RSS Not Dead

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Andrei
on May 12, 2009
in Content Management, Internet, RSS, Social Media and Twitter
. 0 Comments

RSS Orange IconThis post was prompted by Steve Gillmor’s article ‘Rest in Peace, RSS‘ posted on TechCrunchIT on May 5, 2009. In the article Steve Gillmor argues that RSS service has no place in this world and instead internet users should switch solely to Twitter to get their daily dose of news and information. Although I disagree with Mr. Gillmor, he is not completely wrong; he does note that Twitter serves as a better system of disseminating new content earlier. However, there are two issues that Steve Gillmor doesn’t consider in his argument. First is the questionable process of content delivery via Twitter. And second is that this process is human powered.

Twitter is great for disseminating early content before it is even published on blogs, newspapers, heard on the radio or shown on TV. However, to get the whole sense of what is going on, the users need to follow breadcrumbs in the discussion between Tweeple. A great example would be reporting an earthquake or a fire. Although the mainstream media won’t be able to report it as quickly, twitter users (aka Tweeple) are able to spread the message of first-hand accounts across their Twitter network. The problem with distributing this type of content via Twitter is that it is human powered.

In order to spread the content, Tweeple need to be active on Twitter. If no one is logged in, no content gets spread. If users don’t have followers, or enough of them, again, the content doesn’t get spread. To really take advantage of early warning content delivery from Twitter, users (or influential ones at least) need to be hooked up 24/7 to get the content out to the masses. Although possible, but somewhat unrealistic for someone to sit and monitor thousands of discussions on Tweedeck live and wait for new content to arrive. People have jobs to go to and lives to attend to. A couple of other issues arise from human powered content delivery. The reliability and credibility. It is at users’ discretion to spread the content, and to spread accurate content. Sometimes people are not fast enough or are able to deliver most accurate information.

RSS is not dead. It is alive and well. I learned about Steve Gillmor’s article via my subscription to TechCrunch RSS feed on my Google Reader, not through Twitter. For the reasons below, RSS will continue to flourish and stay alive:

  • Subscribe to any type of content you want to see. Eliminate noise.
  • Content arrives as soon as it is published.
  • See it all in one spot. No need to visit multiple sites or follow breadcrumbs.
  • See it whenever you want.
  • Get more than 140 characters of info.
  • Faster delivery for published content.

Both Twitter and RSS feeds are killer tools. The best practice is to use them in harmony to maximize the speed, credibility and reliability of content delivery.

10 Reasons New Users Leave Social Network Soon After Joining

Published
by
Andrei
on April 29, 2009
in Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networks, Twitter and Web Strategy
. 0 Comments

This post was inspired by Oprah Winfrey’s (@oprah) lack of tweets on Twitter in the last few days. Oprah joined Twitter during the big race to million followers between Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and CNN’s Breaking News (@cnnbrk). Oprah tweeted for few days and suddenly stopped. Perhaps she doesn’t need Twitter to stay in touch with millions of fans or is too busy to post updates. Those are just speculations. However, to expand on this thought I decided to compile a list of reasons why people leave a social network soon after joining.

Poor User Experience. When new members have unsatisfactory user experience upon joining a social network this reason alone can make anyone leave. Making it difficult to navigate the site, poor layout, sub-standard graphic design, tedious sign up process are some of the factors that contribute to poor experience.

Not Contacts. One of the main reasons why anyone joins a social network is to connect with people they know or want to get to know. But if there are not enough contacts that new members would like to connect with, they will leave.

No Value. Users expect to receive value from their social network. It will depend from user to user on what they value in a social network. It could be anything from connecting with childhood friends to using the network to find a job or generate business leads.

Existing Memberships. When new users are already members of other social networks they now have to divide their time. New social network would have to fight for new members’ share of activity and attention. If a new network cannot keep new users engaged and active, these members will revert to their existing memberships or devote less time to the new network.

Bait-and-Switch. One of the biggest turn offs is when a new network appears promising all kinds of things from a pipe dream; but when it attracts a big enough membership base it completely switches gears. The social network site operator may alter the terms of agreement, spam the users, push sales of unrelated items or services or sell your data, just to name a few.

Lack of Transparency. When a social network fails to disclose what it intends to do with user data and keeps everything else a mystery raises flags among users. Consequently, users acquisition and retention drops.

