Posted on Fri, Mar 12, 2010
Last night, I attended Gotham Media's Digital Cocktails get-together on Measuring (and Improving) the Return on Social Investment. Gordon Platt, Founder of Gotham Media, assembled a stellar panel assembled for the evening, including Sandra Fathi, Founder and President. Affect Strategies, Matt Tepper, Director of Strategy and Analytics, Kirschenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, Ian Zelesko, VP, Strategist, Publicis and Clay Parker Jones, Strategist, Undercurrent.
The panel was moderated by
Paul Kontonis, SVP of Branded Entertainment at MATTER and Co-Founder of For Your Imagination. All panelists have deep experience in building and developing social media campaigns. At the same time, as they all understand the integrated marketing eco-system, they did not discuss social media as "
the marketing solution". Their collective insights were based on real world challenges and what it takes to make social media work.
At the start, all the panelists mentioned that their focus is on helping clients craft social media solutions that translate to the bottom line. However, what their clients do and the social media measurement can be different depending on the client vantage point.
Big Brands
All the panelists liked
Foursquare, the location-based social networking platform, with Sandra Fathi calling
Foursquare the "merging of social networking and reality". Several pointed out that
Foursquare can be a very effective platform for marketers. However, with only 500,000+ users at this juncture,
Foursquare cannot compete against the reach of a 30-second television advertising spot for a company like
McDonald's.
Big brands do look at followers on
Twitter and fans on
Facebook, but the data they need to rely on most is
sentiment. Positive sentiment translates into sales. At the same time, measuring sentiment still has issues. Ian Zelsko from
Publicis pointed out that if a person writes that they love their iphone, but hate AT&T, social media monitoring services like
Radian 6 and
Social Radar cannot currently effectively qualify that sentiment. In order for sentiment to become a better gage of sales predictability, social media monitoring services need to become more sensitized. Of course, the panelists also acknowledged that some of the recent sensitizing developments bordered on the verge of
Minority Report, the 2002 science fiction movie directed by Steven Spielberg.
Business-to-Business Marketers
For other marketers, particularly business-to-business companies, lead generation trumps sentiment. Sandra Fahti discussed the current work of her firm,
Affect Strategies (a public relations, marketing and social media firm specializing in technology and business-to-business clients) with
Regus PLC, the global leader in workplace solutions. In concert with
Regus NYC, they launched a social media campaign [still running], including a
Twitter page, a
You Tube channel and
a contest for securing a year contract for free office. The campaign has resulted in a significant jump in leads as well as a seven-figure increase in contract signings.
And while
Regus NYC's Twitter count of 701 followers pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands often following big brands, the campaign is already achieving its targeted goals. Sandra added that her firm is now working with
Regus in deploying comparable social media campaigns in other cities.
I found the contrast in social media approaches between large brands and business-to-business marketers very interesting. Yet, what I consider most important is the unifying success parameters for both b-2-b and b-2-c marketers. They both need to figure out:
- what their goals are in advance
- where their audience is, and
- the appropriate social media tactics to reach their targeted audience.
Panelist Matt Tepper mentioned at the beginning of the discussion that he equated measuring social media to measuring broadcast. While I am happy to debate the efficacy of broadcast measurement, advertisers are still investing $ 70 Billion a year in television advertising based on accepted measurement standards. In contrast,
eMarketer indicated that the 2009 investment in U.S. social network advertising was only $ 1.2 Billion. While social media advertising will increase in 2010, measurement still has a long way to go before social media catches up with traditional advertising. In the meantime, it is clear that marketers who know their goals and their audience have a lot to gain using social media.
Posted on Mon, Mar 08, 2010
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards, broadcast last night on ABC, enjoyed its largest audience in five years, totalling 41.3 million people. While this audience pales in comparison to the 106 Million watching last month's Super Bowl, the Academy Awards television broadcast still ranks as the second biggest audience of the year.
Given the size of the audience and the fact that much of the audience are women who actually buy products, television commercials during the Oscar-cast are sold at a premium with this year's slots going for $ 1.4 - 1.5 Million for a 30-second spot. In light of the significant investment that each of the advertisers were making, I thought I would reprise the Integrated Media Meter analysis that I put together for the Super Bowl. As I did with the Super Bowl Integrated Media meter, I did not focus on the television show promotions or the movie trailers. I focused on the level of digital integration in last night's commercials. See chart below.
Social media integration was a key component for two of these advertisers - Samsung and JC Penney with JC Penney focused on the days leading up to the Oscars. In the case of Samsung, they sponsored ABC.com's 'red carpet" with a facebook chat function built in. It was cool, but it took me almost an hour before I could even log on via Facebook Connect!
During the Oscarcast, three advertisers got this multichannel customer interested in checking out their unique URL's pased on the message of their campaingns:
- American Express inspired me to check out its Take Part initiative at www.takepart.com.
- Coca Cola's link to livepositively.com
had me wondering what that meant given the questionable health benefits of drinking sugar or diet soda! I also had to check out how I could "stay extraordinary" by drinking Diet Coke.
- Cottonelle actually got me to go online and vote at CottonelleRollpoll.com
Missed Opportunities?
I think that JC Penney
had the biggest missed opportunity of the night. They aired 7 commercials which must have cost them a minimum of $ 10 Million in advertising dollars. They flashed the JC Penney name throughout the ad, but only had a quick flash to its corporate URL at the end.
Couldn't they have:
- used the running text to promote more intereaction online?
- featured the commercials run on the home page of their corporate website?
- asked people to join their facebook community of 783,714 fans to engage with the ads online?
- set up a separate landing page on their website for the oscar commercials?
- provided replays of their commercials on Facebook after they aired during the Oscarcast?
I was also surprised by Bertolli's featuring their upcoming webisode series "Into the Heart of Italy" featuring Oscar winner Marissa Tomei, chef and restauranteur Rocco DiSpirito and game show host and actor Dan Cortese. There was no link provided for more information on the webisode series. When I searched for "Into the Heart of Italy", it was clear that Bertolli (owned by Unilever) hasn't yet gotten around to search engine marketing about the webisode series. Also searching for last night's promotion on You Tube took a lot of digging. In order to save you time, check out the preview below.
Integrated Media Meter Chart
| Advertiser | # of Spots | URL | Social Media |
| Hyundai | 8 | Company URL | No |
| JC Penney | 7 | Company URL | In Advance via Facebook |
| Coca Cola | 5 | Dietcoke.com Livingpositively.com | No |
| BMW | 3 | Campaign-related URL | Yes |
| Mercedes | 3 | Company URL | No |
| Samsung | 3 | No | Promoted Red Carpet Chat Via Facebook Before Oscarcast |
| Sprint | 3 | Campaign-related URL's | No |
| Cottonelle | 3 | Vote in CottonelleRollpolll.com | No |
| Intel | 2 | No | No |
| Sketchers | 2 | Product Related URL | No |
| American Express | 2 | Social Marketing URL: www.takepart.com | No |
| American Airlines | 1 | Service Related URL | No |
| Ameriprise | 1 | Company URL | No |
| AARP | 1 | Company URL | No |
| Lexus | 1 | Company URL | No |
| Zyrtec | 1 | No | No |
| Nissin Chow Mein | 1 | Product URL | No |
| Hershey | 1 | No | No |
| Estee Lauder | 1 | Company URL | No |
| Verizon Fios | 1 | Service URL | No |
| Yaz | 1 | Product URL and Phone Number | No |
| Microsoft | 1 | No | No |
| Oxyclean | 1 | Product URL and Phone Number | No |
| Bertolli | 1 | No | No |
| Poise | 1 | No | No |
| Dunkin Donuts | 1 | No | No |
Posted on Fri, Mar 05, 2010
Several weeks ago, my friend and colleague Jim Kerr, Vice President of Business Development for Triton Digital Media (a company where I am on the Board of Directors) asked me to be part of the first webinar that Triton Digital was hosting with All Access Music Group. Triton Digital and All Access have teamed up to do a weekly webinar series for radio broadcasters on how they can capitalize on new digital trends. The topic of the first webinar was Social Media 101. I asked colleagues David Parmet of Marketing Begins at Home, and Cali Yost of Work+Life+Fit to join as well and you can hear the full transcript of the webinar here.
The webinar was well attended with the participants having varying experience with and knowledge of social media. The mix of participants lead to a broad and interesting level of questions. Engaging with the questions, crystallized for me the numerous opportunities radio stations have for integrating social media into their broadcasts, including:
- Broadcasting participation in contests using the station's Facebook fan page or the station's website itself, including radio loyalty programs
- Expanding the practice of inviting listeners to call in by inviting them to tweet their comments
- Responding to listeners' tweets on air
- Inviting listeners to create content for broadcasts through participation on their Facebook or MySpace fan pages
- Syndicating broadcast content to Facebook or MySpace fan pages.
I became so excited about the possibilities that I created an expanded presentation of what I had quickly put together for discussion purposes during the webinar and have posted that presentation on Sideshare.
I also get very energized about the potential for radio stations to expand their advertiser programs by using on-air promotions to drive traffic to their radio websites and/or social media platforms. A number of radio stations are already doing this and I expect that the number and level of these programs will only continue to increase. What do you think?
Posted on Tue, Mar 02, 2010
In the last twelve months, several studies have come out demonstrating how much moms are using social media. Of course, everyone assumes that moms are social - especiallly the stay at home moms. In the media coverage of these studies, there is an element of surprise at how much moms are using social media platforms. Here are a list of some of the studies:
- The Power of Social Networking for Women from ShesConnected Multimedia. This study, released in the summer of 2009, received lots of hype because it found that more than 36 % of the online US and Canadian women would give up their chocolate, Prada's or mother-in-law before they gave up their social networks.
- BabyCenter, LLC released its 21st Century Mom Report in June of 2009 and found that social media usage by moms has increase at over 460 % since 2006.
- The Retail Advertsing and Marketing Association [RAMA] completed a study in September of 2009, where they concluded that retailers should be focusing on social media with mom consumers and using it to provide free items, promotions and discounts.
While some observers may be surprised by significant mom social media engagement, I hope that those investing a significant percentage of the annual $ 70 billion+ television advertising spend targeting moms are not surprised. With the right calls to action placed in television commercials, there are multiple opportunities for integrated media focusing on today's social media moms.
Smart multichannel programmers like Scripps Networks [owner of the Food Network and HGTV], with a significant mom audience, have partnered with advertisers on integrated media packages. A real success story for HGTV has been their relationship with Lumber Liquidators, traditionally a direct response marketer, who have increased consumer engagement and revenues through their on-air and on-line sponsorship of promotions surrounding the HGTV hit show, Dream Home.
It seems to me that local television stations that air syndicated daytime fare, also consumed by moms, should be looking at successful integrated media programs. Social media integration into local television advertising could drive revenues and loyalty for local advertisers. What do you think?
Posted on Mon, Feb 08, 2010
Sunday night's Super Bowl game was an exciting one that kept everyone on edge through the fourth quarter. In between quarters and time outs, I was metering digital integration in the "Super Bowl of Television Advertising".
Metering the commercials, I wondered if many advertisers would be looking to drive engagement as well as reach through digital integration in their television commercials. After all, I knew from Nielsen that last year 12 % of the SuperBowl audience was watching the Superbowl and engaging with the internet at the same time. I also figured this number would be up this year given that social media usage while watching TV has increased significantly. Plus, I knew that many of the commercials would enjoy lots of replay on Monday and throughout this week, compliments of You Tube's Ad Blitz channel and other social media sharing tools.
Here is a chart with my integrated media findings:
| Client | Brands | # of Spots
| Quarters
| URL
| Social Media
|
| Anhauser-Busch | Budweiser, Bud Light, Select 55, Michelob Ultra
| 8 | All | No | No |
| Audi of America | Audi A3 TDi
| 1 | 4 | No | No |
Boost Mobile
| Boost Mobile
| 1 | 1 | Super Bowl Ad Page URL | No |
| Bridgestone | Tires | 2
| 1,3 | Super Bowl Ad Page URL
| No |
| CareerBuilder.com | CareerBuilder.com | 1 | 2 | Company URL
| No |
| Cars.com | Cars.com | 1 | 2 | Company URL
| No |
| Chrysler | Dodge | 1 | 2 | Company URL
| No
|
Coca-Cola
| Coca-Cola | 2 | 3 | No | No |
| Denny's | Denny's | 3 | 3,4
| No | No |
Diamond
| PopSecret and Emerad Nuts | 1 | 4
| No | No
|
Levi Strauss & Co
| Dockers | 1 | 2 | Product Page URL
| No |
Dr. Pepper
| Dr. Pepper
| 1 | 2 | Product Page URL | No |
Electronic Arts
| Dante's Inferno
| 1 | 4 | Game URL
| No |
| E-Trade | E-Trade | 2 | 3,4 | Company URL
| No |
| Focus on the Family | Focus on the Family
| 1 | 1 | Organization URL
| No |
Frito Lay
| Doritos | 4 | 1,4 | Production Company URL
| No |
Go Daddy
| Go Daddy
| 2 | 1,3 | Company URL
| No |
| HomeAway | HomeAway | 1 | 3 | Company URL
| No |
| Honda | Honda
| 2
| 4 | Product Page | No |
| Hyundai | Hyundai | 2 | 1,2 | Company URL
| No |
| Intel | Core Processor
| 1 | 2 | No | No |
| KGB | KGB | 1 | 3 | No URL - Text Your Questions
| No |
| Kia | Sorrento | 1 | 3 | Company URL
| No
|
Mars
| Snickers
| 1
| 1
| No
| No
|
Monster.com
| Monster.com
| 1
| 1
| Company URL
| No
|
| Motorola | Motoblur | 1
| 3 | Company URL
| No |
Qualcomm
| FLO TV
| 2 | 1 | Product Page URL
| No
|
Sketchers
| My Shape Ups
| 2 | 1,4
| Product Page URL
| No |
Teleflora
| Teleflora | 1 | 2
| Company URL
| No |
truTV
| NFL's Full Contact | 1 | 2 | Channel URL
| No |
US Census Bureau
| US Census Bureau
| 1 | 3 | Organization URL
| No |
Unilver
| Dove Men Care
| 1 | 2
| Product Page URL
| No |
Vizio
| Vizio | 1 | 4 | Product Page URL
| No |
Volkswagen of America
| Volkswagen | 1 | 3 | Company URL | No |
Yum Yum Brands
| Taco Bell
| 1 | 4 | No | No |
As the above chart illustrates, none of the commercials integrated social media. However, many of those metered (not including movie trailers or CBS promotions) did include company or organization URLs, but few pointed viewers to product pages or Super Bowl ad pages. The most surprising number is that over 30 % had no URL links at all.
| Digital Integration Classification | # of Ads
| % of Total
|
| URL Link to Company or Organization Website | 18 | 32.7 %
|
URL Link to Product Page
| 12 | 21.8 %
|
URL Link to Production Company
| 4 | 7.3 %
|
URL Link to SuperBowl Ad Page
| 3 | 5.5 %
|
Text Message Call to Action
| 1 | 1.8 %
|
No URL Link
| 17 | 30.9 %
|
Total Commercials
| 55 | |
I think that lack of digital integration was a missed opportuity for many of these advertisers. What do you think?
Posted on Tue, Jan 05, 2010
Yesterday marked my return blog after my hip replacement convalescence. Now BizWorks360’s content management system is being transferred over to HubSpot. While the website will remain active, we will not be making any changes or additions to it until after the transfer is completed. My partner David Mozes and I are very excited about our new business relationship with HubSpot. We have gone through a free trial period with them and have also used some of their free software tools, like Website Grader with several of our clients. We also know that HubSpot will be a tremendous resource for us as we build and scale our business. In the meantime, in lieu of blogging, I will be stepping up my comments on blogs I follow and admire as well as developing posts for our blog when it returns in February.
Finally, in yesterday’s post, I did promise some insights on Pete Cashmore’s thoughts on the Top 10 Web Trends for 2010. Pete, in addition to being the Founder and CEO of Mashable, the world’s largest blog focused on Web 2.0 and Social Media, he also writes a weekly column for CNN.com on social networking and tech. Here are Pete’s top 10 web trends which suggest increased social media integration in 2010:
- Real Time Ramps Up. I agree with this given the growth of Twitter and Facebook’s News Feed as well as the increasing usage of smart phones which facilitate all forms of real time search. Cashmore also thinks that Google Wave will factor in over the coming 12 months. Of course, I am still trying to figure out how to work with it!
- Location, Location, Location. The GPS functionality in smart phones is sparking new location based services. With more and more friends and colleagues getting on the Foursquare bandwagon, I also agree that the local trend will only get bigger.
- Augmented Reality. This is a trend that will also be powered by GPS functionality in smart phones. Data about you and your location will be mapped together to simulate experiences on your smart phone. He didn’t mention any particular services as examples, so I am not sure on this one, but will be curious to see what happens.
- Content Curation. I am a big fan of this web trend – we need curation to make sense of all the data coming at us. Twitter lists are a start, but I am looking forward to professional curated services.
- Cloud Computing. This was definitely a buzz word of 2009. However, personally and professionally, we are all getting to used to having data in the “clouds”. Even Microsoft is getting on the bandwagon with “Office Apps”, free downloadable versions of Microsoft Office programs in conjunction with the release of Microsoft Office 2010.
- Internet TV Movies. From Boxee to Apple TV to Netflix’s Roku service, streaming movies into the home is getting more popular. I am setting it up myself at home.
- Convergence Conundrum. Smart phone GPS services are eliminating the need for services like Tom Tom and Garmin, while Smart Phones are just not big enough to replace the functionality of the Kindle. In the meantime, I am having a conundrum figuring out what this web trend fully means!
- Social Gaming. This was a big trend in 2009 as Farmville and Mafia Wars took off. I agree that this will continue to grow, but it is increasingly becoming a very hit driven buisness.
- Mobile Payments. Yes, it is what it means – paying bills using your mobile phone! I know it is inevitable, but I am not sure it will become the rage in 2010.
- Fame abundace, privacy scarcity. This has always been an issue for celebrities, but even more now in this increasingly networked world, as Tiger Woods’ infidelities were exposed in text message records! While many of us will never experience fame, we do need to be guarded about our privacy and what we do share online.
I look forward to returning to blogging soon . . . in the meantime, I hope that you are getting in the groove for 2010 and leveraging the trends!
