Archive for November, 2008

ABL = Always Be Listening | Always Be Looking

I was talking the other day about the tactic some agencies take with technology projects for their clients. Get them to buy what we know how to do. Have them do what others have already done. Granted there is nothing wrong with proven methods, but why is the sales cycle ABC – Always be closing. That tactic was useful in a time when there were 5 TV stations and a handful of online content sources. ABL (Always Be Listening | Always Be Looking) is the key to success.

ABC – it just isn’t enough anymore. You need to understand the landscape and how it all weaves together. You need to hear your clients, understand them and invest time not only to build relationships, but explore the changes of the online world.

I had to laugh when Razorfish issued last rites to web 2.0. As a matter of fact, I slammed Razorfish for being late the game on Twitter.

We have been out there listening and looking to what is going on in the market. Our staff joked about Web Troika – our snappy name for the next step on the internet – this summer. It is about aggregating content and collaborating across platforms. At its core, it is about finding and deepening relationships which technology as the channel.

Getting there first and staying there is about knowing where the party is and getting invited to the party. It is about planning a great party that everyone will leave and make their friends envious that they didn’t attend. Just like throwing a party, it is about your guest. Do thing that will entertain them and allow them to have a goodtime.

However, there is not time to gloat because another party is always starting on the internet. I am going to keep listening and see if I can get invited.

November 25th, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , , , in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Streaming Video from Mobile

One of my co-workers was talking with me about Qik the other day. Qik lets users to broadcast video from their mobile phone!

That means if you have video capabilities on your phone, you can be a roving video channel. It means that those video clips that take time to get to YouTube have just become outdated. (in a sense).

It started me thinking about the concept in general, so I did some searching around to find out if there are any other companies doing the same thing. There were.

In all fairness, I haven’t tried any of these products, but I was very excited by the idea that I had a couple of options to explore. Of course, I don’t like being in front of the camera, but I love wielding a camera.

Has anyone out there used this technology?

November 21st, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , in Video | No Comments »

Google Shuts Lively Doors

In early October, I wrote a post about Google’s product Lively. I had thought it was an awkward product, but tried to think of ways that a marketer might take advantage of the tool.

Apparently, at the end of December, Google will be shutting Lively down.

Their statement from the Official Google Blog:

That’s why, despite all the virtual high fives and creative rooms everyone has enjoyed in the last four and a half months, we’ve decided to shut Lively down at the end of the year.

November 20th, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Social Media in an Econmic Downturn

In my last post, I explored social media in the b-to-b world. A vast majority of marketers were not using web 2.0 techniques because of staffing, executive buy-in or knowledge. Where does that leave them? With a great opportunity.

With tightening budgets, marketers can turn online to start understanding and participating in social networks. As a matter of fact, the same participants who stated the main three reasons for not getting involved, overwhelmingly indicated they are planning on breaking the social media barrier (see chart below) by almost 3 to 1.

Chart showing who would pursue social media in an economic downturn

The best advice for these marketers is to make the person in charge of analytics your best friend. If you set up your analytics correctly, it can help you to further understand several aspects of your social media campaigns including:

  • Increased traffic to your website (that was a gimme)
  • Increased user engagement through time on site
  • More inbound links for your website from sources like Twitter, Facebook, Bebo, Delicious, etc.
  • New sources of customers when you mine the inbound traffic source list past the top 25

So overall, the economic downturn might prove a great opportunity for marketers to start using social media because the big budget for trade shows or tv ads just doesn’t exist.

November 17th, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , in Analytics, Social Media | No Comments »

Social Media in the B-to-B World

After writing my last post about software platforms for social media, I wondered if a B-to-B marketer might have different motivations than an B-to-C marketer. While doing some research, I found a series of polls that B to B Online conducted during a recent webcast.

Specifically – What is the biggest barrier to you employing Web 2.0 marketing technologies?

The results (shown in the chart below) are incredibly interesting. By far, the largest percentage of people viewed Staffing as the biggest barrier. It is true, there are so many elements of social media, a marketer could add 10 staff members and keep coming up with ways to work with social media.

B to B Online Poll about Social Media Marketing Plans

The number two and three reasons are a bit more revealing. The marketers selected Knowledge and Executive Buy-in, respectively as the other large barriers. When you roll it together, B to B marketers are saying they don’t have time for Social Media. I wondering if it is also saying part of the reason is they don’t understand it, and can’t explain it to their boss.

