Ice Cube once said “you better check yourself, before you wreck yourself”, which is entirely relevant to present circumstances. Wise words Ice, there are a few people who could use your sage advice when it comes to the usage of social media and its many superb tools. Although brands are starting to come to terms with transparency of social media, it seems some consumers still haven’t understood this and continue to use tools for dialogue as tools for just general chatter….
Twitter seems to have become the problem child of this. Some users know that it is a town square of interesting self-promotion, GuyKawazaki delivers musings on media and leadership, Stephen Fry talks interestingly about his global experiences, Will Self delivers rich prosaic about things that disappoint/annoy him. John from round the corner talks about his dull life and the fishnchips he had on Friday night. Its this area which really starts to grate after a while and although my friends timeline is fast enough that I can avoid this boring chatter, unfortunately it still seems to get to me. I know I could unfollow him, but why should I bother.
However wise Ice was I am sure he couldn’t have predicted the meteoric rise of Twitter and its daily almost shameless self-promotion usage by one and all. (As I am sure Ice would have said.) Here are a couple of things I have learnt from Twitter…
1) Twitter is a great promotional tool when you have something to say. I use it as an extension to my blog and to drive traffic here. Unfortunately, my blog is not updated as much as it should be so my traffic dwindles. I do know some people that blog too much and update their Twitter too much, so my recommendation is to create 3 business worthy updates a day. By business worthy I mean relevant to the industry you work in but…
2) Decide what your personal objectives is for your Twittering. My personal objective is to connect with friends and make new acquaintences within the industry. However, I am careful not to share too much personal information, I have a mobile phone to do this. My priority is really to give myself access to a really interesting professional network that I couldn’t have otherwise reached. LinkedIn just doesn’t seem to have been able to do this for me yet.
Perhaps I am being a bit too cut-throat about it, but I believe we all have a role to play in making conversations on Twitter and other social areas more interesting. Some users could do with checking themselves before they wreck themselves and the very technology they are using.
Those who read this blog normally will know I don’t normally recommend sites or review them in great detail. However, I have decided to buck the trend somewhat to talk about the fabulous Baby Friendly Boltholes site. You can access it here. Since becoming a father to my gorgeous son Oscar, I have spent hours scouring the internet trying to find decent, yet stylish accomodation for a family holiday. Most cottages in the UK look like a damp, unpleasent experience, yet say they “can cater” for children.
BFB as its called when you are in the know, really goes the distance in terms of offering everything a wanna-be yummy daddy and mummy want from a holiday. The site is really great to use, the set-up easy to understand and in most cases the accomodation is totally stunning. I won’t tell you where we are looking at booking but it is absolutely lovely compared to the dross I have seen other sites peddling out. Why should I get poorer, cheaper looking accomodation just because I am a Dad?
One of the things that stands out most for me is the desire to please members. In particular as I was enquiring about a property, they asked which other areas of the world they should be investigating for BFBs. New York and Florida seem the popular choice, but I opted for San Fran – the 2nd best city in the world after the big smoke of London.
Anyway, check BFB out – but only if you are a wanna-be stylish parent like me.
If the latest Nielsen stats are correct, then it appears to be growing more quickly than ever in the 35-49 age group. Being 30 myself, I have never seen Facebook as the preserve of the young – I think this is more to do with the image Facebook would like to give off than what it actually is. From the stats I have seen recently with Habbo – the first port of call for a younger audience is Bebo with Facebook seeming to be the preserve of the student population and older.
Does it really matter if Facebook gets older? A recent presenation that I saw suggested that the older audience and younger audience have two very different ways of using FB. The younger audience use Facebook to give quick updates, so their status is their most important asset. They love to comment on other people’s status. The younger audience uses networks like park benches, a place to hangout, jockey for status, gossip etc.
The older audience visit less regularly but are more involved when they do visit. They are more likely to reply to messages than reply on people’s walls. They are much more curious about people and look up those from their past.
It doesn’t seem a major issue to me that Facebook is getting older, in fact it probably enhances the site content overall. Bringing more non-youth brands to the “square”, creating more interesting conversations flows, and pages. I think its a good thing but then I am edging towards 35…. older audience pah!
Howdy. Strange times when social media has made it into rap format or is that hiphop – something which I need confirming myself. What is hiphop? What is rap? Where are the lines drawn?
Anyway, I digress. I think this has been going for awhile but only just found The Social Media Rapper. Absolutely love it, so thank you… you guru you. Hopefully next will be his Behavioural Targeting Rap.
As the usage of the name Twitter rises in marketing articles from San Francisco to Soho (London Soho), its clear there is an awful temptation for brands to just jump straight in. Yet taking the time to understand what people are saying and just as importantly the tone of voice they are using is key to succesful twittering.
Brands can do this by the very useful Twitter search. I personally use TweetDeck so can do it through this application. What this is great for, unlike Google, is giving immediacy on search terms. Google just gives you the most popular results, Twitter takes it to a much more interesting level. A PR announcement? Twitter it. A product problem? Twitter it.
Anyway, Twitter search enables a really relevant and immediate search. However, what I also love about it, is that it enables you to see the tone of voice with which people refer to your brand or product term. This for me is extremely interesting as it opens up the sorts of terms that you may not necessarily connect with your brand. e.g. Ticketmaster would have been reeling from its bashing it got on Twitter recently.
