Twitter Google SuperTuesday Mashup Is Cool

I know it's a weak title for this post, but the Twitter / Google mashup map is cool, and I wanted to talk about it briefly as I am engaged with it. (map courtesy of TechCrunch)

As I sit on my couch watching coverage of the primaries on CNN, I'm also following the map on my laptop. People from all over the world are commenting -- from California to Maine, to Brazil and Spain.

I love the instant connection of commenting and talking to others on my twitter feed. But to actually see people's locations pop up every couple of seconds on the map makes the circle that I follow feel even more personal. It not just an avatar I can relate to, but a place, and that place no longer feels so distant or removed.

--

On a more business-y note, an article on Techcrunch talks about Google collaborating with Twitter on this mashup, despite purchasing a Twitter rival, Jaiku, last fall. I like that Google values the Twitter audience, and recognizes something special about us (our numbers? our locations? our influencer status? our early adopter behaviors?).

Does this mean Twitter will become more mainstream (if it isn't already)? I love the connections I make on Twitter -- the authors of the blog feeds I follow, and the people I talk to on Gooruze are on Twitter. I value their opinions, and like that I can find them all in one place. For professional development, its a huge influencer and guide.

Kia's Making an Effort, Social Media Made it Happen

I wanted to write this before I forget. My Kia issues have been resolved. After just 2 weeks of venting my Kia frustrations via social media outlets, they finally contacted me to help us move toward a resolution.

Suffice it to say, my happiness can be bought. Essentially, I'm a cheap date, and I'm a sucker for some nice words and a little effort. I'd rather be in a positive relationship than a negative one, so I'll keep up my end of the bargain if they will. Are you tired of the cliche's yet? I'll move on.

Anyway, the Kia customer service representative who I'm working with said something interesting during our talks. Though Kia received my complaint letter via snail mail back in August 2007, it wasn't until they saw one of my numerous social media posts that they acted. Apparently, there are some sites Kia monitors, and one of my rants came to their attention.

He alluded to the fact that Kia, and other companies he was familiar with, are still trying to wrap their heads around these types of conversations being posted on the web, and how to go about mediating them. Given my interest and research into the topic of companies using social media, I'm not surprised.

I'm only disappointed that it had to go this far. That I had to invest the time and effort to post my grievances online -- all the while getting more angry -- to finally get their attention.

But I was a little surprised (and very pleased) that the customer service representative didn't ask me to remove or update any of my posts. I've decided to update them voluntarily, because I feel it's the responsible thing to do.

Batman and Cross Industry Viral Techniques

I've been thinking about Batman lately. More specifically, I've been thinking of the way the entertainment industry leverages social media and viral marketing campaigns months (years) before the launch of a movie -- like Warner Bros has with the upcoming Batman movie -- and if this strategy could be used in other industries.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about Heath Ledger and how his death might affect the Batman viral advertising campaign, seeing as how Ledger plays the Joker, and it is largely centered around his character. This campaign, designed by 42 Entertainment, began last May at Ibelieveinharrydent.com, touting a Gotham City politician, and slowly blossomed into focus on the Joker.

The campaign is centered on user participation, encouraging fans to learn more about the movie by sending them on scavenger hunts and playing games. Popular film news sites were also supplied with updated viral information, and microsites devoted to different aspects of the movie were created. Participants in the Batman journey were rewarded with trailers, posters and photos.

Viral campaigns are designed to create word of mouth promotion in an under the radar sort of way. It is becoming the norm, especially with big-budget movies, to attempt to generate buzz early on hoping it will help recoup some of the enormous financial costs associated with movie production. TV shows leverage this kind of engagement with the audience also -- both Lost and The Office (two favorites of mine) make use of participation-based social applications to promote their shows.

But I'm wondering if viral advertising like this can be used for non-entertainment industries. It obviously appeals to a certain type of consumer -- one who has a vested (obsessive?) interest in a product/service and who is not only web savvy but is willing to sacrifice his or her disposable time to this activity.

The industry, too, must have a product/service that lends itself to the elaborate, complex, and extended-timeline qualities this type of viral marketing entails.

So, what about fashion? Trends in fashion are not easily predicted a year in advance, but a fashion obsessed consumer might feel privileged to get a sneak peak on the direction of next seasons colors or silhouettes.

