From the monthly archives:

December 2007

Make Your Social Media Campaign a Success -
10 Surefire Techniques

by Jon Ray on December 22, 2007

The Social Media Snowball. Picture by redjar.
*Original photo by redjar.

If you’re a person or company getting into the social media game to promote yourself, please note that all the bells, whistles and buzz words in the world won’t bring in long term, qualified customers. Social media is a fickle beast and cannot be approached like a traditional advertising or marketing campaign. Social media campaigns can take time. Like a snow ball rolling down a mountain, it takes time to put on warm clothes, climb up the hill, gather enough snow and slowly start rolling a ball of snow down the hill. But, eventually, with enough preparation, that snow ball will take on a life of its own and its forward momentum will allow it to grow and grow, faster and faster. Social media campaigns work in the same kind of way. So, bundle up!

A successful social media campaign can make every single one of your customers an evangelist for your product and brand. An unsuccessful campaign can prove disastrous. Social media campaigns have to be designed solely with the consumer in mind. Before you go out and put together a social media campaign for your own company, take a look at the following list of ten things that will help you start your social media campaign off on the right foot and see it through to success.

10 Things That Will Make Your Social Media Campaign a Success:

  1. Listen, Listen. Listen. The purpose of a social media campaign is to create conversations with your potential and existing customers. A conversation is a two-way communication and if you’re not listening, then you’ll have no idea how to adapt to “whatever comes next.” Just like any relationship, listening is more important than anything.
  2. Respond. Equally as important to listening is actually responding to your customer’s concerns and figuring out exactly what and why those concerns exist. Building a conversation is not the same thing as taking a poll, it’s a two way street with you voicing your opinion and your customers voicing their’s.
  3. Contribute. Don’t be the person that shows up to the birthday party without a present. Who cares if you didn’t know them “all that well,” the bottom line is that no one likes a freeloader. As you build your community and your company grows, it is important that you never alienate the people who got you there - your everyday consumer. These are the people on the front line screaming your name and you should show them respect by adding value to their particular community. If you’re having conversations with your target audience, then it will be easy to discover what contribution your consumers want you to make. If all else fails, just ask them.
  4. Open the Dialog. Now that you are having conversations with your customers and those prospects interested in your company, it’s time to step it up a notch. It’s fine to talk about your company, but not all the time. Sometimes it can be more valuable to raise concerns or voice opinions on issues that your customers share a strong affinity towards. By making statements for or against issues, you will open your conversation to more than just your existing consumer pool. As long as your stance is rooted in truth and has your customer’s best interest in mind, then this can be a great way to raise awareness about issues and about yourself.
  5. Educate. Do your customers know how your company operates and why it does things a certain way? Is there something about your products that no one knows about that might be an interesting topic of conversation? Can your product be used in more than one way for more than one thing? Is your customer demographic prone to a certain activity or interest? Can you provide an online community that will help them further their interests? People are hungry for knowledge. How are you offering it to them?
  6. Encourage. Sometimes life can be hard and none of us live the perfect life all of the time. Everyone needs a little encouragement from time to time. What types of things motivate your customer’s? Creating an area of inspiration and genuine encouragement not only helps your customers live a better life, but gives you an opportunity to associate those positive feelings with your company. Any time you can help your customer prosper in their own life, you can rest assured that that prosperity will be reciprocated.
  7. Be human. Nothing kills a social media campaign faster than automated responses and false intentions. The purpose of social media is to streamline communication on a one-to-one basis. Assign a human being in your company to handle your social media efforts or do it yourself. But, never decide that these social media efforts can be automated. Your customers want to see the human side of your company. So, let them talk and interact with a human. Are you more likely to buy a new television off the recommendation of a computer or the interaction with a friend or colleague? With social media, your customers are your friends and colleagues. Treat them that way.
  8. Acknowledge. We all crave acknowledgment for the tiny things we do in our lives to make a difference. Many of us would never admit that we want acknowledgment, but deep down, it feels good when people recognize you. Your customers are doing great things everyday and they deserve someone to take note. Find out the ways that your customers are helping out and put a spotlight on them. Congratulate them. Honor them. Positivity is contagious. One man/woman really can change the world. Recognize them for doing so.
  9. Stay Transparent. Honesty is and always will be the best policy. There is no point in utilizing the tools available via social media and networking if you are not going to be 100% upfront with your customers. This big world of ours gets smaller and smaller every day and if you’re not being honest, then it’s only a matter of time before somebody blows the whistle on you. Countless companies have tried and failed at social media because they didn’t understand that there are ways to legitimately raise awareness about your company without fudging the truth. You are an organization of people working towards a common goal, whatever that might be. Someone in your organization has something to say that your customers will want to hear. Find that person and make them your company’s number one evangelist. If his/her enthusiasm is genuine, then it will become contagious and spread to everyone that comes into contact with them.
  10. Listen. Listen. Listen. Remember when I said that listening was the most important thing in any relationship? Well, I meant it and that is doubly true when it comes to a successful social media campaign. You can never stop listening. Our world, your industry and the businesses within it are changing and evolving more rapidly than they ever have before. Industries that used to last for decades are now becoming obsolete in a matter of years. If you’re not listening, then you will never know when the tide is starting to change or if your snowball is going to hit a tree.

