Category: Social Media

Foursquare Local Updates: Checking In for Checking Out

Businesses find it more challenging than ever these days to get the attention of customers. And, if they are able to get their attention, they are further challenged to create relevant content that is valuable and maintains people’s interest. Location-based social networking site Foursquare has developed an innovation to its service that helps businesses in this regard. It is simple, but the simplicity of the feature is the characteristic that makes it so appealing.

Foursquare has introduced local updates, a feature that lets businesses on Foursquare communicate information to people checking in at stores, restaurants, and other locations on Foursquare. Tips and other information posted by users that have been the core of Foursquare’s concept are being complemented with marketer-delivered information. Examples of how local updates might be used include a restaurant that has new menu items or specials can list them as an update. Or, a minor league baseball team running a discounted ticket promotion for Tuesday night games can communicate it using local updates.

The value of local updates on Foursquare for businesses and users is simplicity. Information is not being communicated through costly advertising – no loud music, celebrity endorsers, or other trappings of media advertising messages are needed. A restaurant analogy used to describe the local updates feature is that it can be used like a sandwich board displaying daily specials. If engaging customers has become the holy grail of marketing, Foursquare’s local updates is a small step toward achieving that quest.

Even if a business is not using Foursquare, it can apply the idea behind local updates, considering whether other channels exist to communicate with customers in a simple, low cost way. Consumers value information; it helps them make more informed decisions. Meet customers where they are, whether it is on Foursquare, other online channels, or offline, by being an information resource for them.

The Potential of #YourMessage

One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the buffet of college football rivalry games. Among the must see games for me is the Egg Bowl, pitting Mississippi State (my undergrad alma mater) against Ole Miss. This year’s game was a treat to watch as State thumped Ole Miss 31-3, but as a self-proclaimed marketing geek I was even happier about the recognition State received for its social media innovation.

The acclaim Mississippi State received before and during the game was its integration of Twitter into the game, painting #Hail State in one of the end zones. The nod to Twitter, along with replacing players’ names on the backs of jerseys with “Hail State” (the name of the school’s fight song), garnered media attention and created a buzz among fans and viewers watching the game on ESPNU. One estimate put the number of tweets including the #HailState hashtag at more than 1,000 during the game alone. While that figure pales in comparison to the buzz generated by breaking news or celebrity gossip, the idea to weave social media into the game production was a genius move by Mississippi State’s marketing staff.

While #HailState was an innovative tactic for college football, the bigger question it raises for marketers is what is the true potential of engaging people via Twitter? As I watched the game and unfolding conversation on Twitter, I considered the possibilities for hashtag marketing. A few examples of how Twitter can be incorporated into existing marketing efforts:

• Addition of Twitter search terms in print and digital ads- Just as including a website address is common copy, inserting a Twitter search term would be a way to drive people to brand conversations.
• Twitter search terms that are based on ad slogans or product traits- Do not limit creation of search terms to company or brand name.
• Connecting to other IMC tactics – Twitter search terms can link an audience to a brand’s sports sponsorship or support of a nonprofit organization. Connecting social media with sponsorship enables telling of the brand story by reaching audiences may be difficult to access with sponsorship alone.

The three examples merely scratch the surface of how Twitter can be integrated into current marketing campaigns. Social media does not replace existing communication channels; it enhances them by encouraging the audience’s involvement in the communication process. Of course, this idea loses its effectiveness if the landscape becomes a sea of hashtags. Be strategic in communication of #YourMessage. If you encourage people to embed your term in their messages, there must be significance or meaning to the conversation you seek to create. Otherwise, your Twitter efforts may be described with a common hashtag: #Fail.

The Commercial Appeal – “MSU Athletic Director Hopes to Score with End Zone Hashtag”

Leash and Muzzle: Social Media Program Tools?

One of the great characteristics of social media is that it gives a voice to brands. Interaction with customers and other people enables brands to shed their impersonal, aloof nature. Rather than talk at people using mass media channels, social media lets brands and people talk with each other. The unbridled communication exchanges bring transparency to business relationships. But, are there limits to how personal and frank brand representatives should be in social media?

This question has arisen again after a vice president with the New York Giants engaged in candid exchanges with fans upset with the team’s offseason personnel moves. Pat Hanlon did not pull punches in his replies to fans’ criticism of the Giants. Some of his tweets this week (@giantspathanlon) include:

“We don’t play on paper. You know what you can do w/ that paper?” His reply to a fan’s tweet: “on paper they ARE worse. no matter who signs your checks”

“This is great. We usually get to play two regular season games before people tell us we aren’t worth a shit.”

“Can you say we’re worse, knucklehead?” His reply to a fan’s tweet: ”can you say definitively the Giants are better than last year?”

