Posts Tagged ‘social media’
Facebook and The Transparency Bandwagon
While the tinfoil hatters amongst us who fear the divestiture of liberty keep pointing to the likes of the Patriot Act, the US Census or Google’s caching of every search known to man, the real worry for all of us should be Facebook. Well, all of us that aren’t in marketing, at least. The truth is that the “new openness” that Facebook is propagating has two wildly untapped (and yet genius) ideas at its core.
First of all, it’s tapping into a generational zeitgeist. There’s just something about Millennials that make them not only prone to share intricate details about their lives (and subsequently making them wide open for identity theft) but also willing to let that information be used to help them connect to better products. They don’t feel sold, the feel catered to. And for the generation that lives at home until almost 30, takes their parents to interviews and has never used a card catalog system in a library, why would they expect anything else? This notion of “openness” is also a major tenet of successful social campaigns over the past several years. A certain current president of ours ran on such a platform (never mind that it’s not practiced) to wild acclaim and popularity among Millennials. The concept of opennness is really driven by the use of the web in general, and since Facebook is the standard bearer for all things social, web-oriented and open, why shouldn’t they be the first to sally forth into such unknown territory?
The second thing it taps into is the kind of low-cost targeting that marketers are salivating for. Never mind that Millennials (and that oh-so-coveted 18-35 year old audience) are incredibly difficult to nail down and push your message at, this additional, product and brand-centric style of targeting gives Facebook the ultimate power in the universe to wield over desperate media wonks and marketing directors alike. They will be able to give you more targeted information about their users and segment users better than even Google. It’s staggeringly simple and genius at the same time. About 18 months ago when Facebook made a huge push to be the “login credentials of choice” for hundreds of sites across the internet, it seemed odd. But this, now, makes perfect sense. If Google is out to “organize the world’s information,” then Facebook is out to “segment the world’s people into highly targeted and affordable lists for companies to purchase and profit from.”
But the reality is that Google is loosing its sheen as a kind of do-gooder company. After their initial IPO, people loved everything they did. Now, after a few fumbles with their Android software updates, a couple censorship issues in China and some sneaky backroom stuff with the White House later, Google is mirroring a corporate image as opposed to a warm, smart startup. Whereas Facebook, well, they still have Mark Zuckerburg’s warm, childish face to be the, um, face of their company. They are the living expression of relationships in the 21st century. Therefore, how could we so demonize them? This, mind you, is after the Beacon fiasco of a few years back. They learned and got more sneaky about it. But they’re still tallying buckets of information about you that you are willingly giving them. We, as consumers, are blind to it because it is leading to us getting better access to deals and brands we want. In fact, the level of data that Facebook is able to gather on its 411 million users makes Google’s data from search look more like geo-targeting by zip code. It’s good, but beaten by emerging standards.
And you were afraid of the government.
Is Twitter the next MySpace?
Does anybody else remember how awesome 2005 was? The economy was rolling, jobs were plentiful and MySpace was all the rage. It was everything. Marketers all over the fruited plains were making sure their brands had a MySpace page. People were blogging on how MySpace was changing the industry. It was almost as awesome as the Adkins Diet.
Now, raise your hand if you still even use your MySpace account any more. Thought so. This is precisely why I feel like Twitter will inevitably fade out of relevance in the next 5 years. Granted, I feel like marketers and agencies alike need to engage in social media and know how to properly wield it as a tactic in their overall brand strategies, but what’s the breaking point? Seeing the numbers for Twitter’s growth (something like 1400%) are troublesome for those who think it’s gonna be bigger than advertising on the television set. It’s a great tool and it should be used wisely, but make no mistake: Twitter has a shelf-life. And when it gets so saturated with your mom, your pastor and your high school English teacher that consumers start to leave, then something else will inevitably take its place.
However, I feel certain that Twitter hasn’t even come close to reaching its zenith. It’s got a long way to go down the monetization path before it gets oversaturated. People are just now figuring out how to make money off of it, so until Apple or some other worthy, cash-laden suitor makes an offer, it’s safe to work into a basic strategy. But I am afraid too many people are leaving agencies only to start social media companies who’s business model is based on the idea of twitter being relevant indefinitely. Well, I hate to break it to you, but it will fade from relevance.
Many of these agencies are also predicated on the idea that social media is right for every brand out there. Also, a farce. Many solid brands have no need of social media because their target audience is almost wholly not online. But no worries. Somebody is inevitably pitching social media to them.
I am a huge fan of the practice as a supplement to good marketing strategy, but as I’ve often stated, don’t make it the focal point of your strategies or of your agency. And especially not on one social media outlet.
Meet BuddyPress
Now that WordPress has been out for something like 10 years, people of all different web abilities and knowledge are jumping aboard like it’s the second coming of the iPhone. And don’t get me wrong, I myself am a 5-year fan of WP; I just find it staggering that it’s all of a sudden the favorite program of agencies and blowhards everywhere.