A successful social media campaign can prove to be one of the most valuable assets in your company’s repertoire. It can prove valuable not only in enhancing your marketing and public relations efforts, but also in product development, brand development, hiring top notch employees, streamlining inner-office communication and much, much more. Social media transforms itself around however you use it. The possibilities are only limited by the imagination. So, find the dreamer in your company and let their creative juices start flowing.

What kind of success have you had with your social media campaign? How are you using online conversations to build your brand’s value? Is there anything that you would like to add to this list of techniques? Did you find this list informative and useful? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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Lacking a Social Media Strategy Makes Your Company Ugly

by Jon Ray on December 20, 2007

Nick Corcodilos vs Jon Ray

I’ve got a bone to pick with Nick Corcodilos for writing this post over at InfoWorld. In it, Nick rants about a young woman straight out of college who rejected a job offer from a tech company because the company wasn’t “cool and hip.” Of course, he’s taking her words completely out of context and throwing her in a group of “cognoscenti” who “post our rants on screwoldfartcompanies.com and then meet back on MySpace with a double latte!”

Nick is absolutely right, trying to be cool has been the downfall of many companies. But, there is a big difference between social networking and being “cool.” As Nick writes it, there is no value in creating a presence on one or many of the social networks that keep popping up all around us. I hope he doesn’t really believe that, because that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Is social media and networking cool? I think so, but that’s certainly not the reason that I utilize those tools. I use them as a way to effectively and efficiently communicate with my family, friends, staff and most importantly, my customers.

Social networking is not about a bunch of people who are too cool for school. If a graduate turns down a job based on the fact that a company is not utilizing social media, they are not doing it because they think the company is “ugly.” The graduate is doing it because the company is showing that they are either 1) unfamiliar with the new technology available to them or 2) afraid to implement any kind of new strategy. Perhaps there are other reasons, but as an outsider looking in, I would be wary of working in any place that refused to even experiment a little with new media and technology. After all, as Nick says in his post, “Blogs and websites are free.”

I would never want to work for a company that I thought was going to frown on new ideas or innovation. College graduates these days realize that they are in the driver’s seat when it comes to applying for employment. Why would anyone choose to work at a company that was sending a non-verbal message that it was opposed to change or thinking outside of the box?

The way all of us do business is changing and the ball is no longer in any particular company’s court. The customer controls the way businesses operate and the products they release more than they ever have in the past. The “ugly” companies Nick refers to, while I’m sure are based on sound principles, would be good to extend the conversation to their customers. Can this be done without social media? Of course! Mom and pop businesses do it better than any of us and rarely use a computer. But, if you’re a company that wants to streamline the process and grow your company faster and more efficiently, then social media and networking are great tools for you to listen to what your customers are thinking and feeling. Social media allows every big corporation to operate like the mom and pop corner store in Smalltown, USA and that’s a powerful notion.

Integrity, credibility and profit will always be the base foundation that drives business. What social media allows your company to do is monitor those three principles on a much wider scale, gauge when and how you are swaying from that original goal, and give your faceless company a human side that consumers can relate to and interact with should they have comments, concerns or praise.

Word of mouth is a powerful tool in your marketing toolkit. Social media allows you to squash bad word of mouth while it’s in its infancy, while you harness and spread good word of mouth on a vast scale. We are moving into a world where business needs to be transparent. Social media offers your company a tool to be just that. So Nick, don’t think that social media is just a cool fad with no real value. No matter how large your company gets, social media gives you the unique opportunity to treat each and every customer as if they were your only client. And yeah, that is cool.

What do you think? Is social media and networking just a bunch of hipsters running around with “concomitant arrogance and I-am-cool posturing for foolish venture dollars?” Or is it foolish for a company, no matter how established, to refuse to accept social media as a viable tool for continued success? Have you experienced any sort of backlash, be it in hiring, marketing, operations, etc. that was directly related to the lack of a social media strategy? What do you think about all of this social networking mumbo-jumbo? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments section.

Thanks for letting me rag on you a bit, Nick.

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Can Social Media Get Us to Watch TV Again?

by Jon Ray on December 17, 2007

Original photo by andrewestel. Mash up by Jon Ray.
*Original photo by andrewestel. Mash up by Jon Ray.