Education? Universities may be able to build excitement for prospective students by targeting high school students (male athletes?) with snippets of messages or podcasts featuring prominent athletes and coaches, or encouraging participation in complex online games with rewards like sporting event tickets (I can't help it, I'm thinking of my alma mater, Ohio State University and the football team here -- Go Bucks!). Sporting organizations in general are comparable to the entertainment industry, and could certainly leverage viral campaigns, if they don't already.

Apple, Harley, Disney -- these are some companies where "elaborate, complex, and extended timeline" could fit into their marketing advertising strategies. I'm still fuzzy on how these qualities apply to other industries. CPG? Healthcare? But I just wanted to put my thoughts out there before I move on to my next random idea.

Use Your Name Wisely, Have No (few) Regrets Later

How often do you leave a comment on another blog? A review site? A forum? Do you use your real name? Or something off the wall, like kittyclaws39, 123abc, or buhby (these just came to mind...for the record I do not use these names).

I use my name. But not Kathy Milette, the name most people know me by. I use Kathryn Milette. Why? I don't know...I just started and stuck to it. If you do a search for Kathy Milette, you'll most likely find out about my rowing career in college. If you search for Kathryn Milette, you'll find my social media involvement. If I really analyzed it (it doesn't take much effort), I use the name Kathryn Milette for professional reasons. I only post comments and thoughts that I won't (hopefully) regret anyone seeing, either now or 10 years from now.

I sometimes imagine the political impact if our current presidential hopefuls used social media outlets when they were kids. It's already relatively easy to find dirt on any one of them. But what if those hopefuls had had MySpace pages where they posted racy pictures of themselves from a frat party? (I wish this were the case for a certain Oregon mayor who shall not be named, but hers were posted intentionally and recently.)

Or if they posted some strong, questionable opinions to a political forum? Opinions that youth, idealism and naivete influenced, but came roaring back to bite them in the you know what 30 years later.

When choosing to use your real name in social media circles, you are essentially etching your opinions and thoughts in stone. Only this stone is indexed by search engines and is highly retrievable.

It may sound premature and doomsday-ish, but I think this is a good lesson to teach our kids in this online, engaged, interactive day and age. Not only is it safer for children not to post personal information online, but it's probably a wise career move, too. They won't care now, but they will probably (definitely) regret some of the things they made public when they were just being stupid kids.

Observations on the Twitter Experience

I've been using Twitter for almost a month now. I finally took the plunge to join after Jeremiah Owyang published an article about his Twitter experiences.

Taking the plunge sounds so dramatic. What was I waiting for? I was kind of intimidated. I really didn't know what I'd have to say and I didn't know anyone who used it. But Jeremiah said he'd follow me (well, anyone that added him) if I (we) followed him. So, I was guaranteed one "friend," and I joined.

It's been a very strange experience. It took a while to understand the time line. And I felt a little more comfortable once I read Caroline Middlebrooke's Twitter Guide. I follow more people (26) than follow me (13), which is fine since I still really don't know anyone anyway. My rationale is the more people I follow the better feel I'll have for the Twitter experience.

Most people I follow or who are following me I "know" in the sense that I've seen them on other blogs or social networks. But some I haven't a clue how we got hooked up. Besides people, I also follow w00t and Hoosgot.

Initially, it seemed like everyone was just sending out random updates into the cosmos. Some tweets are self-promotional ("Check out my latest blog post"), some are slice of life ("Feeling sorry the redskins lost"), some are personal ("Happy Birthday, Tumar"), some are more professional chit chat ("By using Anchor Free to get around Hulu, the up speed improves as well"). Conversations are really all over the board.

Strangely enough, is still feels like a close community despite the fact that it's not immediately apparent who is following who or who is talking to or answering who (did you follow that?!). And in my case, though I rarely directly respond to anyone or have anyone respond to me, I don't feel like an outsider.

And, no, I'm not a lurker. While I have used Twitter to get the scoop on some stories to Mixx, I still post what's on my mind or what I'm doing. But it has taken a while to get comfortable enough to do so. Twitter really blurs personal and professional. And it's a surprising difficult hurdle for me to leap.

In my one month's experience with Twitter, I've come to the conclusion that one would have to be incredibly organized, attentive, and selective if they were going to go either strictly the personal or professional route. But they would be all about what web 2.0 is NOT -- closed, exclusionary and in complete control.

Twitter is about engaging and participating, and its about letting go and learning from others. You don't have to divulge the most intimate parts of your life, but you also don't need to be super professional, precise, or perfect. It's okay to tell your followers that you're taking your son to baseball practice, or give them advice where they can buy a good sump pump (yes, this has happened), because you'll just as soon give point them to free keyword sites, recommend a great business book, or request some feedback for a new blog article. All in 140 characters or less!