And now, a breakthrough that will surely be having every self-proclaimed “web 2.0 and new media expert” blogging like madness and selling “social media networking services” to every small business on the planet. Introducing BuddyPress, a sister project to WordPress transforms your favorite open source, free content management system into a social network platform.
Don’t get me wrong: I think this is an awesome bit of software and a great development in the social networking space. However, I know it’s going to be repackaged and resold to every pest control business, restaurant and church out there as a customer retention system. I hope that all who come across it will use it wisely.
I can’t get enough of these guys
Who doesn’t love a little auto-tuning of Katy Couric? And, I gotta admit, Joe Biden does sound way better when he’s auto-tuned, too. That guy is smart.
Lots of good content. No conclusions.
Has anybody else noticed that most social media, web 2.0 and “the future of advertising” presentations have absolutely no conclusions?
Those of you who work with me know that I am a presentation junkie. I scour the web for really good ones, constantly try to up my game on style and do things that break the rules whenever possible. Because of that, I have become a pretty harsh critic of most presentations and a huge fans of the ones that are solid on communicating their intended purpose. But what’s the point of presenting information to someone without making some sort of recommendation for how they use it?
I base this on a point of view on a deck that I viewed yesterday by David Armano, who just left Critical Mass to join the unaptly titled Dachis Corporation. Here’s the deck:
Never abandon your post
Somebody recently tweeted a great list of Twitter applications that everybody should check out. There are a few of the obvious ones (Twistori, Twitterverse, etc) that are completely designed to destroy productivity in the work place, and then there are others that you can search people by their interest or description. So, after playing with Twellow for a while, I realized just how dangerous social media can be if you don’t stay engaged in the conversation.
There are lots of C-Level executives on Twitter from companies of all sizes, and there are a lot of them who have done nothing but show there ignorance toward social media. Type in CEO, and you get over 5300 people who list that in part of their description. Type in Chief Executive Officer, and the list is quite small. So what’s embarrassing for their companies is when they have no followers and no updates in 6 months. And it gets worse when that update is a mundane fact about their life at home or how then need to better engage with people online. That kind of malfeasance is dangerous on the web. It lets everybody know that you’re not serious about it.
Which really brings me to my point: the only thing that’s as important as transparency in social media is diligence. For people who get into Twitter and proudly display their title and company name in their profile, there is a real need for them to consistently get online and contribute to the conversation. Not talk about their dog’s shedding problem. Not talk about waiting at the doctor’s office. But adding value to the online conversation. A lot of people have been preaching that CEOs must be on Twitter. Your CMO must be on Twitter. Nonsense. That’s like saying every kid needs to play football at 6. No no. They need to engage when they are ready and can dedicate the necessary time to actively contribute and have a smart point of view on things that affect their industry. It’s way better for executives to wait until they understand what to say and how to say it, that it is for them to get on and not say anything of value for months.
Take my hero, Alex Bogusky, for example. He was on Twitter for only a few months, and while he was active, the dude dropped bombs. He had a great mix of Retweets, insight and personal stuff. He did a bang up job. Then, his final statement was a sign off. He said it wasn’t for him. Awesome. Let everybody know you’re not a Tweeter. And, it’s not like he doesn’t contribute content all over the web all the time, too. He engages everywhere, so for him, Twitter was just something else he didn’t have to take up.
For executives, you can’t take the plunge without dedicating serious time to keeping your profile intact. It hurts your credibility and your company’s when you simply abandon your post.
We killed the media?
It’s often nice to see one broken business model throwing stones at another broken business model. That’s kind of like the Unions blaming the auto industry for making their cars too expensive because they pay their workers too much. But for anybody to insinuate that the Rock Mountain News, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, et al, are declaring bankruptcy and floundering in their own ink because advertising sucks, you’re more stupider than I thought.
In today’s New York Times, their Idea of the Day references an article from TechCrunch and another from The Economist to bolster their case that the shuttering of newspapers across America is all the fault of advertisers. This notion suggests that our work is bad and people don’t want advertising, therefore we’ve been the crutch that fed their fetid business model for years. We’re already the most hated profession in America, so why not pile on a bit more, eh? It’s way easier to blame somebody else. In Disney’s animated film, Meet the Robinsons, the antagonist, Mike “Goob” Yagoobian, makes this great comment: “Hmmm, let’s see: take responsibility for my own life or blame you. Ding, ding, ding, ding! Blame you wins hands down!” So for anybody associated with newspapers, this is so much easier to do. They could look at their archaic business model or the fact that they’ve all become opinion papers instead of journalists, but I think they would much rather find somebody else to blame. And under the current “blame somebody else” zeitgeist, it’s perfect.
CamelBak update
So, if you’ve read anything I’ve written in the past few weeks, you probably have seen the interesting exchange I’ve had with CamelBak over my water bottles. If not, click here and then click here.
