Upcoming Presentation: WV Broadcasters Association

Confession time: I love presentations! Some may call it a sickness. To each his own.

The WV Broadcasters Association's annual meeting takes place this weekend. I've been asked to present to them about ways to utilize social media to engage and excite their audience.

I'm excited about the topic and the request, which signifies that our broadcasters are ready to embrace social media; they do not view it as a threat. Smart position for them to take. I hope my presentation will expose them to some best practices and give them a few new ideas to take home and implement.

Coming Up

Just finished up a great lunch discussion with Dave Pray. We had some very good discussion about the importance of voice and genuineness in social media.

Voice - is it authentic ... is it relevant ... is it coherent? Is it your own?

We've all seen those blogs or Facebook pages or Twitter presences with an unauthentic voice. Some owner or marketing director has hired a third-party to be the mouthpiece for the company on its social media vehicles. Guess what folks: you're not fooling any of us!

As a marketing professional, I will only coach and counsel my clients on social media in order to make them effective and self-sufficient. I will not write for them. I am not the voice, because I do not have the soul, or the perspective or the nuances of language.

In the weeks ahead, we have some new things coming up! Dave Pray will be guest authoring a blog post or two here. He has some great ideas cooking!

Also, we have rejuvenated the very popular "Great Ads" series from a couple of years ago. To date, there have been eight posts in this series. Tim, Erin and Laura are working on a few new ones. I have a great ad clipped and ready to post, too. If you want to catch up on our "Great Ads" series - by all means do! Be sure to comment on your faves.

Great Ads #1 - Mack's Earplugs

Great Ads #2 - Dyson

Great Ads #3 - Target

Great Ads #4 - Clinique

Great Ads #5 - United Airlines

Great Ads #6 - Schmitt Sohne Winery

Great Ads #7 - JET Mirage Nightclub

Great Ads #8 - Canon

Another Question from the Audience: Social Networking Sites

Conducting marketing training is one of my favorite activities in the spectrum of our practice here at the marketing firm of Maple Creative. At our workshops and seminars, I always collect questions from my attendees. The ones that we don't address in class often make good blog topics.

Q: Is there any reason for an organization to build their own social networking site instead of using ones that already exist?

No! Rarely can marketing questions be answered succintly. Now, here are three, straightforward reasons why no company or organization should attempt to build its own social networking site:

1- Traffic - You need it. Today, you have none. Facebook, for example, is viewed on a daily basis by 12.9% of all Internet users. It's the 5th most popular Web site on the Internet. It has many great, built-in applications (join group, events, bulletin board, chat, form sub-groups, one-to-many and one-to-one communication, etc.). Facebook has tons of traffic--and it is free! By contrast, it takes tons of investment and a great deal of time to build traffic for your new site.

2- Experience - You are late to the game. You have little to no experience. Existing sites like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, have a deep track record. They are continually striving to improve and refine their products, based on insights gained from their experience and feedback received from users. Let the experts do the hard stuff. Adapt and customize their applications to suit your needs. To do otherwise--at this juncture--is a total waste of time and resources.

3- Convenience - Your target audience is already using certain social networking sites. They may be using several, in fact. Plus, they have 2 - 4 email accounts to visit and manage. The last thing they want is one more Web site to deal with today. Build your presence and place your social content in a convenient location--one that your customer base is already visiting. Make it easy for your customer; don't burden them with something else to worry about.

There are many other Web sites that have a social networking element (or elements). Flickr (photo sharing), YouTube (video sharing) and Del.icio.us (content tagging and sharing) are but a few. These might be a better social networking solution for your company or organization than Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. If you want some guidance on which social networking site(s) to build your effective platform upon, you have two options. You can certainly poll your audience directly to find out their preferred sites. When in doubt, ask!

You might also refer to The Groundswell, a wonderfully eye-opening and well-researched book by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff that explores the social media habits and trends in today's world. I highly recommend this book. It gives great insights about social media preferences according to demographic and psychographic factors.

Creative Blast Hits Tomorrow

We're working with a dozen other marketing geniuses and social media mavens on one of the coolest, most exciting projects that I've ever done. Check back tomorrow. Don't miss it!

