As with all articles containing the words “x success criteria…” use this with caution. However, the report, while not earth shattering should help you with your next argumentation.
Via DavaiDavai
We are often asked whether or not a Global Brand should have just one presence on Global social media platforms. For instance, should there just be one Facebook page for your company?
Facebook prefers to have global brands only have one presence, and says that multiple presences fracture brands, and there are clear benefits to having one central presence -
And bear in mind that local promotions and communications can still be done, using market-based status updates and custom tabs that allow for users to select their market and get local content – making the page “Glocal”.
Many brands, however do not choose to implement a global page, but instead (or IN ADDITION TO) use local or market-restricted pages due to complexities like
Starbucks, for example, has a global site, but offers redirects to international local sites for increased relevance. Adidas offers a local customization page on their global page, but you can also find Adidas Running, Basketball, and other specialty sites as well. The oft-discussed Coke maintains one main, fan-powered site, and local market sites do not appear to take advantage of any centrally built applications.
Twitter also presents challenges since localization depends on users turning on location settings or a full profile - a rarity on that platform. But that will be covered in another post!
Stretching the idea that your average person is gunning for an endorsement deal from their products and services - Shortbord launches today!
It has good integration with Twitter and Facebook (but who doesn’t?) but I’m not sure that the people who do these kinds of things for money are really the right people to represent brands. How many times would you read the status updates of someone who was more interested in getting paid for their endorsement than connecting with you? For how long would they remain your friend?
For Cause Marketing, I think it has potential, simply because the updates are less annoying and interruptive, but Brands should remember that in order to get good ‘friends’ online you have to _act_ like a good friend.
via Thrillist
A new article from TechCrunch outlines the current fight between Zygna and Facebook on the Credit System that they prefer (require) payments to go through.
The fight is interesting in that Facebook clearly would like to benefit from some of the amazing spend that some loyal users are throwing at the Zygna platforms, but also in regards to Brands who may wish to get in on the action. When the payment platform that Facebook prefers/requires includes a cut for the ‘house’ then Brands have to think twice about playing.
We’ve spoken about the cost of participation on social platforms before, but this discussion also raises a few new questions about how to measure actions taken on the platform. We can imagine some of the possible benefits for Brands working with Facebook to utilize, offer and redeem credits - whether or not those credits are bought, or earned through engagement on the platform. After all, if the value of the experience that we are offering is great enough, why would some virtual currency not change hands? Rewards for positive behaviors may extend to offering these virtual benefits, which will then require more scrutiny as to their ROI than some current offerings/rewards schemes.
Via: TechCrunch
In their article, Facebook Fans Valued at $3.60 Each, Mashable’s Christina Warren reports on the latest study by Vitrue (also covered in this Adweek article - hmmm this topic seems to have a lot of people interested in it…) showing that the value of a fan can be expressed in “earned media” - or impressions for updates that post to your user’s news feeds.
It’s good to know that there might be some marketers who feel they can relax a little bit now - after all, impressions at least are relatively understood. But the really exciting thing is how much of an iceberg tip it really is - since the actions by users like Commenting, Likes, and Shares are also big influences, and probably still unknown - the blog post just hints at doubling or tripling the impact!
Vitrue is pretty forthcoming about the best practices that we have seen emerge, however, regarding deeper connections and better penetration - no surprise that relevant content, rich media and engaging Acts are the traits of more successful Pages.
It’s a cool time to be working in marketing - and a cool time to be working with clients to determine what the value of participation in the social space means for Brands and their consumers.
With Facebook’s forthcoming announcements about the changes to Fan Pages, it seems relevant to bring up the odd situation that marketers and their agencies sometimes find themselves in when things like this change. That old favorite for the digital world: Catch-up!
(Some elements of the coming changes were leaked here on ClickZ where it states that the news was sent in an email to some agencies).
Facebook knows what it has in terms of an audience marketers want access to, and users know that they have a lot of control when they’re in the FB walled garden, so changes like the move from “Become a Fan” to “Like” as an opt-in call-to-action are sure to put lots of people into a lather, and sure to get Facebook some of that user backlash they have gotten so used to lately.
A big question for me, is how quickly are marketers ready to make changes based upon this new shift? In some ways, and especially in the case of Brands that actively use social platforms, changes like this can sometimes feel like someone keeps re-coding the internet every few months. As soon as you get users acquainted with how things work, the rules change. Most improvements seem to head the company/platform in the direction of streamlining or simplifying, but some missteps are bound to happen (I don’t think I ever really understood the difference between my newsfeed and livefeed).
The question, is, are you ready? Do you have your specifications documented and know how the new changes will affect your users? Do you have people looking into how the other changes coming can help make this change less of an issue?
Or are you planning to play catch-up all summer? 
In This Article on GigaOM, Liz Gannes reported on some statements made at the OMMA Global conference by Mark Kvamme, an industry insider, where he basically stated that if marketers harness the power of Social Media, they shouldn’t have to pay for advertising anymore.
It’s a bold statement (which goes over well at industry conferences I hear). And if you’re interested in the finer points of his argument, feel free to read through Gannes piece which seemed to cover the supporting arguments pretty well (shrewedly highlighting the vested interest the speaker had for at least some of his remarks). But for the real fun – as happens so often in the online world – DON’T forget to read the comments.
