Social media

Thirteen to One

October 25, 2007 by Susan Getgood

In honor of last night’s stupendous Red Sox performance in game one of the World Series, here are 13 things that I’ve been meaning to write about. Mostly social media and marketing related and in no particular order.

1. A new social network The Point attempts to harness the power of collective action to bring causes to the tipping point. People and organizations post their causes on the site as an if/then. The basic idea is that if enough people do whatever the action is – if the cause tips, then some other thing would happen. Once it emerges from alpha, it could be an interesting vehicle for a company that is supporting a charitable cause. If enough individuals/customers do something (volunteer, quit smoking, whatever) then the company would do something as well — donate money, sponsor an event, and so on. From Jeremy Pepper, who works for the company, via Twitter.

2. Last week Doug Haslam from Topaz Partners emailed me about a social media survey done by his client, community builder Prospero Technologies. What was most interesting about it, though, wasn’t the survey. The sample size of 50 from a population of the company’s customers is neither large nor random, and the results were pretty much what I’d expect given that population: generally positive about social media with no clear idea of what is working and what isn’t. I do however give the company credit for actually asking its customers, rather than assuming. What was most interesting was that Doug was pitching other marketing and communications bloggers; both Shel Holtz and BL Ochman wrote about the survey. If you wanted more tangible proof that the media landscape is shifting, this is it. We aren’t just the media relations folks. With a nod to Dan Gillmor, we are the media. Ain’t that a kick. Doug also blogged about this phenomenon.

3. "You could be a Durex Condom Tester and Win $1000" Durex is ~~pimping for~~ recruiting condom testers on-line. Must be that new form of word-of-mouth: virile marketing (seen on Media Buyer Planner).

4. Do It Wrong Quickly: How the Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules by Mike Moran. Not much news here for anyone already deep into social media marketing and communications, but a good read anyway. I’d recommend this as an intro text for experienced marketers who want to come up to speed quickly and get some practical advice on what they should do next. Plus Moran is funny and he says lots of things I agree with 🙂 (via pitch from Peter Himler)

5. Society for New Communications Research is holding its annual Research Symposium & Gala in Boston December 5-6.

6. Kudos to Kami Huyse for spearheading liveblogging and twittering at the PRSA Annual Conference last week.

7. Andrea Weckerle has a good post on how social media has been, and will be, used in real-time disaster response. And if you twitter, make Ike Pigott happy and follow the Red Cross.

8. Congratulations Josh Hallet, on joining Voce Communications and Geoff Livingston, on the publication of Now Is Gone.

9. I’ve been playing around a bit with Photrade, a new photo sharing site. It’s now in closed beta but I have three invites. Email or twitter me if you want one.

10. Courtesy of Scott Baradell, a great example of why we should NOT write blog posts simply for search engine optimization.

11. Papeldance.

12. Thank you to all the PR and marcom students who have been reading the blog and leaving comments. I love to hear from you, even if I disagree with you.

13. Are the comment spammers getting a little more clever? Check out this one on an old Marketing Roadmaps post, comment left up purely to use as an example. Someone less suspicious might not catch it as spam, as the comment is pretty innocuous. BUT: I almost always follow commenters back to their sites. It’s a great way to discover new bloggers and get to know my readers better. AND: I am always a little suspicious when I get comments on really old posts.

Tags: Mike Moran, comment spam, PR, Red Sox, Prospero Technologies, Durex, Society for New Communications Research, Photrade, Red Cross

To blog or microblog?

October 21, 2007 by Susan Getgood

Saturday morning, before I went into town to see Wicked, I had a little twitter-chat with Steven Streight "Vaspers the Grate" (quotation marks not superfluous) about blogging versus microblogging using Twitter, Jaiku et al.

Personally, I seem to be back in a "twitting" mode after a few months of just occasionally checking in. That, combined with the interchange with Vaspers got me thinking, again, about how blogging and microblogging fit in the total social media scheme, and especially how they both relate (or not) to marketing communications.

Here’s the back and forth over about a half hour before I had to leave for the play:

vaspers – Marketing experts *have* to be on Twitter. Fear of fast messaging and loss of narcissistic platform (slomo blogs) are two major impediments.
vaspers – "slomo blogs" = conventional blogs, where new posts take a whole day to appear, and comments accumulate less than every few seconds. LOL
sgetgood @vaspers but there is place for both slomo and microblog, it’s not either/or
vaspers @sgetgood – Correct, but for a marketing expert to shun Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, YouTube seems rather drearily Luddite and egotistic to me.
sgetgood @vaspers agree that is dumb to ignore twitter et al off to read about target
vaspers @sgetgood – I stick to my claim that slowmo bloggers hate the anonymity, loss of ego, loss of message control that microblogging represents
vaspers @sgetgood – I’m not trying to be mean-spirited to non-microblogging bloggers, just wondering why they resist the evolution of blogging
sgetgood @vaspers fear, control issues, attention disorders, difficulty following threads, not good at sensemaking

I agree with him 100% that to ignore the microblogging platforms, and particularly Twitter where so much of the microblogging conversation happens, is extremely shortsighted for any marketer, particularly marketers in the tech space. The conversation that happens there is just as — if not more — important than the conversation that happens on our blogs, in email and through social networks like Facebook. And the reason some balk is most likely fear of losing message control. Just think about how PR pros stress about each and every word in a PR message. Those same messages that may be becoming the biggest anachronism in marketing communications today.