~Skip

P.S. - Yes, the image at left is a clue.

There may be more clues.

And even more clues, still.

The New Face of Facebook

Those of you who are members of Facebook may have noticed a big change recently. Facebook has switched to a new layout, aptly named "New Facebook," which has received a not-so-warm welcome from Facebook users.

Over the past couple of weeks, users were able to preview the new layout. If they decided they didn't like it, they could switch back to the old one, which is exactly what I had done. Today, I was less than thrilled to discover that "New Facebook is now the only Facebook," as were many of my friends judging by the dozens of status changes to "I hate the new Facebook," and the news feed alerting me that so-and-so just joined the Anti-New Facebook group. I had already overheard discussions about the new layout around Marshall's campus as well.

If there is one thing I've noticed from this, it's that people hate change (unless you're talking about the current presidential race). Facebook provides a feedback link, which I'm certain millions of users have used, but will they listen to the millions of users complaints?

It reminds me of when Facebook introduced the news feed and mini feed. Users were very upset over these features because of privacy concerns, and soon started calling it "Stalkerbook." Anti-news feed groups were formed and a lot of feedback was sent, but Facebook decided not to remove the features, claiming that everyone would soon get used to them. Guess what? People got used to them. I eventually decided the news feed made Facebook better, especially for learning about new groups and pages. The news feed helped connect me to several posted items, blogs, articles, pages and videos that I would have never seen had they been buried elsewhere.

Word on the street (or message boards) is that Facebook made the new layout the only layout to accommodate advertisers. I'm not sure if this is entirely the case, but it seems to make sense. I haven't noticed many ads since logging in today, but the ads I have seen are the same size, and still unusual. For example, the current ads on my page are for political dog clothing and the Lauren Conrad diet. The only difference in ads I've noticed is that they are now located on the right side of the page.

As of now, I'm not a fan of the new layout, primarily for convenience. I dislike the multiple tabs on profile pages, although I like the tabs on the home page. I wish I could reduce the amount of white or change the color scheme so the page didn't look like a Word document. I wish photos could be viewed on separate web pages instead of in a tab (so when clicking on a photo on page 8, clicking "back" would send you to page 8, not back to page 1). I know that with time I will get used to the new layout, but for now I might just see what Twitter is all about.


For those of you using Facebook, what do you think of the new layout? What changes would you make? I’m curious to see what others think!

MySpace: Slap Them in the Face with Your Brand Message

I finally found time to jump into the latest issue of Fast Company. I had been really looking forward to reading the cover-story about MySpace.

Cruising along through the fairly entertaining article, I jumped out of my seat and shouted, "*%# %^#@#+," when I read the following passage:

In June, for example, Anderson and DeWolfe [MySpace execs] created an aggressive new "takeover" feature on their home page, which gets some 45 million views a day -- a shiny bit of advertainment offering marketers a "more creative palette" with which to burn their messages into users' skulls. "You can own the page, whether you're McDonald's, Taco Bell, or Sony with Hancock [the recent Will Smith vehicle]," says Berman. "Our users look at you as content, while you're slapping them in the face with this incredible brand message."

What?!?! What does the language say about MySpace's marketing philosophy?

Burn your messages into my skull? Slap me in the face with your incredible brand message?

Please! That's just wrong on so many levels. It wreaks of Web 1.0. It smacks of one-way communication and broadcasting the advertising message. MySpace, like Facebook and many of the great new Web 2.0 social media platforms, is all about the conversation. It's two-way, not one-way. Not to mention that the language illustrates a lack of respect for the visitor (customer).

Egad! No wonder MySpace is getting dusted by Facebook in terms of growth.

"For all the bravado and new ideas, MySpace still has significant challenges. Foremost among them is the relentlessly evolving Facebook, whose most recent comScore numbers show it widening the gap on MySpace to nearly 10 million worldwide visitors in May -- 124 million for Facebook versus MySpace's 115 million."

It appears that for MySpace it's all about the advertiser and ad revenues--and not all about the user experience (i.e., taking care of the customer). Please join in and add your perspective. Am I over-reacting here?