I still look at it as more of a Learning About Twitter exercise than an engagement tool. But I hope that will flip flop. I think there are a lot of people like me who see a great potential in Twitter, but haven't figured out what that is yet.

9 Ways Social Media Can Hurt a Brand

*Note, this article was originally only a very brief bullet point summary of the full article, which was posted earlier this week on Court's Internet Marketing School. But social media can damage a brand that is slacking in their responsibilities to the customer, and I didn't feel the bullet points did the article justice, and it was getting under my skin! The article now posted here (which is slightly different than the original) can also be seen on Gooruze , my favorite online marketing network (any time I can give it a plug I will!)

I have a beef with Kia, the automotive company. My experience with them and my Sedona minivan leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But why should you care? Because, with social media, I now have so many more interesting ways to have my voice heard -- if not by a company that doesn't seem to want to listen, than by a community of consumers who rely more and more on peer reviews and recommendations. And I'd like to share these ways with you, in case you've got a beef of your own.

A couple of years ago, I would have gone through the following motions to log my complaint.

• Talk with a company representative
• Write a complaint e-mail to whatever contact is listed on the corporate website
• Do a little research and write a complaint letter cc:ing various managers and executives
• Contact a consumer hot line and maybe the better business bureau

After a bit of brainstorming, below are a list of ways a person could leverage social media channels to broadcast their displeasure with a company.

Write an Article and Pay Attention to SEO Copywriting Best Practices
Post it on your blog or be a guest blogger. You don't need to be a professional to do some SEO best practices, like pay attention to page titles and picking keywords to use throughout the article (plus combinations and variations of them).

Make a Web Page While in a Spiteful Mood
If your not in the mood to do it from scratch, set up a webpage the quick and painless (and free) way using Google Pages. Buy a domain name and point it to your page if you want it to seem a little more official. You could also make a Squidoo Lens for some attention from the Squidoo community. And if your feeling particularly spiteful, post positive reviews of the competitors products to your pages.

Put a Video on YouTube
In the case of Kia, I think potential Kia minivan owners would be interested to watch me try to put three toddlers into the carseats of our Sedona, in the middle of winter, with both sliding side doors frozen shut (not to mention all the windows, so no drive-thru coffee on a cold winter's day. Boo-hoo.)

Exploit Your Social Networks
Join social networking groups that could sympathize with your cause. Unfortunately, the people in these groups are already in your camp, and it is more a place to let off steam. If your comfortable with being obnoxious, join groups that love the company in question and air your woes on their message boards. You could also download an widget application that lets you post reviews of your stuff, like "IGot" for Facebook. Don't forget to tweet your network on Twitter with quick quips about the company.

Troll the Company's Corporate Blog, Seek out Sympathetic Blogs, Pitch Your Woes, Comment Your Complaints
Leave a message (or two) on the company's corporate blog to get your voice heard. Also, find blogs that might be sympathetic to your cause and might help you get some traction to your web page or video.

Submit to Social News and Social Bookmarking Sites
With any luck, readers might submit your article to places like Mixx, Digg, StumbleUpon, Sphinn...pick your flavor. And bookmarking to places like Del.icio.us or Furl will help gain some added exposure.

Don't Forget the Complements
There are so many complement community sites that, if one was willing to put forth the energy, they could spread their message of displeasure all over the web. For instance, complementary sites to my Kia concerns might be places for parents to talk to each other, like IVillage or ParentsConnect -- communities with message boards and forums discussing children and everything associated with them, including recommendations for minivans.

Leave Ratings and Reviews on Relevant Websites
This is probably the most obvious complaint route with the least time investment required. Just copy and paste your reviews anywhere than will let you.

Finally, Encourage a Vicious Cycle and Go for a Chain Reaction
As a last and final step, shoot your family and close friends an email (or a tweet or IM), including your web page URL and your YouTube link. If you're passionate enough about a poor customer experience to spam your loved ones with your troubles, you're bound to get some sympathy, and maybe a forward or two along to their friends and family.

--

The tactics above may not be a good fit for every person who is angry with a company and wants to be heard. For instance, I realize I'm a bit passive aggressive -- I made a web page about Kia, but would never leave comments on their blog. But social media gives the average consumer new places to vent, to rant, to share, to provoke, and to discover a community of like-minded souls. The list above is a launching pad for some of the most obvious places to reach others with your thoughts and experiences -- both positive and negative. What are some other ways we can get our points across?

