blog Archives | waveSpawn Marketing

April 20, 2011

Respecting privacy with social media

Online privacy Facebook and social media are great outlets for people to vent with friends. People go online to complain about the weather (especially here in Western New York), sports teams, a bad day, boredom, etc… but what are the rules of the discussion? Are there any topics that are off limits – politics, religion, or personal matters?

A doctor from Rhode Island just found out the hard way that patient privacy is definitely not a topic that should be shared publicly through social media. “Dr. Alexandra Thran, 48, was fired from the hospital last year and reprimanded by the state medical board last week. The hospital took away her privileges to work in the emergency room for posting information online about a trauma patient.” While Dr Thran’s post did not actually include the patient’s name, apparently enough facts were included for others in the community to properly identify the individual.

While this may seem obvious to some, to others discussing their daily grind is a normal routine. There can be a lot of gray area for appropriate content. There comes a time when common sense should prevail. If you are not sure about something you are about to post, you probably shouldn’t be clicking submit. I’ve often thought about launching the social media hall of shame – to showcase social media bloopers and blunders. They are everyday occurrences. Just a few years ago the biggest concern was clicking “reply all” to an email. Now a simple post or tweet has trumped the old school email.

There is a lot to be learned from this Rhode Island case. I’m sure much of the healthcare industry is taking note and working to implement training programs and education for appropriate use of social media. With liability concerns, health privacy issues (HIPAA), and reputation there is a lot at stake for health facilities. It’ll be interesting to see how other healthcare institutions react to this occurrence.

November 2, 2010

Ok, you’ve signed up for social media now what?

A little while ago, we discussed the implications of signing up for social media platforms only to neglect them. Is this due to the fact that most people simply don’t know what to say or how to say it? With the array of options available today – particularly for small businesses, it’s more important than ever that they understand and leverage these tools. I thought this article by Jeffrey Gitomer was very timely and relevant: What should I tweet, what should I post, how should I link?

In the article, Gitomer points out that “Most people don’t know what to say on, what to do on, or what to do with social media. And it’s a club with more than 700 million members.” He goes on to outline some helpful suggestions including:

Stop thinking of it as social media, and begin thinking of it as BUSINESS social media.
What will help your customers produce more, profit more, understand what’s brand new in the market, improve morale, improve attitude, and/or improve their life. Then write about it, tweet about it, and post on Facebook about it.
Why not create daily/weekly/monthly value messages that your customers would find so interesting and informative that they would save them, print them, put them into action, and forward them to others?
All business social media is interconnected. You have to do ALL of them consistently to gain effective results. And you have to do all of them well if you expect to monetize your efforts.

I think Gitomer provides a very rational approach to utilizing social media. While consistency, messaging, and value proposition are all important, there is also a strategy in connecting with the appropriate audience. You could have the best tweets, comments, and suggestions to offer, but if nobody is listening, how effective are they?

As a precursor to this article is the topic how to network with the appropriate business audience using social media. For many people this is fundamentally more critical than the messages being sent. The first step is determining which social media platforms are right for your business or personal use. Select the combination of outlets which you can maintain. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. While some of these tools are easy to integrate with services such as Twitterfeed, the proper time should be taken to set these communication channels up properly.

Next is identifying and connecting with your unique business audience. Don’t just stalk and link to prospects with whom you are trying to close business opportunities. Connect with people who share similar interests or view points. Connect with partners and customers who can also share experiences. Connect with and/or follow competitors. What better way to monitor intelligence and stay competitive.

In closing, don’t use social media as simply a vehicle to announce your specials or flavor of the day. People see right through that and will lose interest quickly. Be genuine, and as Gitomer stated in his article, add value and be consistent.

March 26, 2010

Social media confirms that many companies have nothing to say

Social media confirms many companies have nothing to say Have you ever noticed how many business-related social media accounts have little, if any, postings or messages? You know the ones… they hastily ran out and setup a corporate Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog account without a plan or clue as to what they were doing. Somewhere along the way they strayed from logic. It’s as if they’re proclaiming “hey we’re not only slackers, but we’re cutting edge slackers.”

These companies should consider buying a full page ad in a magazine, forgetting about it, and then letting the publisher print the issue with just their logo on the page and maybe a line that says “too lazy for anything more”. That’ll be a consistent branding message that integrates well with their social media campaign. After all, a holistic approach is good. It’s actually taking a page out of the Seinfeld series “it’s a show about nothing”. Instead, it’s a company that is shouting “we have nothing to say”.

The simple point here is neglected social media accounts can be detrimental to a company’s brand. You wouldn’t create a website with no content, would you? Social media should not be treated any different. Many companies seem to underestimate the value and scope of social media – assigning minimal resources to manage them. Companies that engage in social media need to map out their long-term strategy and approach. Moreover, they need to delegate responsibilities of monitoring and maintaining social media account activity. This shouldn’t be dumped into the hands of an intern or temp. This should be taken serious by someone that understands the platforms and knows how to interact with customers and prospects.