What would make you start to watch TV again? It seems that everyone is a video content creator these days. With bandwidth forever on the rise, new video sharing sites popping up by the dozen and content aggregators like iTunes and Amazon, the way we view media will never be the same. Now with the writer’s strike, all you can see on television are reruns! Is there still a place in our hearts for content on TV?

I spoke with a colleague today who is looking to build an audience for an on-demand television station one of his clients has on digital cable. The show is focused on music, but willing to branch out into other areas of programming. The idea behind this is similar to HBO OnDemand and AOL Music Videos OnDemand. Rather than having to record each show via TiVo or DVR, the digital cable server automatically makes certain content available to you, the viewer, whenever you want to tune into the channel. It’s pretty much TV trying to be the internet, in a way. The advantage is that the content is broadcast in high definition, instead of a 320 x 240 pixel window.

The question is this:

If someone else made a video and put it on the internet, but that same video was available through HDTV OnDemand, which distribution channel would you most likely watch said video on?

Now, think about this:

If YOU made a video and put it on the internet, but had the opportunity to have it played in full resolution on digital cable OnDemand, which distribution form would you promote more, the internet release or the HDTV release?

And finally:

How inclined would you be to return to an HDTV OnDemand channel, regardless of the initial video you saw there, if you knew there was a huge selection of other content?

Here’s how I would promote this network:

Social Networks and Media

  • Using various social networks, particularly those that focus on video, begin building relationships with budding filmmakers in certain genres that currently have only internet distribution.
  • Hold a contest and allow these filmmakers to submit their video content to the network’s website to compete for a small production contract.
  • Take all submissions and narrow them down to the top 200 videos, which would all be available through the HDTV OnDemand channel for 30 days.
  • Encourage contestants to tell their friends to tune to the HDTV Channel and view their and others’ videos.
  • Each video will be given a 6-digit video code. A viewer can then compile their favorite 10-20 videos and enter their code’s on the channel’s website.
  • At then end of the 30 day contest, the top 10-20 video creators get a small production contract to produce five 3-10 minute videos (on approved topics) each with a small production budget provided by the channel. This would allow for up to 100 new videos each month that would air, OnDemand, in full resolution.

Traditional Media Production and Advertising

  • Hire on an in-house production team to produce longer 22-minute shows that focus more closely with the channel’s Music and Lifestyle themes.
  • Find sponsors and sell advertising on these long-format shows.
  • Increase number of shows, based on amount of advertising sold.
  • Use live broadcasts from well-known events as a way to promote the channel and build sponsor list.
  • Run 10-second bumper ads before and after “user-generated” content. Allow “users” to pitch ideas for 10-second bumpers and upon sponsor approval, produce them for compensation.

Promotion

  • Make the viewer the star. Shoot interstitial spots on location at events that let the people attending have their fifteen minutes (see. 30-seconds) of fame by introducing a video, promoting the channel, or commenting on the event. Then give them a VIP login for the channel’s website that allows them to promote the air date via various social networks and email.
  • Let events promote the channel until the channel can promote events. To get started user generated and promoted content, along with sponsored events will drive traffic to the channel. The idea being that as you gain more and more viewership, the channel will be more effective in driving traffic to events. Thus, creating more value for event sponsors.
  • Online widgets and applications will make promoting events and channel content easy. And daily, weekly and monthly updates to online widget content and contests will keep users interested and continually promoting the channel.
  • A constantly changing roster of content creators will assure that content remains fresh. Every 30 days, viewers can vote off two of the twenty content creators and vote on two new creators to step in and take a crack at television production. The better the content, the longer they’ll have a steady production job with the channel. If eliminated, content creators can always resubmit next month to get back on the production roster. The fluctuating list of creators will ensure that everyone continues to promote their work and the channel.
  • Create groups and forums that allow viewers to discuss videos and shows and suggest new programming. By creating an OnDemand network that is driven by user input, the network will build a huge community underneath it that is constantly promoting its shows and making them more compelling.

So, there you have it. If I had an OnDemand network, that is probably the approach that I would take with it. Why don’t some of you try and shoot some holes in that strategy? What would you do if you had your own HD OnDemand network? How would you promote it? Does anyone even watch TV anymore? It this idea better suited for internet-only distribution? Do I have any clue what I’m talking about? I want your input. Leave it in the comments section and let everyone know how smart you can be. : )

UPDATE: Thanks to Connie Benson, I’ve, in a round about way, had perhaps an epiphany and cleared my thoughts further in the comments section of this post.

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Is T-Mobile blocking Twitter?

by Jon Ray on December 15, 2007

Original Photo by FlemishDreams (http://flickr.com/photos/flemishdreams/1999243364/)
*Original Photo by FlemishDreams. Mash up by Jon Ray.