Lack of Privacy Controls. Lack of these controls also raises suspicions as much as lack of transperancy. Users want the ability to control who gets to see their profiles. Social networks that do not implement these are doomed to fail.

Hype is Over. Like Oprah, some users join a network due to hype on impulse. Then they disengage from the social network as soon as the hype is over. Social network needs to find a way to live up to the hype and find ways to retain members and their level of engagement.

Technical Difficulties. A nightmare for any social network operator, are the technical difficulties. When a social network is plagued with downtime and errors user will move onto something else. In a real world, if a product doesn’t work  a customer will return it for a refund. In an online world, if a social network service doesn’t work, users will leave.

Lack of Engagement. A social network must provide the tools necessary to facilitate engagement among users. Building a site where users just list their bios and favorite movies for example can’t be called a social network. Give them tools to interact with one another such ability to share pictures, post notes, create groups, and so on.

Terminator Salvation Viral Campaign

Published
by
Andrei
on April 16, 2009
in Facebook, Marketing, Promotion, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networks, Twitter, Viral Marketing, Web Strategy and web marketing
. 0 Comments

With an upcoming release of the 4th installment of Terminator movie franchise, Terminator Salvation is stepping up its online viral campaign. Terminator Salvation infiltrates a number of online properties and deploys various web marketing tactics to spread the word, promote and generate buzz about the upcoming movie which lands in theatres starting May 22, 2009.
Terminator Salvation Poster Official Warner Bros. Terminator Salvation Website has information about the film, latest trailers, desktop wallpapers, photo galleries and more.  Tribute.ca has also created its own version of Warner Bros. site.  Official Sony Pictures Terminator Salvation Website contains similar content and links as Warner Bros. site, except Sony site looks and feel much different. Terminator fans can also play Terminator Salvation Game online against other human fans.  Choose a side (Resistence or Skynet) and eliminate your opponents.  

Skynet Research is a viral marketing website. The ‘official’ website of fictional company that originally developed robotics technology to improve the lives of humans but in the future it becomes self-aware and wages war on humans with its army of Terminators. The goal of this site is to engage Terminator fans by way of user generated content. Fans can submit their robot designs and videos.  Skynet Research also has a Facebook Fan page.  Another component of the viral campaign is anti-skynet movement located at resistorbeterminated.com Fans can join the resistence here, engage in community forums and learn tactics.

Terminateyourself.com is another viral marketing website. On this site users can submit pictures (mug shots) of themselves; then images can be altered to look like damaged Terminators. Users can share the results with friends or use the picture as a profile image on social networks.

Terminator Salvation is also present on popular social networks.  On Flickr, Skynet Research account showcases user generated robot designs submitted to Skynet.  Youtube also showcases user generated videos submitted to Skynet Research. Show your love for the movie by becoming an official fan on Facebook Terminator Salvation page. And finally, fans can follow Terminator Salvation on Twitter.

Use Facebook Ads to Find Your Next Job

Published
by
Andrei
on March 29, 2009
in Advertising, Facebook, Internet, Marketing and Social Marketing
. 0 Comments

While job hunting through the latter part of ‘08 and some of ‘09, I came across this article: Use Facebook Ads to Make Employers Hunt You Down.  A good friend of mine and a fellow blogger Andrew Kinnear sent it to me via StumbleUpon.  After reading it and studying each case I decided to launch my own experiment.  In addition to using the Facebook ads as an avenue for employers to hunt me down, I also wanted to find networking opportunities. 

Using the techniques and strategy described in the article I ran two Facebook ads.  I hyperlinked the ads to a page on my site that clearly spelt out what I was trying to achieve with my Facebook ad experiment.  In the copy I thanked the visitor for clicking on my ad, provided a very brief description of who I am and what type of work I was looking for.  Also, I provided a link to my LinkedIn profile.  As a call to action, I asked the visitor to provide me with a lead to a job opening or a simple networking opportunity with someone at their organization by filling out a contact form. 

Facebook Ads allows you to specifically target a group of people that you intend your message to reach.  I decided to target Facebook members that are employed by one of the companies that I always wanted to work for.  Below are examples of ads I ran and the results.  Each ad ran for a week.

As you can see, Ad01 produced better results (CTR%) than Ad02.  My friend Andrew Kinnear hypothesized that audience was more drawn to my casual profile than a corporate look because they identified it as being more realistic and authentic; whereas the corporate look in Ad02 looks like a stock photo.  

