Social media marketing

What might surprise you is how quickly Twitter is growing as the social medium of choice among Fortune 500 companies. According to recent studies like “Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies,” conducted by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Financial Insite, a Seattle-based Research Firm, Twitter is the platform of choice for Fortune 500 social media marketers.

The study examined the 2009 Fortune 500 in an attempt to quantify their adoption of social media tools and technologies, finding that 22% of Fortune 500 companies have a public-facing corporate blog – six percent more than 2008. The study also found that 86% of these blogs link directly to a corporate Twitter account, a 300% increase over 2008. Even more corporations have Twitter accounts, but not all link to them from their blog.

It would appear that Fortune 500 marketers are moving fast to Twitter for engaging with their key audiences. Of course, upon further analysis, you’d find that only 35% of these Twitter accounts are active – described as having been updated within the past 30 days. If I’m reading the study correctly, that means 65% are not being actively used.

While Fortune 500 companies have realized they need to be on Twitter – probably as defense against username squatting – few have truly embraced Twitter as a social channel. 

Of the groups that have engaged most heavily with Twitter, the insurance industry is leading the way, with 13 active Twitter accounts according to the study. Of course there are also companies like Exxon Mobil, the #1 company in the Fortune 500, that have no presence on Twitter.

A separate analysis of Fortune 500 Twitter, “The Global Social Media Check-Up” conducted by Burson-Marstellar, found that 79% of Fortune 100 Global companies are using one of four popular social media platforms, with Twitter leading Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogging as the platform of choice.

65% of Fortune Global 100 companies have active accounts on Twitter, while only 54% have Facebook accounts, 50% have YouTube channels, and 33% have a corporate blog. There is still plenty of room for improvement here.

Why Is Twitter the Preferred Platform?

Nobody knows for sure why Twitter is so popular, but there’s a good chance that it’s because it’s the easiest platform to launch. Companies can have a Twitter account up and running in a couple of hours (or less). There is a lot more work to do to launch a YouTube channel, corporate blog, or Facebook presence. It also takes considerably less resources to manage content production and audience interaction on Twitter than these other platforms. It’s a relatively low-cost and low-maintenance option for getting in the social media game.

Are Fortune 500 companies getting any value out of Twitter though? According to the Burson-Marstellar study, the answer is “yes”. Twitter accounts to the Fortune Global 100 average 1,489 followers. This doesn’t seem like much when you consider the average Facebook fan page for these companies has more than 40,000 fans, but it's progress.

A full copy of the new research report can be downloaded here: http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch.

In 2009, more data will be generated by individuals than in the entire previous history of mankind.  

Andreas Weigend explains how/why at http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/now-new-next/2009/05/the-social-data-revolution.html.  There have been two “data revolutions” in the way consumer data is solicited and collected.

Initially, successful companies gained power by collecting, aggregating, and analyzing the customer data they collected.  But, most companies didn’t fully utilize all the data collected.

Then, companies like Amazon.com realized that users often trusted recommendations by other users more than promotional materials.  Users started to actively contribute explicit data, such as, information about themselves, their friends, or about the items they purchased.  Amazon leveraged this new knowledge to help customers with their purchasing decisions.


Successful firms encourage and reward users who contribute honest data.  Netflix allows users to contribute ratings for movies that they have seen; the incentive to contribute accurate data is to get better recommendations for new movies.  Customers are starting to interact with each other. Knowing that they are not alone has shifted the balance of power from companies back to consumers.


Why spend time on hold with a customer service representative if we can just Google see if someone else has already solved the same problem?  An online user community was likely to be more helpful than a representative employed by the company.


Bottom line:  The online world is beginning to be ruled by the expectations of the users.  Companies that want to stay relevant have no choice but to accept the ideas of the consumer revolution as swiftly as possible and address the higher expectations for customer relationships.

Definition 6 is an interactive media agency that creates marketing initiatives that engage people.  We capture and analyze relevant metrics from web analytics, email marketing, online media, and social media campaigns to continue to test and refine marketing plans.  We’d like to help you meet the challenge of addressing the new expectations of consumers.

Click fraud in Pay-Per-Click campaigns is on the rise as the economy tanks and firms look for ways to thwart their competitors.  A recent article on NewYorkTimes.com states that click fraud can represent anywhere from 1% to 15% of Pay-Per-Click costs and clicks.  Click Forensics, a click fraud detection business in Austin, Texas also discovered that in the 4th quarter of 2008,  17% of all online ad clicks were fraudulent.

If Pay-Per-Click is part of your Interactive Marketing Plan, be sure that you are actively reviewing web analytics and Pay-Per-Click reports to spot suspicious behaviour before your funds are depleted -- or make sure that you have a reputable Interactive Marketing Agency that can analyze the data for you.

A client sent me two articles to react to about online advertising.  The title that I chose for this posting states my position:  I'm not sure why people think that advertising alone should support a website.

The first article is from The Economist and is entitled The demise of a popular but unsustainable business model for the Internet now seems inevitable.  This is one of the best articles I've read that explains the reality of Internet business models, whether realistic or not.  Read the entire article at www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13326158.

Great explanation of the dotcom crash…
Firms sprang up to offer content and services online, in the hope that they would eventually be able to “monetise” the resulting millions of “eyeballs” by selling advertising. Things did not work out that way, though, and the result was the dotcom crash.

