The Last Wave?
November 5, 2009 @ 12:40pm
Updated — November 16, 2009 @ 3:25pm
by Austin Edgington
Every twenty five years or so, a really big communication wave comes along that sweeps innovation and change into our lives. The first one I remember occurred when network television replaced radio as a focus for info-tainment and created modern advertising; so nicely portrayed by the butt puffing men of Mad Man. Yes, I’m old enough to remember when a ‘Winston tasted good like a cigarette should,’ and other tobacco pedaling jingles. In the 80’s, cable TV launched and undermined the network’s dominance by decimating advertising revenues with lower costs and wider choice of programs, characterized by re-runs, ESPN, and faux news show.
Then Web 2.0 crashed on our shores a few years ago, washing in social media and revolutionary web platforms like Facebook and Hulu.com. What’s interesting about this shift is the audience social media created. Techies, artists, writers, housewives, students, innovative business leaders, anyone with an opinion and others looking for connections beyond their daily toil flocked to Vox, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, Linked In, and more. They formed communities, groups, relationships, and trust arising from dialogue among one another in ways not imaginable by marketers in the past. It’s weird, it’s wonderful and it’s happening now.
The reality is that this new media, a term I use to describe the aggregate of social media and new web offerings, has disrupted marketing. For example, blogging news sites like the Huffington Post changed the way public relations is conducted. Social utilities like Facebook allow businesses to easily run ads and changes the way ad agencies can reach target audiences, while social media platforms like Vox, where people from tight, trusted neighborhoods converse about everything from their parents divorce to whether to purchase a VW or a BMW…changed web marketing as we knew it.
The traditional paradigm of engaging customers based on creating awareness, to create interest, which leads to a desire that prompts a consumer to purchase has been replaced by a new model that has more steps, but, paradoxically is more immediate and happens virtually 24/7.
In the new media model consumers take different steps purchasing. We call it the “Five R’s”;
- Referral – A potential customer can easily be referred to your product or service by a friend or neighbor from their social network, and often the customer has never met the friend or even know their real name.
- Research – Based on their online buddy’s referral (or not), they can research your brand on Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Conversely, you must now research where they are, what sites they travel, and what they have to say about your brand to be effective in reaching them.
- Relationship – In doing so they may develop relationships with other brand users and further discuss brand attributes. They are developing a now have a relationship with your brand and are arriving at the purchase decision.
- Reliability – Now the ball is in your court, and you must easily, seamlessly capture the purchase, facilitate the delivery, and follow up with customer service. This is more and more becoming what is known as the annoying ‘pile-on’ method, which often erodes your credibility. Comcast will drive you nuts with this approach after a botched service implementation.
- Responsiveness – Being responsive to your customers needs in a reliable manner is most important. Drop the ball on this and immediately negative responses will begin to emerge on the very sites you are searching for customers. Two great examples of doing this right are Zappos and Amazon.
With the current wave washing away the way marketing has been conducted in the past, which is often last month in new media time, the question often posed by clients is: What’s a marketer to do? The answer is innovate. As the late great Hunter S. Thompson once quipped, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Marketers need to look the weirdness of social media in the eye and turn social media pro. They need to think like those they wish to engage and go where they are; and do so with the credibility and authenticity the defines the trust that hinges the culture of the new media together. If you’re a CEO you will get much more mileage out your blog or tweets if you pen them yourself, even if you are not a witty communicator like Tony Hsieh of Zappos. The medium is the message, and authenticity rules the message.
The way to ride this wave is to embrace change, innovate, and partner with those who are riding it with knowledge of the waters they navigate and an eye on the future. After all, in new media time, it will soon be the last wave.
Tags
bing, Communications, facebook, google, marketing, social marketing, social media, twitter, web 2.0, yahoo
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Where were you when….?
June 29, 2009 @ 2:07pm
by Mason Razavi
Where were you when you heard Michael Jackson had died? I was in my office, and found out when I switched tabs on my browser and saw a friend’s Facebook status. How did you find out about the passing of the world’s foremost pitchman Billy Mays? I found out through some Twitter posts, and learned more about it using Scoopler.
Though I could go on about paying homage to the tragic deaths of a handful of celebrities and TV personalities this week, I won’t. There are a million sites and a million blogs and a million groups on Facebook for that. So, I hope you don’t mind if I set the emotions aside and instead focus on the technology that empowered me to stay connected with these stunning current events, as well as a question to you: where were you?
As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, social media has in many ways risen above traditional media in delivering up-to-the-minute information on a number of topics (Iran, anyone?). The past couple of weeks in particular have made for some tumultuous times and have provided incredible examples of how social media works in the context of our times.
So, where were you when David Carradine, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcet, Ed McMahon, or Billy Mays left us? How did you use social media to find out about it, communicate others, organize groups, etc? I’d love to know! Let’s see some comments about how we’ve used these incredible tools to talk to each other.
Tags
billy mays, david carradine, ed mcmahon, facebook, farah fawcett, michael jackson, Scoopler, social media, twitter
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Social Media Marketing and Business Results
June 23, 2009 @ 11:34am
Updated — June 26, 2009 @ 11:39am
by Mason Razavi
Despite the success and popularity of social media and networking sites, there are still plenty of objections, misconceptions, myths, and plain old concerns that I hear from people in small and large companies alike. Perhaps the most pressing question is one of metrics; can you really measure the results of a social marketing campaign?
