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Social Media
Do incentives work?
posted by Jason Fleck @ February 25th, 2009
Earlier today, I was directed - on Twitter - toward a contest at Smashing Magazine. However, this contest wasn’t your typical contest. Like usual, there were decent prizes offered, but to enter, you had to comment below the post with your location and what the weather was like outside. Still nothing earth shattering, right?
Well, the catch to this contest was Smashing Magazine wouldn’t give away any of their prizes until their comment count reached 5000 entries. Let me tell you, that’s A LOT of entries. Right now, it’s over 8100 entries which is over 81 pages of comments. I can honestly tell you I’ve never seen so many comments on one post.
Result? They’ve probably pulled in more readers, more subscribers, and more ad revenue off that single blog post than the combined cost of the three prizes. Mission successful? I do believe so, yes.
Another example of a successful incentive campaign is the ShoeMoney Twitter contest. In this contest, Jeremy Schoemaker offered entrance to his contest by following him on Twitter and sending out a simple tweet:
Just entered to win a flip minoHD. Just follow @shoemoney and retweet. http://xr.com/fliphd”
What were his prizes? 2 flip mino’s and a possible MacBook Air if his follower count surpassed 20k. His follower count never hit 20k, but he did get over 6k followers in under 3 weeks. Mission successful? Most definitely.
The moral behind these two examples is that it doesn’t take something with a large monetary value like a car to motivate people to spread your cause. Sometimes all it takes is a fun gadget and some imagination.
Are there any other cool contests going on right now? Let me know by commenting below.
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Social Media • Trends
Getting Your Feet Wet With Social Media
posted by Dan Baker @ January 21st, 2009
A lot of people have heard about blogs, a lot more people are regular readers of blogs, but very few people (relatively speaking) are regular contributors to a blog. The promise of the social web - that we all have something important to say to our community - is going unfulfilled by many small and medium businesses.
Starting a blog to talk about your expertise is a great way to jump into the fray and show off your specialized knowledge. After all, no one knows your business or your product quite like you do. So how do you get started?
Enter Wordpress. We love Wordpress. When I started blogging, I looked into a few different systems. I started with “custom”, which proved waaay too daunting. I dabbled with Blogger (since purchased by the almighty Google), which proved inflexible. I researched pay-to-play services like Typepad, which proved too costly. Then I met Wordpress, and it was love at first site.
Wordpress, rated the number one blogging platform across the web, is easy to use, powerful, flexible, customizable, has an amazing community, and is extremely cost-effective. We believe so strongly in it’s power as a blogging platform that it’s the only system we use for all our clients. The more we use it, the more we love it.
Sound too good to be true? Do we really have a real, emotional attachment to software? Only one way to find out: if you’re looking to get your feet wet with social media, look no further than Wordpress. And yes, I did say “love at first site.” It’s a pun. And I am very ashamed.
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Social Media
Massive response for a miniature ad
posted by Jason Fleck @ January 21st, 2009
Today’s blog post comes from guest blogger Alex Gelhar. Show him some love and comment below.
This morning a coworker forwarded me an article about Miller High Life buying a 1 second advertisement during Super Bowl next weekend (Feb. 2). My first thought was quite literally, “That’s crazy,” but as soon as that gut reaction subsided, I was intrigued.
I wanted to know how a 1 second ad could be effective, and after following the link in the article to the promotional website 1secondad.com, I found out.
The site features rejected takes of everyone’s favorite beer man Windell Middlebrooks filling his one second of fame with everything from catch phrases to painting a picture of the Miller High Life can. Also, there were longer videos of Windell riffing on the ludicrous prices associated with the Super Bowl, from tickets to concessions to advertisements.
Why’s this effective? The Super Bowl is renowned for having the greatest commercials. There are even websites devoted to rating the best Super Bowl ads.
Yet with the reported cost of a 30 second advertisement totaling $3 million dollars for 2009, MillerCoors has found an effective and possibly cheaper method of promoting their brand.
