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.

I recently read that the White House has chosen an Open Source CMS (Content Management System) to develop their government Web site. This announcement caught my attention for several reasons--not only are many agencies moving their clients to open source and praising it's virtues, I also started using Drupal this past year and found it remarkably fast and easy to setup and maintain my own Web sites with quality results. Despite some criticism of open source over the years--more and more commercial (and government) developers are choosing it.

It's hard to argue against the benefits of free software, especially when results show that the software does what we expect, often exceeds expectations, and provides more opportunities for expansion than many proprietary products. While relative newcomers Drupal and Wordpress lead the pack for CMS offerings, open source mainstays such as Linux and Perl have been around for many years--not only surviving, but thriving over time. In a study by Amit Deshpande and Dirk Riehle of SAP Labs, LLC, Total Growth of Open Source results have shown that "the total amount of source code and the total number of projects double about every 14 months." Open source enables freedom for both users and developers to move & change quickly when needed, as well as providing more flexibility with software decisions such as to upgrade or not to upgrade. It's really no surprise that businesses and individuals are moving to open source at exponential rates.

Of course, Open Source has always been very much associated with Free, although there are other solid reasons to choose it beyond its cost. The pool of development resources is not limited to a specific company or provider, but instead is seemingly unlimited. As a specific open source project becomes popular, more and more developers start contributing, growing and adding to the code. Not only do they enhance the software to make it better for everyone, but they also create markets for their own support services. The better the code is--more people will use it-- and the more support is needed. Large developer communities have evolved around each software project, contributing to its growth, and administering its support. These open source communities are continually coming up with new innovations, powerful add-ons, extensions, and effective tools.

With so many open source choices available, even the ubiquitous LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and Perl) has come to be accepted as generic term for any completely open source application stack--substituting interchangeable parts from other sources that include "PostgreSQL, SQLLite, Apache Derby," as well as "PHP, Python, Ruby, Groovy and JavaScript." Even behemoth Microsoft has entered the game with their own Open Source CMS Platform.

Additionally, interactive ad agencies are able to offer their managed computer services at lower rates when developers take advantage of Open Source technologies. This enables clients to do more within their budgets. Every size company can now take advantage of Website integration, online advertising, and interactive media development due to the emergence of open source and accumulation of knowledge brought to us by the developer community. Businesses across industries are now embracing these technologies, taking advantage of interactive media, and using a more integrated approach to marketing with the vast number of new tools that are now available from these creative, innovative communities of developers.

I've been hearing the phrase "Drinking from the fire hose" more often than usual lately. The curious thing is that it's coming from Interactive Media Professionals (including myself), as much as from end users. With the exponential growth of the Internet and its related technologies, we now have access to more information, in more places, in more ways than ever before. Web 2.0, Social Media, Application Software Development, Mobile and related technologies are having a profound impact on Interactive Marketing Strategies. Many agencies are capable at traditional & online media marketing, or they may have strong technical capabilities--but, it is rare to find an agency that has all of these abilities and deep technical resources such as Definition 6.

To follow the fire hose analogy--anyone faced with that situation would get out of the way. The high volume and velocity of incoming data require some type of control and direction to be useful to ourselves, our clients, and our business.  Developers, interactive designers, and marketers are faced with the same questions as consumers--how to manage the onslaught of incoming information. Interactive Ad Agencies are faced with the additional responsibility of creating new tools to distribute information in a clear and meaningful way. These interactive professionals are the firemen holding the hose. 

At the height of the dotcom boom, an old colleague used to remind me that technology is simply a way of doing things. As the old broadcast model of advertising becomes obsolete, and user discovery & social interaction drive engagement, the function of marketing itself must now change to meet these communication challenges. This new model now poses new questions about where marketers should be, how they communicate, and when that interaction will occur.  I still remember the first  7-Eleven convenience store that opened in my neighborhood, and discovering that name comes from its operating hours—--it was a big deal to be open until 11PM! Marketers didn’t create more ads to attract customers from 9-5, they simply changed to meet customers on their own terms.

Integrated interactive marketing campaigns must be open and immersed in the culture to create value and be relevant. Successful marketers are positioned alongside their target market, making use of tactics such as Branded Content and Branded Entertainment to engage the user, enabling them to discover that value on their own, and decide what truly fulfills their needs. This is not an easy task, and creating meaningful user interaction grows out of qualified analysis of users and their interactions. Those of us in Media and Advertising have been exposed to these ideas before, but never before have these been more important to interactive design. Today's consumer has become a partner in the design process, and defines how we approach our interactions with them. Social media tools such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter provide marketers with a limitless cache of information to help segment, target and engage users as never before— which only highlights the need for efficient processing of data.

