Advertising Fuelosophy 101

Hey Friend, Did You Just Tweet Me an Ad?

In an article published today in the New York Times, I read about a whole new wave of opportunity for those on Twitter who have larger followings ... send your friends and followers an advertisement. Yes, you can now make a little money sending tweets to your followers that is actually an ad from an advertiser.

It appears that a growing group of celebrities, bloggers and regular Internet users are allowing advertisers to send commercial messages to their personal contacts. As the article reported, "It is perhaps the last frontier in advertising — getting regular people to send a sentence or two of text, on behalf of paying advertisers, to their friends and admirers. The idea, according to the entrepreneurs who are developing such services for Twitter and other Web networks, is that people trust recommendations from those they know and respect, while they increasingly ignore nearly ever other kind of ad message in print, on television and online."

Some of the brand new companies propping up to take advantage of this next wave of advertising distribution are Ad.ly, Izea, Likes.com (set to launch on December 8, 2009) and Peer2. In addition, the article reported, "Even the Internet giants are warming to the idea of harnessing informal chats between friends to promote their products and services. This month, Amazon.com said it would start paying commissions to individuals who refer buyers to the site via Twitter messages."

The goal of each of these companies is to get regular people who have a following to become spokespeople, without feeling like one. As Joey Caroni (co-founder of Peer2) states, “We don’t want to create an army of spammers, and we are not trying to turn Facebook and Twitter into one giant spam network. All we are trying to do is get consumers to become marketers for us.” I don't know how you feel, but it sure sounds a little like spam to me.

What really gets these new companies excited is the opportunity to connect less notable Internet personalities with the huge pool of smaller advertisers. The example given in the article was an expert on cycling, with 1,000 Twitter followers, might agree to send an ad about a new bike helmet — a message that might well be implicitly trusted by his followers. In a recent Google ad, Ad.ly is soliciting people to "tweet cool stuff and get paid."

For me this push by advertisers and this new crop of advertising companies takes away the authenticity of a product or service you really do like and want the world to know about. When you are solicited to tweet and get paid, it is very difficult to know that product, use that product, love that product and write about it. This new stream of advertising perpetuates the traditional way of doing business -- volume of intrusion (send out an advertising message to lots of people and most likely some of it will stick) -- except it now wears the latest wave of technology. Instead I like the idea of an product or service provider really earning their value and endorsement.

Unfortunately, now I wonder if I can trust my friends and those I'm following when it comes to telling me about the newest, latest, coolest thing? That's my thought, what's yours?

Looking for Holiday Deals Online ... Try These Sites

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday draw near, there are a number of new online websites and tools to help you locate bargains this Holiday season. According to MarketingVox the following are some examples of sites ready to help you find the best deals:

1. Dealnews.com -- also offers an iPhone App to track Black Friday offers and includes deals that have both been leaked and confirmed.
2. BlackFriday.org -- this site tracks rumored deals, tips from other shoppers and Twitter.
3. BlackFriday.GottaDeal.Com -- also posts advance copies of holiday sales circulars, online deals and in-store specials.
4. CheapTweet.com -- focuses specifically on mining deals posted on Twitter and offers ongoing, updated lists of national retailers' offers.
5. RetailMeNot.com -- serves up coupons, discounts and promotional codes for merchandise, groceries, travel and services and launched a page for this holiday shopping season that will aggregate Black-Friday and Cyber Monday coupons, deals and promotions. It also features a live Twitter feed.

Well, happy hunting bargain shoppers and let the clicking begin. That's my thought, what's yours?

Want a Deal this Holiday Season ... Go Social.

The uncertainty of the economy is affecting more than just the American consumer's mindset, it's affecting how retailers are reaching out to fickle consumers. This is especially true for online retailers. And, guess what, we win, but you might want to shop early!

According to Shop.org’s eHoliday Study, released on October 22, 2009, conducted by BIGresearch, shoppers will see changes in retail marketing and promotions this holiday season

With an understanding that many of today’s shoppers use Facebook and Twitter regularly, and because these tools are more cost-effective than traditional advertising, 47.1 percent of retailers surveyed will be increasing their use of social media this holiday season. More than half of retailers said they have added or improved their Facebook page (60.3%) and Twitter pages (58.7%) this year, while two-thirds (65.6%) have added or enhanced blogs and RSS feeds. In addition, to provide consumers with an extra incentive to start shopping, one-third of retailers (34.3%) say they will offer holiday deals earlier this year.

The social media sites give the consumer a valuable source of information regarding price comparisons, product reviews and other information to find great gifts at great deals.