On the MillerCoors website, Senior Brand Manager Kevin Oglesby explains the logic behind the miniature ad.
“Just like our consumers, High Life strives to make smart choices. One second should be plenty of time to remind viewers that Miller High Life is common sense in a bottle.”
That isn’t to say MillerCoors paid pennies for the ad. They had to drop tons of cash for the shoots, website creation, and eventual placement – even if it was less than $3 million. However, the fact that it’s already being hyped online and generating tons of buzz for a commercial is astounding - a 1 second commercial no less. Google the ad or check the Twitter chatter if you need more proof.
In addition to the ad itself, the pre-game publicity and viral response will score MillerCoors tons of attention. For example, while walking around the office I heard “Miller Time!” and other catchphrases echo out of offices, along with subsequent chuckles. And all of this promotion is costing MillerCoors nothing.
While other corporations drain millions in online banner advertising, MillerCoors has embraced the future and accepted new media into their marketing plans. Through PR, promotional websites, and a viral campaign, more people will probably be playing “Where’s Windell?” on February 2 instead of watching the other commercials or even the game for that matter.
This IS social media at its finest.
If this campaign proves successful, and I think it will, it might help usher in a new era of corporate marketing.
Movies have already embraced this trend, as films like The Dark Knight and Tropic Thunder used multiple websites to promote their eventual box office smashes (check out whysoserious.com and rainofmadness.com for examples).
Is it too bold to assume stuffy old corporations that resist change like the plague could embrace such technological advancements? Who knows? But they better decide soon, or risk losing their brand recognition amidst the tides of the recession.
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Social Media
Is there such a thing as TOO viral?
posted by Jason Fleck @ January 16th, 2009
Well, apparently Carl’s Jr. thinks so. I, however, do not and here’s why.
As the saying goes, “any publicity is good publicity.” Carl’s Jr. released an online coupon to 276 lucky contestants to receive a free burger. This coupon was then passed around online through HUNDREDS of message boards and bargain-hunting websites until Carl’s Jr. had to shut down the promotion from too large a response. Finally the story ended up on Wired.
That’s WIRED.com people - A HUGE News site and magazine that covers technology, culture, business and politics. And it’s Google PR (page rank) is 9/10.
The reason Carl’s Jr. ended the promotion was because they were afraid to run out of burgers. And my response: SO? How many of those coming in with coupons for a free burger purchased a drink and fries? So what if they ended up giving out more free burgers than they had originally intended - even though I’m sure meat is the most expensive product to give away for free…
To capture the amount of exposure they received would have cost them millions in advertising. If they would have ran with the idea, it would have been a great way to introduce new customers to a product they probably wouldn’t have tried before. I mean if the burgers sucked, why would anyone want to copy the coupon?
The problem with their situation is they should have anticipated the ‘viralness’ (see I can make up words) of their offer. Who’s going to want a free burger? Answer: everyone. In the future, they’ll have to tailor their campaigns to fit their goals.
Even though they discontinued the promotion, they still received great exposure. Good for them. Now how is this measured? Did this accidental viral campaign increase their sales or customer count? Only time will tell, but I guarantee it didn’t hurt and those numbers are definitely measurable.
In our current economic climate, this is the kind of advertising businesses need to focus on. Let your customers advertise for you for FREE. Maybe you’re not giving away free burgers, but is there an incentive you can offer to your clients or potential clients? I bet there is.
So what do you think? Is there such a thing as TOO viral?
The social media tools available are cost-effective and a great way to reach out to your audience. Let us empower you to use these tools and hype your brand.
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Social Media
Even my mom has a Facebook account
posted by Jason Fleck @ January 14th, 2009
Earlier last week, my mother - who I love dearly - signed up for a Facebook account. I found out - not by a phone call, but through that automated email from Facebook (that we all love…) stating she had added me as a friend.
Being intrigued, but against my better judgment, I accepted her friend request and navigated over to her profile page. She had already added all my other siblings along with her old college roommate she hasn’t talked to in the past thirty years!
