knowledge to reach the prospect with one united message. From the client’s perspective, this means an interaction that is at the same time more efficient and comprehensive.  In addition to exploring shared connections, Client Connectivity studies also offer the ability to see who the most central individuals are, both inside and outside of a company.

 

 

What is important to note about Client Connectivity is the fact that you are engaging known entities. There’s no guesswork or speculation here; rather, all of the variables are already identified for you – either though organizational or external network analysis, as illustrated above. The applications for thi ... Read More »

By Myra Norton on 5/13/2008 7:52 AM

The other components of WOMM-U have been even more exciting from my perspective. There are 12 "faculty-led" tracks that occur 6 times throughout the two days. I have the honor of leading one of the groups focused on activating word of mouth in social networks. What has been so wonderful about this approach is that we have 10 to 14 folks around a table who are sharing their very real struggles with the tactical side of WOM, and their peers around that table then help to offer guidance and suggestions from their own experiences. I am working to compile all of the great ideas that are coming out of the discussions in my groups and will be able to share them with all of the participants sometime next week. How great to have the ideas, struggles and thoughts about WOM in Social Networks from more than 50 practitioners! My only wish is that I could participate in other sessions as well as my own.

Read More »

By Myra Norton on 5/9/2008 12:27 PM

It’s hard to know where to start with this post – there are so many exciting learnings to share from WOMMA’s first Word of Mouth Marketing University (WOMM-U).  Yesterday we had the pleasure of hearing from Joseph Jaffe, Jeffrey Graham, the good folks at OPI, and Carla Hendra.  In these keynotes and case studies were many nuggets of wisdom about the importance of WOM, Community and the new frontiers of customer engagement in general. 

Read More »

By Katie McClammer on 5/6/2008 9:09 AM

CEO Will Facilitate Session on Activating Word of Mouth in Social Networks

 

BALTIMORE (April 2008) – Selected among numerous highly qualified candidates, Community Analytics’ CEO, Myra Norton has been chosen to present at the 2008 Word of Mouth Marketing University Conference. This event, also known as WOMM-U, is hosted by WOMMA and will occur May 8-9th in Miami, Florida.

 

 

 

This type of conference is a first for WOMMA and has attracted organizations such as The New York Times, Carnival, Ogilvy North America, and more. The two-day symposium will be composed of a series of small, highly interactive breakout sessions. These discussions will provide attendees an opportunity to participate in intensive WOMM-conversations with 10-14 of their marketing peers.

 

Norton’s breakout session entitled, “Activating WOM in Social Networks: Beginners,” will discuss hard hitting items such as how to effectively employ social networks in authentic customer engagement initiatives, and a comparison between general social networks and relationships of trust and advice-seeking. Norton also plans to highlight best practices to provide value to consumers and connect with them, ultimately increasing participation.

“I am looking forward to the interactive, workshop-style format of the conference. This arrangement allows for the audience to immerse themselves in each other’s ideas and expand on the topic in a dynamic way,” Norton says of the WOMM-U conference. “I want part ... Read More »

By Myra Norton on 5/6/2008 7:17 AM

A lot of people asked me about my posting last week, Human Networks Have Power in Uncertain Times, so I thought it would be a good idea to talk a little more about how relationships are important over the course of the next few weeks. In what ways are relationships important when the economy is weak? This can be answered from a number of perspectives.

Organizational networks are a good place to start.  By definition organizational networks are the informal knowledge communities within the workplace.  In today’s information economy, there is recognition that the flow of information inside organizations is not limited to the hierarchies of formal organizational charts. In fact, extensive research shows us that advice seeking is not bound by these structures, and often even detailed maps of organizational structures cannot accurately depict the informal interactions that occur amongst employees. 

 

So what does this mean? Well, from an organizational standpoint, these uncertain times in the economy often limit a firm’s ability to hire needed additional staff. Therefore, it’s critical to empower your team to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. The need to restructure part of a department would be a good example of this. The same is true in times of layoffs or workforce reductions. Not knowing who your top performers are from both a formal and informal standpoint could prove to be detrimental to your firm. The manner in which you utilize these key players and position them in ways that help transfer the flow of information is critical.

 

Some of the most important internal teams in an organization are customer account teams. How can you make sure you’re leveraging their relationships and supporting them so that they are able to build stronger and more solid connections with your customers and prospects?

... Read More »

By Myra Norton on 5/2/2008 7:57 AM

For all of you who are members of LinkedIn, you may have noticed an unusually large amount of activity coming from my account. Katie brought it to my attention that I have over 1200 contacts in my outlook, but had only connected with a mere 70 of you on this platform. I must admit, I have held out for a long time in terms of actively using the platform. 

 

I read an article recently that stated, “499 of the Fortune 500 companies have director-level profiles and higher on LinkedIn. Even Barack Obama recently teamed up with LinkedIn to reach entrepreneurs, small business owners and executives, asking them very pointed questions regarding their needs from the next U.S. president.” 

 

Isn’t it amazing how easy it is for all of us to connect in one spot? It’s also hard to believe that this is the standard resume for all professionals; who would have thought this would be the case 10 years ago? Although I’m a novice to LinkedIn, I’m quickly learning about how helpful it can be. My past hesitancy was born out of a strong feeling that relationships of trust and advice-seeking are not built and sustained online.  But what I’m learning is that tools like LinkedIn can actually help us communicate more efficiently with individuals in our networks – in a way, these tools help us leverage that relationship capital I talked about in a previous post.  I’m glad that Katie convinced me it was time to get more involved – it’s been great to “connect” with many folks who I have not had the pleasure of talking with in a while.

 

Now I’m considering using LinkedIn as a recruiting platform. Do you have any experience with this?