In addition, free shipping offers will abound this holiday season:

• 79.4% of online retailers will offer free shipping with conditions sometime during the holiday season
• 57.4% also plan to offer free shipping without conditions
• 35.7% said their budgets for free shipping are higher than last year
• 30.0% said free shipping offers will start earlier than a year ago.

Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org, says "Retailers... have created promotions and incentives to help Americans save money this holiday season... combining new initiatives with tried-and-true tactics to make their companies stand out."

Finally, online retailers are also compensating for the economy by making operational changes to help them protect their profits. According to the survey, 41.4% of retailers have scaled back on inventory levels and 22.9% have hired fewer people in their stores.

Here's the lowdown based on this study, deals won't be hard to find ... people want the deal because they plan to spend less overall ... inventories are lower ... many are already shopping/comparing ... when the deal is done, it's really done. So Mr./Ms. Gift Giver this is the year of the early bird because you still get the deal and don't lose the gift that someone special really wants. That's my thought, what's yours?

Is Twitter Nothing More than Pointless Babble?

I just became aware of a report that Pear Analytics published in August of 2009. Many of you may have already found it, read it, logged it and moved on. But if was new reading for me and one that held my interest since I'm a Twitter fan, but still consider myself a neophyte.

So here's the synopsis of Pear Analytics research and resulting white paper. First, they analyzed 2,000 tweets from the public time line over a two-week period from 11am to 5 pm, capturing tweets in half-hour increments. Then they categorized the tweets into six buckets (their words):

1. News;
2. Spam;
3. Self-Promotion;
4. Pointless Babble;
5. Conversational;
6. Pass-Along Value.

The results were interesting: Pointless Babble won with 40.55% of the total tweets captured; however, Conversational was a very close second at 37.55%, and Pass-Along Value was third (albeit a distant third) at 8.7% of the tweets captured.

Some of the other results Pear Analytics felt notable:

• 11:30a and Monday’s have the most frequent tweets with Pass-Along Value.  If you want something re-tweeted, try it at 11:30 in the morning, or try it on a Monday.
• Spam seemed pretty consistent all day, everyday, but luckily was second-to-last on frequency.
• News seemed heavier at 2:00p and on Tuesday’s.  Note that we did not collect any tweets during the Michael Jackson news, in order not to skew the results.
• Conversational tweets were high between 2:00 and 4:00p throughout the study, and heaviest on Tuesdays.  Most people are busy on Monday catching up with work, so perhaps it takes until Tuesday to get into the swing of Twittering again.

In addition, the above findings, Pear Analytics is planning to conduct a followup study addressing many of the criticisms of the first study. One of the major criticisms was the subjectivity of what went into the Pointless Babble bucket. They are in the process now of refining the study, part two. Here's a link to their blog outlining the next study with changes.

As the industry and individuals are continuining to put strategic intent behind Twitter, I look forward to the learning. The question becomes as everyone is doing it, how will evolve ... an IM for friends, a trustworthy news source, continuing education, a community to mine for sales, an expertise builder, etc. Time will tell, that's my thought, what's yours?

The Aging of Social Media

Many of you will remember the advertising slogan from Oldsmobile before their demise, "This isn't your father's Oldsmobile." Well perhaps there is a new slogan for the rapid rise of social media sites, "This isn't your child's Facebook or YouTube or MySpace."

A report released today from Forrester Research indicates that more than four out of five U.S. adults (ages 18 and up) use social media at least once a month. In the report Forrester also developed an interesting set of groupings to indicate the level of engagement/activity of the U.S. Population. I've included a picture of their groupings called a behavior ladder. Here's their definition of the behavior ladder, "The profile puts online people into overlapping groups based on their participation (at least once a month) in the behaviors shown in the ladder. We've kept the ladder categories consistent to allow us to make comparisons year-to-year, across ages and genders, and across geographies. This provides something that's often sorely lacking in analysis of online social phenomena: perspective."

The implications of this report are huge for both consumers and marketers. The trend is and will continue to be for the foreseeable future -- if you're online, you're using social media, no matter the age. Forrester reports that the over 55 demographic has about two-thirds participation and the 35 and under crowd is over 90% participation. In total for U.S. adults only 18% don't use social media technologies (last year the number was 25% so participation continues to grow). These newest statistics shout to all of us in the marketing industry that a new paradigm exists to reach and connect with customers. And the strategic adopters (notice I didn't say early) will gain an advantage over the less enthused members in their competitive space.