Our obligation to clients is to find the relevant information, manage and organize it, and disperse it to potential customers.  To do this, we interpret client requirements and translate those requirements into a meaningful Interactive Experience. We need to collect and analyze enough user data to create strong, branded messages that reach the intended target. In addition, we must combine data with the tools and applications that make it meaningful to those target consumers.

In this new age of discovery, the true Integrated Interactive Agencies are taking the time and effort to find the tools necessary to do the job, or when needed, create them. With information coming constantly from every direction, those who are efficient at organizing, managing, and presenting it will be successful. Otherwise, we're just spraying a fire hose.  If we attempt to do that, consumers will just get out of the way.

If I haven't convinced you yet that you should spend some marketing time and money by focusing on the Hispanic population, let me try again.  Media Post has several great articles on the subject.  Here is another one by Diana A. Terry-Azíos called "Brand Loyal, Yet Unbranded".

As a general rule, Hispanics are more brand loyal than other groups.  They are less risky with their purchases and stick to brands that have provided good quality products.  However, when many of them move to the U.S., they are likely not going to find their familiar brands here.  So they have to start shopping and they have tons of choices to choose from in the U.S.

Another issue is that they are not as compelled to buy "Made in USA" as other U.S. citizens nor will they be compelled to buy products endorsed by people they don't know.  If Hispanics don't know who Michael Jordan is, then he isn't going to help Hanes sell more underwear to them.  And Brett Favre isn't going to help sell more Wrangler jeans to them.

Here are some key points to marketing to the U.S. Hispanic population.

- You have to prove that your product is of good (or the best) quality.  Hispanics will often spend a little more if they are getting the best quality.
- Start a marketing campaign that will speak directly to Hispanics, perhaps with Hispanic stars, but definitely with Spanish content (and not just English content translated directly to Spanish).  Your marketing campaign needs to address quality, convenience and emotion.  But also keep in mind that the growing young Hispanic consumer considers himself/herself as Latino AND American.
- Use multiple touch points to stay in contact with Hispanic consumers. For example, studies have shown that Hispanics are more likely to respond to text messages than other groups.

For more Key points, see the article I am referencing.

Oh, and by the way, here are some interesting facts about the growing Hispanic population.

45.5 million -- The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2007, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 15% of the nation’s total population. In addition, there are approximately 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico.

About 1 of every two people added to the nation’s population between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, was Hispanic. There were 1.4 million Hispanics added to the population during the period.

3.3% increase in the Hispanic population between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group.

Want more?  Here are some interesting facts.

So what are you waiting for?  The growing Hispanic population is waiting for you to give them a good reason to buy your products and to tell their friends just how good you are.  As word spreads through their community, your profits should start growing at a faster and faster pace.

We can help you.  We are an Atlanta interactive advertising agency.
 
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.

Lori Willard, Online Media Specialist here at Def 6, passed along a MediaPost Research Brief that shows that reduced advertising during a recession negatively impacts consumer perception.

According to a new Ad-ology Research study, "Advertising's Impact in a Soft Economy," more than 48% of U.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business must be struggling.

Conversly, a vast majority perceives businesses that continue to advertise as being competitive or committed to doing business.
 
Other key findings include:

• 40% of consumers use coupons more now than a year ago

• Most consumers are as willing or more willing to pay more for ‘healthy' or ‘organic' products than they were a year ago

• A ‘deeply discounted price' was the number one factor that would make consumers more likely to purchase a big-ticket item (+$1,000)

• Store websites ranked second only to search engines as the way consumers research products and shop online

Ad-ology summarizes the research by saying:  “It is critical to advertise in the current economic climate, to maintain long-term positive consumer perception of your brand.  Advertising not only assures consumers of a business’ reliability in a soft economy, but it can influence where and what they buy, especially when the ads address concerns about value.”

Definition 6 offers strategy consulting services to help you with your advertising initiatives for the following disciplines: email, SEO, SEM, online media, social media, and mobile.  Don't let your advertising negatively impact consumer perception.

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.