Facebook Ad with a casual profile photo led to higher CTR% compared to other ads in the campaign.

(Fill the black spaces with the company name of your choice.)

Facebook Ad - Corporate

Also, when I ran a second Facebook Ads experiment targeting a number of organizations in the same industry with a generic message, the response and results were not impressive at all.  As you can see below the CTR% was only .23, even with low impressions.

Facebook Ad03 - Generic

 I was extremely surprised with the results (from Ad01 and Ad02).  I received a handful of emails, some of which led to introductions to a recruiter, other people in the organization, and having my resume passed around within. 

Some of the folks that helped me out I’ve connected with on LinkedIn and still stay in touch with them today.  Although I did not find work with my target company, I was able to use this experiment as an interesting topic of conversation during my hiring interviews and networking meetings.  I was even called into an interview because the hiring manager was extremely interested in hearing about my job hunt tactitcs.  What made the experiment a success was (a) targeting the right demographic, (b) creating a targeted message, (c) genuine appeal for help, and (d) authenticity. At the end of the day I was able to find work at another great company that I admire for innovation, great business sense, and people centric culture.

8 Marketing Lessons from Heavy Metal

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Andrei
on March 13, 2009
in Marketing, Music, Promotion and Strategy
. 0 Comments

I am always amazed every time I go see a metal band with the amount of people actually attend the concerts.  That’s not the amazing part; the amazing part is realizing that metal bands are able to accomplish this with minimum or no airplay and with very little marketing budgets.  Take Iron Maiden for example, for more than 2 decades they have been able to fill arenas across the planet consistently, while artists from other genres with massive marketing dollars and over saturated air play on radio and TV can barely hold it together for couple of albums.  The obvious question is how do the metal bands get people to come to the shows consistently? Judging from my own experiences, minor research and analysis, there’s something that metal bands are doing right.  Perhaps marketers can learn a thing or two from heavy metal and apply it to their own strategies. Here’s what the metal bands do to pack the venues, consistently.

Iron Maiden at ACC

Quality Matters

Believe it or not, successful bands spent countless hours and sacrificed a great deal to become good at what they do.  Practice and sacrifice.  If by some chance a band sells out a venue during their first gig and completely butchers the show, no one will come back to see them again.  After all, the core product is the music. Successful bands are good at what they do and always deliver quality show.  When you go see Iron Maiden or Slayer show, you know you’ll get the best out of it every time.

Give Them Something To Talk About

Even if the band plays a killer set, they’ve got to get the audience to talk about the show the next day.  It could be anything from pyrotechnics to lighting, stage props to mosh-pits, or just simply playing flawlessly.  The first time I saw Hatebreed for example, the next day I was telling my friends (even the ones that aren’t metal fans) about a huge circle pit the band got going.

Slayer Live in Singapore - Jeff Hannemann

Engage The Fans

Metal bands are great at engaging their audience.  They spend time signing autographs outside the tour buses, they get the audience to sing along, and instigate mosh pits.  Engaging and interacting with the fans is pivotal when building a loyal fanbase.  Anyone ever attended a music festivals knows that performing bands will usually mingle with the fans and sign autographs after they’ve performed.

Build Loyalty

Metal bands that stay true to their roots, music and their fans build a loyal following.  Fans that make a personal and emotional connection with bands tend to feel disappointed and frustrated when their favorite metal band “sells out”.  Case in point Metallica; they lost a loyal fanbase when they released Load record that signified change in music direction.  Only recently Metallica has made an attempt with Death Magnetic to lure back original fans that were with the band from Day 1.  Loyal fans are the grease in gears that will prolong bands’ careers.

Scarcity Drives Demand

Another reason why some metal bands can pack each and every show is because they don’t come around too often.  There are only so many times in a given time frame fans will pay to see their favorite bands.  Playing too often in a given market saturates it and makes the event a commodity.  Some bands strategically plan out their touring schedules and routes to ensure that there’s enough demand to fill the arena while commanding a top, yet fair dollar for the seats.  Although creating artificial low supply and scarcity is unethical, but saturating the market with product or endless licensing agreements not only devalues the product and the brand, it will also eat into your margins and eventually drive down demand.

Ozzfest 2007: Lamb of God

Exclusivity

Heavy Metal or any other sub-genre of Metal is not for everyone.  Outsiders often dismiss it as real music because the barrier to understanding the genre is fairly large.  No one but metal fans have the clearest understanding of this.  For the most part they don’t really care.  What they care about is the sense of exclusivity the metal bands create.  Exclusivity creates a sense of community, pride and ownership. 

