Dec 2008
Social media, all buzz and no results?
12/31/08 11:51 AM
I think we're seeing that people don't believe companies when we pretend that we're not selling stuff to them. Corporations have spent the last few years effectively lying to the public, and we're surprised that it hasn't done much for sales? Corporate reputation is already at historic lows, as is customer satisfaction. For all of the effort companies have made to embrace social media -- what big company doesn't already have somebody blogging because, well, "ya just gotta do it and experiment" -- only 16% of Americans actually trust what those companies blather on about. Only about one-third of consumers who post anything in a company-involved social media experiment believe they're even heard, let alone subsequently satisfied.
|
To drive traffic to you blog think primary and selective demand search
12/31/08 06:40 AM
What happens when your agency gets too creative
12/30/08 04:18 PM
Well, when I first got the news I signed up to receive a CD-ROM on the new Nissan Cube and it came in the mail two days ago. It requires you to install a program and then you need to hold the brochure up to a camera on your PC in order to get certain information. What's wrong with this picture ? This is where being too creative gets in the way of customer needs. First the CD-ROM should not require an install as people tend to get nervous about installing programs on their computers. Second, what if the user does not have a camera on their PC? Third what happens if the user has a Mac? It would seem to me that a lot of people who maybe within the target audience might be Mac users judging from the number of Apple stickers I see on Scions.
The Cube could be a great hit here in the US. It's unique, is small and has a small engine so it should get great gas mileage. The campaign to launch this car is crying for a social media /viral aspect that could make it a runaway best seller without spending tons of dollars. However if Nissan continues to send out CD-ROMs that require people to "work" at them to get information they are going to have wasted a lot of dollars.
Giving up control is the best way to keep the upper hand in coversations
12/30/08 06:46 AM
The second thing about blogging is to find topics that inspire passion and debate. Your goal is to get people talking among themselves with your blog acting as an aggregator around the brand. You might hear things you don't want to hear but in reality people are laughing at you and your brand already. You have to think of blogging as a conversation even though you are writing the blog entries. Here are secrets of conversation:
-Give credit where credit is due and stroke the egos of Influencers
-Admit your mistakes and ask people what they would have done
-Be honest and be transparent
-Lead the discussion, ask questions and probe
-Recognize other peoples authority and experience
-Never argue and identify troublemakers who are always going to say something negative no matter what you do or say
-Be willing to learn and listen and adjust the tone of the conversation to suite the audience
-Encourage discussion via passionate subjects and listen what the group is saying
-Transparency at every level is essential
Also don't expect people to flock to your blog right away and give people time to trust you and to develop a relationship with you. The Chief Marketing Officer at Best Buy uses Twitter to get feedback on how Best Buy is doing and you get the impression that he is really listening to tweets.
The best advice is be ready to fail at social media but learn every time you climb the social media ladder.
The radical shift from selling to listening
12/29/08 04:33 PM
We've been talking to people like they're morons and now they're punching our light out -Joseph Jaffe Co-Author "Join the Conversation"
I love these two quotes because they speak to the radical shift in marketing that for some reason marketers have failed to notice. This has not been a instant change but one that has come gradually although it is being fueled by the growth of the Internet and the need to be heard.
What is so hard to understand about tapping into the conversation? Simply put it's that marketers have never been taught to listen to consumers, except in focus groups and then they hear only what they want to hear. The other key issue that is bothering marketers is that they are no longer in control of the conversation but like Ted Mc Connell said, the Interactive Innovation Director of P&G, "how much control do you give you up? That's like asking the person holding you up at gunpoint how much money to give them".
When using social media it's essential to think like a consumer rather than a marketer. This means engage, don't sell, and be prepared to hear some nasty things about your product or brand. A
Another area that marketers need to unlearn is in campaign management. In an era of instant gratification takes too long they need to think long term past 60 second spots and 14 week campaigns. It takes time to build a relationship because the cornerstone of any relationship is trust and today trust is hard to come by.
Marketers are supposed to have a pulse on what consumers and customers are thinking but too many of them rely too heavily on market research to tell them things they should already know. I have been screaming the message of social media and consumer empowerment for a long time but most times it fell on deaf ears. Speed is a competitive advantage and those marketers that can react to changing marketing environment by changing their organization to better compete will be better prepared to meet the challenge of marketing.
Consumers are defining branding not companies
12/29/08 02:19 PM
The idea today is not to bond with your customers but, rather, to talk with them in a transparent, earnest and honest way. People don't want to bond with brands anymore because those bonds are all too often shattered by broken promises. The environment today is one of a string of broken bonds; broken bonds in government, broken bonds with corporate America's because of bad decisions and broken bonds in brand that are more interested in short term balance sheets than a great long term business strategy. The decision to impress Wall Street over customers is one that is based on the same drivers that got us into this economic crisis. It seems that for way too long too many companies were not interested in talking with consumers or customers they were only interested in selling people. Once the sale was made their job was done.
Then came the Internet and social media and people could complain to each other and trash brands. Marketers, for the most part, still don't know how to use the Internet and social media for branding because they are still in the traditional marketing mindset. To them it's about the 4P's, reach & frequency and great ads. To consumers it's about "why should I believe you?" and if you don't execute perfectly on all their expectations you're in for a real bad time.
Bond? Do you bond with other people without engaging in conversation and without establishing a level of trust? Corporate America is going to be shook down to its core as it tries to determine what marketing is and is not in an age of consumer empowerment.
Marketing executives rate benefits of social media
12/29/08 12:25 PM
Executives surveyed by the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), 85.4% cited customer engagement as the main benefit of social media marketing, followed by direct customer communications (65%), speedy feedback/results (59.9%) and learning customer preferences (59.1%). Brand building and reach—two terms typically associated with advertising—fell much lower on the list, at 48.2% and 37.2% of respondents, respectively.
A legend in your own mind
12/28/08 02:44 PM
My Dad taught me to "beware of people who are always looking for headlines because they are looking to promote themselves". When I was recently invited to sit in on a big RFP (request for price) for a huge interactive and CRM project I was astonished at the number of agencies that came in with great creative and no metrics. I always asked "what was the objective of the project and how were you measured against those objectives?" I heard things like were hard to measure like "increase brand presence" (what the hell does that mean?) or establish online branding (in less than 3 months?).
So on this Website I am trying to push social media but I am also trying to give readers the tools they need to overcome the realities of working in a corporate America that embraces changes very slowly.
Quote of the decade
12/28/08 09:49 AM
Intrusive advertising is dead. Long live social media !
12/28/08 05:49 AM
Consumers can go to this Website to list complaints about product and get responses within the same day
Pete Blackshaw lists these six drivers of brand credibility in his book and from what we see on social media sites this is becoming more true everyday. Consumers are mad and they're not going to take it anymore. There is even a website called "Get Satisfaction" where companies and consumers can register complaints and get immediate answers.
What does this mean for marketers?
1. Time can be your enemy or ally. The Internet is about "now" and "immediacy" and if you can respond to customer complaints right away you can build a loyal client following. If, however, your company processes and procedures don't allow you to respond in a timely manner than it can lead to an erosion of customer confidence in your brand.
2. Radical Transparency is a standard not an option. If you screw up it's best to just admit your mistake, ask for forgiveness and try and reestablish your relationship with customers.
3. People don't give a damn about your brand anymore. Your brand had better perform on every touchpoint or the money you spend on marketing will be wasted as consumers trash you online via social media. After Apple launched the 3G iPhone headlines were everywhere about the failure of Apple's Mobile Me online service. Apple immediately went online apologized and offered all customer up to 3 months free of their Mobile Me service.
4. Awareness is not enough to drive product sales. In an age of closed pocketbooks and wallets simple awareness is not enough to drive sales of anything. Consumers are going to scrutinize your brand from top to bottom and you're going to have to spend more resources go get sales.
5. You need a change agent to start selling new marketing principles to the organization. If you don't have one than be prepared for a lot of Power Point presentations to people who don't get it.
If your company signs up you had better have the resources to answer complaints
One of the reasons for a rise in Social Media
12/27/08 10:23 AM
Why is the Internet, and social media, becoming so popular ? Well one of the reasons is the decline in TV. Yes, I know a recent news story said that most Web users get their initial information from TV, but there is much more to it than that. Cable channels such as TBS, Ion and AMC butcher movies and make it all but impossible to watch them. On network TV reality shows have led to a new decline in programming while shows like Boston Legal are cancelled because they appeal to an older demographic. NBC is so devoid of new ideas for shows that they are going to feature Jay Leno weekdays at 10PM to reach people who can't stay awake for late night TV. Where have all the great creative minds gone who gave us shows like, NYPD Blue, LA Law, ER, and Seinfeld? If network TV continues on this path the Internet will soon overtake TV as the primary media choice.
It's a bad cycle for TV ad dollars...
Realities if social media
12/27/08 08:15 AM
According to the chart below more marketers are looking at cutting traditional media in favor of social media. However, these marketers believe the social media will have an immediate impact on their business and drive sales. Strategically a social media program could in fact benefit the numbers but if a social media program is to be effective then it has to be nurtured over time until it blooms into a full blown brand communication touchpoint.
Click to enlarge
Marketers are still accountable for ROI
12/26/08 06:07 AM
Are brands prepared to listen?
12/23/08 06:51 AM
More proof that CEO's view marketing as an expense
12/20/08 07:04 AM
Nearly Half US Women Would Give up Sex Before Internet
12/19/08 09:58 AM
Facebook and Retailers
12/19/08 08:02 AM
In implementing a social media strategy companies can be their own worst enemies
12/19/08 06:30 AM
It's getting really cold out there
12/18/08 09:26 AM
My Facebook, My Therapist
12/17/08 09:43 AM
Great minds think alike..more predictions on social media
12/16/08 03:34 PM
Consumers want to talk to brands
12/16/08 01:40 PM
Social media users getting tired of social media?
12/16/08 06:07 AM
Everyone's jumping on the social media bandwagon
12/15/08 10:50 AM
Prediction or wish list social media ?
12/15/08 08:11 AM
Will the recession change marketing forever?
12/14/08 02:46 PM
Mini, BMW or Mercedes ?
12/14/08 12:50 PM
Advertisers Face Hurdles on Social Networking Sites-DUH !
12/14/08 06:16 AM
My Space vs. Facebook (Demographics)
12/13/08 12:56 PM
The brand called you has no audience
12/13/08 06:33 AM
In your face Starbucks
12/12/08 12:21 PM
McDonalds is winning the coffee wars and the question becomes will Starbucks
be able to win back the customers it is losing to McDonalds?
Women are using social media
12/12/08 09:41 AM
Women in their 40s are highly involved in social networking, according to research from SheSpeaks. The study showed that 45% of 40-something women have profiles on popular social networking sites, and most of these users log in several times per week. Also, women in their 40s are more likely than younger generations to post product reviews on shopping Web sites (62% vs. 53%) and to purchase products based on e-mails from a company (50% vs. 45%). More than 70% of women with children aged 13–17 have talked about products within a social network, compared to 62% of women overall. Read More...
Kill the pets !
12/12/08 09:00 AM
US Internet users learning the "Web"
12/12/08 06:10 AM
Videos on the Web are hot
12/12/08 05:35 AM
The end of mass marketing
12/11/08 08:05 AM
Social Media Marketing in an Hour a Day Dave Evans
Customer Engagement 2009
12/10/08 05:57 AM
Here are some of the key findings:
Only 42% of organizations surveyed have a defined customer engagement strategy in place
41% of respondents said that deteriorating economic climate has resulted in a greater focus on customer engagement
There’s interest in creating relationships with customers to increase the long-term customer value and also to increase the value delivered to the customer.
Most organizations feel that sensitivity to price is a key customer behavior that will have to be addressed in the next 12 months (48%).
Email newsletters are the most likely tactic to improve customer engagement (59%).
Web 2.0 and social media such as user ratings & feedback (41%), user-generated content (37%), blogging (36%) and social networks (36%) will also be used to engage customers.
Very few companies (5%) have a strategy that uses mobile channels.
Lack of resources continues to be a barrier to successful customer engagement.
About a third of companies site problems with technology as a significant barrier to cultivating better customer engagement.
What we have here is someone with too much time on their hands
12/09/08 01:52 PM
Predictions about Web 2.0 (2009)
12/09/08 12:20 PM
Don't segment all baby boomers
12/09/08 09:39 AM
Marketers shouldn't make the mistake of treating all of the 77.2 million baby boomers the same. According eMarketer's new report, "Boomers Online: Attitude Is Everything," the 56.7 million online boomers are the largest group of U.S. Internet users, making up almost 30% of the Web population. And how they act online is as diverse as they are. "Older boomers, ages 54–62, use media more like the 'matures' who precede them, and younger boomers, ages 44–53, act more like Gen Xers online," said Lisa Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report.
Top viral videos of 2008
12/09/08 08:08 AM
If you want to know what makes a great viral video, look no further than this list from Time Magazine. You'll find videos that are touching, funny, warm and have a way of taking users away from the troubles we read about everyday in the newspapers. Particulary touching is the video below which is full of emotion and is touching. A lot of marketers seem to forget about using emotion to bring people together but it can be very powerful as this video demonstrates.
Why most businesses have not embraced social media
12/08/08 11:25 AM
The psychology of bad news
12/08/08 07:39 AM
Facebook advertiser applications find few takers
12/08/08 07:35 AM
Another brain surgeon
12/07/08 04:25 PM
The bottom line is that in the new age of consumer power via click of the mouse traditional advertising is as dead as the Bush presidency.
Consumers know they have the power and are not going to pay
anyone for commercial free sites. Give us what we want or we'll
move onto another site that can.
Time is the new currency and it's in short supply
12/07/08 06:14 AM
How do people use the Web? Well most people tend to go to their favorite bookmarked pages on a regular basis to get the news, sports or to see what's happening in their neighborhood. The search for information comes when they have a need, such as doing research on a health condition or a new car.
As consumers get more frustrated with the billions going to cover up mistakes made by overcompensated CEO's they look to vent their frustrations. They do this on BLOGS, message boards and connecting with each other on social media sites. This of course is really bad news for companies that don't believe in transparency. Let's look at an example..
BMW has tried to differentiate itself by using the positioning of "free maintenance" for 60,000 miles. Well given how tight car sales are today I decided to see what people were saying about that on different car buying sites like MSN Autos. I was actually surprised with what I found, it seems that most people have surmised that the cost of maintenance is "built into the lease price". One person said it this way "I was going to get the 530i but it was $80 more expensive per month than the Mercedes E320. I realized then that this whole free maintenance thing was a load of BS, you are paying for it every month !"
I found several posts like that on boards all over the place and although it might have been a great position it is getting worn out now by smarter consumers. In fact Mercedes and Infinity now offer prepaid maintenance in the lease if customers want to "prepay" monthly. And how are people finding out about this? Through research on the Web where they can get a quote on everything from cars to houses.
In order for marketers to be effective with an interactive strategy they need to think about how their customers use the Web. Do people have time to go to a Website for the oil companies to see what they are doing for alternative energy development? I think not when the oil companies continue to report record profits while consumers are worrying about their house payments. So the question then becomes how? That is where the value of a great interactive or eMarketing person comes in. They understand the brand objectives and how people use the Web and can connect the dots to make an interactive strategy successful. They understand that time is the new currency and that attention spans on the Web are short. More importantly they can communicate to senior executives what is happening on the Web and why.
A great Internet marketing person is worth their weight in gold and companies should do everything they can to hold onto these people. It has been my experience that some Internet marketing people are being starved for budget dollars in this recession and as thus are looking to move on. If the Web is one of the first budget items to be cut than that is a great indication that your company does not understand the value of the Internet in strategic business planning and objectives. In the end these companies will be the ones that are always playing catchup and seem to be 2 or 3 steps behind competitors.
Will social media stay hot?
12/06/08 03:45 PM
Most marketing departments are not set up to have conversations with consumers. It requires a commitment on the back end in people and other resources as well as empowering employees to make decisions based upon what they feel is best for the brand/company. But that is not the only reason that social media will cool down. If you look at the ages of people who use social media you'll find a direct correlation in social media use with age: the older a Web user, the less likely they are to use social media. As older Web users learn about the advantages of social media they may try the different platforms but I believe that a lot of them will find that it's just another thing they have to learn and won't really see a clear benefit thus they will register and try it out but after awhile it will lose its newness and just be another thing I have to update.
The older the Web user the less likely they are to use social media
So why all of a sudden has it become so hot? Well you can thank Barrack Obama for that. He is the first President to be elected using an extensive Internet marketing campaign consisting of social media integration with his positioning. Some marketers have been successful in using social media but others feel they have to advertise to have success. In case you wondered the click through rates on social media sites are horrible and for good reason. People don't want to be interrupted while they're talking.
Now more and more marketers are saying "we should be doing something social" but the reality is that they will fail. You can't apply old reach and frequency models to social media and most eMarketing people are still trying to figure out this whole ROI thing. Some industries are made for social media (Jet Blue, Subaru) but there probably aren't many people who want to have a conversation around pasta sauce or gasoline. Remember with social media the group is in charge and if you don't listen to what is being said and what they are talking about you'll never make your conversation engaging to be successful.
So yes, social media will cool down because companies don't have the resources as they lay off people to experiment with something new. Some companies however will begin to understand that marketing today is about the conversation and they will begin experimenting with social media. This will lead to enhanced brand equity but translating that into dollars is always going to be a problem for people who just don't understand marketings value.
Think there is no such thing as brand equity?
12/06/08 07:05 AM
Earlier this year Apple launched their new 3G iPhone and a new eMail service called Mobile Me. To say that Apple underestimated the traffic to Mobile Me is the understatement of the decade. Mobile Me is still causing problems for some users and Apple has had to give away 2 months of their service free for current customers as an apology for the issues with Mobile Me. Has this deterred people from getting an iPhone? Well it's the number one PDA phone on the market now and even Blackberry is running for cover. Apple's brand equity is so great that people post pictures of new products being opened. When Leopard was released, Apple,s new operating system, social media boards were alive with people posting stories of when the Fed-X person would show up at their door and where their package was in transit. Geeks? Maybe but the brand equity of Apple has allowed them to maintain a premium margin on ALL their products which has led them to collect boatloads of cash. Read More...
The real power of real social media
12/06/08 06:12 AM
Oprah is an influencer and has a very big and loyal following. With one mention of a product or book she can instantly make it a bestseller bringing in millions of dollars of revenue to the seller. I am sure that some companies have tried to get to meet with her to endorse their products but Ms Winfrey is surely in the drivers seat here. Remember last year when she gave everyone in her audience a free car? That of course is going down as one of the worst marketing blunders in history as it did little to make the car a bestseller.
Why is Ms Winfrey so successful?
1. People trust her- She comes across as genuine and talks to her audience like they are her friends.
2. She is great at conversation-rather than ask questions like a typical host she tends to engage her guests in conversation.
3. She is not perfect- She has been fighting her weight all her life and the audience can sympathize with her as most people also fight their waistelines.
4. She is for the underdog-She always has a habit of praising the underdog which her audience can really relate to.
All the elements of a great social conversation in 1 hour a day on TV. Ms Winfrey of course is also a very smart business woman and makes millions of dollars through her production company Harpo, but as long as she engage her guests in vibrant conversation and share the wealth with the audience she is a social media superstar.
Traditional marketing is dead
12/05/08 12:20 PM
Over the last couple of days there have been a number of stories about traditional ads on social media sites being ineffective. DUH ! Do you really wanted to be interrupted in the middle of a conversation with a sales pitch? The answer to that is "hell no". Remember it's social site users who are defining how the site is going to be used not advertisers who want to intrude with ad messages. Facebook us finding this out the hard way as they struggle to find a profitable model.
Why can't marketers talk with consumers? Because they don't know what to say and they are not set up to talk to people they are set up to talk to segments of people and that model too is becoming outdated.
Every time I see a company laying off people on TV I know that company is NOT marketing driven. Take AT&T, the deal with Apple will keep a steady stream of revenues coming for quite a long time and as rumors circulate about a $99 iPhone being sold at Wal*Mart and Costco AT&T should be gearing up to provide world class customer service. Instead they are laying off 12,000 people? Hmmm, the cell phone market is pretty saturated with or without a recession and you have a lot of business thanks to Apple, yet you are laying off 12,000 people? Seems to me that customer service is going to take a huge hit here and in the long run AT&T will lose customers and Apple maybe forced to sell the iPhone with another carriers service.
In times of recession marketers should be looking for ways to increase customer service levels. They should be everything they can to ensure that current customers are happy because they can add revenue to the company for many years to come. WIth all the layoffs one has to wonder what is going to happen when the economy gets back in gear. Yes, it's going to happen. The economy will get back in track and when it does people who have money and haven't been spending are going find out that because of all the cutbacks inventory will be hard to find and customer service will be non-existent.
Too many marketing budgets are also being cut because the bean counters finally have an excuse to tighten, what they feel, is an expense. Too bad because when sales go down that is a crucial time for marketing to kick into high gear.
The bailout of the auto industry
12/04/08 04:35 PM
I am continually amazed that people who lead companies are allowed to take a company to the edge of ruin and then leave with golden parachutes that ensure they will never have to work another day in their lives. If a middle manager screws up he, or she, is usually raked over the coals and is lucky to hold onto their job.
American CEO's are the highest paid in the world and they say they deserve the money because of their responsibilities. That is pure bullshit. How many white collar senior managers would give anything to lead a company, make decisions and get paid $300,000 a year as opposed to $5 million or more. Their perks include fine hotels and meals, private company jets that they often use for personal reasons and a "scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" mentality that lets them earns thousands of dollars sitting on company boards.
Americans are fed up with CEO arrogance and greed and there is no doubt that if we do bail out the auto companies that ALL the executive managers have to go. It's time for new thinking and new management and it's time to sell company jets and eliminate golden parachutes. Let these people find out just how hard it is to try and find work when your resume includes AIG, Morgan Stanley or CitiBank.
I remember reading an article in the NY Times a couple years ago about Wall Street managers who would go steakhouses in New York and order $4,000 bottles of wine. How they would go to BMW or Mercedes and pay cash for a new car and then buy a 2nd house in the form of a condo costing a million dollars or more. Regardless if WE made money, their firms made money and they were free to spend while people in Ohio were losing jobs and watching 401K valuation decrease.
We have to bail out the auto industry because it would be less expensive to lend them the money than to tell them to take a hike, but changes have to made in ALL businesses in America. Capitalism is good but all too often it leads to greed which in turn leads to really bad business decisions in an unregulated industry that has proven it can't be trusted.
