This week i am doing a series of press interviews on research we did with regards to social networks as an opportunity for marketeers to engage in a new way with audiences, and to capitalise on what we call 'social recommendation' . The result of the research is bundled in "The Word of the Web Guidelines for Advertisers". The opportunity is certainly there:  23% of social networkers paste comments on ads and 25% forward ads to a friend. Moreover 64% of consumers will visit other websites to find out more about what they have read on a friends’ site. This demonstrates an inherent trust and desire for consumers to determine what is on their friends’ site in social networking communities. Couple this with the fact that 60% of social networkers are prepared to put sponsored/branded content on their personal space; and advertisers have the opportunity to influence social networking communities through interesting and engaging content that is either recommended to their friends or included on their personal space.

The research also shows 43% of consumers have visited the personal space of a brand, and 16% have already had a dialogue, or sent a message to a brand. This insight proves consumers want to engage deeper with brands and actually interact directly with them in the online world.

It's clear that social networking has changed the rules of the game and consumers now have the power to make or break a brand. To really harness the power of social recommendation advertisers have to be prepared to open up their brand to influential social networkers and build trusted connections to let them drive the brand to their communities. For brands to engage effectively with consumers in this new advertising environment they need to adhere to some key principles - we bundled these in ‘Word of the Web’ Advertising Guidelines. None of them are really rocket-science if you get it - but every day we are amazed by the basic questions we get from Marketeers so thought they were worth bundling (Funnily enough - and total coincidence! - just today one of our key Belgian people refers to the same in his today's post. and gives some similar rules.

1. Understand consumer’s motivations for using social networks. Advertisers need to understand the mindsets and behaviours that are occurring within these networks and think about both the author and the viewer’s motivations. For example nearly 60% of Europeans use social networking as a tool to facilitate existing relationships and keep in touch with friends and family; approximately half use it to express opinions and views on topics of interest; whilst 47% use social networks to deepen relationships with like-minded people.
2. Express yourself as a brand. People are using social networks to express their individuality and brands should too. To fit in this environment, a willingness to have a voice, expression or character is key. The network can be used to express a side of a brand people don’t normally see and encourage them to interact with it – but it needs to remain authentic.
3. Create and maintain good conversations. Individuals are powerful in this environment – they are the content creators, conversation creators and community creators. Brands that are willing to have a dialogue, rather than a monologue fit more naturally into this environment, and could truly benefit from its viral power. 
4. Empower participants. You are entering a world of empowered participants who control their own content, are expressing their individuality and would welcome having this power over branded properties on their Space. 
5. Identify online brand advocates. Advertisers need to identify relevant networking sites i.e. a site which includes people who already use/buy a company’s product and align to this audience and existing customer segmentation models. The simplest way would be to analyse the network and see which users generate the most traffic/comments to their pages and analyse the content to see what their areas of interest are. By researching blogging habits or comments on a product in this environment, advertisers can reach out to influentials and begin a dialogue
6. Behave like a social networker. A fundamental principle is that the best advertisers on Spaces will behave like the best Spaces owners by: Being creative - Being honest and courteous (ask permission) - Being individual - Being conscious of the audience - Updating regularly

As part of the study, the research also identified the different trends in social networking across eight European markets (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and UK) helping to reinforce the importance of this landscape to advertisers. Interestingly, the adoption of social networking was high in all regions surveyed. A third of European social networkers visit networks at least once every day and 41% a few times a week. In general, it’s a popular evening activity, with 44% of European social networkers logging on between 8pm and 11pm. On average 25% of European social networkers spend at least 15-29 minutes interacting on social networks; whilst approximately a third spend between 30-59 minutes. The most important reasons for consumers using social networks were to keep in touch with friends (60%); approximately half use it to express opinions and views on topics; and 60% to look at other people’s spaces. The different types of behaviour, enables advertisers to understand the different values and motivations of users in different social networks to allow them to target their campaigns more effectively.

The research demonstrates how consumers are forging relationships in the new online world. The key challenge for advertisers is how to approach this savvy online community. Jaap Favier, Senior Research director at Forrester Research points out: “Senior marketers are dying to get in touch with the valuable, but hard-to-reach 25-35 year olds. They see social media as a channel that is cost effective, and, more importantly, a channel that adds credibility to their brands with that target group.”

Executive paper will be posted & available soon.