At our Interactive Ad Agency we continually help our clients make good decisions regarding their online media usage. Social Media, eMail Marketing, PPC/Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Display, Mobile and Video are just the headers of the variety of options available to us. But recently Twitter has been owning the headlines.

David Martin, vice president, primary research, Nielsen Online, wrote in a blog post: "People are signing up in droves, and Twitter's unique audience is up over 100% in March."

But today I was sent a great article from MediaPost about an online / microblogging / SMS option to reach the masses that might not be the techno elite, but make up the mainstay of consumer America. More spending power and more of the participants in creating UGC for all our social media sites. The company is called Predicto and it is very focused on the celebrity world, think People, US, The View, TMZ, etc. http://www.predicto.com/

Between October and December 2008, Twitter had approximately 812,000 unique SMS users, but Predicto Mobile interacted with more than 2.3 million unique users. "We have a mainstream audience, which can help us grow faster," Kathein said. "Our members aren't necessarily the early adopters. Our customer base isn't made up of heavy iPhone users."  The full article can be found at http://bit.ly/M1QQy

I think this a great example of how Interactive Marketing is very niche and how you shouldn't fall in love with one channel, because your users might be better served with another channel.

PointRoll hands out nifty little notebooks with the first page filled with Best Practices for Display Banners.  Here's a summary:

1.  Keep the campaign objective and key metrics in mind when designing banners.   Use more than one panel for displaying a lot of info or you want user interaction and engagement.  If direct response is desired, one action-focused panel is most effective.

2.  Banner animation should not be too slow or too fast; the call to action should appear immediately.

3.  Give the user a compelling reason to rollover with a clear, prominent, and relative call to action.

4.  Rollover hot spots should be as large as possible and easy to see.  On most sites, the rollover max spec is 33% of the banner.

5.  All panels should be accessible from any other panel.  Use horizontal hot spots on horizontal ads and vertical hot spots on vertical skyscraper ads.

6.  Ideally, the entire panel should be clickable, and also use a well-defined click button.

7.  Include a "loading" message that appears as the video streams in.  Users with slower connections will know the video is coming.

8.  Use video player controls for optimum usability - pause, play, and volume.

9.  Video should auto play upon user rollover.  Requiring users to "click to play" reduces video plays.

10. After video completes, include compelling, relevant call to action.

More Best Practices for display banner ads are listed at http://www.pointroll.com/best-practices.aspx.

Definition 6 can help you craft your online advertising strategy, whether it is banner ads, organic or paid search, or email marketing.  We negotiate with vendors to maximize your media spend when developing Media Plans that meet your objectives.  We design and build ads and deploy them, working with partners, such as, the search engines and PointRoll.  We do it all!

I came across a Mediapost article that I found very interesting because as a technical project manager at an online agency, I work with several clients that do market to the Spanish speaking community. It shows that most US Hispanics who prefer to speak Spanish are using a lot of websites outside of the US.  In fact, 7 of the top 10 are websites in Spain, Mexico and Columbia.  So companies that need to reach out to Hispanics need to find ways to advertise on these non-US websites in order to bring those customers back to their US websites.

Here are a few key points I got from this article:

1.US Hispanics who prefer Spanish prefer to read Spanish sites and most of them go to websites outside of the US to get the content they want.

2.To reach US Hispanic consumers, companies need to run their media and advertising on non-US Spanish websites.

3. US Spanish speaking consumers use non-US sites more than the major Spanish portals in the US, such as Yahoo! En Espanol, Univision, Telemundo and AOL Latino.

In addition to builing multilingual websites, Definition 6 is an interactive ad agency who helps clients strategize on how to best market to different segments, which can include cultural, regional or age groups.
 

There is a quote in the book The Truth about Email Marketing:
"Email marketing has been called the original social networking tool..."

Social media does not replace emails.  The advantage continues to be that not everyone has a Facebook or LinkedIn profile, but everyone has an email address.

You can capitalize on your social media campaigns by integrating email marketing:
Capture email addresses on your Facebook page.
Promote your email services on your LinkedIn profile.
Test marketing messages and creative elements on social networking sites.
Use email to drive traffic to your social media initiatives.