Overheard Recently at the Swimming Pool

One fine Saturday afternoon I was cooling off at the neighborhood pool, when I happened to paddle into the the following conversation:

"Twitter? Is that like ... one of those blog things? Yeah, I tried blogging. So many folks told that me I should have a blog. Finally, I told my IT guy to put one of those damn blogs on my Web site. We had it up for four days. Four whole days! And guess what happened ... NOTHING! Not one, single order. I had him take it down the next day."

The above comments [verbatim] are from a highly successful and respected area business professional. She is a consultant who provides advice and counseling services to private-pay clients. While her comments may be a bit hasty and dramatic, she is not foolish, backward, old-school or a novice. She is successful, driven and respected.

I share her commentary with you, not to poke fun at her. Instead, I share it with you to highlight one attitude that exists in mainstream America:

It had better work. And it had better work fast.

Some way, some how, this woman expected a blogging strategy to pay off within four days. In some respect, she is representative of the the universe of potential clients for companies like yours and mine.

Are you offering a service or product that will show results after only four days? What does your client believe? If your service or solution will take longer, how are you managing your client's expectations? Will your client allow ample time for a marketing campaign or a blog to build momentum and show impact, or will they expect the quick, easy solution?

What do you say, marketing geniuses, how long is a reasonable time period for a blogging (or other social media) strategy to generate new business? Gosh, from my perspective, I was glad when my blog brought me my first new customer after four years. The other lady expected results after four days. Maybe I am just too patient.

Engaged Fans Promoting Starbucks on Facebook

The image at left is a screenshot of a Facebook application dubbed "My Starbucks." I received an invitation to join it by way of my Facebook friend, Betty. "My Starbucks" Facebook widget enables fans of Starbucks to have a conversation around their beloved brand.

It's also possible that engaged fans (like Betty) could persuade a few new folks to think about (or try) Starbucks, based on a personal endorsement. When Betty (or any trusted friend) points me to something they believe might be of interest to me, I am inclined to take a look. It's another marketing touchpoint for Starbucks. This is the power of social networking, the power of the groundswell.

The beauty of this, and the take-away point: "My Starbucks" was created by two college grad students from Wisconsin. It wasn't created by Starbucks. And it has 4,565 active users.

Repeat: Starbucks didn't hire them to do it ... or authorize them to do it. They were driven to do it on their own. And that carries far more credibility than if Starbucks created this and tried to dump it on their customer base.

Here's a bit of description from the introduction page:

About My Starbucks®
Starbucks® is moving from every street corner to a profile corner near you. My Starbucks® lets you sport your favorite drink, send drinks to your friends, and caffeinate your Facebook experience!

Update (Dec 14th)
We have been listening. There is now a drop down link on the order page to get "Advanced Options." Now there are tons more options to make your drink yours! Have fun, keep the ideas coming, but we do like to sleep some times! :-)

Disclaimer
The developers of and this application are in no way affiliated with Starbucks®. This application is for the enjoyment of fans and customers of the company.

Supposedly, this widget enables users to order their favorite Starbucks beverage (in advance, online) via Facebook for pick-up at the Starbucks location of their choosing. From what I could see in the comments, the application still has a few technical kinks to be resolved. But who cares. In our new Web 2.0 environment, you only need to inspire some customers to become fans. Look what they can do ... to help you, or to hurt you. Starbucks has absolutely no control over this.

The point is this: Marketing geniuses around the world are learning how to tap into the power of Web 2.0 and social networks, benefiting from the groundswell!

And here's a great resource, if you'd like to learn more: Next Generation Marketing.

A fantastic new book from which to learn more: Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research.

Harnessing the Power of Web 2.0: What's Required?

I had the pleasure to co-present a seminar on Web 2.0 for a group of business leaders in Charleston, West Virginia, last Friday morning. Thanks to all of you who attended! We had a record-setting crowd of 50+ in attendance. (If you are here as a result, please post a comment and say "hi.")

As always, I learn as much as I teach from seminars. And I especially love the Q&A part. At Friday's event one of the attendees really articulated what to me was the payoff question: What does it take to commit to maintaining a blog, a Facebook page, a LinkedIn page and a Twitter presence? And what results do you get from doing so?