Posted on Mon, Jan 04, 2010
This is my return blog post after my hip replacement in mid-December. At that point, from my hospital room at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, I wrote about Getting Into S”hip” Shape for 2010. Well 2010 is here, and like many, I am trying to figure out the trends for 2010, not to mention the coming decade. So, in order to begin to navigate the days and months ahead, I looked to the predictions from leaders in the digital media business. Today I focus on John Battelle’s Predictions 2010.
John Battelle, in addition to maintaining an incredibly thoughtful blog, is the Co-Founder of the Web 2.0 Summit with Tim O’Reilly, the Founder and CEO of Federated Media and an accomplished author. Since 2004, John Battelle has been using his blog to publish his predictions for the coming year in early January. In December, John then follows up with an assessment of how his predictions have fared. I started reading these posts back in 2007 and have been very impressed at his record. While he admittedly “whiffs” on a few each year, in general, he is pretty spot on. You can check out how he did with his 2009 predictions here.
So, in light of his track record, here are his top 12 web trends for this year and my thoughts [read his post for further elaboration of his points]:
- “2010 will mark the end of the US dominance on the web.” I spend too much time reading Fareed Zakaria and Thomas Friedman not to agree with that this will be inevitable in this new decade, but I am not sure that 2010 will be the cross-over year.
- “Google will make a corporate decision ot become seen as a software brand rather than as ‘just a search engine’.” With Google’s forays into Chrome OS, Android, Docs and January 5th’s pending announcement of Nexus One. John believes that Google is becoming “a newer, more open version of Microsoft”. I don’t disagree, but I also think Google is also very focused on Apple’s share of the smart phone market. What was most interesting though about this prediction was John’s view that Google will “begin to minimize its efforts in media, including social media, seeking to embrace and partner rather than compete.” While Google has not been very successful at social media to date, they also know that social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are becoming increasingly important for search.
- “2010 will see a major piracy brouhaha, not unlike the AOL search debacle but around social and/or advertising related data.” I couldn’t agree more given the battles amongst agencies, their clients and ad networks on data ownership and the various consumer interest groups lobbying Congress.
- “By the year’s end the web will have seen a significant new development in user interface design, one that will have gained rapid adoption amongst many ‘tier one’ sites, in particularly those which cover the industry.” This sounds interesting and I hope that it comes true. I just don’t know who will be the leader here.
- “Apple’s ‘iTablet’ will disappoint.” As a total Mac aficionado, I never like to short Apple products. Yet, when the word was out today about it costing between $ 900 and $ 1,000, the risk of it disappointing has gone up in my view. I don’t think I will be waiting on line at the Apple store the day it is released – at least not for this version!
- “2010 will see the rise of an open gaming platform, such as 2009 was the year of the open phone platform (Android).” This could be huge. In addition, having spent some time business-wise with game developers in 2009, this prediction seems to fit in with the zeitgeist of the industry right now.
- “Traditional search results will deteriorate to the point that folks begin to question search’s validity as a service.” People are looking for more customized service from search. Securing 10,000 results from a search query where the first four results appear to be relevant is not fully helping people in the way that they want. Services like Mahalo are picking up steam as people are looking for more from search.
- “Bing will move to a strong but distant second in search, eclipsing Yahoo in search.” Of course, they will as Microsoft now powers Yahoo Search! Plus Bing is a pretty nifty service.
- “Internet advertising will see a sharp in, and not just from increased research and social media platform [PPC/PPA] spending.” John believes that a lot of this spending will come from brands. All I know is that I am betting on this myself with my own business so he better be right!
- “The tech/internet industry will see a surge in quality IPO’s.” This sounds highly plausible as many internet companies are reaching break-even and profitability at historically fast rates. It will also be a boon to the economy.
- “We’ll see a major step forward in breaking the man/machine barrier.” He means the integration of “technology and biology.” As the recipient of a new hip in the last few weeks, I get this. Yet, John is also talking about the promise of greater things that are portrayed in movies like “Avatar” which I still have to see.
- “I’ll figure out what to do with my book SOGOTP so to speak” Well, now I know what “SOGOTP” means. Of course, I am feeling embarrassed for not knowing this! Regardless, I loved John’s first book The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Business and Transformed Our Culture and am very much opening he “GOTP” and writes another great book in 2010!
So what do you think will happen in the coming year? Tomorrow I will look at Mashable’s Pete Cashmore’s predictions from a recent article he wrote for CNN.com.
Posted on Sun, Dec 13, 2009
I finally took the time this week to get my left hip replaced. I had been putting the inevitable off for the last several years, always finding an excuse to delay it. So why now? There are the standard answers for this time of the year. Business slows down and I will not be missing much. I will be home during recovery, alowing me to spend more time with my family, especially, my 10-year old daughter during the holidays. However, there is a bigger reason that gets to the core of who I am as a professional, a mom, a daughter, a sister and a friend. As a professional, I advise businesses that they need to get their house in order to take their business to the next level. As a mom, I emphasize with my daughter the need to focus on the things that will make her a better, healthier and wiser young woman. I felt I couldn’t continue to perform those key roles in my life without taking a bit of my own advice! Getting in s”hip” shape for 2010 meant getting the hip replaced.