It also shows how you can condense a very important message into 140 characters, something that ad agencies could really take an interest in.
So once we understand tone of voice and what people are saying we can start to connect. But how do we decide what we are going to do? Unfortunately some companies have gone out there and got twittering a bit too soon. Others like Comscore and Dell have taken a more measured approach and have seemingly set objectives for what they are trying to achieve.
What I don’t want, as a Twitter user, is constant sales messages from brands that I have signed up to follow. What I want to see is a bit of inventive marketing and push messaging. Hows about British Airways pushing travel guide content? e.g. We saw this article and thought it might interest you. What about brands retweeting interesting conversations they have seen or heard?
I think this is one of the coolest and most interesting communication devices I have seen for ages. I haven’t myself heard of this amazing wonder which is known as a blackboard. The device used to “write” on the board is called “a piece of chalk”.
Joking apart, I actually find this a genuinely interesting story about a need for communicating to an audience who in alot of cases cannot read. Therefore, Alfred Sirleaf has created his own blackboard updates to craft the information in a way that his passers-by can understand and quickly digest.
I just wanted to post because I think its smashing.
M
Thanks to Groundswell for posting the following article about how social media is looking as if its recession resistant. I have been in the fortunate position to have seen a fair few social media strategies from both core media agencies, digital specialists, and also the self-certified “Social Media Agency”. Each one has its merits, although my view is that for social media to work, you have to have a genuine understanding of whats going on with the rest of the media mix. How can you lead conversations about products, yet you don’t know when the highest TVRs are happening? you don’t know when the latest radio sponsorship is? or you aren’t sure if the press launch is in the Metro or The Standard?
Larger agencies therefore have a real chance to put a rather large stake in the ground when it comes to social media because of the inherent understanding of how other media channels are working and the integration that they have to be used to in order to make this things work. My understanding from creative counterparts is that this is an area where independent digital agencies struggle to fit in, they simply don’t integrate that well. An us and them attitude if you like. Larger agencies must do this otherwise there is no chance of survival.
It is therefore reassuring to all of us that we are talking about social media being recession resistant and Josh’s article couldn’t have come at a better time. However, we all still have a big job to do in terms of education about social media – mainly that it isn’t just Facebook or Twitter, but so much more. Another, that it isn’t free – another common misconception is that setting up pages in YouTube and Facebook is free. If you don’t want anybody visiting the pages then I guess you could say it is, however, if you want free stuff, you aren’t going to get quality so its important to understand what parts are free and what parts need paying for.
Am looking forward to the Social Media’s Indian Summer starting……. now. Go.
from start to finish, the latest Michael Jackson saga smacks of desperation. His initial speech, if you can call it that, speaks of someone desperate to claw themselves back into the black, after spending a significant time in the red. However, what speaks of desperation even more is the way the e-crm programme has been worked by all involved.
As you will see from earlier posts, the O2 password system was a complete let down. Cue angry and disappointed wife, and other consumers if you read the comments on here and Twitter. Not only was it near on impossible to get through on Ticketmaster, I was just left with a spinning logo and a “Your wait is 15 minutes or more”… Then suddenly the screen changed to say they lost my booking and I would have to go through the process again. Joke.
Even during the process or the few hours you could actually buy tickets, the MJ and Ticketmaster companies were pleading for people to stay online and keep trying. Then they released another 20 shows?! They should have just admitted that it was a total cock-up from start to finish.
However, now multiple companies are sending me emails clutching at the “we have THE only tickets left for Michael Jackson”. First the email came from LastMinute saying we have the last few tickets for MJ, come and get them. Intrigued by this I went to the LastMinute site…. by “last few tickets” what they really mean is you can only buy these tickets if you shell out £900+ for a hotel, meal and ticket package. I personally think this is really poor e-CRM and totally misleading, the average MJ fan is not going to pay out for this and therefore the O2 is just going to become even more corporate for a gig that should be about the fans that have supported MJ throughout his career. Unfortunately, I cannot say I am one of those.
The next email came this morning from Viagogo. Advertising the fact that Ticketmaster was sold out, Viagogo feels it can now justify ticket prices of (minimum) £194 for a single seat in the nosebleed section. Clearly or what I feel is that Viagogo have bought a bundle of tickets, waited for Ticketmaster to sell out and then said “look we are doing you a favour come buy from us”.
I’m half expecting a few more over the next few days. Let me know if you receive any and I will post them here. A real shame that something so exciting has been destroyed by some really poor digital e-crm and PR, plus some really cut-throat companies offering over-priced tickets.
Zappos…until now I had no idea what they are famous for. Turns out, its shoes, clothing, handbags and sunglasses. Everything a metrosexual man needs these days. They can normally be found at Zappos.com. Nothing new there then. However, my attention was drawn to them through the Groundswell blog and Josh Bernoff’s article on Twitter. They are picked out as having one of the most prolific brand “profiles” on Twitter. Its housed here. The set-up is still pretty basic although customised slightly. However, what I found most interesting was the sheer number of Zappos employees on Twitter. 435 of them. It probably means this is one of the most active communities, and if not that, then one of the most active company communities on the web.
Although Humana still the plaudits for their posting of meeting agendas and notes on Twitter, Zappos seem to have ingrained Twitter conversation into their very being. Really remarkable usage and I will be pushing the company and clients I work for to do the same.
