Social Media Marketing and Relevant Brand Building

Neha Gohad, a Student at Manchester Metropolitan university posted an interesting question on LinkedIn Questions. She asks what is the commercial appeal of Social Networking Sites for Brands?

I am doing a Research on Social Networking Sites in UK and their implications for Brands and effects on future consumers as a part of my Masters Dissertation at the Manchester Metropolitan University. The top Social networks in UK such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo are amongst the most popular destinations . eMarketer reports predict the UK advertising spend on these networks would be well over £115 million in 2008 and forecasts this figure to go up to £285million by 2012.

These were the two parts to her question with my thoughts on each:

1. Do you think the Social Networks would fail to attract users if they are exploited excessively by Marketers/Brands?

Certainly. We saw the backlash to Facebook’s “recomendation” engine that caused concerns among users. Privacy will continue to be a concern among the general population, and exessive exploitation usually tends to cause privacy concerns. But beyond that, brands/marketers need to pay careful attention to how their “social interactions” impact the user’s experience and the user’s ability to interact.

The new paradigm of advertising is all about user-control or user-influence–something difficult to handle by traditional legacy agencies and corporations. Slapping “banners” on a social portal is a losing proposition for the most part when you consider the saturation and the click throughs — still worth it in some cases, but quickly fading as an effective approach as far as social media marketing. According to the brand, marketers need to be either subtle or in-your-face — the point is to be engaging according to the audience.

2. What factors/ approaches do you think should be considered most important in future for Brands on Social Networks? [eg: peer recommendations, highly targeted approach, interactive/ entertaining/ engaging campaigns etc]

Certainly targeting is a major factor — even more so in social media marketing than ever before. Without the right market segmentation strategy, it becomes challenging to craft an engaging and relevant message. It seems to me that peer recommendation has a lot going for it, but with some minor exceptions, it is yet to be executed to its full potential. For example, in Facebook, I keep seeing a recommendation-based ad for Visa Small Business from a couple individuals I do know and trust, but the thing is — I don’t have my own business. So, while the referring social aspect is right-on, the message is still not relevant to ME!

Not all social marketing needs to be entertaining. Just look at Mint.com — I fully enjoy using their “comparison” charts that show my spending against others in my city or state. The key is to make it relevant, useful (if its not easy to use, it will never be “engaging”) and what the user wants.

Honestly, I’m not sure that the old phrase “content is king” is valid anymore. Not because content is un-important, but because the phrase is not consumer-focused. Its now about the user — what it wants, how it wants it, when it wants it, and in a language and style most relevant to him or her.

There is the paradigm in which social media marketers need to start shaping their strategies.

DomeNation: More YouTube and Politics

David All has joined with Jerome Armstrong from MyDD to start a new YouTube based weekly TV show, DomeNation. I watched the first couple episodes and thought it was well done. In DC, if you want to be a student of Internet and communications, you inevitably have to step into politics. These guys are coming in from both sides of the aisle to look at what different candidates are doing, and to encourage activism. They are asking YouTube user input. You can subscribe right here.

This will be my video of interest for this week — already being displayed on the right hand column.

Online social network sites going bilingual

NSHP.org is reporting on the growth of social networking websites targeting the Hispanic market.

Online social network sites are going bilingual with sites like elHood.com, QuePasa.com, MyGrito.com and Vostu.com.

The statistics are interesting.

About 56 percent of Hispanics in the U.S. use the Internet, compared to 71 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 60 percent of non-Hispanic blacks, according to study released last month by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. But the number of Hispanics online jumps to 67 percent for 18 to 27 year olds, who also happen to be the group most likely to visit and use social networking sites to support a cause.

This is encouraging because growing Internet usage among Hispanics in the US will probably influence and increase Internet usage in Latin America — which can only be a good thing.

Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us

Awesome video. I saw it a while ago, but I came across it again today. Check it out.

