Internet Marketing Strategy | Sally Falkow

Cluetrain Anniversary Series # 2

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:04:28 -0400

Social media marketing lessons

Clue # 6

The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.

Just this week the New York Times wrote about how Craigslist is affecting the revenues of mass media. How did this come about?

"We think we have a really good culture of trust and that's because without consciously doing so, we have stood by some core-shared values. The fundamental value is that we feel you should treat people like you want to be treated, which means that you provide good customer service and it means that you should have a "live and let live attitude," and it means that now and then you give the other person a break. These are values that most everyone in the world shares." Craig Newmark

In fact, the woes of the newspaper industry are due to the fact that the Internet made it easy for us to get online, connect and talk to each other. Craig was just smart enough, early enough to see the possilbiities.

Travel is another industry that really got this clue right between the eyes. While some whine on about Tripadvisor, and the fact that people are taking candid shots of hotel rooms and posting them online, others saw the opportunity in connecting people and letting them talk about their travel experiences.

American Express recently launched Members Know Travel, a site where AMEX members can share ideas, experiences and travel advice. And they tied in their print magazine - members can talk to experts and editors from Travel + Leisure magazine, owned by American Express Publishing Corporation. The site also links to AmericanExpress.com/Travel where cardmembers can browse and book the latest offers.

Health content is another area where connecting people pays off. Sites that allow sufferers of a particular disease to share experiences and ways to cope have sprung up all over - and some companies are savvy enough to sponsor or support these efforts.

Even the staid banking sector has seen the light. BofA has a site for small business owners. You don't have to be a BofA customer to join.

"Small business owners need a place where they can go to learn from one another, share their experiences and get answers to the questions that will help them better run their business," said Mark Hogan, president of Small Business Banking for Bank of America.

It works for small niche markets too. Take a look at the Fisk-a-teers blog. This initiative is an excellent example of how a company can connect with and empower their community.

PR Lessons: The fact that people are connected and having conversations with each other doesn't mean you can't talk to them too. It just changes the way you do it.

Social media marketing is very effective - you just have to get it right.

ClueTrain Anniversary Series

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:12:32 -0400

Markets are conversations

Clue #1

Markets are conversations.

Who got this PR clue?

Dell - they went from Dell Hell and saying 'we don't talk to bloggers' to IdeaStorm and colloboration with customers on product development.

Learning from Dell
—Insights gained from Lionel Menchaca's presentation Oct 25 2007, San Jose, California

Customers are in control. Work with them and learn from them.
Real conversations are two-way.
Think before you talk—but always be yourself.
Address any form of dissatisfaction head on.
Be aware that any conversation can become global at any time.
Size doesn't matter—relevance does. Just as one journalist can trigger a newscycle, one blogger can do the same.
Don't be afraid to apologize.
Develop direct links to customer community (IdeaStorm for Dell), listen for how we can improve.
One customer is part of many communities.
Teamwork, transparency and frequent consistent communication are key in this new world.
No shortcuts are possible. Implementing business change requires much effort across departments.

More analysis at Customer Think from Mei Lin Fung

Lee Jeans on Social Marketing

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:55:59 -0400

How social media and bloggers fits into her strategy to bring an iconic brand back to life

Watch this CMO Strategy video of Lee Jeans marketing chief Liz Cahill discussing the brand's latest marketing strategies.

She talks about the need for conversational marketing, working with bloggers and using online video.

Looking for Those Elusive Influencers?

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:11:18 -0400

Working with bloggers is a new media relations 'must'

We know now that bloggers are influencing the news. But the trick is to find the righ bloggers that are influencing the news in your filed. And once you've found them, how best to approach and interact with them.

We've all seen those 'egg on the face' blog posts when bloggers out a PR person for doing it wrong.

Social media does have steep learning curve. But it's one that absolutely has to mastered, if you're to succeed in PR today.

PR University has an audio conference with top bloggers this week. "Blog Pitching Update for PR: Top Tech Online Influencers Reveal Advanced Blog Relations Practices" could be just the leg-up you need.

