Thursday, September 29, 2011
Social Media is a double-edged sword
Say the wrong thing and you will get the feedback you deserve. Nikon attempted to take all the credit for great pics, by claiming it was the equipment that enabled the pictures and its fans reacted. Not sure what Nikon's reaction to the comments is going to be. There isn't one so far...but it is best if the company apologized. Best douse this flame, before it becomes a raging forest fire.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Making social media work
Some easy tips for small businesses to set up an effective social media strategy.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sony's #CatchTheTablet social media campaign
Sony has used an innovative social media strategy to announce its entry into the Tablet market. thenextweb.com has the whole story, along with an interview of Sony Electronics Head of Social Media, March Cohen.
Monday, September 26, 2011
6 Tips for Launching a Product on FB
For my money this post has managed to nail the essence of marketing on Facebook. Follow these tips and you can't go wrong with your online strategy.
6 Tips for Launching a Product on Facebook:
Friday, September 23, 2011
Post Launches Social Reader As a Newspaper For Facebook
A great way to create genuinely personalized news. I love this app for the simple way in which it generates personalized news based on what your friends are reading. Assuming some level of shared interest, geography, ethnicity among a group of friends, it means genuinely relevant content will show up.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Take Free Out of Your Facebook Marketing Strategy
Part III of a series on effective Facebook marketing. Part I is here and Part II here
In a first for the airline, British Airways launched its latest commercial on Facebook, earlier today. The reason for choosing Facebook was so the airline could reach the widest possible audience at no cost. The fact that it had close to 100,000 fans for its Facebook page and the media buzz of an innovative social media campaign launch should have provided a nice opening to the ad.
A little less than five hours since the launch the ad had received a total of 301 views. Unfortunately, this is also the story for most campaigns that look to leverage the free in social media.
In focusing almost exclusively on free, marketers are missing a huge opportunity. Facebook is a great marketing tool...but to really enjoy the benefits of its 750 million+ active users, you have to look at a different set of metrics. Use the same tools that you deploy when working out a traditional media campaign across Print, TV, Radio and Outdoors. The results will shock you. Here are a few stats:
In a first for the airline, British Airways launched its latest commercial on Facebook, earlier today. The reason for choosing Facebook was so the airline could reach the widest possible audience at no cost. The fact that it had close to 100,000 fans for its Facebook page and the media buzz of an innovative social media campaign launch should have provided a nice opening to the ad.
In focusing almost exclusively on free, marketers are missing a huge opportunity. Facebook is a great marketing tool...but to really enjoy the benefits of its 750 million+ active users, you have to look at a different set of metrics. Use the same tools that you deploy when working out a traditional media campaign across Print, TV, Radio and Outdoors. The results will shock you. Here are a few stats:
- Facebook has over 750 million active users.
- These users spend on average 6.4 hours a month on the site.
- You can target your campaign by geography, gender, age and interests.
- Facebook ads provides better value that Google Adwords.
- There is far less clutter on Facebook.
A few more pointers for an effective online marketing strategy:
- Send the traffic to your site: Not to your social media business page. Here's why.
- Personalize: Social media has proved that users are looking for a personal, tailor made experience. Your ability to create a personalized experience for every user is critical.
- Conversations are at the heart of every social media platform. Move away from simple information sharing platforms that most sites are today to truly community interaction platforms.
- Content is key: Great content is at the heart of every successful viral campaign. This is critical to break through the clutter.
Finally social media platforms have identified what users expect from websites. It is up to you to recast your online identities to meet these expectations.
PS: The next set of posts will focus on how to rebuild websites to incorporate the best elements of social media platforms.
Google+ vs. Facebook: The Gloves Are Off
Google+ vs. Facebook: The Gloves Are Off
A features war breaks out between the king and the pretender. Google+ is clearly pulling out the heavy artillery in an attempt to get FB users to shift over. Hangover is a great ace in their pack, but is it good enough for users to make the switch? They have also put out an extraordinary ad campaign for Google+. Check out the bright blue arrow pointing you to Google+ on the Google.com home page...I haven't seen them do anything close to this for any of their other products.
Google+ is Open
Anyone can now open a Google+ account...you no longer need an invitation. This plus other updates, mostly for Hangout.
'via Blog this'
Monday, September 19, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
How many photos have been taken?
Wow, didn't realize till I read this that Facebook has become the world's largest photo library. The number of photos on FB dwarfs every other source...in fact all of them combined. The sheer power of this one network is overwhelming.
How many photos have ever been taken? | 1000memories:'via Blog this'
Friday, September 16, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
FB's God Database Can Hurt Your Business
Part II of a series of three articles on the dangers of trusting your data to FB. Part I is here
Maruti Suzuki, has just relaunched its iconic best-seller the Swift. This is the car that created a whole new segment, the premium hatch, and has helped Maruti retain its numero uno postion in the automotive market. The premium hatch has since become a highly competitive segment with every manufacturer from number two Hyundai to the Japanese, Americans and Germans looking to break Swift's hegemony.