On My Radar Today

Some politics and the web:

Politicians fall behind in cyberspace race

If Republicans Don’t Get Online, They’ll Miss the Show

HT: The Ultimate Web 2.0 Candidate

Online Fundraising: Advantage, Dems

Just out of professional interest:

Enterprise IA Methodologies:

Social Networks Give Brand-Building Advice

Don’t Get Shut out of the Customer’s Inbox

Interesting News:

MySpace News Launches Tomorrow

More Politics and the Web:

Video: Campaigning in a Web 2.0 World – Part 1

Hosted services are moving everything fromdatabases and spreadsheets to project planning and media from thecampaign desktop to the Internet. Are they secure? Can they make yourcampaign or organization more efficient?

Blogged with Flock

Keys to Victory: Internet & Email

I’ve been asked to talk to students at the Leadership Institute on a workshop titled “Keys to Victory: Internet & Email.” I’m looking forward to giving the LI students practical tips on how to use the internet and email to achieve advocacy success.

Some of the areas I’m going to be covering include:

- Email list, email relationship building, and email permission marketing.
- Blogging, RSS feeds, and buzz building.
- Facebook, social networks, and online community building.
- Flickr, and viral photo advocacy.
- Video, YouTube and other video distribution sites.

My goal is to provide tips on how to use the Internet, and its related tools, to appeal to outside constituents and stakeholders, how to effectively call to them action, and successfully advocate for your cause or issue. Feel free to share thoughts, ideas, or tips. In the meantime, you can get some bonus reading from Matt Lewis that provides basic strategic-level thinking on the user of internet and email in political activism.

Here is a paragraph in Matt’s article that caught my attention:

Every effective tactic employed by political campaigns is, by nature, intrusive — and annoying. Nobody likes being called on the phone, getting junk mail, or having unannounced strangers knock on their doors during dinner. We don’t like political TV ads either, so we turn the channel (when we can). Yet, the pesky, pushy campaigns that most aggressively employ these time-tested tormenting tactics are victorious on Election Day. As conservative icon and president of conservative training organization The Leadership Institute, Morton Blackwell, says, Nothing moves in politics unless its pushed.

I understand Matt’s point, and at its basic premise, I agree. In advocacy, you have to “move-to-action” which by nature is somewhat intrusive. But, what if you can get permission? Or, what if you can recruit an “Army of Davids” to advocate for you, and to do what would otherwise be intrusive pushing within their circles of trust?

Let me see if I can paint you a picture. A stranger that keeps barging into your home un-invited is intrusive, but a trusted friend that has an open invitation to come by any time is welcome. The relationship — the permission — makes all the difference. You might not always be able to effectively secure “permission” but by using social networking tools, you can recruit other’s to “push” for you.

Matt links to these other related web pages that I’m going to be reviewing as I prepare for my presentation.

- Study Finds Door-to-Door Campaigning Increases Latino Voter Turnout
- Dean’s Internet Revolution

A final thought for this post:

In legislative or advocacy project management, the job is to pick up this new tool and use it to connect, engage and move your constituents to action. Just because you are picking up a new tool, does not mean you forget, or leave out, all the political or advocacy strategic thinking you have been trained to use.

The key is integrated strategic thinking AND execution.

Game Mechanics Applied to Marketing And Brands

I read this article by Max Kalehoff a few months ago, but it came to mind again last week as I was writing about usability. This is the new world of media: full user-interaction. Today’s media consumers don’t just want to consume; they want to participate, engage and have fun while doing it.

Kalehoff’s article reviews the work of Ami Jo Kim, creative director at ShuffleBrain and holder of a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience. Kalehoff writes that Kim “noted at Supernova how successful games shape our behavior by engaging us in ‘flow,’ which is achieved through an optimum balance of challenge and skill.”

As humans, we need appropriate levels of challenge as our skills increase. The ability to match these two components is what makes good teachers good and great games work.