As I began the rehab journey from my hospital room at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC [an amazing facility, I might add], I saw parallels between my physical rehab and businesses entering into the social media arena:
Search: Initially when I made the decision to get my hip replaced, I scheduled it with an amazing surgeon through a referral. I used the web to research him and felt I had the right guy. Then I met him and he was even more convinced. Unfortunately, my insurance company was not going to give me much credit if I were to use him [so much for Preferred Provider Plans enabling you to choose your own doctor.] Regardless of this hiccup, I leveraged the doctor’s office to get a recommendation on a surgeon that he would recommend. Then I researched the doctor online and found out that he was very accomplished in replacing hips for younger people like myself. He also has given talks and written papers, which further interested me in his services. Then I met the doctor and I knew I was in the right hands!
PARALLEL TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS IN 2010: The web provides us with so many resources to research potential business partners and relationships. We can check out someone’s LinkedIn profile, their Twitter presence, their website and blog if they have one. We can also find the common points of connection that can help us in our decision process. Also, while we may initially go down one path, we realize as I did that we need to go another path. The web and its resources are there to help you adapt and change course quickly and effectively. As you move into 2010:
- establish a Google Reader account where you can custom create your syndication list of blogs and articles relevant to your business
- use Tweetdeck or Seesmic applications which will help you track real time tweets on topics you need to be up on as well people mentioning your own business
- take advantage of Google’s new real time search capabilities announced this past week. For more information on this development, I recommend reading this post from Hubspot, an internet marketing software company on “What Google’s Launch of Real Time Streaming Means for Marketers”
- check out curated search services relevant to your business that will help you find the information you need
Giving: As a recovering patient, you really need to rely on others – nurses, nurse assistants, physician’s assistants, physical therapists, amongst others to help you. It is somewhat overwhelming to be in a position where everyone is helping you. In order to deal with the overwhelm factor, I have focused on talking with the great support team and getting to know them. It has been fun and more importantly terrific to see how they respond when they feel my genuine appreciation. They work very hard, long hours and deal with humanity at all of its best and worst. Honoring them and their contributions gives them a rush and makes the whole process of being helped all that much easier.
PARALLEL TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS IN 2010: The best way to develop relationships in the social media world is to honor the people participating and their contributions. Inside most of us, we want our lives to matter. Acknowledging others’ contributions help validate that meaning. It can also help us forge business relationships that can be helpful to our own longer-term journey. Yet these are just by-products of being a good social media citizen. They are not the calculated goals, rather they are recognition that everything goes better when we celebrate each other’s humanity. So as you go into 2010, here are a few pointers:
- make a daily effort to genuinely recognize the people in your networks. Let them know you care and validate their efforts. And don’t be surprised by some unexpected returns!
- utilize your participation in social networks to get to know other business professionals better whose thoughts and insights you express.
- subscribe to some great blogs like Dan Zarella’s and Chris Brogan’s and get regular updates and insights as to how to improve your interaction in the social media universe.
Listening: Listening is critical to recovery. What do I mean by listening? Of course, it is listening carefully to all the health care providers I interact with. They have worked with thousands of patients through the years and know what they are talking about. Yet, there is another type of listening that is critical – listening to your own body. Last night, I was very determined to get this blog post done. I did everything I could do to stay awake to finish it. My body was not agreeing with me. It was telling me that I had had a lot of visitors that day and had done rigorous therapy and it was now time to sleep. As a Type A personality, this is a challenge for me, but I know that if I don’t listen to my body, I will not recover in the way I need to.
PARALLEL TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS IN 2010: A lot of colleagues and friends like to tell me that they have no time for Twitter, podcasts, facebook, audible downloads or reading books. Then I ask them how much time do they spend traveling into the city every day, how much time do they typically spend in a week
Business success with social media is very different than traditional marketing where businesses broadcast messages to consumers. Social media requires engaging with customers, here are some pointers for 2010:
- start listening to what people are saying about your products in blogs, ratings services, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter
- access tools from companies like Radian6 that allow you to monitor these conversations.
- don’t foget your gut. There is a measure of intuition that to bring to social media to get a real sense of what your customers are thinking.