Businesses are understandably concerned with how they invest their advertising dollars, especially in an economy where companies have cut costs by letting their marketing budgets shrivel like a salt-covered slug. As a result, marketing and advertising directors have to show that the money they do have is getting them real, measurable results and high ROI.
There are enough examples out there of businesses who have in fact come up with ways to measure the effectiveness in concrete, quantifiable terms. Perhaps the most prominent example is provided to us by Dell Computers, who reportedly have generated $3 millon in sales through Twitter. Dell has actually created proprietary software to measure very precisely the effectiveness of their Twitter presence, allowing them to confidently disclose such figures.
Of course, not everyone has the resources to build a proprietary analytic tool, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel. You might be able to measure the success of a well-implemented social media marketing campaign by tracking spikes in web traffic before, during, and after various points during the campaign. Also, you can offer promotions specifically through Twitter or Facebook and track the number of orders that come in that way.
Furthermore, even if you can’t asses the value of every click, the amount of brand equity built in every page view, or the likeliness that a Facebook fan will buy your product or service, you can take comfort in the fact that social media marketing is extremely cost-effective in nature. Some companies actually hire a full-time social marketing expert to drive such efforts, while others look to social media and web marketing specialists to create and monitor anything from a blog page to full-fledged, cross-channel online ad campaigns. If you play your cards right, you can get the right services for a great price, meaning you don’t necessarily need to plop down the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or more on your social marketing campaign. Yet, social marketing can reach as many if not more people, in a more meaningful and impactful way than many traditional marketing methods.
Finally, there is the copycat theory. As much as we strive to make business decisions that stress innovation, forward thinking, and unique strategy, it’s no secret that once one company does something to successfully improve itself, others will follow in its footsteps. Keeping that in mind, why not follow the footsteps of CNN, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Coca Cola, The Cleveland Cavaliers, and many other major organizations by hopping on into the social media pool. The water is fine, jump right in! The web is chock full of articles discussing how companies large and small alike have found that using web 2.0 tools to create personal, meaningful and direct dialogue with their customers has improved their business and made them more recognizable. If that isn’t measurable proof, I don’t know what is!
Tags
facebook, marketing strategy, myspace, social media marketing, social networking, twitter, web 2.0, web marketing
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Iranian Election Coverage Proves The Power of Social Sites
June 16, 2009 @ 2:46pm
by Mason Razavi
Politics are neither my forte nor my preferred topic of discussion, however as a new media marketer it’s impossible not to realize the impact that social media sites – particularly Twitter - have had on the happenings surrounding the Iranian election.
According to CNN, the U.S. State Department asked Twitter to reschedule maintenance in order to keep the social network alive and pumping information out to the web during crucial election-related moments. Furthermore, sites like YouTube and Flickr have become great resources for getting video and pictures for those who want more insight, and, unsurprisingly, blog posts from individuals on the scene are providing more useful than the media when it comes to providing up-to-date coverage to the public.
Despite the Iranian government’s attempts to shut down social media sites including Facebook and others(do a quick Google search), relentless bloggers, Twitterers, and other social networking site fanatics have been posting away.
All of this amounts to what could become an incredible case study in the value of social websites to the public. When the U.S. State Department is banking on Twitter users to relay important political information, when foreign governments attempt to shut down social websites in order to control how their image is presented to the world, and when there is global attention paid to seemingly amateur bloggers, it is time to admit that social media sites have begun to transcend traditional media.
Tags
facebook, flickr, iranian election, social media marketing, social netoworking, twitter, youtube
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Facebook Usernames Set to Cause Friday Night Stir
June 12, 2009 @ 3:57pm
Updated — June 12, 2009 @ 4:03pm
by Mason Razavi
If you have a date to go on, a movie to catch, family to see, or any other typical Friday night brew-ha-ha planned, I have bad news for you. You’re going to have to cancel.
After all, the joyous warmth of human interaction pales in comparison to the radiant glow emanating from your computer monitor, in front of which you will be accessing Facebook after 12:01 EST in order to select your username. As attached as you are to an ID like profile.php?id=1064330513, you just won’t be able to pass up the opportunity to finally pick a name that reflects your true character, like PrInCeFaN4eVa.
Sure, Cassandra is a lovely girl, worldly, bright, and certainly deserving of your company for your first date. But please. Priorities here, people.
Rest assured, everyone is expecting a flood of traffic to Facebook in order to take advantage of the first come, first serve system of distributing user IDs. So, make sure you giddy on up to be the first “johnsmith” out there.
For more info, see Facebook’s blog.
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MySpace Giving Way to Facebook, Twitter
June 9, 2009 @ 7:06pm
by Mason Razavi
“Why-eee-iii-eee-iiii-eee…..yeaaaa….MySpace is dead….”
MySpace seems to be suffering the same fate as the Our Lady Peace, the band who’s lyrics I so artfully butchered. Like the mid-nineties pop-rock outfit, MySpace got its 15 minutes of fame and now seems to be on its way to the land of irrelevancy.
In the world of social networking, it’s all about what’s hot, what’s new, and what everyone else is doing. We’re nothing if not a society of sheep!
In an article from CNN, the author points out the decline of MySpace and the rise of Facebook, as well as the social media tool that may eventually dethrone Facebook: Twitter.
Really, who uses MySpace anymore? It may be better for blogging, and it is certainly a better site for bands, but for the average Joe who wants to connect with his network, Facebook and Twitter have successfully usurped MySpace as the industry leaders.
What’s your take?
Tags
cnn, facebook, myspace, our lady peace, social media, social networking, twitter