It’s also hard sometimes to follow the disconnected conversation on Twitter. Nevertheless, that, in my personal opinion, is where the real power of the Twitter network is, and I’ll get to that in a moment.

Microblogging doesn’t replace blogging. Sometimes 140-characters won’t do, and we need the longer format. I know very few bloggers who have completely abandoned their long format blog to just converse on Twitter. Blogs and microblogs have different roles.

The microblog. Twitter. Sure, it’s where you can find out who is free for lunch and literally twitter on about nothing. But it is also fast and close to real-time. Not unlike the old news ticker. In fact, it is where news happens. Follow the thread and you can learn and influence the conversation much more rapidly than ever before.

The blog. The blog is for analysis. It’s where, yes, as long as a day later, a blogger can sit down and put the perspective on the news and comments issued in rapid-fire bursts on Twitter. And it’s where bloggers, and ultimately, reporters will write the longer stories about the things they read in Twitter. Like this post from BL Ochman about Spirit Airlines’ customer service problems, which she initially read about "via Twitter from Mack Collier."

But the thing I find most fascinating about Twitter is the discovery. Each user only sees the messages from the people he is following. When someone you know replies to someone you do not, you only see half the message. And that is the opportunity for discovery. If it interests you, you can follow the trail back, check out the Twitter profile of the unknown person (assuming it is a public profile) and perhaps make a new acquaintance. That is how social networks grow in interesting and unexpected ways.

And the real reason I think marketers who ignore the microblogging tools are missing out.

Tags: twitter, microblogging, blogging, marketing

The lines they are a-blurring…

October 17, 2007 by Susan Getgood

Over at Communication Overtones, Kami Huyse has proposed a "drip theory" for social media adoption. No, not that we are all drips, thank you very much. Her thesis is that social media is adopted slowly, by presenting it to clients/bosses in easily digested bits or drips :

"By adding in a few social media tactics at a time, they start to get the power of the medium and they tend to add a second, then a third element. Soon, they are converts."

She concludes:

"Progress is achieved by the relentless drip of water weakening the established structure. When the dam finally gives way it looks like a revolution, but it really happened just one drip at a time."

A spirited discussion ensued in her comments, and I urge you to check it out.

Even before her post, I was thinking quite a bit about how companies and agencies adopt, or not, social media strategies. And the conclusion I keep coming to is that the traditional lines between the disciplines of public relations and marketing are blurring. Perhaps into a new discipline, but definitely into a new set of requirements.

Here’s how it goes. A long time ago, when the earth was green….

Well maybe not that long ago.

It used to be clear. We had public relations and we had marketing. PR reached out to the press, which acted as intermediaries between companies and their customers. There was a process, and everybody understood the rules of the game. It was all about news.

Marketing, on the other hand, developed programs and campaigns to communicate directly to customers. There was a process and everyone understood the rules. It was all about mutual benefit, mutual value.

Each side had its place, and rarely the twain did meet.

But it isn’t that clear anymore.

When we talk to a blogger, we are talking to both an influencer and a customer. We need to bring both the marketing and the PR mindset, and skill set, into the conversation.

And that makes it hard. Because the traditional PR agency trains and reinforces the skill set necessary to reach out to intermediaries, reporters. Talking to customers? Not the strong suit.

And though marketers are often not much better, talking to the customer is a slightly more natural state for them, so it may be easier to make the transition. Once they stop calling them "consumers" that is.

The fact of the matter is that the lines between the two disciplines are blurring as a direct result of social media. You have to bring both sensibilities to the table. That means understanding that bloggers are influencers, often with as much, if not more, power than the mainstream media. It also means talking to them with enthusiasm, commitment, and caring — just the way you would a valued customer. They don’t need, or want, the studious detachment you practice when talking to reporters. They also don’t want press releases with no cover note (pet peeve).

Learn how to meld the two skill sets when you reach out. It truly is adapt or die.

