Alterian Establishes Social Media Marketing
Council to Champion Responsible Use of Social Data by
Organizations
New York, October 19, 2009 Alterian
(LSE: ALN) the leading international integrated marketing platform
provider today announced the launch of the Social Media Marketing
Council (SMMC) an independent committee designed to ensure the
responsible use of social media and the resulting data by
commercial organizations. This new council has attracted leading
figures from the business and marketing worlds to ensure that data
collected by businesses through social channels is used ethically
and responsibly. The announcement was made at annual marketing
event - DMA ’09 in San Diego.
The SMMC will be an independently chaired
organization with a mandate to:
- Help
regulate how businesses harvest and use data from social networks
and other online channels
- Provide
guidance on what constitutes responsible use of social media
data
- Encourage
organizations to use best practice when they interact with
consumers.
“Nobody joins a social network or uses online
public communications tools to become a sales target, however it’s
inevitable that organizations will recognize the opportunity that
emerges when a huge mass of people congregate,” said Michael
Fisher, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing, Alterian. “While
Alterian is committed to helping businesses market their products
and solutions in an innovative fashion, it needs to ensure they do
so in a responsible way. By establishing the SMMC, we are
championing best practice in how businesses market using social
channels, while relying on third party communications experts to
lead the way for the best, most responsible use of consumer data
generated via such social channels”
The council will be chaired by Bernice
Grossman, principal consultant and founder of the DMRS Group and
includes representatives from leading marketing services providers
such as Merkle and Targetbase. As a leader in the integrated
marketing space, Alterian is sponsoring the formation of this group
to help foster a positive approach for businesses to the use of
social media for marketing purposes.
“The explosion in social media has dangled a
huge carrot in front of organizations that see it as nothing more
than an opportunity to scrape email addresses and phone numbers for
their direct marketing efforts,” said Grossman. “This council is
designed to bring together industry leaders to draw the line of
what is acceptable for organizations to do when gathering
information from, or marketing via, social channels. We’re hopeful
that businesses will pledge their support for the SMMC to
demonstrate that they’re interested in the rights of the consumer,
not just in making a fast buck.”
The SMMC will provide guidelines,
documentation and best practice advice for organizations on exactly
what kind of data it is acceptable to source through social media,
and how they should be using it responsibly for lead generation and
customer service. There will be an online portal to provide access
to these resources, which will include a discussion forum and
opportunities for companies to demonstrate that they are exhibiting
best practices. The council will meet for the first time at the DMA
in San Diego and thereafter on a quarterly basis to discuss the
latest developments in this space, with the first objective to
define what constitutes the unacceptable use of social media
information.
“We all have responsibilities when it comes to
using social media for marketing purposes,” said Don Patrick, Chief
Operating Officer, Merkle – a leading customer relationship
management agency. “Customers will rapidly grow tired of aggressive
social targeting and businesses are likely to do themselves more
harm than good by trying to over-exploit social channels. As
responsible marketers we need to be self governing to ensure we
have the consumer’s best interests at heart.”
The council is currently made up of the
following representatives and organizations
· Bernice
Grossman, Founder & Principal Consultant, DMRS Group
(Chair)
· Jennifer
Barrett, Global Privacy and Public Policy Executive,
Acxiom
· Don Patrick ,
Chief Operating Officer, Merkle
· Trae
Clevinger, VP Strategy & Innovation, TargetBase
· Jim Schwab,
VP Business Development Social Media, Alterian
· Janet Rubio,
Chief Insights Officer, Engauge
· Mike Coakley,
Vice President Marketing Technology, Epsilon
“Maintaining one’s privacy, especially online,
gets more challenging and important to individuals every day.
Businesses are equally challenged to identify the boundaries around
what represents responsible use of social media for marketing
purposes,” said Jennifer Barrett, Global Privacy and Public Policy
Executive, Acxiom. “The formation of this council is a fantastic
step in setting the acceptable standards for organizations and
ensuring they think about what they do with the information they
have access to.”