The crucial launch also comes at a time when car sales are slowing on the back of high interest rates and ever rising fuel bills. All-in-all Maruti has a lot riding on this launch and has pulled out all stops with their marketing strategy, including an aggressive social media presence. Their FB page has drawn over 214,000 fans in just over a month. These fans are a testament to Swift's popularity as well as Maruti's social media strategy. Their marketing collateral drums up support for their FB page and the usual social media links appear on the site as well.
Maruti Suzuki, has just relaunched its iconic best-seller the Swift. This is the car that created a whole new segment, the premium hatch, and has helped Maruti retain its numero uno postion in the automotive market. The premium hatch has since become a highly competitive segment with every manufacturer from number two Hyundai to the Japanese, Americans and Germans looking to break Swift's hegemony.
The crucial launch also comes at a time when car sales are slowing on the back of high interest rates and ever rising fuel bills. All-in-all Maruti has a lot riding on this launch and has pulled out all stops with their marketing strategy, including an aggressive social media presence. Their FB page has drawn over 214,000 fans in just over a month. These fans are a testament to Swift's popularity as well as Maruti's social media strategy. Their marketing collateral drums up support for their FB page and the usual social media links appear on the site as well.
However, in doing this, Maruti (like so many other corporates) are sending across their most sensitive data...that of potential buyers to FB and other social networks. The irony is these networks have more data on the potentials than Maruti itself does.
For example, if I was a potential Swift buyer and happen to go the website, I could gather a lot of the information, without actually providing my contact details to Maruti. I only do that if I want to book a test drive, buy a car or want a company representative to get in touch with me. But during the process if I also happen to click on the FB icon and like the page, Facebook knows me as a potential Swift buyer and has access to my contact information.
This is what FB has on me:
- Email IDs (primary and secondary)
- Mobile number
- Address (including city of residence)
- They can also reach out to me every time I log onto Facebook, which is pretty much everyday.
Granted not all users share phone numbers or addresses, but it is mandatory to provide email IDs when setting up an FB account.
So in effect FB has the ability to directly influence the buying decision of potential Swift customers at a number of touch points including:
So in effect FB has the ability to directly influence the buying decision of potential Swift customers at a number of touch points including:
- On their FB home page
- Through emails
- On phone
- Via direct mail
To be fair to FB, I haven't seen a single competitor ad either on my home page or received any marketing collateral from other car markers. In other words FB knows I probably want to buy a Swift but has not acted on that information. The point, however, is not what FB has done with the data, but the inherent danger of passing on this information to a third party. Why expose your data to exploitation and worse to the possibility of data theft at a source you cannot control?
In the rush to build the perfect social media strategy corporates are flouting fundamental marketing tenets and putting their businesses at risk. Social media is a legitimate part of today's marketing strategy but it has to be used to grow business not destroy it.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Guest Post: Blogger's Awards: Why YOU Should Sign Up
By Murray Newlands
There are so many outstanding bloggers and publishers doing outstanding work, and those who stand out deserve to have their hard work recognized, connect with each other, and see their readerships grow. That’s why the World Media Awards exist- to recognize and reward great contributions to media from bloggers and publishers. In my own career, I’ve learned and benefited so much from others that I wanted to help build some way to give back to an industry I love show appreciation to the up-and-coming leaders. The World Media Awards will culminate in a 1 day event in San Francisco that will celebrate the best in blogging, forums, publishing and media from around the world. So if you are a world class blogger, why should you enter?
Murray Newlands is author of How to Make a Blog Book and Online Marketing; a User Guide. He is also founder of the Affiliate Marketing Awards. Born in the UK, he now spends his time in San Francisco and New York. Murray works for Audience Mindshare and consults for Trancos Ins as well as being an advisor for VigLink. Actually he is working on his new book: The Email Marketing Book.
There are so many outstanding bloggers and publishers doing outstanding work, and those who stand out deserve to have their hard work recognized, connect with each other, and see their readerships grow. That’s why the World Media Awards exist- to recognize and reward great contributions to media from bloggers and publishers. In my own career, I’ve learned and benefited so much from others that I wanted to help build some way to give back to an industry I love show appreciation to the up-and-coming leaders. The World Media Awards will culminate in a 1 day event in San Francisco that will celebrate the best in blogging, forums, publishing and media from around the world. So if you are a world class blogger, why should you enter?
- 1. Get Recognized- You Deserve It :)
- 2. Meet Other Bloggers Who Care
- 3. Expose Yourself to New Partners
- 4. Make Yourself Irresistible to Clients
- 5. Be Part of the Beginning of Something Big
Murray Newlands is author of How to Make a Blog Book and Online Marketing; a User Guide. He is also founder of the Affiliate Marketing Awards. Born in the UK, he now spends his time in San Francisco and New York. Murray works for Audience Mindshare and consults for Trancos Ins as well as being an advisor for VigLink. Actually he is working on his new book: The Email Marketing Book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)