Entertaining banter between Hanlon and Giants fans (and probably some Giants haters), but is this the best use of social media to engage people and build a brand? Can you imagine what would happen if this were the vice president of communications for Walmart getting into it with customers or special interest advocates criticizing the company? The executive would likely be reprimanded or even fired. No signs of either happening to Pat Hanlon.

Would it be better if Pat Hanlon bit his lip (or put his hands in his pockets) and refrain from responding to criticisms of his employer? Let the team’s performance on the field do the talking, with the ideal being Hanlon having the opportunity to gloat when the Giants have a great season. Social media provides a forum for listening to what people have to say about your brand- good, bad, and otherwise. But, listening can be difficult if social media is used as a platform for challenging people who are critical or oppose you.

When it comes to social media communication strategy, a figurative leash and muzzle can be valuable tools for resisting the urge to “discuss” issues in public. Listen and learn, but avoid the urge to lash out.

The Upset is a Winner in Social Media Marketing

March Madness is winding down, with the Final Four set for this weekend in Houston. The drama that unfolds during NCAA tournament games can be breathtaking, and storylines develop that make household names out of relatively obscure teams and players. This year is no different as VCU had to play its way into the tournament and made a remarkable run to the Final Four. Along the way, VCU beat higher seeded teams in the Southwest Region including Georgetown, Purdue, and Kansas.

VCU’s string of upsets in the NCAA basketball tournament has created buzz and excitement, two traits that any brand would desire. So, why not tap into the frenzy of interest generated by upsets during March Madness? According to Networked Insights, a social media marketing firm, that is exactly what some marketers are doing as an alternative to expensive TV advertising buys. A Networked Insights client made unpaid and paid content placements in social media and search engines related to upsets that generated almost 200 million paid impressions at an average CPM of just over $11. When the unpaid exposure received was factored in, CPM dropped to just over $2.

A strategy of brand message placement in the context of upsets in the NCAA basketball tournament is brilliant! It is a great example of marketing in the moment, deftly associating a brand with a popular cultural event. And, upsets tend to be feel good stories (unless your team is the one that was upset), creating desirable emotions to link to a brand. Marketing around upsets is effective because they are unexpected, newsworthy events. When upsets happen, basketball fans might seek out information about the game, and in the case of VCU, search to learn more about the coach, players, and institution.

The fact that there are no 1 or 2 seeds in the Final Four and two teams came in to the tournament as 8th (Butler) and 11th (VCU) seeds are evidence that this year’s NCAA basketball tournament has proven to be a bonanza for marketers looking for upsets to provide marketing opportunities. With the Butler-VCU winner playing either Connecticut or Kentucky in the championship game, is there one more upset in the cards for marketers? One can only hope!

Marketing Charts – “March Madness Upsets Ideal for Online Ad Content”

Brand Passion: Quality over Quantity

Social media not only gives consumers a voice, but it also gives marketers a channel to listen to what customers and others have to say about their brands. And, methodologies have been developed to analyze social media conversations that can give insight into consumer sentiment toward brands. One example of monitoring online buzz is Netbase’s Brand Passion Index, which measures the volume of conversations and the favorability of consumers’ sentiment.

The most recent installment of the Brand Passion Index examined social media conversations about e-readers. The results are interesting given that the category is in its infancy, but in some ways the findings are hardly new. Apple iPad dominated the chatter about e-readers, coming up in more than 90% of conversations examined. Despite heavy volume of mentions, the iPad drew mixed feelings about its functionality and performance as an e-reader. In contrast, Amazon Kindle was mentioned in far fewer conversations but the affinity expressed for the brand reflected passion for the brand. Of all conversations about Kindle, 87% had positive comments about the brand. Among the favorable sentiments for Kindle were its singular functionality, performance, and ease of use.

Results of the Brand Passion Index provides a lay of the land as to consumers’ beliefs and attitudes toward e-reader brands, but a more fundamental tenet of branding surfaces, too. Why do Kindle users like the brand? It is not because of hype or glitz; they love the simplicity of the product. It has one function: an e-reader. The single focus on an exceptional reading experience is not a weakness compared to the multi-function iPad but an advantage. Kindle represents a simple brand promise and delivers in the eyes of a vast majority of Kindle users.

Simplicity is not a liability for a brand. When a strong and relevant point of difference is possessed, consumers are likely to see the value and, as in the case of Kindle, sing the praises of the brand’s value to others. In the case of e-readers, quality of brand capability trumps quantity of capabilities. Focus on the quality of brand benefits delivered; that is what customers want and that is what they enthusiastically share with others.