Cross Promote

Metal bands are very effective at cross-promoting their music.  Although most metal fans share similar tastes, but it is a common practice for metal bands to tour together and cross introduce fans to other bands’ music.  In recent years, veteran bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Metallica have taken younger bands on the road.  This introduces the young to the old and vice-versa.

Promote With No Budget

All of the methods and strategies discussed above can be accomplished with low or no marketing budget.  Metal bands let the fans do all their marketing for them.  Loyal and happy fans become advocates.

AMC Makes Me Care About The Oscars

Published
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Andrei
on February 22, 2009
in Publicity and Twitter
. 0 Comments

Oscar night tonight. Do you care? My answer last year would have been ‘NO, I’ll find out the winners in the morning.’ This year I actually care a little more, and most likely will stay up just to catch the end of the program. Yesterday I attended Best Picture Showcase at AMC theatre in downtown Toronto. This is the ultimate event for any film buff. You get to watch all the movies that are nominated for the best picture back-to-back. I thought I’d be sore and bored, especially during the movies I’ve already seen. However, it was fun and I did enjoy the experience. What made it great was the community built around the event. Conversations not only happened in the theatre (between breaks of course), but also online; before, after and during the event. AMC engaged the blogging community and social media tools to facilitate the conversations about the films and the event. Anything related to the event can be tracked on Twitter via #amcbps hashtag. After watching all five films back-to-back and engaging in offline and online conversations I am now curious and care enough to watch the Oscars to see who will take the top prize.

If You Don’t Have Anything Genuine To Say, Don’t Participate

Published
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Andrei
on January 20, 2009
in Ethics, Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Networks and Strategy
. 0 Comments

My mom used to say, ‘if you don’t have anything positive to say, then don’t say anything.’ I bet your mom used to tell you same thing. Even if you were born and raised in a different country and culture, the proverb rings true across the globe. A social media equivalent is, ‘if you don’t have anything genuine to say, don’t participate.’ However, some marketers have forgotten mother’s wise words. In a span of just two weeks two companies have been caught running unethical marketing practices. The guilty parties are Belkin, a company rep got caught paying users to submit positive product reviews; and the other is Cummins Nitro and their fake Tourism Queensland video application for the best job in the world.

There was absolutely no point for Belkin to falsify customer testimonials because Belkin actually does make great products. What were they trying to achieve? It was actually to get higher ratings for one of their routers, Belkin F5U301. The right thing to do would have been to go to their customers, and find how to improve the product. With a power of social media this feat can be easily accomplished. Not only would they get support and trust, but also engage their customer base in a genuine conversation. As for the fake video for Tourism Queensland, the job offer was awesome enough to cut through the online media clutter. Although, an example video application is a great idea, but the PR firm and Tourism Queensland should have been more transparent. I don’t think that making a fake video actually boosted publicity for Tourism Queensland. The only thing that both firms gained was public mistrust and scrutiny.

Let this be a lesson to anyone who wishes to engage in social media conversations. You must be genuine and actually contribute to the conversation, if you cannot do that then do not participate.

Joining Every Social Network Does Not Make You an Expert

Published
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Andrei
on January 5, 2009
in Internet, Marketing, Social Marketing and Social Networks
. 0 Comments

Seems like everyone these days is a Social Media Guru, Maven, Ninja or [insert new age hipster type of descriptive term here]. I am not intending to single out anyone but I am sure many of you have come across someone who claimed to be a Social Networking or Social Marketing  or a Social Media expert, but later to learn that they’re complete fakes. Just because someone joins every single social network under the sun does not make them an instant expert in the space. Experts understand their clients’ goals. Experts are able to execute the strategy. Experts deliver measurable results. Having a deep knowledge, enrolment and familiarity with various social networks only puts you at par with everyone else.  It is how you use your knowledge and experience that will put you ahead of the pack.