Actually , I thought that Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research states it well in his blog, "In my travels, I've found that marketers have a variety of attitudes about social technologies, ranging from "it's obvious that they're growing" to "it's a flash in the pan". The point of data like this is to provide a real, solid, objective basis for planning and discussion that goes beyond personal experience. No matter who you market to, and in what country, you need to know what your customers are doing."

Last, but not least, the folks at Forrester have developed a widget based on their data and the behavior profile. I've included both the widget to try here and a link to download it on your own site. Have fun!

Five Mistakes to Never Make on Twitter

I know many people use Twitter for personal reasons. However if you use Twitter for professional reasons, an article just came out on the Five Mistakes to Never Make on Twitter that has some sage advice. The following is the list of five mistakes not to make:

1. Don't Forget to Fully Fill Out Your Twitter Profile: This may seem obvious, but many small business Twitter users fail to capitalize on the space that Twitter provides for a real name, photo, location, bio, and URL. You may not realize it, but you're damaging your Twitter credibility with an incomplete profile.
2. Don't Forget You're Always On: If you're an official representative of your company on Twitter, you need to remember that you're always on. Twitter is most certainly about being human, sharing experiences, and not always talking shop all the time. Given how informal discourse can be in 140 characters, however, it's easy to get overly relaxed and comfortable in your everyday Twittering ways, and in so doing forget that every tweet from your professional account will be analyzed by your audience.
3. Don't Tweet and Delete: Yes Twitter, and a majority of the web, mobile, and desktop clients, support deleting tweets, but the delete feature is not a good fallback method for a mistweet. Deleting tweets is something that you should avoid at all costs for two important reasons: your deleted tweets will live on in Google cache or Twitter search results, and a deleted tweet could send a flare to followers to investigate further.
4. Don't Tweet for Shock Value: For most, this is a mistake that you would never consider making, but for a small percentage of Twitterers looking to make a big splash, shock value tweets are a way to game for instant attention. The short term goals are most likely instant buzz for their small business, or a jump in traffic to their website, but using the micro medium to shock tweet is a definite no-no.
5. Don't Abuse Hashtags: Hashtag spam is a relatively new issue that is starting to plague the Twitterverse. Hashtag spam occurs when a Twitterer appends a trending topic on Twitter to their tweets simply to gain extra attention. Typically tweets have nothing to do with the subject matter being discussed by other Twitterers, but the trending hashtag will be used in the hopes of gaining more exposure.

In the professional environment the goal is to gain credibility, connect and engage with other professionals and become a trusted resource. It's always a good idea to remember your tweet is available for many to see and find. That's my thought, what's yours.

Does Social Networking Help Brands?

According to a study recently released by WorkPlace Media the answer to the question posed in this blog's title is no. The overall impact of a brand's presence on social networking sites is minimal in terms of impact and perception, according their conclusions.

The major findings in this study state that 96% of respondents said their opinion of a product brand did not change if that brand had no presence on a social networking site, and only 11% of social networking users reported following any major brand through a social networking site, and just 12% of respondents said their opinion of a brand changes if that brand maintains a social networking presence.

In addition, the study found that only 25% of respondents recommend a business/product via a social network site and just 18% acted upon a business/product recommendation from a social networking site.

Stephanie Molnar, CEO of WorkPlace Media, says "When it comes to influencing brand perception and purchase decisions... social networking... has a long way to go."

Well, the opinion of this writer is what would you expect? Much of the social media environment was built upon the premise of "keeping in touch." Facebook was started so college friends could connect, Twitter began with the simple thought of "what are you doing," LinkedIn was the business version of Facebook and You Tube was created to upload and share videos. And if you check into the histories you'll see all of these social sites (and more) are still in their infancy.

Think about it, if the goal is to connect with friends, family, coworkers, business associates, laugh over a video, then it makes sense that it is not a brand influencer ... yet. The key word here is yet. As the social networking sites continue to evolve (and they are evolving ... who doesn't get irritated when someone tweets what they're having for lunch), a brand can have an impact. But the brand must think like a person, not a product, not a service, but a person.

You might be thinking what a stupid thought, brand think like a person ... bear with me ... people connect with each other, they gain value, support, help, enjoyment, etc. by sharing life ... a brand can do the same. A brand can offer value, insight, support, help, enjoyment by sharing its attributes with people who are interested or part of a community. What a brand shouldn't do is think like an advertiser and just blanket the social sites with offers, deals and more. This is mass advertising, not social networking.

And as us in the industry grow in understanding of evolving social media, the better we can help brands think like a person. In a year from now, I would love to see this study again ... because smart people are already figuring this out. That's my thought, what's yours.

Where Do Trust and Influence Converge in the World of Brands?