Marketing Daily – “Index: IPads Generate Chatter, Kindles Love”

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

In case you do not fully appreciate the concept of transparency and its impact on businesses today, look no further than Cooks Source magazine. Until recently, Cooks Source was a relatively obscure regional publication in western New England. That is until its editor, Judith Griggs, was caught in a massive firestorm of controversy surrounding her response to a writer whose work had been plagiarized by the magazine. Cooks Source lifted an article posted by Monica Gaudio on a website about apple pies. It appeared in the magazine’s October 2010 issue. Plagiarism is one issue; insensitivity and arrogance as a response to plagiarism apparently is not a good idea.

Gaudio’s inquiry to Cooks Source met with a response from Judith Griggs that has been widely disseminated across the Web (if you have not read the response, click here). In a nutshell, Griggs blew off Gaudio and suggested she should be grateful Cooks Source had published her work. She went so far as to criticize Gaudio’s work, saying it was much better after Cooks Source had edited it. It seems that Judith Griggs did not think about the possibility her reply sent to the inbox of Monica Gaudio was actually being sent to the inbox of the entire Internet. Critics have been merciless in assailing Cooks Source and Judith Griggs in blogs and on Facebook. After several days of bashing and a failed, lame attempt at an apology, the Cooks Source website now consists of a single page with a bit more heartfelt apology.

The lesson taught by Judith Griggs is a reminder that transparency rules today. If a business appropriates intellectual property from another source, it cannot go undetected forever. And, when a business is caught red-handed, whether it is stealing others’ work, mistreating employees, or misleading customers, the sooner it comes clean and vows to make changes the more effective damage control will likely be.

Perhaps the most galling aspect of Judith Griggs’ mea culpa is that Cooks Source and its stakeholders are victims, damaged by the groundswell of criticism arising from this incident. It is as if accepting responsibility is secondary to the “inconveniences” felt by Cooks Source as a result of its poor decision. Social media is powerful, no match for a manager that allows sarcasm to flow through his or her fingers and onto the Internet.

Winning with Social Coupons

Consumers flocked to coupon offers in the past two years as the recession put a dent in our buying power. But, coupons really are not for us; they are ultimately for the gain of marketers that offer them. This small but significant point has been lost on many businesses that have experimented with social couponing services like Groupon. Many businesses have gotten burned because the revenue hit taken and expenses incurred to offer deep discounts to attract customers is not always recouped.

A recent study from Rice University found that nearly one-third of businesses running an offer through Groupon say that lost money on their promotion. More than 40% of businesses surveyed said they would not run an offer on Groupon again. These figures are alarming for the future of social couponing. The medium holds great promise because information about coupon offers can be transmitted through permission marketing and word-of-mouth, channels that are much more cost efficient than traditional channels used to deliver coupons.

Rather than shy away from social coupons because of a bad experience or because of hearing about bad experiences other businesses have had, marketers should take the following steps to manage a social coupon campaign:
1. Do the Math – The expenses associated with a coupon offer can be calculated on a per unit basis when evaluating an opportunity. Revenue sharing with a service like Groupon, cost of goods sold or given away, and any additional labor costs to handle increased demand must be considered when making a decision to participate in social couponing. Realistically, Return on Investment should be based on incremental profit, not revenues. What is the additional profit a promotion brings in once all expenses are deducted? Social coupon offers can be capped; set a maximum number of offers to sell to manage profitability of the promotion.

2. Prepare Employees – One of the problems businesses have had with demand generated by a Groupon offer is that employees can become overmatched in meeting the influx of customers. And, in the case of service businesses, many employees have found that Groupon customers are not always the best tippers, basing tips on the deeply discounted price rather than regular price. Companies should take steps to increase service coverage, train employees on handling service encounters with new customers attracted by a coupon , and monitoring employee satisfaction during peak business periods.

3.Think Long-Term – A coupon can get customers in the door, but other factors will determine if they return. A great customer experience, which is highly related to #2, can demonstrate the value offered and persuade customers to return without the incentive of a coupon. If employees can be persuaded to view these customers more like a new friend than a nuisance, the initial service encounter can set the stage for repeat customer visits. Also, businesses should seize the opportunity of a visit by first-time customers to invite them to expand the relationship by opting in for permission-based marketing in the form of email or by friending a brand in social media.

Social coupons may fall under the category of “spend money to make money,” but when properly executed and managed they should not lose money and hopefully set the stage for developing repeat customers.

Promo – “Groupon Social Coupons Unprofitable for One-Third of Marketers: Study”

Let Customers Know You Care by Letting Them Know You Hear

Social media has opened new communication channels between marketers and customers. Unfortunately, too many times the traditional media mindset of “talk, talk, talk” is being applied to social media, which negates the power of social media tools to engage consumers in conversation. Mastering social media resembles the challenges marketers faced a decade ago building websites that delivered value to their target markets.