What a great question! So here's what I said: I spend about 45 minutes every other day on my various Web 2.0 activities.

My goal is to post a new blog article every day (and I cited Charleston blogger and photographer extraordinaire, Rick Lee, as someone who sets the standard for this). I am averaging about 2-3 posts per week and hoping to do better.

I am sporadic with my Twittering (or Twitter chirps) - and do so as the mood strikes me. But I can see how it can become addictive. I visit LinkedIn about once a week. On Facebook, I log in and update about once every other day. However, the new chat function appears to be first-class and adds to its appeal.

Now, what about the return on this investment of time? Here's what I have received in return:

Maple Creative has attained outstanding Google visibility. We are positioned on the first or second page of Google search results for our desired search phrases (marketing firm WV, for example). We have gotten paying clients who have come to us as a result. There's no way that we could have attained such search engine positioning or visibility in an organic manner without all of our Web 2.0 activities.

Our company has won awards or recognition for our blog. (See graphics at top of page.) And we continue to receive acclaim as a marketing firm who "get social media." This helps to differentiate us from our competitors and bolsters our credibility.

Maple Creative has achieved subject matter expertise on a number of topics and practice areas that are directly related to blog topics and backed by work that we've done. I get about one new media inquiry (from out of market) per month on various topics, including "how to repair a damaged reputation."

Those are the facts. I would say without hesitation that it is well worth the time and effort!

Using a Web 2.0 Tool to Prepare a Web 2.0 Seminar

Jason Keeling and I will present “Business for Breakfast” at the Charleston Marriott’s Whitewater Grille tomorrow morning. That's Friday, April 25, from 7:30-8:30 a.m. We surely hope to see you there!

Our focus will be Web 2.0: Blogs, Pods and Twitters — How Emerging Internet Technologies Can Enhance Business Communications.

We’ll be discussing the growing importance of blogs, podcasts, and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. We will discuss the significance of these technologies to West Virginia businesses and organizations.

In a bit of an unconventional twist, we utilized a Web 2.0 tool, a Zoomerang survey application, to poll our audience in advance of the presentation to assess their familiarity, needs and expectations. Here's what we learned:

• There's an absence of understanding of the phrase "Web 2.0" (53% have not heard of it).
• Likewise, most folks do not understand or utilize RSS (69% have not heard of it).
• More respondents (80%) have been to YouTube than any of the other social media.
• Twitter and Flickr were among the lowest (17% and 15% familiarity, respectively).
• Most (84%) are familiar with blogs, either publishing their own blog or reading blogs.

Most encouraging to us was the fact that a strong majority (67%) of respondents agreed with the following statement: "I believe that Web 2.0 tools are viable tools for business applications." Now that is precisely the foundation for learning that we plan to build upon tomorrow. Thanks to this valuable, advance information from our audience, we have content that has been carefully tailored to their needs.

The event is sponsored by The State Journal, SCORE, and the West Virginia Small Business Development Center. We greatly appreciate their support.

Do Agencies Get Social Media?

Friend, blogger and marketing genius, Tom Pick of Web Market Central posted this interesting commentary recently. (Perhaps I found it interesting because he cited our firm. Thanks for the compliment, Tom!)

Tom's thesis is that smaller marketing consulting firms, like ours, are exploring and implementing social media tools (such as this blog), while larger traditional agencies are still relying upon traditional tactics like advertising and PR.

While this is true and we are, indeed, exploring and learning about new ways to communicate and promote, we have not completely abandoned traditional media. Our soapbox philosophy and credo remains: success lies in creating aligned layers of strategic marketing tactics. The Web, blogs, Facebook and Twitter are new, promising (and exciting) channels--not the answer. In fact, we hold as truth the belief that there is no such thing as the answer. Each client is different; each situation with corresponding objectives and audience targets is unique.

Part of the beauty of Web 2.0 and social networking is the relationship aspect. I have not met Tom Pick (in person). Yet, we are working together to share ideas and to promote the best of what the other is doing. And once you jump onboard with social media and embrace the concept, you will meet dozens of allies. I certainly have, and I consider it a true blessing.