The good news is that there are companies to help guide businesses through the process of engaging in social media. As a starting point, waveSpawn has assembled a comprehensive white paper entitled Understanding social media ROI.

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March 1, 2010

Maximizing Social Media ROI

There’s no denying the magnitude and increasing impact that social media is having upon the business world. Marketing professionals in every industry are reevaluating their business plans and strategies to incorporate this growing phenomenon – which is clearly here to stay. Sometimes this means including a Technorati claim token: G3J8CMQZPY79.

Social media ROI is arguably the hottest topics in the social media eco-system as it relates to marketing. Social networking is changing the way businesses and individuals connect. Online communities create an immediate forum for solicited and unsolicited customer feedback, commentary, suggestions, referrals, and yes even slander. These consumer messages can be powerful and detrimental at the same time. Organizations should give careful consideration to the variety of vehicles and response options available when implementing a social media program.

Each social media initiative takes time, planning, and attention. Perhaps the biggest mistake organizations make is thinking that these accounts can function on autopilot. A blog is created, a Facebook account is activated, Twitter is turned on… and then nobody adds content or monitors these sites. They fail to execute a plan or strategy. In my opinion, neglecting social media accounts is worse than not being involved at all. It’s a direct reflection of a business’s lack of follow-through.

What constitutes effective social media marketing? More importantly, how can marketers accurately measure the results of past social marketing campaigns and how can they predict future results? waveSpawn has compiled a white paper which presents a framework for businesses to better understand and measure the ROI of social media. It outlines the key dimensions of marketing metrics which are critical to determining the success of each social media campaign. It will also help marketers to learn from social media, react to what consumers are saying, and help influence future results.

Download the entire white paper here.

February 11, 2010

Making sense of Google Buzz

I’ve been an avid user of Gmail for the past six years. Yesterday I was reading all about Google Buzz and their attempt to succeed in the social media frenzy. Sure enough when I logged into my Gmail account, I saw the “Buzz” icon right below my inbox… so naturally I clicked on it. Wow, I already have several people following me and following several people. Apparently, I’m connected with everyone in my address book. Since Google Buzz integrates with Gmail without the need for users to sign up, Google instantly added 176 million users to their social network platform… not too shabby of a start.

It’s no secret that Google is anxious to compete in the social media space. While their social media platform Orkut has not reached the masses as Facebook has, this has not seemed to deter Google. Buzz seems to be a much more strategic way of penetrating the market.

While it’s intriguing to have built-in connectivity features in my email, I must admit it feels a little invasive. There comes a time when consumers want the convenience of aggregated information on a single platform. Who has time to login to dozens of different systems to manage their information, respond to questions, and provide updates? I’ve got login credentials for so many accounts – I can’t even keep track of them all. It would literally take me a few hours just to login to each of them for 5 minutes each on a daily basis.

In order to solve this issue, I think we’ll begin to see a convergence of the top players in this space. While some of the systems are already compatible, most users want a single stop destination. Think Facebook on steroids. The best features of the top platforms need to collaborate and partner to develop the ultimate social media networking destination.

What are your thoughts? Is there an easy solution to all of these disparate systems? Is Google Buzz the savior?

February 9, 2010

US Army Embraces Social Media

The US Army is going to great lengths to embrace and encourage the use of social media. “We do not want to be a closed institution” said LTG Benjamin C. Freakley – US Army Accessions Command. With that in mind, the Army has created online communities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and MySpace. They currently have more than 250,000 friends and followers – and this number is growing daily.

“It’s really transforming the way we look at recruiting, advertising, and communicating” added LTC Brian Tribus. It’s allowing families to stay in touch during difficult and stressful times. They can share photos, instant messages, and web cams. It’s clear that this is a trend the Army continues to expand – especially as the technology further develops. There are a number of potential uses that will improve communication and morale among our soldiers.

Army Strong Stories is an innovative program which allows deployed soldiers “to share their unfiltered perspective on daily life in the military through blog entries, photos and video.” There is currently over 100 soldier bloggers participating in this program.

I think this is an incredibly functional and practical use of social media. I’m anxious to see other branches of the armed forces adopt these tools as well. I’ve added them to my blogroll and look forward to interacting with them.
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January 28, 2010

Google activates social search

Ever wanted more control over your Google searches? Perhaps filter and highlight relevant information from your network of friends, family, colleagues, and online contacts. Basically, have the ability to filter out a lot of the noise and take advantage of the knowledge of your network. I sure do. Well, this new beta release of Google Social Search is intended to do just that.