Honestly, I was surprised to see her on Facebook, but is it really that strange? Social Media is becoming a larger part of our everyday lives. It’s not just those in their 20s or 30s - the baby boomer generation is becoming more technologically savvy too and it’s time we - as a culture - realize that. They’re starting blogs and hosting podcasts. They’re surfing through the archives at YouTube and submitting their own videos. They’re now interacting together through ways other than a phone call.
These people, just like my mom, are your customers, employees and competitors. They’ve embraced the fact that social media exists and it’s now a part of their daily lives. When are you going to put your commercials in front of these people on YouTube or alert them of a new product or event on Facebook? The answer is now. These tools greatly increase your brands exposure and we can show you how it’s done.
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Social Media
Tweetbacks: The future of blogging
posted by Jason Fleck @ January 13th, 2009
Blogging hasn’t changed much since it’s inception. Someone writes a post then readers comment on that post. Pretty simple. Tiered comments and buttons for social bookmarking have surfaced, but ultimately, blogging has been unchanged for the past ten years - until now.
Yesterday, Dan Zarrella (@danzarrella) released his new WordPress Plugin: TweetSuite. TweetSuite includes a variety of features and widgets (you can click the link above to see the entire list of features) with TweetBacks being the most important.
TweetBacks allows others to tweet or retweet your blog post. When someone does this, their tweet (picture and all) is then added below your post - comment style - and is also accompanied by a retweet this button. TweetSuite is an efficient way to increase exposure to your blog. With Twitter on the rise, TweetSuite will be a must for bloggers in 2009.
Stay tuned. I’ll let you know how I like it once it’s installed!
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Social Media
The Good (Internet) Samaritan
posted by McKenna @ January 12th, 2009
A recent Tweet from a frustrated mother whose 3-year-old wouldn’t sleep got me thinking: How does the Good Samaritan concept apply to the Internet?
This particular Tweeter, who goes by the name Thordora, got the cops called on her. Fortunately, there wasn’t much of a story beyond her Tweet – her daughter was safe and sound in her bed. But the story has sparked renewed interest in other stories like it, especially the sad tale of Abraham Briggs.
This brings up the question of anonymity, right to privacy and all that fun stuff when using the Web. But for many people, those concepts are hoity-toity ideas that have no bearing when a child’s (or anyone’s) life might be on the line.
A lot of people – especially mothers – have taken Thordora to task for writing that Tweet. One blogger on ParentDish said “she got what as coming to her.” She continues:
“There is such a thing as social responsibility over the Internet. People use the web to create a community. As with a real community, those in a virtual simulation care for and are concerned about all the members, even if they’ve never met. They’re also just as vigilant about protecting that community.”
So when do we use social media for the social good? Is that even important? If you had read this Tweet from Thordora, what would you have done?
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Social Media
Top 5 Must Have Blogging Tools
posted by Jason Fleck @ January 5th, 2009
People ask me all the time what programs or services I use when it comes to blogging. So, here are my top 5 favs (which are in no particular order).
5.) WordPress — When starting a blog, you need to choose a platform that’s customizable enough to meet your needs yet robust enough to stand up to the constant changes of the internet. WordPress works like a charm. Everything from its slew of features to it’s easy-to-use interface makes choosing WordPress a no-brainer. I’ve been using it for the past four years and still love it.
4.) Google Reader — Now that your blog is online, you must start posting content. Starting your own directory of blogs is a great way to start. I read probably close to 100 blogs a day and I find my best inspiration comes from what I read. Reading keeps your brain working at full capacity and always gives you new content to write. Google Reader makes reading your favorite blogs a breeze. No longer do you have to load individual web sites. Just add every RSS feed you want to follow into your Google Reader account and Google takes care of the rest!
3.) ScribeFire — This program allows you to write blog posts without actually logging into your blog site. It runs as a toolbar in your browser and creates a new window within your browser when you venture onto your website. Pretty freakin’ cool if you ask me. The only way to feel its full awesomeness is to try it out. Oh - and as a bonus you can advertise through them or earn a little extra revenue by allowing others to advertise on your blog.