The panelists for this audio conference are:

- Kara Swisher, Co-Executive Editor, "D: All Things Digital;" Author, "BoomTown"

- Tom Foremski, Publisher, "Silicon Valley Watcher;" Board Member, Research Fellow, Society for New Communications Research

- Neville Hobson, Blogger, "NevilleHobson.com;" Social Media Consultant; Co-Presenter, "For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report"

- John Biggs, Editor in Chief, "CrunchGear;" Author, "Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals and Scammers in the Internet Age;" Publisher, "BigWideLogic"

They're going to speak on everything from PR pitches bloggers love to hate, to tips for using Twitter and Facebook, to the unvarnished truth about embargoes in today's 24/7 blogosphere.

Don't be put off by the Tech label. These bloggers are giving tips that apply to any space.

Here Comes Everybody

Sun, 11 May 2008 13:01:00 -0400

A new book about how the Net has changed our social interactions

Reading Twitter today I saw a reference to this blog post by Clay Shirkyon.

It's a lightly edited transcription of a speech he gave at the Web 2.0 conference in April.

He compares the early days of the industrial revolution to the early days of TV, when we spent endless hours watching sitcoms.

"If I had to pick the critical technology for the 20th century, the bit of social lubricant without which the wheels would've come off the whole enterprise, I'd say it was the sitcom."

Then came the Internet and the ability to produce and share content online.

To the question - where do people find the time to produce all this online content, he figures that if everything stays 99 percent the same, that people watch 99 percent as much television as they used to, but 1 percent of that is carved out for producing and for sharing content online, that one percent would be enough to do 100 Wikipedia-sized prjoects every year.

"If we carve out a little bit of the cognitive surplus and deploy it here, could we make a good thing happen? I'm betting the answer is yes," says Shirkyon.

I agree.

Internet Marketing and PR Strategies Work for BtoB

Sat, 10 May 2008 18:29:23 -0400

More B-to-B marketers have been using email,SEO-organic and webinars for more than 3 years than BtoC

Although many people view Web 2.0 - blogs feeds, social networks etc - as a BtoC play, the study on BtoB use of online marketing and PR tools presented at the Association of National Advertiser's (ANA) B-to-B Conference last year found that in fact far more BtoB companies had embraced, and stuck to, these new tools over the last three years.

And it would seem that B-to-B marketers that see these online platforms as PR tools - Brand Building is most frequently accomplished through blogs, second life, social networks, viral videos, wiki and their own websites.

Lead generation is more often accomplished through email, online, SEO, SEM, and video on demand

Blogs, podcasts and webinars are being used to generate Customer Loyalty.

The study showed that there is quite a big difference in effectiveness betweent B-to-B and B-to-C companies. While both have seen success from their own website, B-to-C companies have seen significantly more success from paid key word searches, online ads, and social networks, B-to-B companies have seen success in webinars. Which makes perfect sense.

BtoB companies are much more likely to devote a higher percentatge of their marketing budget to new media platforms - as much as 20 percent.

And the biggest concern about new media for both BtoC and BtoB marketers?

Lack of experience, closely followed by an inability to prove ROI.

You can really only learn about social media by doing social media. It's not a fad. It's not going away. If you are in marketing or PR you need to learn how to do this. Social media conferences abound. But in depth social media training programs over a period of time are not so easy to find.

Image: OTOinsights blog

Social Media Marketing Not Subject to Recession

Fri, 02 May 2008 16:24:54 -0400

Forrester Research finds interactive marketers actually plan increases in the face of recession

New research from Forrester shows that 26% of respondents to their survey plan to increase their interactive marketing investments, and 46% will maintain them at current levels.

Every single form of online marketing Forrester surveyed had at least half the marketers increasing or maintaining their investment. and it looks as though social networks is the number one priority.

Forrester has this advice for marketers: measure what you do, so you can justify it when the axe comes. And build assets, not campaigns, it's a better use of your money.

What's your plan for 2008? Do you have social media in your marketing and PR activities? What are you planning to increase this year?

New Comm Forum 08 - JaffeJuice Get the Ball Rolling

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:29:02 -0400

And gets twittered by the audience

The conference I like the most is the Society for New Communication Research's New Comm Forum, because it's a meeting of some of the best minds in social media.

Joe Jaffe, author of Join the Conversation, was the opening keynote speaker nysterday. An ex-advertising Madison Ave man, Jaffe says he 'saw the light' and has been evangelising the need for conversational marketing for some years now.