Or risk becoming the unicorn (YouTube vide o)

The Unicorn Song
words and music Shel Silverstein, performed by the Irish Rovers

A long time ago, when the Earth was green
There was more kinds of animals than you’ve ever seen
They’d run around free while the Earth was being born
And the loveliest of all was the unicorn

There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn

The Lord seen some sinning and it gave Him pain
And He says, "Stand back, I’m going to make it rain"
He says, "Hey Noah, I’ll tell you what to do
Build me a floating zoo,
and take some of those…

Green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
Don’t you forget My unicorns

Old Noah was there to answer the call
He finished up making the ark just as the rain started to fall
He marched the animals two by two
And he called out as they came through
Hey Lord,

I’ve got green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but Lord, I’m so forlorn
I just can’t find no unicorns

And Noah looked out through the driving rain
Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games
Kicking and splashing while the rain was falling
Oh, them silly unicorns

There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Noah cried, "Close the door because the rain is falling
And we just can’t wait for no unicorns

The ark started moving, it drifted with the tide
The unicorns looked up from the rocks and they cried
And the waters came down and sort of floated them away
That’s why you never see unicorns to this very day

You’ll see green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
You’re never gonna see no unicorns

Tags: public relations, pr, marketing, social media, unicorn song

One more for the road and one for the Roadmap

October 15, 2007 by Susan Getgood

I promise, I do have some actual marketing content in this post, but before I get back to the Roadmap, I’ve got one more comment "for the road" about the absurdity that is our national presidential elections.

You may recall my comments in earlier posts about how the media always seems to pay inordinate attention to the appearance and demeanor of female candidates — hair, make-up, nature of their laugh. You know, the really important stuff that tells voters whether a candidate is qualified for elected office. You know, more important than the issues facing our country like the war, health care and the economy.

Well, I must extend kudos to USA Today and reporter Maria Puente for an interesting story on the front of the LIFE section this morning about how style is "an issue for ’08". The story presented a pretty balanced view of the media’s obsession with the candidates’ (and especially Hillary’s) looks.

But the best was the sidebar on page 2 of the section that dissected what all the presidential candidates are wearing. Absolutely priceless. Absolutely perfect. Here are just some of the gems:

John Edwards

[…] Earlier this year, Edwards was captured on camera fussing over his hair. Then there were jeers when it came out that he spent $400, twice, on haircuts. But Edwards laughed off the criticism, spoofing the kerfuffle with his own video (featuring Hair from the Broadway musical).

Rudy Giuliani

The former New York mayor gets applause for finally giving up on the comb-over and accepting the realities of male-pattern balding. Now if only he could spiff up those oversized, un-stylish suits he sometimes wears.[…]

John McCain

[…] Then it was reported on Radar Online.com that he was miffed at his staff for dressing him like a metrosexual in a "gay" V-neck sweater over a T-shirt. McCain’s campaign did not return calls seeking comment, then or now.

Mitt Romney

[…] Romney criticized Edwards on the haircuts, but then it came out that he had spent $300 on a makeup job before a debate. […]

Go read it.

Now back to the roadmap. You remember, the Marketing Roadmap 🙂

The media landscape is shifting. Right in front of our very eyes. Customers are increasingly taking control of their own brand experiences. Generating the content, deciding what is important. Targeting by behavior is more effective than demographics. It’s not just about viral, it’s about spreading the right message for the right result.

Now, if you’ve been active in social media marketing for the past few years, none of the above is news to you. At all. You already know that the traditional lines between PR and marketing are blurring. We aren’t talking in isolation to influencers (the media) and customers. Intermediation is no longer the name of the game. We can, and must, talk directly with our customer, who is simultaneously both influencer and buyer. Forget about messages. We have to connect with people. Honestly. Authentically. No bullshit.

If you’ve been doing this for a while, you understand how important this new communication is to our brands, our companies, our survival. You’ve sucked that social media kool-aid right down. You get it.

But it can be hard for people to put their heads and arms around when faced with it for the first time. And there’s no real way to cut the learning curve down. You just have to jump in.

Now, I am always suspicious of business experts who don’t actually do what they write about, so I viewed Larry Weber’s new book, Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business, with a bit of a jaundiced eye. Sure, he has the PR background but I’m not sure he even has a blog… How much could he really know about marketing to the social web without doing it? Without being in it?

Well, I can’t answer that question, but I just read an excerpt from his new book in BrandWeek, and while I’m not sure I’d get much new information from the book, I was pleased with the 12 steps he outlined for companies to follow toward an interactive future.

Which makes me think his book might be a good intro for brand marketers and PR execs. Budget is tight right now, so I don’t plan to buy the book, but I’d love to hear from my readers if it is any good. And of course, Larry Weber, John Wiley & Sons, if you send me a review copy, I will read it.

Books are pretty much the only things I do review here.

Tags: Larry Weber, John Wiley & Sons, national election, gender, sexual politics, politics, social media, Web 2.0