Use Downtime: In the hospital, there is a lot of downtime in between seeing healthcare specialists and waiting for visitors. Also some time you don’t have the energy to read a book. My ipod has been downtime companion. I am a long time subscriber to Audible and have used much of my time here to listen to Trust Agents, co-written by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith and regarded as one of the top ten business books of 2009. i had already read much of the book before coming here, but was able to continue reading it through great listening on audible! Plus it is read by both Chris and Julien which makes it even more compelling. I have also used the time to catch up on tweets from my friends and colleagues. It has also been fun to receive tweet wishes for my speedy recovery.
PARALLEL TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS IN 2010: A lot of friends and colleagues tell me they don’t have time to tweet, read and comment on blogs, download podcasts or Audble books, or use Facebook regularly. I ask them if they own PDA devices that enable them to do all these things not tied to a desktop. Most of the time, they own an enabled device. Then I ask them how much time do they spend traveling into the city every day, how much time do they spend driving, how much time during the week do they typically find themselves waiting for someone before a meeting starts, how much time do they spend in the subway or taxis. When they cumulate the time, there is a lot more time for them to do the things they have “no time” to do! So as you get in ship shape for 2010, learn to leverage your time. Here are some ideas:
- subscribe to some great podcasts on topics relevant to your business. They can be very helpful to providing insights on how you can do your business better.
- get an Audible account. Try out a few audio books. I even like to give Audible as a business gift. Once people start using Audible, they find themselves so much “better read” and informed.
- set up a Twitter or Facebook interface on your iPhone, blackberry or other mobile device and use it
- make sure Google Reader is working on your devices.
- read this recent post from Chris Brogan on what to do “if you have an extra half hour“. It was very helpful and the comments add more thoughts about how you can leverage this time.
No Overnite Success: I have a restless attitude. I got the hip replaced and I am ready to go. I sometimes even go to the bathroom on my own here, which is a no-no. I keep asking people how many weeks it will take before I am back to normal? Will I be able to ski this winter? When can I dance again? Mark Cuban was on Dancing with the Stars within three months of his hip replacement a few years ago. So I am ready to go . . . yet, it is still one day at a time. I got up early this morning to finish this post, but my body wasn’t ready. I did one last walk around the hall here and I am in better shape to get it done. Getting my self back to normal is going to take time, patience and hard work.
PARALLEL TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS IN 2010: Build a program to step your engagement in social media. It can’t happen overnight and once you get involved in it, your progress will be evolutionary. But it is not enough to just know about social media, you really need to do it so you can understand it better. So my advice for 2010 boils down to that great Nike phrase: “Just do it!”.
Posted on Mon, Dec 07, 2009
Happy Monday Morning! As we all begin to wrap up 2009 and look to 2010, we start thinking strategically. What are your plans for building your business in 2010? Do you launch a new business on you own or inside the company you work for? And if you own the business, do you expand by building a new business line or expanding a new business line? Certainly technology offers many opportunities for building new businesses. Yet at the end of the day, whether it is using new technology platforms or combining them with traditional channels or traditional channels only, the same basics questions apply. In order to answer them, I have reordered the basic 5 W’s & H of journalism of Who, What, Where, When, Why and How to What, Who, Why, Where, When and How. I hope you will see the method in my madness by reading this below:
What is the Business?
This question should be answered in two sentences and should be easy to understand. In working on the answer to the question, pretend that you are at a cocktail party. How would you describe it? In fact, use this holiday season to start practicing your answers. However, I recommend trying them on people that aren’t strategically important to you. Their response can help you simplify or refine your answer.
Also, look at what prospective competitors in your field are saying about their business. Write them out on a piece of paper so you can look at them and understand how they are describing what they are doing. How can you say it better? How can you find the right key words? Try using some of the free key word tools, such as Google’s Keyword Tool to start working on it.
There are other What questions to focus on:
- What resources can you bring to bear right away?
- What resources do you need to obtain to get things going?
- What is your unique selling proposition?
Who is Your Customer?
You need to zero in on who your customer is. In fact, write out descriptions of your prototypical customer. Even collect pictures of who you think your customer is. And remember your customer is a multichannel customer. Go online to understand who your customer is better by reading blogs pertaining to your customer, finding research studies that talk about your customer. If you are in a B2B business, spend a lot of time on the websites of your prospective clients. Go to their LinkedIn or Facebook profiles. Read their press releases. Understand everything you can about your customer and their needs and how your product or service is going to solve their problems.
There are other Who questions you need to answer:
- Who will be your initial customers? Can they be evangelists?
- Who would you like to be part of your team?
- Who do you need to be part of your team?
- Who are potential alliances or strategic partners?
Why Would Your Customer Want Your Products or Services?
Why do your customers need your product or service? Are you solving their problems in a way that no one has to date? Why will your customers become repeat customers? Why will it better than other offerings out there?
Other Why questions to look at include?
- Why now? Why not next year or the year later?
- Why will you be able to scale your business?
- Why will you be a sustainable business?
Where Will you Start the Business?