Why It’s Easy to Blame Big Business

Published
by
Andrei
on November 28, 2008
in Social Marketing, Strategy and Web Strategy
. 0 Comments

It isn’t very hard to run a Google search or visit web strategy forums and be able to find some kind of discussion on why big businesses are not adopting social media as a part of their marketing and business strategy. It is easy and convenient for us social media rockstars, web 2.0 nerds, and new media marketers to blame the big business for being too slow on the draw and not taking leadership positions. We, who are connected to many through multiple social network platforms usually work alone or in very small teams with limited restrictions. We make decisions quickly to engage and respond because our objectives are clear, we’re on top of the latest trends, no red tape to cut through and no one to answer to (usually). However, we often make the mistake of thinking that big business is a person. We often refer to it as if it a real person with its own mind, personality, living tissues and organs that keep it alive. But it’s not a person. It is an organism. A very complex organism with a mechanical personality, with many layers of bureaucracy, decisions makers, budgets, strategies, and objectives. I am confident that big business will get it (eventually) and adopt social media as a part of their strategy, but we have to patient and lend a helping hand in the meantime.

Applying Principles of Persuasion to Build a Killer Brand

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Andrei
on November 24, 2008
in Branding, Marketing and Persuasion
. 0 Comments

It is becoming increasingly difficult to develop, launch and sustain a brand. Statistics are unnecessary to realize how deep the brand ocean is getting. It is overwhelming for the consumer to stay afloat and try to decipher between thousands of competing brands. The feeling is much worse for those who build and launch brands. Without a doubt there are a number of tools available that will make brand building job easier, but if everyone is using the same tools, cutting through all the clutter becomes more difficult. Successful brands go beyond the typical tools set, they utilize tools that allow them to tap into human psyche to develop, launch and build long term sustainability for their brands. One of my favorite books on this (subject) is Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Written by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. over 20 years ago; the book is the best seller and a classic. Dr. Cialdini explains the psychology of persuasion and why people say yes. He outlines six principles of persuasion that can be applied universally, including how to get consumers to like, buy and endorse your brand.

PRINCIPLES OF PERSUASION

Reciprocation. In a nutshell, you must give to get. Give your customers something: give out samples, provide great customer support or even a simple ‘thank you’ can go a long way. Giving your customer something increases the chances of them buying your products and endorsing your brand.  The following article was posted today on Gizmodo: Student Writes to Steve Jobs, Gets Free Final Cut Studio 2.  A simple and a genuine goodwill gesture will go a long way.  Think about how you feel about Apple and how much publicity Apple and Steve Jobs will get after reading the article.

Commitment and Consistency. People tend to be fairly consistent in their behavior once they make commitment. A classic example is when car dealerships ask you to put down a refundable deposit on a car to secure it. This creates a level of commitment and the customer feels obligation to be consistent and honor the agreement in purchasing the car. Find a way to give your customer an opportunity to make commitment to your brand. For example, you can offer trial subscriptions to a magazines(if you’re a publisher), software(if you’re a developer) or online services. Commitment and consistency is also expected from the brand. Your customers will be less confused and will like your brand more if you are committed to your goals, promises and agreements, and consistent in your messaging. If you promise to provide long lasting and durable product, then do so. If you mislead your customer he or she will switch brands.

Social Proof. As individualistic as we strive to be, our behavior is strongly influenced by others. Get your brand into as many people’s hands as possible and get them to interact with it. Then let everyone else know that your software or album is the top download of the year, or that you have the #1 selling product in the country, or that you have the bestselling book.

Liking. Consumers are much more persuaded by the brands they like. Although there are a number of factors contributing to why we like one brand over another, but it is the job of the marketers and brand builders to identify the target market and build a brand that the target market will identify with and like.

Authority. We tend to obey authority figures. Get a person of certain authority, depending on your brand and product to recommend or endorse your offer. We often see toothbrush or toothpaste ads with dentists’ endorsement.

Scarcity. It’s no secret that we want things we can’t have. Perceived low supply of a product will generate demand. Depending on the type of brand you are building, you can artificially create scarcity for your brand by making it (for example) luxury; although unattainable by general public, yet desirable because of its exclusivity to the elite. Another instance where perceived scarcity generates demand and commands strict pricing for a product is in the gaming consoles industry. Every time a new generation of video game consoles hits the market the overwhelming demand is bigger than supply due to manufacturing resources available, as was the case with Nintendo Wii. Although unintentional (some may argue otherwise on case by case basis) perceived scarcity creates a steady demand and higher brand value until supply catches up.

Understanding the principles of persuasion and how it applies to your brand can be powerful component of your tool set. Using them individually or in a combination and correctly, these principles can help you build a sustainable and a powerful brand.