Tagged: marketing strategies

bubble(1)

In Order to Succeed You Must Get Out of the Bubble

Many businesses look to other businesses in their market and/or geographic area for ideas. In social media we find this is a double edged sword. We recently wrote about the Perils and Rewards of Being First in the market. This was in response to many conversations with prospective clients wanting to understand more about social media but not really wanting to make that dive into resourcing out part of their marketing budget toward Word of Mouth marketing on the social web.

We at ActivatingWOM have been traveling a lot. We are still amazed that geographic markets drive the decision to jump into the social web. When we are talking to clients in the Bay area, where social media applications, networks, etc are born every day, the dialogue is about new analytics and how to maximize new networks before the main stream takes advantage of these tools. In LA it is about how to define your social presence as it relates to fans of various talents and how engagement is measured. In DC it is about identifying policy trends in conversations and identify influencers of various policy discussions.

In Arizona, people are will watching and learning. Few companies are willing to jump out of their bubble and take the social media plunge. Even the various markets mentioned above are still in a bubble. They rarely look at how practices in these various markets can help with their web presence.

I come from an extensive political background. I saw the “bubble effect” often. In various campaigns you tend to surround yourself with like minded individuals who further strengthen your ideals but tend to disconnect you with others outside your bubble. I often challenged organizations and candidates to get out of their bubble. Washington tends to be so deep in the beltway bubble that they hire pollsters after pollsters to get the pulse of the American public.

On the social web, everything is available. Case study after case study is available. What relevance does it have to your industry? No one else in your industry is really resourcing out this work you say? It is time to get out of your bubble. In a previous post we demonstrated various companies’ success on the social web.

If you are a company that has never used Twitter or often laugh at discussions around social media, I have a test for you. Go to http://search.twitter.com and type in a few words related to your product and or services. I guarantee you that there are conversations happening around your services and or products. From Tea to Athletes we manage a wide range of clients who at one time thought the social web was not for them. This simple tests showcases that there are potential customers and/or fans out there. If they are already talking about you, why are you not engaging?

It is time to get out of the bubble, and make the jump. Don’t let bubble vision keep you from success.

Online Social Networks are NOT Going Away

By Jennifer Kindred

Our recent blogs have focused on the importance of authentic conversations when engaging folks on social networks.  We feel that we have driven this point home, if you haven’t gotten it by now…please read our last 4 blog posts.  This blog is about the type of business that can really benefit from social networking, mainly small businesses.
The New York Times recently published an article about small businesses utilizing social networks as a key part of their marketing plans.  According to the article over 260,000 North American businesses currently use social networking to promote their businesses; social networks are free and provide a large community of consumers.
The article points out businesses that have been successful at marketing through social networks.  These success stories all have similar themes consisting of companies seeking social community users interested in their product/cause and engaging them through conversations and online incentives.  These well thought out plans yielded great results for activist organizations and small businesses.  However, too often small businesses simply splash and spam online communities and do not execute sound strategies before introducing their business to social networks.
Unfortunately, these businesses do not find value in social networks and fail to continue utilizing them in their marketing strategies.  This is like having a bad experience with an automobile and then claiming that the whole idea of horseless carriages (aka cars) is bad and the disgruntled company invests in buggies.  Not only did the company lose money in buggies but would have been the laughing stock of the 20th century.
New technologies, communication methods, and marketing strategies should be embraced by small businesses.  For a small business to give up on social networking is like the company who have up on automobiles and bet on the buggy…the business will lose.  We encourage small businesses to jump into the social networking frenzy, but also to educate themselves on how to correctly engage in online communities.
Educate and initiate, don’t be afraid to take the next plunge into online communications.

Is SEO Dead?

There has been a lot of talk about PR firms embracing current SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques  in their digital service packages. Today, for example, Jason from C&C posted a really great post outlining the details that should come in these packages.

He lists some great “How to” steps to familiarize yourself with this word and how it MUST be included in current PR work.

I couldn’t agree more, but there is a big part missing; the evolution of search engines, semantic data, and word of mouth is the trend of Web2 to Web3 boundaries.

There are technical limitations to typical “meta data” that is associated with traditional SEO data. The New Media Knowledge group has pin pointed this as why SEO might be dead in an article here.

Technical limitations such as code standards and non-indexable data (videos, flash, etc.) are only small aspects to why traditional SEO techniques are dying. As the web evolves, influence/word of mouth marketing and transparent networks are increasing online traffic to brands. What does that mean?

Think of it this way. If you know what you are looking for and can break it down into keywords, then by all means Google it. You most likely will find it. Just like you would if you went to a library and searched for something on a subject using the dewey decimal system system. There is still a need for that fundamental way of searching for your product online and making sure your data is coded and optimized for this standard.

However, as conversational networks exponentially grow daily, semantic (conversational, back and forth exchange of data) data is being indexed. There are no influencer gatekeepers on the web. If someone loves Oprah and wants to buy everything she suggests, she is on Twitter, Facebook, Skype, etc. The content that she puts out as an influencer in the market attracts consumers already willing to buy these products. Her conversations are retweeted by lesser influencers to networks and then talked about again and again. If you wanted to know about the best products to buy in your given trade or hobbyist obsession… you can find those influencers in that trade, interact with them, and every little didgibit is archived and index into searchable content. This is the new SEO. Semantic search and inflencual conversations.

SEO is still important, but without a comprehensive word of mouth plan that involves strategic semantic optimization, PR firms will not be ready for Web3. Web3 is transparent, honest, and all about word of mouth. Traditional SEO was about frequency of keywords and searches. Word of Mouth & Semantic Marketing is about authenticity. It is not about frequency of conversations, it is about the integrity of the conversation.

Is SEO dead?

No… but the methods have evolved.

Time to catch up.

Authentic Word of Mouth is not a Campaign

David Berkowitz wrote an article yesterday discussing the fact that the one word you can not mention in a social media conference is “campaign.”

If you approach word of mouth advertising as a traditional media campaign, you will fail and do damage to your brand. Social networks are for social engagement, not for you to spam users. Don’t get confused by the technology, social networks are gatherings of individuals… much like a cocktail party. If you approach these networks as such you will succeed.

Here is a video about Whuffie and Tara Hunt. Take a moment and listen to her background at the end:

Our firm identifies authentic influencers on the social web and engage them with quality brands that are interesting to those individuals.

Again, thinking of the cocktail scenario, your impressions of various people at that cocktail party is defined by honesty, influence, your history with them, and their background. The same thing is true about social interaction on the web. These influencers have the same variables. Authentic word of mouth comes from these relationships and influencers; not a campaign, pure visibility, and traditional marketing strategies.

In Activating Word of Mouth we determine the influences for your brand and develop strong relationships with these individuals. Their mentions and marketing of your brand is authentic.