I mean, sure – the idea that some new platforms like Twitter or Facebook or others have low or no cost of entry is wonderful, and when we are convincing stakeholders of opportunities for testing and learning we advise Clients to avoid sinking crazy amounts of money in developing ‘owned’ platforms. But to take this fact and leap to say that user generated media equates to free marketing is missing some crucial considerations, and it can be misleading for Clients who are entering the space.
1. Just because you have a message, doesn’t mean anyone wants to hear it. If we start from examining Human Behavior, then - don’t take it personally – no one wants to be ‘friends’ with your Brand’s Mission Statement. Brands should take time and care to determining their place, actions, and voice in social media, and ‘tune’ them in order to participate fluidly and gracefully. This is not child’s play. Look at marketers do it consistently well – do they seem to be careless in terms of their approach? Are they repeating their :30 tagline on their Facebook page?
2. And just because users can spread your message doesn’t mean that they will. Figuring out why people may want to pass on a message or ask their friends to do something has to be considered in the actual development of what that message or experience is. This takes time, effort and yes, investment. In fact you may need to be monitoring the space, because if they are already talking about you, they are quite likely not using your talking points. And trust me, there are lots of companies out to make money on the fact that these tools need power and utility, as well as smart people to use them. Even Coke’s Facebook success in supporting a pair of fans who started their page is a tribute to targeted investing. Coke recognized their fans’ serious skills – then rewarded and supported them. If passion in the community is there then you’ve got a good shot, but the work doesn’t stop there.
3. There’s more to it than just ‘do it’. I find comments like ‘Brands just need to harness the power of social media’ or ‘you just need to figure out how to work in this new world’ are pretty glib statements. Brands can test and learn here, sure, but perhaps an approach might be nice? Maybe something that starts with questions like, ‘Are my customers using these tools? Or are the influencers of my customers using these tools?’ Maybe I need to consider producing some content for users to interact with? Be on the lookout for an article by Michelle Davidson, a colleague of mine, talking about the hidden high cost of User Generated Content. She and others are talking about behavioral economics and user expectations in social media spaces – and yes, you may have to ‘give to get’. Placing any old content into any old free platform does not constitute a strategic use of social media, nor does it guarantee you an overnight success story in terms of viral buzz.
4. Speaking of viral buzz – just because a video ‘went viral’ does not mean that no money was spent on it. There are actually processes and procedures that marketers and agencies can put in place to help successful videos to spread faster and get into featured lists. And even if the production is done on a dime, the idea needs to be developed in the first place. But don’t assume the inverse of this thinking proves the rule: your :30 spot may not have viral potential. Too often it is tempting to think that ‘We spent all this money on this commercial – of COURSE it has viral potential.’ Sadly, this may not necessarily be true, and all the preparation in the world can’t make up for the fact that there really are ‘different horses for different courses’.
I could go on and on, like how calling online marketing ‘Advertising’ gets my blood boiling, but in the end I think that a successful marketer will strive to understand the social space and how to use it, which takes investigation, thinking, planning, creativity and yes – investing. I would agree with the speaker that social media has changed things for marketers hugely, and how they spend their money is one of the most important considerations they have to make right now. But I don’t think that soundbites about marketing being free are helpful or accurate. Free doesn’t come cheap.
Disclaimer: I was working in my office during the convention: I wasn’t there. Maybe he added some caveats?
Want to do some Social Marketing for your brand but don’t know anyone who could code a Facebook App for you? IKEA shows you what to do:
All this with onboard Facebook features. Kind of “Ikea” to do it this way, isn’t it? Creativity has the power …
(On a related note: will Facebook, from now on, suggest they found a picture of me every time someone uploads an image with LACK in the background???)
(On another related note: Who said Social Media can only be used for marketing, not for sales?!)
Detergent brand Wisk or its new product Wisk-It, promises to help people getting rid of objectionable photos.
With Wisk-It, Facebook users can find tagged and untagged photos in their friends’ albums and ask them to “wash them away”.
A simply simple and cool idea!
Sometimes it takes a long time for the simplest ideas to take shape. Flighttrackers have been around for a while, however nothing has been around for social media that had total accuracy (tripit and dopplr do connect to your social profiles, but they don’t do it in real time). In fact, we pitched a similar idea to LH earlier this year.
Finally, Lufthansa launched a service, called MyskyStatus, which allows users to have real-time flight data of their flight being automatically posted to their Twitter and Facebook. Not only does this mimic the already existing human behavior of people tweeting their arrival, it provides more accuracy and also twitters for you when you are still in the air.
What’s more, it doesn’t just work for Lufthansa, but pretty much all airlines, even when you’re booked on a competitor airline. Finally a common sense move based in the understanding that as a brand today, you cannot create proprietary experiences that last very long: you have to do something for people that makes a qualitative difference in their lives, enabled by not limited to your own brand. In fact, by offering this service, it could well be a first mover advantage that positively attaches to the brand image of Lufthansa. Kudos!! Next step: get existing services such as tripit and dopplr to integrate.
