Thanks to all of you who joined us for today’s Engaged Brand Twebinar with Edward Boches, the Chief Creative Officer and Chief Social Media Officer at Mullen. We really enjoy it when you come prepared with questions and boy were you guys prepared today.

Edward has such a passion for social media. It was evident in all aspects of our conversation. His enthusiasm and expansive knowledge on the topic is definitely worth a second listen. So be sure to download the Mullen podcast.

I put together some of the highlights from today’s Twebinar but, seriously, there were so many awesome insights you really should listen to the podcast.

Some of Edward’s tremendous take-aways on Social Media:

• The cool thing about social media is that you can do a lot of things quickly, learn from them and then do something else.
• Counting fans and followers is a vapid metric. The quality of your followers is much more important than quantity.
• One word-of-mouth recommendation is worth more than 200 TV ads.
• People are turning to their social friends for recommendations.

Why should you get involved in Social Media?

• If you don’t you will be obsolete so fast
• It is the most exciting, inspirational, creative source of media. It is a revolution. It gives you more access to thinkers and new ways to expand your tribe

The 25 tactic when using Social Media:

• 25% of the time, talk about yourself or promote yourself.
• 25% of the time, promote content created by your followers.
• 25% of the time, identify and share links that will be useful to your community.
• 25% of the time, engage in dialog, answer questions and interact with your community.

If you take that approach people will spread your content, share things back with you, say nice things about you and share word-of-mouth.

Current Trends:

• Consumers want to participate, not just watch.
• People’s relationship with media is way more complex than it used to be, eg Obama’s inauguration.
• There are so many choices and options that people no longer have the same shared experience like they did when there were only 3 TV channels. People want to be connected to as individuals. Brands should customize their approach and invite communities to participate.

What is next for Social Media?

• In 1 or 2 years we won’t be using the word Social Media, everything will be Social.
• CrowdSourcing: Invite co-creation for everything you do. Your community will create content.

If we didn’t get to your question today, make sure you follow @edwardboches on Twitter. You can connect with him directly and see what he’s up to next. And be sure to check out his new blog TheNextGreatGeneration.com, it’s written entirely by Gen-Y 18-25 year olds who will share their thoughts on life, love and everything in between.

Thanks again for listening and participating. Here are a couple of the cool tweets that took place during the Twebinar: