With a good Texan salutation, we move on to this week’s Friday blog post, in which we cover some new stuff with Facebook. No, we won’t be covering the “shift+enter” complaints or the “memorable status updates” (Watch your words! Facebook never forgets!), but we do have some articles that should prove a tasty treat for those of you with a sixth basic taste of business. So what can Facebook do for you today? Let’s see:
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What’s New With Facebook
Facebook Expands Tagging to Include Comments: The same “@” sign that you’ve been using to link events, people, and pages is being expanded into virtually any place you can enter text on Facebook, which, if you’re the taggable brand, is good news for you.
4 Facebook E-Commerce Tips for Brands: a lot of businesses use Facebook to sell directly rather than as a referral tool. If you’re doing this or this idea sounds appealing to you, here are some good tips on doing it right.
Yes, Facebook Is A Viable Marketing Strategy For Startups: There is some concern among “the they” that Facebook is no longer– or at least will soon no longer be—fashionable or effective. Nick O’neill calls them out and argues that Facebook is still the number one marketing channel and is “practically mandatory” for online startups.
REPORT: Facebook Like Drives $1.34 In Ticket Sales: Eventbrite recently released a study showing the dollar worth of a facebook share and a tweet in ticket sales for events, a must-read for any business hosting (or thinking of hosting) events.
Why You Need Facebook’s Like Button On Your Site: We probably don’t need to beat you over the head with this idea for you to know its importance. But really, you should do it. The article has some resources and fully explains the awesome functionality of the “like”.
This piece was originally a guest post on advertising blog AdPulp. AdPulp describes itself as “an online trade rag written by industry insiders.” We were pleased to contribute to a blog we’ve been reading for years. Our thanks to David Burn for reaching out.
There was a lot of talk this year about brand journalism and brands as publishers at SXSW. As a matter of fact, I happened to unwittingly attend three panels in a row on that very topic. Imagine my surprise when attending a Core Conversation on Marketing in the Moment (my favorite variety of SXSW panel, by the way – they’re always highly engaging and contain no Power Points) to find that the speaker picking up where my last panel on Brands as Publishers had left off.
Rob Garner, our Marketing in the Moment presenter and Vice President of Strategy at iCrossing, set the tone by saying that your brand is only as good (in the social media and content space, presumably) as what it is doing right now. Not what it plans to do in a few months, and not what it did a few months ago, but what it is doing right at this moment.
Lack of Agility and the Channelization of Social
The problem with enterprise brands, Garner argued, is that they are passive, as opposed to be being active and agile in their marketing. Brands take months, even years to update or redesign their website… actually, they take months or years to redesign even a portion of their website.
Contrast this passive, slow-moving process to today’s rate of information dissemination. An idea that resonates with consumers, customers and clients can travel very quickly now. The social media space is like a digital organism. If an idea hits a nerve, it will travel. Marketers and brands are fixated on hitting as many people as possible in order to spread their message. But this isn’t necessarily the best way to do it. You can aim for one bird, and you might engage the whole flock, if your idea resonates with that first one.
Aside from the problem of agility with big brands, there is a larger issue—channelization of social media. The evolution of social networks isn’t about a medium; it’s about society being networked at a level it never has been before. Social media marketers, interestingly enough, are guilty of “channelizing” themselves. Our bottlenecks, make it okay for big brands to do the same thing.
Brands Are Excluded From the Conversation
Marketing in the moment means being present and alive in the space through conversation and discussion, says Garner. Brands have not engaged in the space in a way that can be successful. They usually aren’t a part of the conversation about their brand, or even the general discussion that happens around their brand or industry (think home renovation discussions for a Home Depot or Lowe’s). Monitoring isn’t enough. It’s too late to respond when you’re just passively monitoring the social media space.
A lot of this exclusion from conversation and discussion is actually self-imposed by the brands themselves. Legal departments, social media policies, blocking networks in the workplace, siloing social media into one department (or worse, one person) all combine to exclude brands from the network.
Brand Advocates & Content Creation
To achieve inclusiveness in the network, locate the spirited voices within your organization, and externally? Embrace your audience by bringing people in from the community to be your brand advocates.
A brand’s identity is embodied in the spirit of its audience now more than ever before. Use a variety of market research methodologies to know what your target audience is searching for. You can set up forums and listen to what they are saying, do keyword research and talk to them personality. Market research is an obligation. It’s time for brands to listen and hear where people are coming from.
People inside the organization are also a critical part of the audience brands need to reach. Your internal people are acting on behalf of your brand on a daily basis, so you need to have a place to use internal people for engagement. You need a strategy to utilize these important voices.
Getting Swatted By Your Own Tail
Most brands start shaking in their legal department boots at this point. “How will we control the message?” is the eye-rolling-inducing refrain we as social media marketers have heard repeatedly. The brands that think they control the message are the very ones who get swatted by their own tails. Bad business practices will be apparent in social media, and so maybe some brands are right to shake as they do.
For the rest of us, some advice for overcoming the most common of internal roadblocks is simply to let go. Companies would do well to empower people to communicate without over-managing. You can’t talk when someone is editing your voice. You can’t have a conversation like that. Nothing gets by Zappos, for example, in the social space and that’s because their team doesn’t have a ton of obstacles to keep them from engaging with their audience. (As a matter of fact, when I tweeted this observation during the panel, a Zappos team member replied to me.)
Need a Baby Step?
An easy way for brands to join the conversation and be active ongoing participants, is to simply extend the things that are already publishing like news articles, and press releases out into the network. Even brands in highly regulated industries can be active participants, marketing in the moment, just by remaining factual and generous with their information.
Marketing in the moment is about letting go of internal obligations, being personal, treating social as a network or digital organism (as opposed to another channel or medium), and participating in the conversations the audience is having, whether the brand is are at the center of them or not.
On its surface, it seems ridiculous. What could we possibly have to learn from a self-proclaimed cocaine addict, a possible wife abuser, and guy who waves a machete on his roof all wrapped into one?
On a personal level, probably not much. But on a professional level, Charlie Sheen has really done something interesting with social media. And all without a Facebook page.
Below we have one of the videos that started it all and had everyone asking, is he crazy? Has he lost it? Is he coked out? Or is he a genius?
But after a while people stopped caring so much about what brought on this sudden outburst from the actor we’ve known so long, and started #winning, throwing a #fastball, and discovering their #tigerblood. The simple word “winning” has gone from a cool thing that might get you a few Facebook likes from friends to “Just scored the last jelly donut at work. #WINNING” and puts you in touch with the wave of millions of Charlie Sheen fans all stoked on their fortune, all part of the most twisted and accidental motivational campaign the internet’s ever seen. And even the ironists are taking part in the trend in Chuck Norris-Joke fashion, which is just as much absurd as it is peculiarly self-satisfying. Like Sheen says,
“Admit it folks, the whole winning thing, you just feel better when you say it.”
But how’s he doing it? First, the video went viral. But how do you sustain it? He took some cues from Conan O’Brien, creating his Team Sheen, and with a Twitter the world could get as much Charlie as their smartphone put out.
No matter what’s behind the outing of Charlie Sheen’s new public game face–a hugely successful publicity stunt, a comedian that never was, whatever; as long as you’re #winning right?–there’s no doubt it’s been tremendously successful. So here are five things we can learn about social media from Charlie Sheen.
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(1) Video, Video, Video.
Here is the viral video that started it all (apologies, it wasn’t embeddable). We’re not recommending you do this–or anything else Sheen mentions in the video–with your business or with your self, but there’s something to be said for (1) standing out from your competition, (2) breaking the rules, (3) being fearless, (4) having crazy intense catch phrases rolling out of your mouth every five seconds.
But that’s not all. Sheen also does live Ustream shows for his fans. It’s called Sheen’s Korner. Branding branding. Some of this stuff is really amazing writing, and we doubt it’s all Sheen. But after all, it is Charlie.
(2) Twitter Is Powerful For Personalities
This is the link to the official Charlie Sheen Twitter. It’ll speak for itself. But here we have a mind that millions of people want to get inside of, and Twitter is the perfect platform for that. Look at the extreme use of personality to drive people to this Twitter. And also, we’re cheating here, but another lesson—Never Understimate Humor. If people couldn’t laugh with Sheen (and remember Sheen is laughing too), they wouldn’t be following him.
Just a few hours ago an article was published “revealing the secret” behind Charlie Sheen’s tweets. Surprise surprise, it’s not all him. But we can safely assume it’s mostly him, and he’s been using this to promote his “My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not An Option Show”. Want to talk ROI? Now here’s some tangible, monetary ROI.
(3) There Are Some Important Considerations In Getting An Intern
There’s been a big fuss recently about last week’s tweet from Charlie Sheen saying he’s looking for an intern. The particular fuss is that once people know that Sheen’s totally removed from his tweets, people will lose interest. They want the #warlock. So there’s some good discussion on what makes a good intern. Your scale of social media probably isn’t Sheen-sized, but if your business doesn’t depend solely on your personality (or even if it does), do some serious thinking about who your intern will be and how your intern will operate within your social media goals.
(4) If People Like You, The Street Team Will Form Organically
Not everyone is so lucky to have a last name that sounds a lot like “team”, but you can get creative. If you’ve stood out from your competitor’s in an important, bold, and assertive way, people will appreciate that and promote your distinction all on their own. Word of mouth is one thing, but if your breakfast taco is “twice the power of the normal taco”, the idea is so absurd and funny that people are likely to take it upon themselves to promote it how they can. We seem to be in an age that appreciates they hyperbolic, the exaggerated, the ridiculous. Capitalize on this and find your quirk. People will want to talk about you and promote you.
(5) It Is, Always Has Been, and Always Will Be About People
Sure, we can talk about online conversion and merchandising—Charlie Sheen is making big bucks off of all this. With catch phrases like “Dyin’s For Fools” and “I only know one speed–Go!”, who wouldn’t want a shirt that says that? But in the end, no one is stoked on Coca-Cola, or Disney World, or XYZ Donuts. People really follow people. So perhaps the most important lesson from all of this is, for better or worse, be a real person, be fearless, and be yourself.
You can bet Holly's Healthy Morning Muffins will make an appearance. The question is, where?
I love to bake. It’s therapeutic when it’s been a long day, and business owners are always on the hunt for a good stress-reliever. Whenever I bake something particularly pretty, I’ll take a picture of it and post it to my Facebook album “Cookin’ With Good Lookin’” inadvertently driving my Facebook friends nuts with hunger. So when I began to joke with Alan Weinkrantz about leaving baskets of my freshly-baked muffins all over the SXSW Interactive conference, he convinced me that we were, in all seriousness, onto something.
We are excited to announce that while all you SXSW party animals are karaoking your lungs out and rubbing elbows with Robert Scoble, the Neovia Solutions team will be cranking out a batch of made-from-scratch muffins to leave at various spots in the conference center every morning, like little geeky spring elves. That’s right. Every morning.
Here’s the catch: We’re not going to tell you where they are until right before we drop them off at the location in the morning.
Wanna be the first to know? Follow @neoviasolutions on Twitter, and watch the #sxswmuffins hashtag every morning between 9:30 – 10 a.m. And if you see one of our muffin-baking duo, give them a hug. Or maybe a cup of coffee. Because we’ll need it.
It’s hard to believe it’s been just one year since we made the trek to the SXSW Interactive Conference as an official company. Little did we know that we would attend one session that would forever change the direction of our burgeoning company. When we walked out of Chris Brogan & Julien Smith’s session, we knew we needed to change. We were going to give it all away. Everything we knew, everything we were good at it, we were gonna share it with anyone and everyone who would listen. And we have been ever since.
In that vein, we’re encouraging you to watch us at SXSW this year. The premiere social media and interactive conference begins on Friday, and we’ll be there – live-blogging, tweeting, podcasting, shooting videos, and giving away muffins (more on that to come!).
Stay tuned to us all week long via these channels for regular updates:
Holly’s Twitter account – Holly is sort of famous for her live-tweeting skills, but be warned: she’s prolific!
Kendra’s Twitter account – Kendra will be attending different sessions from Holly, so we’re learning as much as possible
Warm welcome, everybody. This week we’ve got some articles on the possibilities at your fingertips with video. And–a small treat.
By now you know that video is ridiculously effective and can be easily shared throughout your social networks. People are much more likely to watch a good two minute video than to read your 5 page blog post, for instance. We’ve done some posts on video basics before, so what we have for you below are some articles that give a practical testament to the power of online video, along with the most recent ideas circulating in the video marketing world.
If you’ve never done video or are slightly intimidated by it, you shouldn’t worry. If nothing else, use this information to make you think about your social strategies. Consider whether or not video is something you want to focus on.
One note: So we thought it would be silly to have a post on video marketing without a video, but after searching Youtube for a quality video on the topic, we couldn’t find anything legitimate. So, we’re going with an example. And the best we could think of is, you guessed it, the new Old Spice videos. Gotta love ‘em. Video below.
How Video Can Increase Mobile Site Conversion. Year of mobile. Year of mobile. Year of mobile. The mobile video attention span is shorter (consider fifteen to thirty second videos), which means less time for you and more time for the viewer on your mobile app, bringing them closer to making a purchase. This and other great ideas at the link.
YouTube Facts: 10 things you may not have known. From Mashable, this is mostly a fun, historical kind of article about Youtube. Of particular note is the number of tweets a second that contain Youtube video links in them.
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We believe strategy should come first in your social media efforts. We discuss the POST analysis process developed by Forrester Research analysts, where your target demographics live online, what business results you’d like to see come out of your social media efforts, and how to achieve them. Among the other topics we discuss are creating consistency, avoiding Bright Shiny Objective Syndrome, and crafting a marketing funnel.
Tickets are free. Register here: http://utsa.ecenterdirect.com/ConferenceDetail.action?ID=17158.
Ever wonder how to social media? Yes, it’s true, we’ve taken the liberty of verbing “social media”, but it’s in the spirit of the slew of How-To articles we’ve provided for you this week. We’re particularly excited because we decided to introduce some things Neovia hasn’t touched on much, including 2d codes and customer events.
Then we’ve got the most recent takes on bettering your business approach to two key players, Facebook and Foursquare. And don’t fear redundancy. The social media world is so rapidly changing (and we get you the sizzling hot new stuff) that every new article hits a new beat. So this next week, we’ve got the “how-to”, you’ve got the “do”. Until next time, von boyage!
How To Better Utilize the new Foursquare for Business. “The check-in giant recently relaunched their business page offerings, making it easier for local businesses, retail chains and individual brands to reap the benefits and retain customers.”
How To Develop Ideas That Will Disrupt Your Industry.“In 2003, Jonah Staw was having dinner with some friends in a trendy restaurant in San Francisco when the discussion turned to what he calls “disruptive business ideas.” Suggestions were flying left and right, and at one point, someone asked, ‘How crazy would it be if some company started selling socks that didn’t match?’”
How To: Grow Your Revenue and Sales using 2d Codes.“By now, you’re probably already familiar with 2D codes. They’re the square boxes that are showing up on ads, posters and billboards that connect people to mobile sites for more product information…Here’s a primer and some key examples of how top companies are using 2D codes to improve business.”
How To Host a Customer Events.“Events for customers are a throwback to the days when a handshake was more meaningful than a text alert. An event done right can be just as valuable today, but done wrong can be an expensive cocktail party.”
I was staring forlornly out the window, an empty basket sat where tacos had been before I had inhaled them.
“Being Chief Inspiration Officer is hard,” he said.
I managed a weak smile and a muffled chuckle. What an understatement.
I had traveled to a larger nearby city for personal reasons, but met up with a business friend to discuss my latest experiences in small business ownership to see if I could get a little advice.
One of the hardest parts of what I do here at Neovia Solutions is not the client work, the relationship building, the presenting and speaking, or even the high level strategy work we’re known for; the hardest part of what I do is setting the example for our interns.
Their Best is Only As Good As My Best
Whatever I do, the interns will do. Whatever my attitude, the interns will emulate it. If I don’t answer their emails, they learn that it’s OK to not answer emails. If I miss a deadline for them, they see that it’s OK to miss a deadline. If I let a work matter effect me or my performance, they believe that work matters can and will effect your performance.
What’s more is whatever good and positive things I do will be learned by them as well. So I must do good and positive things. I must think and act positively so that they will become good and positive workers.
Business Owners Have the Opportunity to Grow the Best… or the Worst
As business owners, even as bosses and managers, we have the opportunity to mold our younger cohorts into the kind of workers we want for ourselves, the kind of workers we want for the world. We have the opportunity to teach them how to be good, responsible, and passionate employees who genuinely care about their customers and believe in our product or service.
Or we can mold our younger counterparts into the kind of employees we dread, the kind we run into everyday, at every age – unsympathetic, self-focused, frazzled and harried workers who dread their own work and disdain their customers for inconveniencing them with their business.
Chief Perspiration Officer
When I took my business title, Chief Inspiration Officer, I thought it meant that I would inspire our clients to jump into the social media world. I didn’t realize that inspiration inside our walls would be just as important, if not more so, than outside or online.
Inspiring our interns means pushing myself to live our mission, to always fan the flames of my passion for our digital world, and to find the best ways to run this business, not just the most common way.
G’day, folks. This week’s roundup is catered to small businesses. First, we start out with some of the considerations one should take in deciding to go big or stay small, posing the question, “is small business better business?”. Then, we offer you some resources concerning location and websites. So, what do you think?
Be on the lookout every week for news, tips from pros, reviews, emerging technology, and a whole bundle of thought-provoking articles on this ever-developing, exciting world of social media.
6 ways to stay small and still win big. It’s worth it to consider staying small, as the above article shows. And small doesn’t mean unsuccessful. Hello, My Name is Blog (Scott Ginsberg–the guy who is never seen without a name tag) shows how to do business in a fulfilling, indie rock star sort of way without worrying about being too expansive with your company.
Small Business Guide: How to choose an incubator. Neovia recently moved into the Del Mar Small Business Incubator, and we couldn’t be happier with the move. Incubators are suites with a variety of startups, all with access to each other for advice and guidance–whoever’s willing. There are four common types, and the New York Times gives a good summary of them. Which one’s right for you?
The New About Us Page is a Social Beast. Rethink the About Us page. Now, more than ever before, it’s a valuable way not only to give people the skinny on “Us” but to give them more avenues to learn more about your company with social links, chat, tech support, and more depending on how creative you get.
6 Must-Haves for your Small Business Website. It may seem simple, but whether you’re just getting into it, or have gone through so many redesigns that you’ve forgotten the basics, this article shows you a few things that are pretty much standards on modern websites to meet user expectation.
Friendly Friday, yall!
I was staring forlornly out the window, an empty basket sat where tacos had been before I had inhaled them.