But this Friday, before departing for Memphis (and getting the absolute privilege to eat at Deli Mexicana and the Rendezvous), I got my package from CamelBak in the mail. They went way over and way beyond what they had to do to reinforce my belief in their brand. They not only sent me new tops and new bite valves, but some top varieties and two new bottles, as well.
So, officially, my loyalty can be won. That level of customer service goes so far above and beyond that I will be a huge supporter of theirs from now on. Not because they gave me free stuff, but because I always try to reward business that do things right. They transcended a lot of potential “Can’t Police” and “lost revenue” memos to serve their customers, and they do a phenomenal job of monitoring social media. For those reasons, they get huge gold stars. So the next time you’re considering outdoor hydration solutions, consider using CamelBak and rewarding their awesome approach to serving their customers. And despite the way that last line sounds, this is absolutely not a paid endorsement. I just kinda can’t help but write ad copy sometimes.
Social Media is NOT a strategy
I’ve seen too many posts on Twitter over the past few weeks and months about this subject matter to let it slide any longer. Social Media is NOT a strategy. I know there are lots of people who are self-proclaimed “Social Media Experts,” but from my spot in the yard, it’s pretty tough to be an expert in something that’s an emerging communications tool. Just look at how much tv spots evolved in 50 years of television for proof that it takes more than being on Facebook for 3 years to make you an expert. With so many “experts” floating around, it’s hard to separate the trees from the bark on Social Media.
Because so many confuse this particular idea with a strategy, I think this point of view greatly distorts one of the most basic points that brand strategy requires you to understand: the difference between tactics and strategy. So let’s start by defining each of these terms.
TACTICS are methods you use to achieve a desired end. The more specific that end, the better. If you’re looking to drive traffic to your store, you would use tactics that support a push strategy: direct response, tv, outdoor, etc. If you want to increase trial of your product, you work with merchandising to get it close to the register, reduce the price and create POS materials to gain attention. If you’re looking to build a favorable perception of your brand, go with a heavier lean on PR, social media and brand-building executions in a blending of traditional and non-traditional media. These are standard, poorly thought out examples, but you get my drift.
STRATEGIES are gameplans that will involve multiple tactics to create a desired end with a consumer. So, if you’re a clothing retailer, your strategy might be “to get young people to buy our clothes.” Bad strategy, but a strategy, nonetheless. A better take might be, “To be the “OMG” fashion locale for emerging fashionistas.” More descriptive, a tad cheesy, but easy to work against. To achieve that strategy, you would employ loads of smart tactics that would address trendsetting tweens. The broader concept of strategy should house how you are going to move your brand forward, which brings me to a much debated point at the marketing director level: Every execution should be part of a broader brand-building approach to marketing. Every single POS sign, tv spot, press release, tweet or YouTube video should advance the fundamental values, emotions and ideas behind your brand. Based on the current status of marketing dollars across the world right now, I think the idea of doing “brand creative” is just about done. Now, that’s not to say that Nike still won’t do image tv spots or subway boards, but for the most part those will skew toward a particular product. The best agencies out there will figure out how to make the seemingly mundane tactics do a much more effective job of promoting a brand as well.
Good social media practices, occuring right here on mewrite.com
So, I’ve been ramping up my postings quite a bit as of late, and to that end, I recently installed Google Analytics into the coding of my site. Now, I can’t sweat the details enough. I am dying to know who from what states are reading my blog and trying to figure out everything I can about them. For instance, I don’t think I’ve had a single PC user view me yet. Nothing wrong with that, but if you are one, lemme know.
In the past two weeks since I installed it, I know for certain that a couple posts of mine attracted attention based on their subject matter and that some online reputation management was going on. Massive kudos go to both of these instances.
Firstly, I commented on an article in Ad Age that was written by Alex Bogusky. At the time of posting, I called the blurb It’s hard to hate Alex Bogusky. After initially posting, I went back and slightly altered the title to better reflect the content, but when I SEO-ed the post, that was the title I entered. I also tagged his name on the post. That very day, someone from the Crispin, Porter + Bogusky network viewed the post and actually hung out on my site for 16 minutes. They were checking out an article that was tagged with their CCO’s name and probably because it had the word “hate” in it, as well. Props to them for keeping an eye on it.
Secondly, I wrote about my struggles with finding a quality water bottle and on how I’ve had trouble with my CamelBak bottle. I even posted an image and an email on my post. Today, just a short time after posting, I got this email from their customer service rep:
Not only did they find the post, they sent me a personal email to make up for it. I promised Liz in my response email that I would give them mad props for the immediate response.
So for anybody at home trying to figure out how to wrangle this whole social media thing, that’s it. There’s no better way to build your brand online and to do online PR than with very smart, very aggressive social media efforts. Now, just don’t try and sell something with it, and you’ll be fine.