Kim suggests “game mechanics” as a framework to create services that are more fun, compelling and addictive. Boy, it seems incredibly obvious now: As YouTube’s popularity has skyrocketed, so has its alignment with these five key elements of game mechanics:

Those five elements are:

1. Collecting.
The most successful games involve the collection of items like artifacts or tools…

2. Points.
Points are the second critical component, because people will continue a certain behavior to gain more points…

3. Feedback.
The next key aspect is feedback on how you’re doing, whether auditory, visual, or other…

4. Exchanges.
Next are explicit or implicit exchanges, or interactions, such as trading or gifting…

5. Customization.
Finally, customization increases investment and creates barriers to leaving…

You can read the first article by Max Kalehoff on “Game Mechanics Applied to Marketing And Brands” right here and the rest of the “YouTube: The Addictive, Must-Play Game” article right here.

Can you imagine if more non-profits, churches, and even politicians started allowing more of their users/readers/members to customize their interaction with their websites, and engage at a deeper level? This would be one way to bring “community” and greater engagement through technology, which could then translate into more donations, more votes, or more people exploring their faith in person on Sunday morning.

WSJ: Political Candidates, Fund Raising, Blogs & The Web

Update: The Washington Post has an article on Widgets I missed. Thanks to Rob for pointing out. Rob points out one good example.

While this may technically not qualify as a widget, I did want to call attention to a great new tool courtesy of Justin Hart at My Man Mitt. It allows Romney fans in New Hampshire to follow on an interactive Google map “where they’ve been, endorsements, fundraisers, headquarters and more.” Very cool.

Internet Strategist Patrick Ruffini posted last night about a new widget service he discovered.

I recently discovered a great service called SpringWidgets, which is used to embed RSS feeds on blogs and MySpace pages. Using the service, I built a widget with all the latest headlines from the 2008 Wire you can embed on your blog.

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Attention is growing on the powerful role the web is playing in American politics. While blogs have risen as huge players in the media world, it is expected that the 2008 election will be a wake up call to the power of the blogosphere and the web. Lee Gomez writes about this intoday’s edition of the Wall Street Journal highlighting the fund raising power of the web.

The biggest role for the Web has involved raising money. Barack Obama got 27% of his $25 million in contributions from online donors. Sen. Clinton, the only other candidate to announce the percent raised online, got about 23%. But all the candidates have learned that putting a “Give money” button on the home page of their Web sites usually is both cheaper and more effective than mass mailings or 800 numbers, the two standards for populist fund raising in the days before the Web.
Big Web operations such as Yahoo and Google have learned that the interest in a presidential election, just like the interest in “American Idol,” can, with the right sort of marketing, be translated into more “page views” and thus more advertising. The sites have begun actively recruiting presidential candidates to avail themselves of politically oriented special features, such as a presidential election “channel” on Google’s YouTube.
The effort isn’t just in the U.S. In France, Yahoo’s French home page links to “Presidentielle 2007″ about that country’s current election campaign.

What I would like to see is more non-profits taking these lessons from the campaigns, and using the web to make it easier for supporters and constituents to easily donate to their favorite cause. Among the select charities I trust and support, I have donated more frequently to the one charity that provides a PayPal donate button–Lotus Buds. Why? Because they have a PayPal button on the home page. Every time I get a e-newsletter, I click through and send a donation.

But allow me to demonstrate the other viral power of the internet, and the power of “the Army of Davids” — to be evangelists for your cause! Combine that with the low-cost fundraising power, and you have an effective tool for advocacy.

Lotus Bud International’s vision is to see more Chinese families embrace adoption by educating families in China about the possibilities of adoption, preparing successful adoptive families through parent training, and providing funds for adoption and the education and medical needs of adopted children.

Lotus Buds International is working in China to promote and support adoption among Chinese families to make a difference in lives of children in need of a family.

There are millions of beautiful little girls who want a family. Join Lotus Buds in promoting and supporting adoption among Chinese families to make a difference in lives of children in need of a family.