Today I read two different reports from two different companies and I thought it would be interesting to link the reports, in a casual kind of way, to see if there is a learning lesson for brands. The first report comes from Razorfish, titled "Fluent." The second report comes from Nielsen, titled "Global Online Consumer Survey."

The Fluent report concludes, "traditional top-down branding will become increasingly  impotent as social media grows. Consumers continue to rely on personal  networks to learn about products and services. Consumers are shaping brands as much as brands themselves are. Brand management will require greater transparency and a stronger connection to consumers than ever before." And just for the record, we have known this fact for a while and agree with its premise and direction.

Razorfish advises that all brands should at least grasp how social media plays into purchase decisions. The study indicates that "social influencers," people active on social platforms, tend to hold the most sway during the consideration phase leading up to a purchase. Close family and friends play by far the biggest roles at the initial awareness and final "action" stages relating to a purchase. Corporate bloggers typically rated at or near the bottom among influencers at each stage of the process.

 The Nielsen report offered these conclusions, "recommendations from personal acquaintances or opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising worldwide. 90% of consumers surveyed said that they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70% trusted consumer opinions posted online. However, in this new age of consumer control, advertisers will be encouraged by the fact that brand websites, the most trusted form of advertiser-led advertising, are trusted by as many people (70%) as consumer opinions posted online."

Jonathan Carson, President of Online, International, for the Nielsen Company, said "The explosion in Consumer Generated Media... means consumers' reliance on word of mouth in the decision-making process... has increased significantly."

So what does this all mean when you link the influence of Razorfish's report with the trust of Nielsen's report? In reality I think it is quite simple, people trust people ... the little guy ... the voice of the people ... and social media has given the voice of people a very large stage. And the people are looking to shout good or bad their experiences and every so often the shouting gets very, very loud.

In day's past, all of us in this industry knew that word-of-mouth was always the most powerful form of advertising and we could quote the rule-of-thumb: one good experience is told to 10 people and one bad experience is told to 100 people. Well, today, word-of-mouth is exponentially larger, think You-Tube, think Facebook, think Twitter, it doesn't take long for a message to reach out and touch someone.

To end where we began, where do trust and influence converge for a brand ... in the hands of those who type 140 characters, post to a wall and search for information ... and all tell a story about your brand ... so how about it joining in on the conversation. That's my thought, what's yours?

 

Mobile Marketing: A Best Practices Guide

I recently ran across an article with the title above and thought it would be good to pass along. It was written by Mike Wehrs, president/CEO of the Mobile Marketing Assocation. The Mobile Marketing Association is a nonprofit trade association dedicated to growing the mobile channel by establishing guidelines and best practices.

Here's a synopsis of the article:

1. Since the consumer is central to the mobile marketing experience the only way to ensure success as marketers is to build faith that this is a positive way to engage with their favorite brands.
2. Because mobile devices are so personal the marketing messages must engender trust. To engender trust, deliver messages that are positive, highly relevant and contain specific value.
3. The marketer needs to know how to develop a true dialogue of interaction with its customers.
4. Marketers must move away from traditional push (interruption-based) advertising and adopt the tenets of positive consumer experience.
5. The tenets of a positive consumer experience are as follows (according to Mobile Marketing Association's global code of conduct):
   1. Choice: consumers must opt in and make it easy to opt out if so desired.
   2. Control: consumers should have control of when and how they receive messages.
   3. Customization: any information provided by consumers is to personalize content.
   4. Consideration: offer value to consumers who allow you to communicate with them.
   5. Constraint: manage and limit communication.
   6. Confidentiality: don't share consumer information with non-affiliated third parties.

Wehr states "the ideal ambassadors for the mobile marketing cause are consumers ... brands should make sure their communications are interesting, relevant, valuable and, above all, requested."

In the end, I guess that is what we all want ... to be wanted! That's my thought, what's yours?

P.S. If you would like to read the article in its entirety, just click here.

Twitter: To Flight or To Flop?

If you've ever done any hint of research in marketing or advertising, odds are you've come across this name: Nielsen. If you've done any recently, you've probably run into this one too: Twitter. Now the media/marketplace research giant is going after the big bird of micro-blogging. 

According to new stats from Nielsen Online, about 60 percent of new Twitter users stop using the service after a month. 

"Twitter has enjoyed a nice ride over the last few months, but it will not be able to sustain its meteoric rise without establishing a higher level of user loyalty," said David Martin, Nielsen Online's vice president for primary research.

The 40 percent Twitter retention rate has in fact improved over time (like exponentially), but MySpace and Facebook do a better job at user loyalty, according to Nielsen findings. 