He asked the audience how many people think the customer is in control and about 60% say yes. He says that it's not about control. Customers don't want control, they want to be acknowledged, and engaged. It's about community, dialogs and partnerships.

Communication wil get you to their door. Conversation is what will get them to invite you in.

Jaffe's research study conducted with SNCR indicates that spending on social media and conversational marketing will outpace that of traditional marketing by 2012,

81% of all respondents project that by 2012 they will spend at least as much on conversational marketing as traditional marketing.
Companies will have conversation departments
There will no longer be campaigns that begin and end - no going dark
Talent is the biggest barrier
This is not just a change in marketing and PR it's a fundamental shift in how we do business
Listening is the key - and only 30% of customers think companies are actually listening. Example: the new Sprint TV ad gives the CEO's email at the end. But when you send an email you get a mass corporate response thank you type email back.

The road ahead is not going to be without bumps. If you don't have the expertise find someone who does and learn from them. Some comments from the audience, many of whom were Twittering duing the session, indicate that other practitioners are finding that social media adoption is slow. And Jaffe agrees - change will be slow, but it is happening.

Over the next few years we will see not only massive budget reallocations, but also tremendous strategic and cultural realignments and organizational shifts, says Jaffe. To keep brands fresh, relevant and plugged into the conversation, marketers will need to be proactive in terms of embracing and investing in ongoing, well-structured experimentation.

His advice? Do four conversational experiments each year. Don't look for the traditional,immediate ROI. Be willing to commit to a year long investment in nuturing the conversation. It's brand value you should be looking for as an ROI. And better insights and understanding of your customers.

After the session I did a video interview with him and asked him what he sees as the most challenging aspect of the changes for PR. Watch this space - it should be up soon.

Internet marketing needs a strategy to succeed

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:30:13 -0400

Marketers must become masters of social networking, search and engagement

Diane Mermigas, editor-at-large at MediaPost, says that if marketers want to tap into the promise of new technology during this economic downturn they need ti redefine relations with target consumers by mining analytics for a deeper understanding of who they are and how they behave.

While offline retail predictions are bleak, The State of Retailing Online 2008 shows that online sales are expected to exceed $200 billion - a 17 percent increase over last year. The sales categories expected to do the best include apparel, with $26.6 billion, computers at $23.9 billion, and autos at $19.3 billion.

"Online retailers are not immune to the current economic climate," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. "But the fact that online sales will increase substantially this year demonstrates the resilience of the channel and is a testament to the value and convenience most customers find when shopping online."

Learning how to tap into an engaged audience bound by common interests and zealously sharing insights and information is one of the hidden e-commerce jewels of the digital age, says Mermigas.

There are many articles about how advertisers can take advantage of the growth of social networking and social news sites. But it is just as rewarding for PR content, if you learn to do it right.

Robert Scoble keynote at Media Relations Summit 08

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:11:22 -0400

The Future of Social and Consumer-Generated Media

Robert amazed the audience with a walk through how he uses the latest technology tools.

He asked the group who has never seen Twitter and about 75 percent raised their hands. And even more had never heard of Friendfeed. Yet he says if he were to choose one application only it would be Friendfeed.

He demos twitter for the group and he twitters that he is speaking at the conference. Within a few seconds he has a tweet back commenting on what he said. He uses many new technology applications but Friendfeed allows him to collect and glue all these content pieces into one place.

When you join these services, you have no friends yet and so you have no feed of information. But as you add friends and you choose people to follow you tap into what is being said.

He starts his day by reading Techmeme. Techmeme collects and aggregates tech news and brings you the big stories. He reads this to find out what happened overnight.

There are many similar sites, such as Memeorandum, which concentrates on news. It's much faster that print news and you get a wider perspective. Scoble says he would much rather watch these sources than traditional news sites.

He gives an example of how fast this can be used by marketers and PR people. He was in H&R Block on the West coast and he twittered about it. Before he left the building he had a twitter message back from an H&R Block employee in New York saying if you have any concerns or questions please let me know.

He makes the point that these services make the conversation live and lightning fast. As PR people we have to keep up. And these tools allow us to do so.