There is a strong reality about social media. You can’t really think about engaging in it. You just have to jump in. In the B to B world, it might mean doing it on a personal level before you figure out how to do it on a business level.

I think marketers need to realize they don’t need to be a voice in social media to be involved. As mentioned in a post about Social Media influencers, 80% to 90% of consumer content is from less than 10% of users. Part of understanding these social networks is finding the right community, listening to the conversation and engaging with other members when it is appropriate.

So how do these marketers get into social media? Slice 20 minutes from your work week, take some time to explore and listen. Oh, and maybe don’t tell your boss about it until you become a success.

November 14th, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , , in Social Media | No Comments »

Social Media Software

There is so much buzz about how social media can impact your brand – for better or worse. Where does someone start to interact with the social networks that are so influential?

There isn’t really an out of the box solution. The concept of social networking is dizzying. It is not the same approach as buying air time on the only 3 tv networks and making a big splash. Social media is more like the millions of red, green and blue pixels that make up your television display.

The job is not to find the repeated red pixels, but the places where the red, blue and green intersect in specific degrees to make the color that represents your audience and your community.

It can be a very overwhelming experience. However, there are are a few companies that are building software that open the doors for customer interaction:

  • Power Reviews – let customers review your products online. Word of mouth and customer feedback has helped propelled companies like Amazon to the top of the internet retailer world.
  • Trusted Opinion – this toolis not necessarily a tool you can integrate into your website, but it is a good resource to see what people are thinking about your products.
  • Passenger – a more advanced tactic that allows companies to create on-demand communities of interest. Invite users to your community to explore the brand. From what I gather, it is like an online focus group in a box.

In order not to be overwhelming, I am going to leave the list as a short one. Just a place to explore, and then to start.

Does anyone have other recommendations for where to start with social media?

November 13th, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , in Social Media | No Comments »

McKinsey Quarterly on Twitter

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post on Social Media Influencers. In that post, I used Twitter as an example of the fact that there are more participants in social media than there are people who are leading conversation.

Brands are starting to get it and are out there montinoring the world of microblogging. Is that enough for a good interaction with consumers? It is a place to start. Who is doing it well?

I am sure there are a fair amount of examples, but one clear case is McKinsey Quarterly. I tweeted about one of their articles I was reading the other day and a few hours later, they were following me on Twitter.

I have to admit, it was so quick and so unlikely to me that I was completely engaged by the fact that they were following me.

I decided to use Twitter to have a conversation with them about their strategy. I just open the conversation this morning, so I will provide updates as I get more information.

Update: I heard back from McKinsey and they provided this response – We follow people that have + conversations about the Quarterly. Tweetdeck is pretty useful for tracking via kyrds.

I always have like McKinsey, but I am even more impressed by their responsiveness.

November 10th, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , , in Social Media | No Comments »

Social Bookmarking – How relevant is it?

I remember a time when I used the Twine button on my bookmark toolbar pretty frequently. I realized this morning that hadn’t logged into my account on Twine, Ma.gnolia or Delicious since . . I cannot even remember when. I didn’t even know that Delicious dropped the dots in July (they used to be delicio.us). Ma.gnolia went open source on me, and I didn’t even know it.

I think these web tools definitely serve a purpose, but I find that I am seduced by the power of using the search engine first and then defaulting to finding information somewhere else.

I decided to examine the behavior a little further. I do have a tendency to bookmark websites that were 1) hard to find in search or 2) that I stumbled upon in a wayfinding exercise.

There is a hard core reality behind my instinctive use of the bookmark feature in the browser. My second hideaway is Google Notebook. It is too easy to just right click, then file the information.

In all fairness to other social bookmarking websites, I almost never use Notebook either. I will say that on occasion I will just wonder through my browser bookmarks and fall in love with some great online resources all over again.

I have come to view this feature as a treasure trove of hasty love affairs. Connections to websites that I don’t really need, but made me smile, made laugh or had one great thought I didn’t want to lose. Social bookmarking might be a little too much commitment for me. I don’t want to share just yet. Not until I know the website is trustworthy. Can you blame me?

November 7th, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , , , in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Monday Links

Since Americans are about to hit the election polling station, I thought I would do a round up of online polls and polling tools.

Just in case you want to vote for something.

November 3rd, 2008 by The Adcom Group Tags: , , in Uncategorized | No Comments »