"A retention rate of 40 percent will limit a site's growth to about a 10 percent reach figure," Martin said, adding that when Facebook and MySpace were emerging networks like Twitter their retention rates were twice as high. Both now have retention rates of nearly 70 percent.

Critics say Nielsen Online misses the point: most Twitter activity occurs on cell phones, not Twitter.com.

Twitter has big plans for its future, and its getting serious about real-time search, perhaps Twitter's greatest chance at being worth more than a billion someday. Twitter plans to add two new features to its search tool: 1) It will crawl the links people add in their tweets, not just the tweeted text and 2) It will sort search results by Twitter user's reputation, not just by chronology. 

How will Twitter calculate "reputation"? It's not certain yet, but it should be easy to mimic a Google-like PageRank system using Twitter's key metrics (follower count, longevity, retweets, etc.)

Here's what interests me about all this. Twitter's "flighty" nature (via Internet vs. via phone) potentially challenges the insights/expertise/end-all-be-all marketplace/media research authority of long-standing Nielsen! Does NIELSEN not get it? Are they suddenly irrelevant? Outdated? Hmmmmm....

And then of course, there's some irony in the situation. The "Join Me On Twitter" banner on the Internet News article releasing the Nielsen story. And when you perform a real-time search for "Nielsen" on Twitter (at the moment of this post) this is what comes up: "Nielsen stands by its Twitter assessment." Ha!

Facebook Meets AARP, Your Children Just Say "Oh No."

Ok it's official, I have a Facebook page with no friends and there's nothing on my wall. Instead all you'll find is my picture from last summer. That's it.

You might be thinking (and rightfully so), why haven't I embraced Facebook when social media is a part of our company's strategic direction. Well, I must say, I blame it on my children ... yes my children. And here's why ... each of my children have come to me and said, "Dad one of your friends just invited me to be their friend (keep in mind my children are in college) and its just "creepy." And they said it keeps happening and they don't want to be friends with a bunch of my friends. Then, they made me promise I wouldn't become one of those parents trying to be cool befriending their friends and so on. I'm now paralyzed into inaction.

Now, here's the deal, my children are not alone in their feelings and I recently was introduced to a blog that literally made me belly laugh, it's named "Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook." And here's the introductory greeting, "Congratulations! Your Parents just joined Facebook. Your life is officially over."

Here are a few sample wall posts:

 

According to iStrategylabs, Facebook's 35-54 year old demo is growing fastest, with a 276.4% growth rate between June 2008 and January 2009. The 55+ demo is not far behind with a 194.3% growth rate. And now the total number of users aged 35+ has gone from 8.2% to 18.9% of all Facebook users in just under six months ... that's staggering growth. It sure seems that us parents like connecting too (much to the chagrin of our tech savvy children).

Well, now that Facebook meets AARP, I just wonder what the kids will do ... hmmm ...

Hey AARP, do you think Facebook is available to purchase? That's my thought, what's yours.

Boomers Are Blooming on Social Networks

I started to notice it gradually. Older, timeworn, slightly decrepit folks like me broadly categorized as Boomers began hitting me up on Facebook, and showing up in some of the other places I've been hanging out with teenagers and college students. It's not that I'm some sort of deranged predator of course. It's just that it's part of my job to understand all these social communities where Boomers were largely  absent... until now.

Boomers like socializing, too.

That's right, the fogies are drinking the cool aid. After all those years of chastising their kids for opening up and sharing too much online, they're doing it, too! Hey look, just 'cause we're geezers doesn't mean we don't like to share mundane life moments, post pictures, reconnect with old pals and generally hang out. In the last five months all kinds of people I knew in high school have popped up and refriended me, so to speak. The greatest generation is there, too. I've even re-connected with a few Mom's and Dads of kids I knew in junior high and high school too.

So has social networking reached the tipping point?

The answer could be yes. The last year or so has been pretty wild, what with the explosive growth of Twitter and the whole world seemingly discovering Facebook and, apparently, embracing both platforms. Heck, even Brittney Spears is Tweeting hourly on her latest hair-raising (or shaving) experience. Ashton's doing it, Demi's doing it, Obama was doing it but got too busy, for some reason, to continue, and on and on. The Boomers even have their very own place to go called TBD.com (TeeBeeDee).  It's been around for a while and bills itself as "a social network for grownups." Of course you may have never heard of it. It could be that's because we Boomers don't necessarily want to be "grown up." Been there, done that... right? We're forever young, baby! So it's stands to reason that all those Boomer late bloomers to social networking are going where the kids (and their kids) go. Best of all, it's making those of us of us of all generational denominations in marketing who tout the virtues of social media marketing salivate like Pavlov's pup. All that Boomer money to go after! Target located, engage.