A big problem, according to eMarketer founder Geoff Ramsey, is that most marketers are uncertain how to integrate social media into their existing digital media mix of display and search advertising. In Ramsey’s view, the value of social media resides in the ability to listen to what customers and others are saying about your brand. So, a different approach to social media should be taken than the messaging used in digital advertising that is geared toward persuasion and action.

A great example of a listening opportunity using social media that has been missed (at least so far) is on the Facebook page of Baja Fresh, a quick service restaurant chain. A post by the company yesterday (July 19) is a teaser for a new Facebook coupon for Baja Fresh fans. As of this morning, 20 comments were made about the post, many of which express frustrations with Baja Fresh locations in their local area not accepting the coupons. The silence from Baja Fresh is rather noticeable; no one from the company has responded to the concerns about not being able to use coupons.

The ability to listen to customers’ praises, questions, complaints, and ideas (and respond to them) makes social media a powerful communication medium. Giving customers a voice is great, but are you prepared, as Jim Collins says, to “confront the brutal facts?” Creating social media content without evidence of listening is a return to one-way communication. I am unsure what is worse: A company’s Facebook page that is updated with new content once every few weeks, or a rather active presence with little emphasis on listening and responding to customers. The decision to use social media implies you want to hear from people who care about your brand. Let them be heard… and let them know that you hear them!

3 Reasons Why Twitter Won’t Die

Depending on who you ask, Twitter’s announcement this week that it will launch an advertising model that features “promoted tweets” in search results is:

A. a much needed source of revenue to make Twitter financially viable
B. the beginning of the end for Twitter

Which one is it? There are strong opinions for each option. I subscribe to A. Twitter has to go beyond trendy and a channel for celebrity-crazed fans to follow their heroes and heroines. That next step is becoming profitable. The promoted tweets model is about as subtle of an integration of advertising that Twitter could implement.

I believe Twitter has a sound future, and it has nothing to do with its business model. The keys to Twitter’s long-term success are rooted in human nature. Here are three reasons why Twitter users will continue to chronicle their lives in 140 characters or less:

1. People like to talk about themselves – Whether it is sharing what is for lunch, bragging on family, or engaging in self-promotion, we enjoy being the focal point of conversation. Twitter is a digital megaphone for spreading the word on #1.

2. People like others to know what they are doing – Closely related to reason #1, many people want to share their life experiences with persons in their network. We can’t help ourselves; when we do something unique or exciting, we want to share it. If we see a move we’d rather forget, we want our followers to know that, too, in the hope we help someone avoid making the same mistake.

3. People are curious about other people – One way to manage our psyche is to use the experiences of others as a frame of reference. For example, if someone thinks he is an expert on fantasy football, he may follow known fantasy football experts and analysts via Twitter to keep tabs on what the top “brands” in fantasy football are saying. It could be a college freshman wanting to connect with an attractive co-ed from biology lab or a star-crossed celebrity watcher who can’t get enough tweets from Chad Ochocinco or Brittany Spears. In both cases, Twitter gives us a channel for answering that familiar question to the service’s users: What’s happening?

Ads or no ads, Twitter users will continue to keep tabs on the users they follow and tout their accomplishments – major, minor, and even the inconsequential.

Moore’s Law of Social Media: Tell Your Own Story

Moore’s Law has always intrigued me. Named for Gordon Moore, one of the co-founders of Intel, Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors that can be put onto a single computer chip will double approximately every 2 years. Moore’s Law has had tremendous staying power as the prediction first made in 1965 has generally held up for more than 40 years.

Today, there is a new Moore’s Law, one that has major implications for marketers. Its namesake is not Gordon Moore. Instead, it is Michael Moore, the documentary filmmaker known for taking on the Establishment. Moore’s Law of 2010 is simple: “tell your story or have it told for you.” Social media give people a stronger voice than ever, and companies that fail to engage stakeholder groups or worse yet, attempt to control the conversation, will have their stories told for them.

Why do I say attempting to control the conversation is a bigger mistake for a business to make than not encouraging dialogue at all? I believe it is a bigger mistake because it is a symptom of a larger problem: a sense that the seller should control or otherwise exert power in their relationships with buyers. It suggests weakness, in effect saying that customers and other stakeholders are not valued enough to invite them to have a voice through online communities, social networking pages, blogs, or other channels. Control equals power, and increasingly consumers have power in buyer-seller relationships.

If you think the “new” Moore’s Law is misguided, look no further than the recent skewering Nestlé experienced from advocacy groups for buying palm oil from a supplier whose harvesting practices endanger rainforests and orangutans. Dismissing an outcry as part of a lunatic fringe or simply ignoring with the hope the issue goes away is hardly a strategy today. Marketers must replace control with conversation if they really want to influence how their story is told.

DM News – “Moore’s Law Helps Companies in Social”