…and of the Web 2.0 bubble…
Google’s ability to place small, targeted text advertisements next to Internet-search results, and on other websites, meant that many of the business models thought to have been killed by the dotcom bust now rose from the grave.

….and economical realities.
The idea that you can give things away online, and hope that advertising revenue will somehow materialize later on, undoubtedly appeals to users, who enjoy free services as a result.  Ultimately, though, every business needs revenues—and advertising is not going to provide enough.

The second article is a provocative one entitled Why Advertising Is Failing On The Internet and states that advertising cannot fully support the Internet.  Read it at www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/22/why-advertising-is-failing-on-the-internet/.

Websites need to sell real products, services, information or 'access' to information like TripAdvisor.com.  Or, offer an 'experience' like LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, or World of Warcraft.

It's true that most people don't trust ads, online or offline.  They don't 'want' them or 'need' them.  The Internet allows users to get information from a variety of sources and from sources they trust.

But, no company expecting to maintain market share in today's economic environment is going to say "Stop telling potential customers about us." 

Organic search, paid search and display banners can increase awareness and conversions even in today's climate.  Display banner advertising works because it reaches users where they are on the Internet.  You don't advertise just with your name on the building.  You advertise in high traffic areas, too.

How does Definition 6 ensure that online advertising succeeds for our clients?   First, we're big into collaborative strategy.  How can you differentiate yourself?  How can we build synergy with your other initiatives?  Who should you target with banners?  What should the messaging be?

Bottom line:  Appropriate targeting and messaging still works online.  We go beyond traditional banners; we use rich media to make the experience engaging and interactive.

Definition 6 Client Manager, Ira Gross, shared an interesting article he came across on NYtimes.com that talks about how to identify leads and prospects through two new Web-based data brokers, BlueKai and eXelate.  This aligns very well with our customers who do online promotions tied to e-commerce.

These new sites are "information" exchanges where firms can purchase highly specific and timely information with which to market products and services to active seekers and buyers.  Here are a few items worth mentioning from the article:

1. The tools track who is interested in what via a cookie, and then they sell that cookie data.
2. BlueKai lets users choose the cookies they want and raised the cost of ads from $1- $2/thousand impressions to $4 -$10 for the same thousand eyes, but they are much more highly targeted.
3. eXelate wants to purchase registration data and publishing data for resale in a similar manner as Bluekai

These new data broker sources can provide significantly more tailored prospects for Interactive Marketing – check out the full article on NYtimes.com.
 

1. search for new outlets
2. expand your services, offer a wide range of services
3. hit a wider audience

I recently "opted-in" to an online retailers email list. The experience was underwhelming to say the least. After I optedin, I received an immediate email welcoming me to their distribution list. Six weeks and counting, and I have yet to receive another communication from the firm. At another e-tailors website, I opted in while looking at some of the services that they offer - in this case looking to replace some windows on my condo. Several weeks later I began to be run over by emails offering discounts on hand tools, consumer electronics, and large appliances. There was nary an acknowledgement that my reason for opting in had to do with their services rather than their products.

At a team meeting with another large internet retailer, I asked the online marketing manager if they documented where a user was on the website when they opted in. Blank stares all around. Then the question, "Why would that matter?" I asked, "Wouldn't you want to know what someone was looking at when they decided to opt in?" To me it was a totally obvious connection; to my client it was an irritating question. Further research showed most e-tailors clearly in my clients’ corner. Opting in was good enough. No reason to know more. I pose it as the complete opposite. And the difference is the ability to easily begin a 1:1 customer dialogue over the web; or not!

If the web retailer mentioned above had documented that I was looking at a window installation when I had opted in to receive additional communications, they would have targeted messages to me for window installation services, window treatments, perhaps shutters and other products that showed they knew what my specific interest in their firm was all about. Instead, I was lumped in with the several other million email optin's who apparently have an insatiable thirst for inexpensive hand tools and cheap consumer electronics. I no longer read that firms email marketing promotions, as they contain nothing I am interested in. 
 
So the light bulb clicked on. How many firms on the internet try to map where a user was when they opted in so they can create better email marketing campaigns or email marketing services. If my experiences over the past two years are any indication, the answer is not many. So here are a few simple steps that a firm can take to integrate their email campaigns in order to move towards a more customer centric 1:1 dialogue.

1. For the easiest level of integration, firms with multiple products and services can provide users with a checklist of items for which they are interested in receiving email and other interactive marketing communications. A few large computer hardware vendors are already adept at this. 

2. For sites with multiple products and services, they should capture where a user was on the site when they opted in. This could be at a category level, product level, or possibly a business unit level.

3. Create interactive marketing promotions that correlate to the distinctly different parts of the site where users opt in. For example, if I was looking at "services" at least send me email messages that show awareness that I was interested in services rather than products.

4. If product categories are highly differentiated, than the corresponding email campaign should be too. For example, if hand tools and power tools are in different categories, and I opted in looking at hand tools, than a subsequent email marketing campaigns should contain some elements related to hand tools.

5. Over time, an "opted-in" customers' sales activity should be added to their profiles so that over time the firm can know what they were viewing when they opted in, what online promotions had a high click through and/or conversion rate and which products were ultimately purchased.

At that point, the sponsoring site should have all the information they need to have a robust 1:1 customer dialogue with an engaged and nitrated client. And all because they captured what page a prospect was viewing when they opted in to receive additional information. Sometimes, the missing link doesn't have to be missing at all.