Where will you start? Locally, regionally, nationally or internationally? Where is the best place for you to gain traction and get attention? Where you do have the lowest opportunity costs and the greater ease of tweaking and developing a product. It is great to have national or global aspirations. That is what business plans are for? Yet, as we all know we need to walk before we run. Where will you have the best opportunity to get your walk and talk down?
Other Where questions include:
- Where are your consumers are online?
- Where can you reach your consumers via traditional channels?
- Where do you want to build your business over time?
When Will You Hit Key Milestones?
For me, one needs to answer the When question with a road map that includes key milestones. Sit down and spend some time over the next few weeks and build a road map with critical milestones attached to dates and times, e.g. when will you develop your business prototype, when will you bring on new people, when will you get funding, when will you get your first customers, etc. Set tangible and realistic goals and take time every month to adjust your road map so you can get closer to your goals.
Other When questions include:
- When can I fully launch the business?
- When will the business hit breakeven?
- When will the business achieve profitability?
How Will I Build My Business?
How will I secure the resources I need to:
- Develop My Business
- Define and Reach My Consumer
- Fulfill the Needs of My Consumer
- Determine Where to Launch My Business
- Define My Benchmarks and Measure Them
How shapes every part of your business. How is the difference between an idea and a reality.
Other How questions to ask include:
- How will I get started?
- How will I survive?
- How will I stay inspired?
To stay inspired, I strongly recommend listening to Jason Calacanis’s weekly podcast, This Week in Startups. While much of the focus is on pure start-ups, the fundamental business discussions are relevant to businesses large and small. He has done 29 podcasts thus far as well as several bonus epidsodes. If you want to get a summary of which ones are best for you to check out, please refer to Scott Simko’s blog called StartUpRecap. Another source of inspiration is Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book Crush It. Gary used social media to help build his family’s wine business from annual revenues of $ 4 MM to over $ 50 MM a year. His story is an energizing one that should empower everyone to know that they can make things happen!
Posted on Wed, Nov 25, 2009
OK I missed blogging yesterday and I am just finishing today’s post before midnight on Wednesday! I have been swamped with moving and working. So Wednesday this week is about Strategy and that will be it for this week as I take time to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and cherish the many blessings I enjoy in my own life. So, now onto strategy. Jay Deragon of The Relationship Economy blog has provided great perspectives on strategy in his recent Social Media Directions series. Through the series, he argues that the internet is changing all strategies, creating a need for a new type of strategy – the social strategy which defines how an organization can better “relate and communicate” with all its constituents.
Here is an overview of few of Jay’s posts [in somewhat of a different order than Jay used in his series] on the emerging world of social strategy:
Old Strategies No Longer Work!
Strategy traditionally (and for many companies still) has been about building strategies from inside the company walls, with a heavy reliance on market strategy and competitive analysis. Traditional media has been a helpful partner creating messages targeted at their defined markets. Jay argues that strategy is no longer about how a company defines the market. The internet has change everything and has made it about the real-time conversations of consumers. These real-time conversations include consumer ratings, blogs, and social media comments. It is also about consumer reliance on search about companies and their products. This reality can have real consequences. As Jay points out, “one angry customer can reach 3,000 people at the click of a mouse.” Traditional strategic methods were not built around the “click of the mouse”, now forcing businesses to look doing strategy differently.
So If Old Strategies No Longer Work, What is Your Social Strategy?
As written above, social strategy defines how an organization can better “relate and communicate” with all its constituents. This is in contrast to traditional strategy design which focuses on organizational alignments, e.g. . “organizational design, culture, leadership, management, communications, marketing, technology, human relations, finance and market research.” Social strategy focuses on 1) mapping out how your organization currently relates and communicates to its constituencies and 2) researching what, how, when, where and why the market may be discussing your organization, its products, services and people.
So You Have a Social Srategy: Do You Have a Strategy for Social Media ROI?
Social Media ROI is a hotly debated structure. Yet getting management on board on a social media strategy does require demonstrating what are the bottom line results for investing in and deploying a social strategy? However, Jay argues that social strategy ROI is less about focusing on the result and more focused on the intent. ” Intent is revealed and reflected by your communications, your relationships and your depth of knowledge of both. Intent is transparent as is the knowledge used to create and deliver on intents.” Jay uses this recent video from Erik Qualman [covered in Daily Bytes on November 18] to give context to the subject of ROI:
For more defined bottom-line information to present to your management on your social strategy plan, I recommend using today’s blog post from HubSpot entitled Companies Engaging in Social Media Have Higher Financial Performance.
As a final wrap to this Pre-Thanksgiving Strategy Helping from Jay Deragon, I also recommend watching this Social Strategy presentation he posted on You Tube.
Finally, have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I will be back next Monday.