2.) Twitter — Now that you’re posting content on a regular basis — ahem, and you are posting regularly, right? - I’m sure you’re beginning to wonder: - where are your readers? Since your blog is fairly new, you’re probably not receiving a lot of search engine traffic and that large number of page impressions you’ve noticed is probably from either yourself or your close friends. Getting an audience quickly is where Twitter reigns supreme. Start following people on Twitter who have similar interests to you and soon you’ll realize a lot of those people will follow you back. Use Twitter to update your followers on your latest blog posts and if you have memorable content, those followers will retweet your blog post to their followers and so on creating an exponential growth of visitors to your site.
1.) Google Analytics — The tracking service your web host provides is — at best - alright. You can typically get statistics like page impressions and unique visitors, but not much past that. Google Analytics takes statistic tracking where it belongs. It’s by far the best site tracking program I’ve found to date. It tracks all your visitors, breaks them down into geographic locations, tells you what time of day they visited, which pages were visited, where they came from, if their visit resulted in a conversion, and so on. The list continues and the best part of this service is that it’s FREE.
Are there any others that should of made the list or do you disagree with any of my choices? Let me know by commenting below.
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Online Marketing • Social Media
Web 3.0?
posted by Jason Fleck @ December 29th, 2008
Read Write Web (RWW) posted earlier today that ZigTag (a somewhat intelligent social bookmarking service) is now live to the public. ZigTag knows the meanings behind your tags. In other words, if you tag something NY it knows it’s the same as New York, New_York, or New+York.
For those of you just catching up, a tag is a word or group of words that allows you to quickly identify content. Tags are now a part of Web 2.0 which allows users to quickly siphon through a large amount of information to find exactly what he or she is looking for.
Towards the end of their article, RWW posed the question:
Is this really Web 3.0?
I don’t think so. Web 3.0 is supposed to be all about the intelligent web. Dictionary.com defines intelligence as:
A capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc.
RWW suggested that Web 3.0 could quite possibly be a system that knows what we would tag something and would actually tag it for us. As soon people start talking about computers thinking on their own, it makes me think of “The Terminator” and artificial intelligence. We’re definitely not there yet. But it gets me thinking - why does there need to be such a drastic change from Web 2.0 to 3.0? Will the next shift be a quantum leap or a glacial shift? Will it be Terminator, or self identifying tags?
Web 2.0, summed up, was all about social media. While some of the greatest minds online are saying Web 2.0 has already come and gone, the larger question is: are we looking at Web 3.0 or are we in some later release of Web 2.0 - say Web 2.200.1?
Whatever the case may be, in the near future we’ll see social media continue to be integrated within all aspects of our online lives in everything from searching to buying. And, whenever it does come, social media will still be the foundation of Web 3.0 - which is why you should be building your online community (ie: like Google) now if you haven’t already.
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AgencyThink • Social Media • Trends
Writing print’s obituary?
posted by McKenna @ December 24th, 2008
At a recent company meeting, a coworker stressed that all of us, every employee of Avicom, must become skilled in video and social and online media. Not just in using it for personal use, but supporting it in a meaningful way for our clients. He said we must build our individual skill sets to include video, multimedia, Web and social media – and whatever else might be coming down the pike.
And all I could think was: Really? We must? Who says?
Most of my background is in newspaper reporting and copywriting for printed marketing materials. These skills have served me pretty well in my career. So I felt a little chagrined that I was being told to abandon my hard-earned experience to chase emerging technologies and ways of communicating. I kind of resented the assumption that print has less value – or none at all – just because new technologies are changing how we communicate.
But in the end, it’s not my coworker’s opinion that counts. I want to hear from clients: How do you plan to use print and online media or video in 2009? Are you changing your media mix in the face of new technologies? In your marketing efforts, is print dead?
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