You Got Elfed, and Other Viral Marketing Disconnects

[I just registered on gooruze.com, and in order to link to my blog, I have to write kathrynmilette.gooruze.com in the first few lines of my post. As Tanya Ferrell noted, this is a pretty slick marketing tactic.]

In the spirit of the holidays, I got elfed by my husband. In case you have no idea what I'm referring to, getting elfed means receiving an interactive dancing elf email, and in my case, with our family's heads superimposed on the elves.

And all in the name of promoting OfficeMax, the #3 North American office products retailer behind Staples and OfficeDepot.

Well, I didn't get elfed last holiday season, which is when OfficeMax first launched this viral campaign. This year, it was relaunched along with Scrooge Yourself.

But what the heck do these campaigns have to do with selling office supplies?

Before we get to that, I am reminded of other interactive viral campaigns. Namely Monk E-Mail by CareerBuilder, launched along with the office monkey ads during the 2006 Superbowl. And the Subservient Chicken campaign by Burger King, launched back in April of 2004, starting first online, then followed up with a television campaign.

But what value do these types of participation-based viral campaigns return to the host companies?

Increased Brand/Product Awareness
I'm on the fence with this one. I thought the Monk E-Mail was for Monster.com until I just looked it up. And I wasn't positive exactly which fast food restaurant the Subservient Chicken belonged to...Chick-Fil-A was my next guess. Maybe its just been too long. As for the dancing elves...what exactly have they got to do with OfficeMax?

In the case of the Subservient Chicken, Joseph Jaffe (a writer and blogger who's articles I very much enjoy) mentions that the wrong question to ask is "Did it sell chicken?" and presumably get more feet in the door. The right question to ask is, "Did you know BK sold chicken?" And now you do. That's a good point, and one I hadn't thought of.

However, let's try to apply that logic to OfficeMax's dancing elves. Did you know associates dance at OfficeMax? No, wait...Did you know it's the holidays and there are elf dolls you can buy at OfficeMax? No, that doesn't work either.

Obviously, I'm saying this tongue in cheek, but I don't understand why the meaning behind the campaigns is so obscure. In regards to the Subservient Chicken, Snopes.com had to verify the "myth" that it was a BK ad campaign? I mean, if users don't see the connection, where is the value?

Positioning Strategy
I think this is more in line with the marketing strategy. Office supplies are boring. Perhaps OfficeMax wanted to spice things up. Now they are the fun office supply store. Right? That's what Bob Thacker, OfficeMax's svp of marketing thinks. "It gives OfficeMax a heart and a personality."

And for Burger King? In 2004, Greg Brenneman was called in as CEO to get the #2 hamburger chain back on track. The quirky advertising was part of an overall marketing campaign to target BK "superfans" -- 18- to 34-year-old men. According to BK's financial statements, in the three years following the ad campaigns, Burger King's revenues steadily increased. Was this due to the marketing campaign? They also introduced the $1 value menu, and their operating margins improved. These factors may have influenced the improvement. Also, some of BK's franchisees have argued the campaign turned off women and family business suffered.

OfficeMax has also seen financial gains in their income statements in the form of improved operating margins (though decreased revenues). However, they are also experiencing a large restructuring effort, so it's difficult to gauge the ROI of the campaign.

Overall, I think this is a long term positioning strategy, to set the stage for future corporate initiatives. I think that to expect a sustainable increase in revenues simply as a result of these fun ads is a mistake, mainly because their connection to the company is forgettable.

Search For a Larger Audience
People are increasingly choosing to spend more of their time online. And they are communicating with each other in a way that radio and television cannot. Brands are finding that this interaction helps promote increased word of mouth recommendations -- you can blast 30 friends with an email (telling them about a great new site called elfyourself.com!) in a couple of seconds, but it would take a prohibitively longer amount of time to phone them all.

Also, these types of interactive, participation-based campaigns can help illustrate how considerate these companies are of the consumer's evolving lifestyle, and at the same time they help to keep the brand relevant and modern.

Furthermore, when brands are able to leverage social media and experiment online, they have the opportunity to discover how to create more meaningful ways to communicate to customers, and have a greater flexibility to adjust messages on a dime.