By releasing the facilities to enable social networking search, Google is adding more purpose to all of the various social communities being created online. You can quickly setup a profile and link social content. Let’s say you’re in the market for a new Gibson Les Paul guitar. Traditionally, you may go to Google and do a random search for “Gibson Les Paul” guitars (or some variation). You may get results from Gibson, Guitar Center, eBay, Craigslist, and many other distributors. Ok, that’s great… but wouldn’t it be cool to instantly search your network of musical friends who may have some personal insight or photos uploaded right from the Google search results page? You could interact with your contacts directly to answer basic questions that they may have already experienced. See for yourself at google.com/profiles

While this is an early release, certainly there is a lot of future potential… especially as more people embrace the various social networking tools. It allows integration with blogs, Picasa, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, etc. I just gave it a test drive… pretty slick. The video to the right gives a nice brief overview.

January 22, 2010

Measuring Social Media ROI

Measuring Social Media ROI For many small businesses, measuring the return on investment (ROI) for social media is a mystery. While some of these businesses actively engage in blogging, tweeting, and perhaps even Facebook, they have no idea on how to gauge the effectiveness of their efforts. The remaining businesses that have not entered the social media frenzy are hesitant to get started because they too are looking for an accurate method of determining the ROI or impact of their social campaigns.

Since this has been a burning question for many small businesses, I’d like to share my thoughts. For starters, let’s take a quick look at measuring ROI for a traditional marketing vehicle – direct mail. The first step is to determine the goal of the campaign. Are you trying to create awareness, generate leads, close sales, or drive traffic to your website? Once you have decided on your goal, establish an attainable benchmark and track responses against that baseline. For example, let’s say you are anticipating a 2% response to your campaign. It’s good practice to direct your recipients to respond to a unique URL or web address. Since this page is not part of your standard web traffic, you can easily determine the number of people that initially reply to your mail piece. Furthermore, if you have an offer, you can have them submit some basic information to access a whitepaper or other incentive. This will further screen your qualified leads and allow you to monetize the results of your campaign. From this point, you should have some metrics that determine your conversion rate – from interested prospect into valued customer. The most accurate ROI calculation takes into account a customer’s lifetime value, or the amount of sales generated by that customer over time.

So if measuring the results of traditional marketing is so tangible, why is social media different? The answer, it’s not. Many of the same principles of conventional marketing analysis holds true for social media campaigns. For example, let’s say you want to start a company blog. Unlike the options for traditional marketing, your goal should be to share, educate, and create awareness. In other words, you post information that is timely and of interest to your customers and prospects. You do this in a non-invasive manner to attract potential customers. You can create awareness and drive traffic to your blog with an e-newsletter and direct mail, but additionally you want people to seek you out and subscribe to your content on their own.

This brings us back to measuring the effectiveness of your blog (or Facebook page or Twitter account). There are many tools available such as Google Analytics which can generate a number of meaningful reports. You definitely want to monitor the traffic of your blog over time. This will help determine trends and most appealing topics. Again, without a clear benchmark, you won’t be able to accurately determine your ROI. Set realistic goals… perhaps set out to obtain 2 new subscribers to your blog in the first month, 5 in the second month, 10 in the third, etc. I won’t get into how to attract new subscribers in this article – but rather stay focused on the success-rate of the initiatives.

Using a combination of website traffic statistics, new subscriptions, and specific page views, can help you determine where to focus your energy – and the effectiveness of your social media campaign. Unlike a single direct mail campaign social media is an ongoing campaign. It takes time, knowledge, and patience to get it right. Over time, you can build long-term relationships and interact with customers and prospects in a friendly manageable format. With the proper tools in place, you can accurately determine the ROI of your social media efforts.

Don’t be discouraged. We can help.

January 17, 2010

Avatar – buzz marketing on steroids

I was recently asked by Tech Bucket Blog to write a review on Avatar. I thought I would repost it here – and add some brief marketing thoughts.

For starters, I have not been to the cinema in over three years. This is for two primary reasons – 1) I have a three year old child and 2) nothing has truly captured my attention enough to want to go.

Over the past few months, I have heard so much hype about Avatar that my curiosity got the best of me – and I’m honestly not a big sci-fi fanatic. I had the good fortune of seeing Avatar in the IMAX before too much information has been revealed. I had only heard that it cost over $300 million and was in 3D. While it’s not known exactly how much was spent marketing the film, I can only speculate that the revenue numbers would not be dramatically different if they had spent $0. With a movie of this size and magnitude, the power of buzz marketing is the best endorsement. Every media outlet and entertainment program has something to say. Friends, families, and colleagues are all posting personal opinions and recommendations on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites. The film is capturing major headlines around the world.

All I can say is WOW! What a phenomenal piece of film work. It was truly a riveting journey – it had a fascinating ability to make you feel like part of the action. James Cameron successfully created the illusion that you were on another planet – Pandora. The Navi (alien) characters were well developed and believable.

While the special effects were ridiculously brilliant and worthy of an Oscar (in that category), the story was heartfelt as well. The movie evoked a variety of emotions throughout the plot. There were clear ties to today’s current events – the most recognizable being our quest for more natural resources and our willingness to go to war to obtain them.

Since I don’t think this movie will have the same impact on a home TV (even on a 70” HDTV), this is a must-see on the big screen.