Here is another favorite of mine:

Opportunities to Serve in 2007: Whether you’ve already taken the plunge and decided to join in a life-changing experience overseas, or you’re still wondering what Short Term Missions are all about, we can give you the information you’ll need along the way. Read more

My point: The Internet offers a tool for committed constituents to join in a charity’s efforts, spreading the message, and even supporting fund raising efforts through the use of widgets, syndication feeds, and other viral web-tools. I saw a perfect example in Rudy Giuliani’s campaign website. Here are a couple embed tools that allows bloggers to fund raise and spread the “Rudy” message on their own blogs. Note: The following does not constitute an endorsement of a candidate.

Non-profits need to start going beyond the brochure website and really harness the power of the internet. There is a lot of good to be done, and a lot of people who would love to join in. Just make it easy for them and empower those who want to support you the most. The investment is well worth the rewards in lives changed.

WSJ: How Blogging Can Help You Get a New Job

I came across this article in today’s editor of the Wall Street Journal, and fortunately, its available for free on their online edition. I came across a posting about my current job opening on a blog I used to read on a regular basis (not as much these days…). I landed the job, in part, because I was an active blogger and read political blogs–I’m currently an Assoc. Editor and Online Community Manager for the leading conservative politics and opinion website, Townhall.com. Since then, I have only had one company recruitment effort (not quite an offer) as a result of blogging, but I certainly agree with the article’s premise that blogging helps establish your personal brand and highlight knowledge and experience.

Some job seekers call recruiters’ attention to their blogs as a way to boost their candidacy. In an interview for a public-relations job in late 2004, Kevin Dugan says he told recruiters at Cincinnati-based FRCH Design Worldwide that he had been writing a blog for two years. “Blogging was a way for me to build credibility,” he says. “It was a way to show my writing skills pretty easily as well as my knowledge of blogging and the public-relations industry.” Mr. Dugan, 36, got the job and continues to write his blog, which he says generates about one job lead a month.

I like to highlight innovation ideas, I will blog about training sessions, or comment on freelance client project I may be involved in (only pro-bono projects these days…).

“If you’re currently job hunting, say so in your blog’s ‘About Me’ blurb,” she advises. “Say you’re interested in learning about opportunities in your field.”

Blogs also help employers probe the qualifications of potential hires, says Wal-Mart’s Mr. Loken. “If they have a blog or made a comment on one, you can see what their knowledge level truly is because résumés can be full of fluff.”

If you are not job hunting, do it anyways. Its your brand, and you never know when it can spark an idea, start a conversation, or establish you as an expert. The key thing to remember: who you are comes out in your blog. Make sure you are exercising maturity, wisdom, and character in what you write, and how you express yourself. Otherwise, you may be branding yourself in a way employer’s may not be wanting.

Joost Review #2 and More Screen Captures

Update: I have published a WTF blurb in Technorati. You can read it here. If you have enjoyed this review, I invite you to click here and give it a vote.

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It seems Joost is performing much better this morning. I have been watching the “Off the Fence” channel, and have not experienced any interruptions. I keep playing around a bit with the widgets, but I’m thinking they don’t have critical mass yet, so things like chat aren’t that useful if no one is chatting.

Here is a screen shot of the widgets menu. They are saying they will be adding more, and letting users create and ad their own. Should mean there will be a lot of cool stuff down the road.

This is what the chat screen looks like. Its neat–I can see myself watching shows and talking about it with total strangers! LOL It does present an interesting “market research” opportunity for companies to produce shows, and then drop in on the chat channel and read what viewers are saying. Makes me wonder if Joost keeps archives of channel chats and offers these to advertisers? Unlike TV, the Internet allows an extensive amount of detailed tracking, which means higher revenue from advertisers.

The advertising has been minimal and short. It seems like Joost is turning out to be what was promised — a powerful TV platform with all the advantages of the Internet. Lets hope they can increase their options on the content.

One key feature I did notice is a filter or parental control of sorts. The account owner can enter an age limit for the content, and a pin, effectively blocking all content above that age. If Joost can manage to avoid having its platform become a wild, wild west of TV, perhaps they can attract enough regular folks and change the way TV is watched.

Cable companies watch out!