And simply from a cost perspective, brands can be in more places online than they can off. A one-page ad in the WSJ could eat up some companies entire annual marketing budget.

So What's My Takeaway
Having said all this, I continue to question the relevance of creating a great viral marketing campaign that has no clear, or even semi-clear, connection to your brand's function.

I think the Monk E-Mail stands out as the best viral marketing campaign of the three mentioned. Like the others, it is certainly entertaining and recommendation worthy. But it is about the office, which is about working, which helps the audience associate working to jobs, to searching for jobs, to using CareerBuilder to search for jobs. Even its URL let's us know it's part of the CareerBuilder site.

The other examples lose something in the translation. The connection isn't clear, and the value created is weakened. Maybe these brands see the obscurity as part of a long, long-term strategy, and I just can't see that far. But I will continue to laugh, and maybe elf someone later.

Tags: Viral Marketing, Social Media

Beacon No More? Hardly

Just before Facebook announced its new advertising system, Beacon, I had written a post discussing how companies could leverage customers' social networks by letting them opt-in to place advertising on their social networking sites, using Facebook as an example.

After Facebook and Beacon have taken such a beating this week, have I changed my stance? No. I think there are definitely opportunities for Facebook to adjust their advertising model to both integrate advertising smoothly into their users web pages, as well as to increase Facebook's revenues in order to justify its $15 billion valuation.

Namely, if Facebook wants to make money off of their users personal data, then users should be able to share the wealth.

My previous example used an on-line banking example. Once someone purchased or consumed a banking product, they could have the option of including an ad (banner or text) on their Facebook page for X amount of days in exchange for an entry to win an IPod, or something to that effect.

This type of advertising is even more relevant than Beacon, because the consumer chooses the ad that fits into their lifestyle, and has a good chance of fitting into their networks probably similar lifestyle. Also, Facebook would receive a commission from the retailer for allowing their ad to be placed within the application.

Another example involves one of my favorite sites, thedailyplate.com (TDP). I am a TDP evangelist because I am so impressed by their customer service, the site's ease of use in comparison to competitive food journaling sites, and the overall experience I've had there. Suppose I'd like to include a banner ad TDP has into my Facebook page? I would gladly do so freely for a couple of days, Facebook gets a commission, and my network knows that I endorse this site. I suppose I could just post how much I like TDP to my wall, but this is simply another, more formal, option.

Would some people exploit this advertising model simply to make some money or win a prize like the first example? Probably. But I think there are other people who love certain brands and are willing to promote them for free.

I think Facebook's desire to have relevant information available to users is worthwhile. My suggestion is just an alternative the big-brother quality of the old Beacon model, to one of user participation and acceptance.

----

Updated: I've been reading more about Facebook's advertising options and I think what I have been suggesting in this article most closely resembles the Social Ads that Facebook already offers. These are contextual ads based on user preferences. However, if I understand correctly, and advertiser gets to place the ad based on a user's interaction with them (push marketing). It's not the user who specifically decides to place the ad (opt-in) on behalf of the advertiser.

Tags: facebook, social media, advertising

Some of the Blogs I Read and Why I Read Them

I am a voracious blog reader. I love learning and devour social media and marketing blogs. But it's not always easy keeping up, so I tend to make sure I read my favorites first. Right now, the following blogs are high on my list.

Seth Godins Blog
I think every marketer has heard of Seth Godin, and if you haven't, then you should check out his blog. He's insightful, current, and his posts come in bite size, easily digestable nuggets. Technorati ranks his blog in their top 25, The Viral Garden ranks his as the number one marketing blog, and AdAge lists Godin as a top marketer, with Steve Jobs coming in second.

Logic+Emotion
I stumbled upon Logic+Emotion a few months ago, and was drawn in because of David Armano's visual respresentations of social media. He is a designer and strategist, does a lot of speaking engagements, and writes with a sense of purity about social media concepts. Critical Mass, the company he works with, also has a blog that I enjoy.

Web Strategy by Jeremiah
Jerimiah Owyang is a Senior Analyst at Forrester specializing in social computing. He is very prolific, and can get long winded, but I find that what he writes is incredibly helpful in putting social media in perspective.

Common Sense: Internet Marketing Made Simple
Tanya Ferrell is an advertising student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She doesn't write often, but when she does it is refreshing and current. I like the energy and enthusiasm in her writing and chosen topics. Plus, I love her site design, though the header sometimes doesn't seem to refresh properly in my browser.