Recent stats from EmailStatCenter.com you might find helpful in convincing your management team to continue to invest in email marketing in order to reap the benefits:

"50% of consumers surveyed said they're more likely to buy products from companies who send them email, whether their purchases are online or at a place of business."
- Epsilon "Branding Survey" (Feb 2009)

"80.4% of marketing executives surveyed say email performs strongly as an advertising channel for their companies."
- Datran Media "3rd Annual Marketing & Media Survey Results" (2008)

"While 60% of marketers plan to cut their traditional marketing budgets this year, 47% of marketers plan to boost their email marketing budgets."
- Aberdeen Group, "Recessionary Marketing: How Best-in-Class Companies Are Weathering the Storm," (Jan 2009)

Has social media replaced email marketing?  Hardly!  Has it changed it?  Sure.  It offers a new way to use email marketing.  Email marketing continues to drive relationships, retention, and revenue.

Definition 6 sends out almost 300 million emails on behalf of clients.  We also specialize in social media.  We can help you integrate your interactive marketing initiatives to maximize the benefit.

Definition 6 Project Manager, Lisa Seals, on what not to do on FaceBook…

Before establishing a social media strategy, particular as it involves FaceBook, it’s important to understand the laws regulating how you market your product or service.  Failure to adhere to these regulations can result in warnings, requests for immediate action, suspension, termination/disablement of an application or just plain user turnoff.  Online Ad Agency Definition 6 can help you avoid making these mistakes when launching a campaign on FaceBook.

1. Infringing on Intellectual Property Rights - The legal rights bestowed by regulatory trademarks and copyrights are binding in the social media realm.
2. Pretending to Be Someone You're Not - FaceBook explicitly states that applications must not be designed "to impersonate any person" or "in a manner that is misleading, deceptive or fraudulent."
3. Violating Users' Privacy Rights
4. Flouting the Accepted Rules of User Engagement - FaceBook policy dictates that applications may no longer offer incentives to users for inviting friends or adding profile boxes, etc.

FaceBook is implementing more controls for establishing trust between users and companies who market on the site and in November 2008, they launched an Application Verification program, which rewards marketers with a certification seal - similar to the VeriSign logo used on e-commerce sites.  To read the entire article, login to MarketingProfs.com.
 

Definition 6 Business Development Exec, Ken Brantley, points out what search engine marketers should know about sorting through social media strategy fads and laying the groundwork for leveraging media and advertisting in the interactive space...

Jennifer Winners, Chief Operating Officer and Social Media Specialist of DISC, Inc., sums it up well in a recent article on VisibilityMagazine.com.  She explains that, up until the era of Social Media,” the internet was largely impersonal, random, and largely intimidating.   It was difficult to know which businesses were legitimate, which sources of information were accurate, and generally who could be trusted.”

There were some key points that I took from the article:
1. Social Media offers tools for people to behave online much as they do offline
2. It’s important to understand which social media tools are the best fit for communicating with your customers
3. Social Media is a loose term for all things “social” on the internet for example: blogs, wikis, video sharing, podcasts, social networking sites, picture sharing, social bookmarking. Social refers to the ability to interact, and Media refers to the tools.
4. Behave with your customers online as you would offline

At Definition 6 we certainly understand that in today’s world, marketing and technology strategies are interconnected.  We leverage expertise in all interactive areas including social media marketing and strategy.  Contact us today or check out some of our additional blog posts on social media to find out how we can help implement and manage your next digital business solution.

Lisa Seals, Definition 6 Project Manager on earning consumer trust through the use of blogging…

Blogs are one of the most cost-effective mediums available for building relationships with your customers, and driving traffic to your website.  But, according to Forrester’s North American Technographics Media and Marketing Online Survey, corporate blogs rate very low on the scale for consumer trust.  Don’t swear off blogging quite yet - rather, use blogging as an addition to your marketing mix and overtime customers will value your openness and candor.  Here are some interesting suggestions from an article I recently read which were key take-aways for me…
 
1. Come up with a well-thought-out blogging policy to institute credibility into your company blog
2. Instill reader value – think about your customer's perspective before you blog
3. Foster transparency - be up front with your readers about who you are as the author.  Include your background, role within the company, if you have vested interests in the topic of discussion and whether they're writing from an insider-expert or end-user perspective
4. Set the tone - abstain from taking on a formal tone, talk to your readers like you would talk to real people in professional situations. Bring in your own personality and say what's on your mind
5. Allow readers to participate in the conversation -  your blog can provide an effective vehicle for gathering and understanding your customer’s perspectives

Check out the full article by logging into MarketingProfs.com and visit our blog to find out how online ad agency, Definition 6, leverages our website integration expertise in providing the right tools necessary to create your own corporate blog.