So get online all you oldies and join the conversation, it's fun. And let me know what you think. Has social networking reached a tipping point with everyone opting in? Or could it be a peak that will inevitably lead to a decline after the novelty wears off? Food for thought and conversation.

Speaking of food for thought, here are some stats and observations from a recent USA Today article:

• One-third of adult Internet users have a profile on a social networking site, up from 8% in 2005, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
• Currently, 16.5 million adults ages 55 and older engage in social networking, according to Internet monitoring site comScore. Facebook is seeing the most growth among users age 30 and older. MySpace, with 130 million users, is enjoying a surge among the 55-plus set, who total 6.9 million users and spend an average 204 minutes a month on the site.
• TBD.com (mentioned earlier) has around 120,000 users and is growing by 20% a month.
• Facebook, that social networking giant with 175 million users worldwide, was famously conceived for kids by a kid, Harvard undergrad student Mark Zuckerberg, now 24. But what Boomers like, they devour.

Let me know what you think of all this. Meanwhile, I'll be doing best to find the time to keep up with my new old friends online!

Social Media Marketing ... A Viable Strategy in a Difficult Economy?

Yesterday I participated in a webinar, titled 10 Secrets to Social Media Marketing led by Paul Gillin. The moderator commented that there were nearly 1,000 people registered and online for the presentation. By any stretch of the imagination Social Media Marketing has the attention of many marketers.

The question becomes, Is social media marketing a viable strategy in an economy where companies need buyers and results now? I will give you my thoughts and then you be the judge.

First, social media marketing is not your father's advertising. It takes a fundamental shift in thinking because it's not advertising at all. You can't get stuck in thinking about social media like you would traditional advertising -- it's just another channel to distribute a message. This thinking already puts you many steps into failure. Instead, think connect and engage -- the goal is to get people to talk to you, you listen, you respond and you repeat the process. In other words, you're thinking participation in a dialogue. According to a study in 2008 by Razorfish, nearly half (49%) of respondents have made a purchase based on a recommendation through a social media site. And social media is still in its infancy for companies!

Second, realize that today's consumer is no longer just a consumer, instead they are multi-dimensional. Your consumers have become a user, a producer, a participant, a community and more. They hold more power today than ever before because it's now easy to spread a message good or bad with the click of a mouse. Your customer is now your critic or your champion and they will manufacture content about you, your product or service. The goal is to give them the power to work for you ... social media at its finest.

Third, just because you can build it, does not mean you should build it. The thought behind this statement is that you should always start with your business objectives and not the tool. I have witnessed companies jump into social media trying to join the bandwagon of the hottest trend. The fallacy is that these companies forget thought #1 above. It is compelling, fresh content that people find valuable, engaging, and thoughtful. It is that commitment to content that brings them back and starts the dialogue. We believe every company should go through the simple strategic process of determining what are the business/marketing objectives, how does social media support them, what tool is best, how do I use that tool properly and what are my expectations for success. Once this is done, then execute your social media strategy methodically, but don't take on more than you can handle. It is my recommendation you only do what you can do very well -- less is more here.

Last, but not least, there is a case study that demonstrates the power of social media. It demonstrates how social media can actually bring instant results versus the prevailing thought of "social media takes time to work." Hewlett-Packard introduced a new laptop called the Dragon.The Dragon is a behemoth as a 15 pound laptop with a 20.1-inch screen and 500-gigabyte hard drive and the sales were underwhelming for HP. With the help of Buzz Corps, HP developed a social media campaign called 31 Days of the Dragon, where they contacted 31 tech bloggers to give away 31 laptops in 31 days. Each blogger made up their own rules about the contest but each agreed to promote the contests of everyone else in the group.

In a post by Janet Meiners, she outlined the campaign's results, "The result was that the first five pages of Google results for searches on HP and HP Dragon were blog posts about the contest. According to HP they had over 380,000 links to the 31 sites discussing the contest. Bloggers got over 25,000 contest entries and an average 150% increase in traffic. Here’s the kicker though - almost 85% increase in sales of a computer that was released nine months ago!"

When social media marketing is developed under the umbrella of business objectives, the power can be both instant, as was the case of HP, and long-term as you give people the opportunity to connect with you. So, perhaps it is the right strategy in an economy where companies need buyers and results now. That's my thought, what's yours?

Should Your Brand Be Using Social Networks?