Dosh Dosh - How to Make Money on the Web
In my opinion, most of the blogs I look at are intended to make money is some way. Either directly through advertising revenue, or indirectly through brand awareness, credibility, etc. Dosh Dosh is the former. If David Armano is a purist, Maki (Dosh Dosh's author) is the opposite. But he is very well written and researched, and I find his work to be very informative. Like Tanya, he, too, is a student, studying Political Science and Philosophy in Toronto, Canada.

Tags:
marketing, social media

Communities I Love and Who Are Doing It Right

Here is a random sample of some companies who I think are doing a great job engaging with their customers.

Cluttercontrolfreak.com
This site is Stacks and Stacks' blog devoted to the topic of organization. Admittedly, I'm not really familiar with the parent company (and I'm only a wannabe organization freak). However, what I love about this blog is that it's not a glorified Stacks and Stacks ad, but is a genuine resource for people who are crazy for organization. When I first came across it, almost accidentally, I was impressed that this seemingly modest, not overly impressive (that sounds harsh, but that's what I thought) company decided to connect with this niche market in an engaging way. I like that.

J Crew
I LOVE J Crew. Even if they sometimes make it hard, like when they tried to push plaid pants a couple of years ago. Anyway, they are so together in their marketing efforts. For me, it all starts with a direct e-mail notification (how did they know I'd cave last month and buy a sweater because they gave me free shipping?!). Then it moves on to the personal shopper experience (a new service they are promoting, and I ate it up, even if I did spend [a ton] more than I was going to). Down to the J Crew debossed notecards at their catalogue phone desk, where I can jot down my order number (no talls in the retail stores, unfortunately). I can name a dozen reasons why J Crew excels in the user experience, but I encourage you to check out their website and find out why yourself.

TheBabyWearer.com
I will be the first to admit this site is ugly and not intuitive. But despite the ugliness, thebabywearer.com has an absolutely thriving, cult-like user forum. Women interested in baby wearing spend hours, racking up hundreds, even thousands, of posts, discussing baby carriers and the joys of babywearing. Beyond product reviews and debates over the best carriers, there is an extremely active for sale or trade forum where mama's all over world sell to each other via pay pal accounts. What I love so much about this site is how involved and enthusiastic the members are, and how so much of the content is user generated. There was a very brief period where I was part of the cult, and this site dispelled any ideas I once had that social networking was either for the tech crowd or for kids. Anyone and everyone can find a place online to belong.

We're Still In the Early Stages of Social Media Marketing

I have been spending a lot of time getting familiar with social media concepts, and exploring how companies are using social media as part of their marketing strategies. I've come to the conclusion that while there is a lot of enthusiasm around social media and its potential, companies are still in the early stages of exploration. Though they have been around for years, blogs, RSS feeds and user forums seem to be the primary tools being used in the social media sphere. This is not a bad thing! It takes time to do these things right, as well as for users to start feeling the community love.

But I suspect the reason not to jump too far ahead is because many companies are not sure how to target, communicate, or measure strategies and tactics in other social media areas (some examples include Facebook, Gooruze, Satisfaction). Heck, many companies struggle to figure this out for their corporate websites, intranets, and now blogs, etc.

And while people are increasingly spending more time online, the younger generation is still the primary users of social media tools, encouraging the older generations to follow suit (see this report, by way of emergencemarkeing.com). Many companies with an older customer may find there is less urgency to move marketing dollars to social media campaigns.

Banner Advertising on Social Networking Sites

After insulting the VP of a major banking firm, I decided to email her an unsolicited idea for her internet marketing strategy. Perfect timing, right?

Anyway, I had listened to this VP describe a campaign for a newly launched banking product, and felt there were better ways to utilize the banner advertising they had developed. Thus far, they had pretty poor click-thru on their banner ads, using them primarily on bankrate.com. Why the poor response? I don’t think it is because of the banner design, which I felt was pretty compelling and interesting. I think the ads were ineffective because internet users are becoming increasingly blind to on-line advertising.

Since I am fascinated by social media and how it is affecting consumer behavior, I think there are ways that companies can compromise between traditional methods of marketing and opportunities opening up in the web 2.0 environment. In the case of these banner ads, I thought that compromise could be between incentives (aka bribery) and referrals on social networking pages.