As of late, I’ve become a Twitter-holic and have averaged around 20-30 Twitter messages a day via SMS on my T-mobile phone. The last music video I produced this past weekend, I live Tweeted the entire process and received an onslaught of referrals to my blog from Twitter. Actually, Twitter is probably one of the biggest referrers of unique readers to this blog. About 24 hours ago, I began getting this message whenever I tried to send an SMS update to Twitter:

Service is temporarily down. Please, try again later.

I didn’t think much of this message until I saw this post over at TechCrunch. It links out to several other blogs and forums that claim T-Mobile is preventing its customers from using the Twitter service. One customer sent out an email to T-Mobile after their customer service representative told her “T-Mobile does not support third party message services and sometimes you may be able to use them because of a bug in your system…t-mobile system caught up with the bug and that you shouldn’t expect to be able to use the Twitter service any longer from T-Mobile.”

I couldn’t even get an answer from T-Mobile’s customer service department, because they had no idea what Twitter was and why it might have been blocked. In a lackluster attempt to answer my questions, the representative did a quick search engine search to see if she could find any further information. She then read me this quote, which is from an email that was supposedly sent out by Marianne Maestas, of the Executive Customer Relations department at T-Mobile:

…Twitter is not an authorized third-party service provider, and therefore you are not able to utilize service from this provider any longer…. T-Mobile is not in violation of any agreement by not providing service to Twitter. T-Mobile regrets any inconvenience, however please note that if you remain under contract and choose to cancel service, you will be responsible for the $200 early termination fee that would be assessed to the account at cancellation.

I chuckled, as I had already read that over at GetSatisfaction and while, it had not been officially confirmed, I found it funny (and sad) that this T-Mobile representative decided to quote it to me in answer of my question, when she had no idea if it was a legitimate email from her boss. I recorded the phone call, but decided not to post it because I didn’t ask her permission before hand.

Needless to say, I am furious! I was just getting into the whole Twitter thing and now my micro blog world is coming tumbling down because T-Mobile has decided that they can control the content that I receive and send on my phone. I can’t help but wonder who on T-Mobile’s executive staff thought that this would go unnoticed? Why would anyone over there think that blocking content on my phone was a good idea?

Anyhow, I’m curious to see where this leads and how T-Mobile is going to compensate its loyal customers (6 years) for this HUGE inconvenience. I’ve been looking long and hard at the iPhone, perhaps this is enough reason for me to take the plunge and switch to AT&T. Are you having issues with your T-Mobile phone accessing Twitter? How has your customer service experience differed from mine? Has anyone from T-Mobile contacted you with further information? Share it in the comments section.

T-Mobile I’m Mad at YOU!

UPDATE: Twitter is now reporting this:

We’ve been tracking a missed connection between T-Mobile and Twitter for the past few days. If you’re a T-Mobile customer using Twitter in the United States over our shortcode 40404, you may see intermittent failures (both with sending and receiving updates). We’re working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience!

Update (12/15 3p): We’re still working on this and believe it to be a technical issue happening between T-Mobile and the folks who help run our text messaging. At this time we do not believe it to be a policy issue (as has been speculated). We’re hoping for a resolution soon and will let you know when we know more.

So, perhaps T-Mobile isn’t really blocking Twitter, even though it sounds like they feel they could if they wanted to. Regardless, I think T-Mobile could have been a little more helpful on the customer service side of this thing and tried to figure out what was happening and give me the above message, instead of me having to search for it. No one likes having Terms of Service legal jargon thrown in their face as a reply to a legitimate concern from a long term customer. Tsk. Tsk. T-Mobile. Tsk. Tsk. Let’s hope you guys get your act together, because if Justine gets any more convincing, I might join the iPhone army.

UPDATE: Twitter seems to be working again with my T-Mobile phone. Hurray!

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Does this make you want to buy paper?

by Jon Ray on December 12, 2007

How are you branding yourself?

Clever marketing and advertising is not necessarily effective marketing and advertising. I love the idea behind this campaign, but I don’t feel that the brand is incorporated closely enough into the viral message. Regardless, it’s loads of fun to send to friends. That being said, what does this viral message make you want to buy? Where will you buy it from?

A better approach to this type of campaign was the Wedding Crashers Official Movie site. While it is no longer online, it was a similar concept, but allowed you to interact with the movie’s trailer. After watching, not only was it hilarious, but there was no doubt what movie it was promoting.

How could this viral message have been slightly altered to give more prominence to the brand that paid for its creation? Would a closing Christmas jingle with the brand’s name cleverly thrown in have done the trick? Perhaps the logo directly in the background, written in the snow? Or, is the PR generated from this campaign enough to make this campaign a success? You tell me.

Does the marketing you create serve yourself as a creative, or your client as a brand?

Watch the viral message here.

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