Buzz, buzz, buzz. These days it all seems to be about social networks, social media and social marketing. Yeah baby, let's get social! The thing is, all this buzz is generating an awful lot of confusion and head scratching at companies all around the globe. Everyone from the CMO down is doing their best to digest all the information, consider the opportunity and figure out what, if anything, they should be doing.

Well here's some free advice from your friends at Fresh Fuel. 

Go slow.

Like anything you're planning to do in marketing, jumping into social networking requires a carefully thought out strategy. You can't just throw up a Facebook or MySpace page. You can't just jump on Twitter and start "tweeting." You can't just throw up a "viral" video on YouTube (BTW, anyone who tells you they can make you a video that will go "viral' is lying). You can't just start a blog, or toss your brand blindly into any of the many other social marketing option out there now (and new ones popping up daily). Every single one of the things I just mentioned and any others you may be considering require individual strategies, careful thought about how much cost and effort will be required internally and externally to implement them, and ROI analysis. On top of that, all of these "tactics" should be part of an equally well thought out and carefully considered overall social network media and marketing platform detailing strategy, objectives and metrics .

I can't tell you have many times we have heard, "Shouldn't we be on MySpace," or, "Shouldn't we put up a blog?"  Our  first response is always, "Why?"  Usually answered with, "'Cause everyone's doing it?"  Which of course leads to the thing your Dad used to say a lot when you were a kid, "Would you jump off a bridge because everyone else is doing it?"

Basically, this stuff is so new and blooming on the marketing radar so quickly that most companies aren't really thinking about "why" they want to participate. They are used to applying all kinds of research, analysis and measurement objectives to determine the efficacy of traditional marketing approaches. But in this emerging digital world, companies seem to be taking a "Go west young man" approach. Yes there is potentially "gold in them thar hills." But just hitching up the wagons and heading out in search of it blindly is most definitely the wrong thing to do. So what is a brand to do?

First things first. Is anyone going to care?

That's right, who cares? It's the first and most important question you need to answer before jumping into the fray. If your market prospects or audience aren't online... well, you'll basically be jumping off the aforementioned bridge and the fall will cost you an arm and a leg. More about how to know if your audience is out there in cyberspace later in this post.

It's not about selling yourself, it's about engaging and sharing.

The best companies using social networks are participating, not selling. They are engaging in and contributing to the conversation and actively sharing relevant content their audiences find useful and rewarding. The upshot of that is that the info gets passed along, buzz and goodwill build, and they are well on their way to becoming valued social network citizens. Additionally, they are monitoring what people are saying about them and acting immediately by answering questions, responding to complaints or thanking people for their support and enthusiasm. The best companies online are actively building relationships and encouraging interaction with their brand. And they are doing it in small, subtle and meaningful ways; not selling, but soft-peddling.

What about your Web site? Will it fulfill the promise of your
social networking efforts?

Let's face it, the end result of putting your brand out there on the socnets is to gain fans and ultimately sales. So, ultimately, it stands to reason that all your hard work will push people back to your company Web  site. they will come for more information, to buy something, to become part of your "club" or myriad other reasons your social networking activities provoke. So here's the deal. If they show up and find a Web site that doesn't reflect the social network brand persona you have created, they will be sorely disappointed. A static brochure-ware site, or even something a little more dynamic, that does not fully-engage and provide a rewarding experience from the get-go will send them off to look for greener pastures. It's no different from the brick and mortar world. If you don't fulfill the promise of your advertising with a dynamic, positive in-store experience, you will generate bad buzz and you will ultimately fail.

The bottom line, before you do anything else, fix whatever is wrong with your Web site, optimize it and make sure it is an accurate reflection of your total brand experience. Yes, this can be expensive. But it will be money well spent and provide the foundation and gateway for your overall digital strategy.

Go with the "Groundswell."

Now here's some free advice from the authors of "Groundswell", Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. They are both VP principal researchers at Forrester Research. It's an outstanding study of the whole social genre as it now exists and presents fact-based analysis to help your brand run the gauntlet while minimizing potential injury. Here is what they have to say regarding when brands should use social networks.

1. "Use the Social Technographics Profile to verify that you customers are
     in social networks."

Forrester has developed a very useful (FREE) Social Technographics Profile tool to help you verify that your customers are actually online and in social networks. You can find out more about how this works by reading the book or following the links to the Groundswell site above.

According to Li and Bernoff, "If half of them are Joiners, then marketing through social networks makes sense."

Head to their website and give it a whirl.

2. "Move forward if people love your brand."