Here is the scenario:

New Banking Product is geared toward young, affluent, internet savvy consumers. It’s likely that they network with other young, affluent, internet savvy consumers. So, once this customer is approved via the product website (which is the only way it is available), the customer is thanked, then offered the opportunity to be entered into a drawing for a very cool tech gadget in exchange for posting a banner for the product on their Facebook/MySpace/blog, etc. They only had to post it for a short period (3 days, or so). The banner could even be modified to say something like “Check this out…I did.”

The banner is now in front of the demographic the bank is looking for, and is vouched for by the original customer. The banner becomes much more relevant, the bank is given the opportunity to strengthen the relationship with the customer, and the customer becomes a voice for the bank.

Obviously there are caveats. I have not discussed or even explored the technological requirements involved, the methods of ensuring compliance with X days posted on the site, or the advertising restrictions on networking sites in general. Also, it is obviously crucial to run this type of strategy through the company’s brand filter to ensure it makes sense with their business objectives and relationship strategies.

Still, I think it’s an interesting tactic. Social media is increasingly about participation between consumers and businesses, about conversations and experiences, and about indirect methods that grow (or aim to develop) positive brand attributes. This tactic is far from that personal dynamic, but I think it’s on the path.

So, how did this VP reply?

"We know we need to get into that space, but we're treading lightly, for not only budget reasons but we're a bank and there is fear in the hearts of our legal and compliance people!! Web 2.0 is all about getting other people to talk about you rather than us talking about us so we need to get there!"

Keeping It Real

In my journey to learn more about the possibilities and the direction of the internet, I’ve come across a lot of blogs that talk about social media, social networks, social conversations, social media campaigns, social behaviors, etc. I am astounded by the sheer volume and depth of discussions about the topic. [But, of course, I am one of them, sort of.]

Anyway, I see posts like:

“…the scale of our social networks and connections, the velocity with which news and media travel and the impact this has on our relationships both 'offline' and online.” [read post]

and

"New types of web experiences are enabling people to go beyond just creating content; they’re allowing them to broadcast their personal context too. These “situational lifestreams” are a realtime flow of personal metadata, and it’s time to start thinking about how to design great experiences with them." [read post]

Pretty high-level smarty pants talk, right?

Then I read a post like Scalzi’s, How to Irritate and Annoy People in the Name of Blogging, and it gets me thinking. He has turned this fascinating world of intellectual blogging into something dirty. Well, to be fair, he thinks that many bloggers are simply “starfucking” to get more attention on their own blogs.

Truthfully, I loved this post. I “get” his angle. His words encourage me to write honesty and remind me that I have undertaken this blogging journey because I am passionate about learning.

But you know what? I eat this stuff up. Both the “starfuckery” speak (aka market speak) and the in your face talk. I think it is fascinating and I can’t get enough. I try to read as much as I can hopefully remember the good stuff.

True, I wouldn’t mind seeing less of words like buzz, change agent, and on-line/off-line, but keep the discussions coming.

My World is Expanding

Social media. Truthfully, it’s a new term to me, though I believe it’s been circulating for some time. I’ve heard old media and new media. But social media? I want to know more!

Wikipedia describes social media as, among other things, “…connection points… the creation of personal meaning and community building opportunities.” Sounds cool. What does that mean?

Social media is a cornerstone of Web 2.0 and uses new technologies (or existing technologies used in new ways) to connect people in ways email and regular old websites don't quite measure up to. Beyond Google, Amazon and Wikipedia, social media is exemplified in blogs, podcasts, online photo sharing (Flickr), video sharing (YouTube), vlogs, bookmarking sites (del.icio.us), and social networking (MySpace). And this is only the beginning. Get on Technorati.com, do a search on social media and you'll definitly get an ear - er - eye full. With social media outlets, niche interests can be explored and shared through these very personal and relevant connections.

And what about social equity?

I love this post from ExperienceCurve:

“My working definition of social equity for the moment is: “social equity is built by aggregating, connecting, reflecting and amplifying the all the small user contributions over time so the whole is worth much more than the sum of its parts.” Sort of like network effects, the more people using it and participating the more valuable your product or service.

This idea of social equity speaks directly to the effects of social media. It feels similar to brand equity, but with a more inclusive bent. Social media and the equity that can be generated from it allow companies and customers to have relationships that are more personal than ever before. That type of relationship can be daunting. The transparency and immediacy of social media means companies and customers will have to look at their current behaviors and see where there needs adjusting. Companies will have to learn how to interact with their customers on a very personal level. And in return, I think this new relationship encourages customers to show a level of respect they otherwise have not been encouraged to show.