If you already have raving fans, you're more than a step ahead. As Li and Bernoff put it, "Brands like Victoria's Secret, Adidas, Jeep, Target, and Apple have loyal followers who will friend them. A company like Sears without such avid brand enthusiasts will have to think and work a little harder."

3. "See what's out there already."

If you have any kind of presence off-line or on, people are probably already talking about you. Li and Bernhoff point out that Mountain Dew addicts created an unauthorized MySpace presence with almost five thousand members. According to them, "The existence of groups like this shouldn't discourage brands - making friends with them will help you get your own group off the ground."

4. "Create a presence that encourages interaction."

This is all about deep engagement with your fans on MySpace or Facebook, or anywhere else for that matter. Li and Bernoff ask, "How will you enable that? How will you respond to wall postings? And what interactive elements - wallpaper, badges, widgets - will you provide so that people can spread your brand or message?"  They also point out the  resources and effort required to make this happen. "You'll need staff responsible for  programming the page and responding to comments, just as if it were part of your Web site. Then prime the pump  with a little advertising to your targeted audience, and watch the people spread your messages."

So there you have it. Much Fuel for Thought. I highly recommend reading Groundswell. And, of course, calling us here at Fresh Fuel if you would like more of our advice.  Check us out at freshfuel.com (shameless plug, I know).

Fooling Around With Social Networks? You Need successfool.com!

Greetings Fuelies!

I just left a comment on Alejandro Reyes' website, successfool.com, that kind of sums up (at least in my mind) the power of social networking:

"Ah, social networking at work! I’m following @shamahyder who tweeted about a “cool new twitterer on the block” (you) - so I checked you out and followed you and you auto-responded with a thank you (very cool) and I checked out your site, listened to the interview with Michelle, got a lot of great info and insight out of it, began following her on Twitter and on and on and on… phew."

Not very verbose, but indicative of the breakneck speed at which like-minded people can connect, engage and enrich each other's lives with relevant content on the Internet. If you're not already familiar with Twitter, check it out for yourself. This post is about Alejandro and others who are not only social media and marketing experts, but inspirationally passionate about their work.

successfool.com has gobs of great content. But if you're short on time or wondering how to influence social networks and get in the game, you owe it to yourself to set aside 81 minutes to listen to this interview of Alejandro with Michelle Macpheareson (herself a social media guru). Every minute is worthwhile. Even if you think you know a lot, you'll learn more. Alejandro's expertise, tips and advice are infectious and invaluable. While you're at it, check out Michelle's site, too.

Too many companies are jumping on the social networking and marketing bandwagon blindly. They don't take the time to observe, understand and JOIN the conversation. They just barge in and start selling, and that approach is a recipe for disaster. I'll be commenting on this in more depth in the future. Meanwhile, I heartily recommend spending some time with Alejandro and Michelle to find out what it's all about and how to do it right. By the way, you can follow Alejandro on Twitter... @successfool, and me... @RussTate. Cheers!

Word Of Mouth Evangelists Get Their Own Network Thanks To Church Of The Customer Gurus.

 

Fresh Fuel's Fuelies are all about generating ideas and communications that foster brand evangelism and word of mouth. That's one of the reasons we regularly tune in to the the Church of The Customer blog. Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba can always be counted on for thought-provoking, valuable insights all of us "digital age" marketers can use as we try to convert clients and prospects to the way it's gonna be!

Word of mouth is a big part of that future. As Ben says, "True word of mouth is more than creating a viral video or launching a buzz campaign. True word of mouth emanates from a grassroots-driven community that inspires passion and customer evangelism. It's a sustainable, long-term form of word of mouth that can build brands. There's countless ways to think about making that happen, which is part of the challenge."

To help all of us WOM advocates understand the concept and to bring us all together to talk about it and collaborate on innovation, Jackie and Ben have created The Society for Word of Mouth. No, it's not a secret society so, as far as I know, there is no special handshake or code required for participation. All you have to do is sign up and make connections. I'm there.

Again, from Ben, "The purpose of SWOM is two-fold: to be a free social network for the individual true believers of word of mouth (or the merely curious who seek enlightenment), and to be a premium educational resource for cooking word of mouth into the DNA of an organization. We believe SWOM might be ideal for change agents inside organizations who are working hard to incorporate word of mouth into products or operations, as well as educators, account managers, consultants and creative directors who are looking for research or peer support in helping students or clients understand that word of mouth can be more than a series of tactics."

Enough said. If you're a marketer you need to read Ben and Jackie's blog (#55 on the AdAge "Power 150").
If you're a word of mouth evangelist, you need to become a "swomie!" Spread the word!