speak human book image

Chapter 20: Making It Work for Your Company

This is rather wordy but a nice read on the iPad. It’s from a book and whilst not specifically Social CRM it covers some of the principles and as a nice ‘introduction’ to the mindset you should have if you are using digital commas for your business or brand. For those short on time, I’d say to make sure you read the last four points. The whole thing is really common sense but as it points out early on, sometimes the old lessons are the first to be forgotten in new marketing. Read more…

Also, Lauren Carlson of Software Advice writes:

Social CRM, FTW!: How Real Companies are Going Social and Winning

The article is from software advice so it’s a lot more focused on a few of the tools that can enable Social CRM rather than the principle (and true) Social CRM. That said, they do give some nice headline space within the first paragraph to the accepted definitions of Social CRM from Michael Fausette and Paul Greenberg – which are real gems (albeit very wordy). Read more…

oh, and if you are wondering how the move went, it was pretty tiring…

Dylan Benjamin crashes out halfway through packing

Topman Denim shot

Our activity included an ongoing social CRM strategy implemented across social channels and relevant blogs, and a micro site for the Denim section of the Topman website, which would become the final repository for all the Topman Denim content.

Beyond the core films we created further video content, including a trailer, behind the scenes clips and an interview with Laurence himself. These would be used to extend the campaign beyond launch. We also ran competitions, tying into Topman’s monthly Fashion Friday events at their flagship Oxford Street store. The key factor was to ensure that we would be able to add new weekly content in order to keep people engaged.

Measuring the campaign has been straightforward, as Topman’s main KPIs were measurable. Six weeks into the campaign and we are at almost 200% of the target KPI for engagement, with another three weeks still to go. This makes it Topman’s most successful online video content based campaign to date. We are also measuring response to the competitions and general feedback across blogs, Twitter and Facebook. Overall feedback to the campaign has revealed the extent to which Topman has now become a global brand, with a very strong following in Asia and the US.

Bloggers are powerful and many have audiences bigger than traditional press publications

A lot of people talk about blogger outreach but what does it mean and how does it add value? Here’s an overview of what it involves, what you should expect and some tips on how to get the best results.

At its simplest level blogger outreach is the integration of blogger relationships into a Social CRM strategy. By building long-term relationships with relevant and interested bloggers it’s possible to open up a whole new means of broadcasting your message to niche audiences who are actively interested and engaged. In addition, word-of-mouth recommendations from bloggers can be very influential, especially if they have a faithful readership that trust and follow their opinions.

However, it’s worth noting that blogger outreach is one of the hardest aspects of Social CRM to get right as a poorly thought-out strategy can easily backfire and possibly even damage your brand or reputation online. Bloggers can be savage and merciless in exposing ill-informed or overly tactical approaches, and this is why (most but not all) PR agencies often get it wrong.

If you plan to work with bloggers as part of your strategy it’s essential to remember to treat them as individuals and not just another marketing channel. For some time now bloggers have been increasingly treated by some marketers as just another outlet for press releases – yet this technique is the social media equivalent of being cold-called by a double glazing salesman.

Bloggers do not want to feel that they are being used or sold-to. Bloggers are motivated by personal relations and taking part in or initiating on-going conversations. As a result bloggers will almost always only respond to truly personal approaches and will ignore anything that seems like a blanket press release or marketing message. While some bloggers are now very professional, with huge audiences, it’s still important to treat them with respect and remember that unlike traditional media they do not need you or your content to survive.

In exchange, bloggers are often happy to use exclusive content or information that is relevant to them and their readership, once you have begun to build up a direct relationship. Products to review, invitations to events and competition prizes can also be effective – depending on how relevant these activities are to your sector – as successful blogs often rely on a steady stream of constant updates. Expect blogs to be honest however, and don’t expect to guarantee good reviews or favourable coverage if you’re not confident in your product. Bloggers will tell you what they think, not necessarily what you want to hear.

If you can make the process work for you though and you keep your blog contacts happy, you can not only hope to achieve wider online coverage for your product (many blog audiences now surpass traditional  magazine readerships) but also access to another measurable online marketing channel, and the chance to engage with possible future brand advocates.

Neoco now has several years of experience in building strong relationships with selected bloggers across key industries, and this has enabled us to develop a range of tried and trusted strategies. Blogger outreach is frequently included in our planning strategies from the outset and this enables us to plan and maintain our relationships, even during the quiet periods between campaigns. This often puts us ahead of other agencies, as you’re not paying for the initial learning curve, you’re paying for our experience.

Here are our five top tips to consider when drawing up your own strategy:

1. Aim to build long-term stable relationships and not short-term contacts
2. Know your audience and keep it relevant. Use appropriate forms of communication.
3. Be honest – bloggers will expose bullshit
4. Ask bloggers what they want or need from you
5. Look after your message online – keep it coherent and consistent

Once again I was whisked away to another festival to blog, post and tweet on the activities of the day for a client.

While I was there I saw lots of brands trying to engage festival-goers to participate in a number of different, fun and ridiculous ways to get them talking about their product or service. I get what’s happening here.. Foot fall is high at festivals and organised outdoor events so brands pay to piggy-back on this ready made audience and hopefully convey their message to them. However, does this strategy work once people start to get boozed up and inhibitions as well as memories start to deteriorate? Plus, from personal experience, revelers prioritise other attractions that got the majority of them excited in the first place – the headline acts and performances from their favourite DJ/pop/rock star.

It got me thinking which is better: virtual interactions with your audience via Social media and multiple channels with a brand or through experiential activities. Well, there’s only one way to find out, FIGHT!! No seriously, I’ve thought about the pros and cons of various strategies and I’ve come to the following conclusions..

The benefits of experiential marketing is that it can really engage audiences giving them a fuller experience through immersion into the brand concept. Plus, experiential activity has the real potential to generate genuine word of mouth recommendations, thus creating real advocates for a brand or service. However, the majority of the time this activity is very localised and the audience reach is limited to the few that are actually present at the event or gathering. The exception to this would be a planned PR stunt, which is designed to not only spark conversation but can also glean main stream media coverage (think T-Mobile flash mobs et. al.).

Commuters seemingly burst into dance during the filming of a T-Mobile commercial

Virtual and Social interactions on the other hand can involve the masses in a relatively short space of time. A good viral YouTube video for example can reach thousands of views within days if executed well. A brand has struck gold if they’ve kept their audience in mind plus triggering their evolved Social instincts to share relevant content to their peer group. With this in mind digital engagement provides a two-way dialogue so brands can react quickly to what their public is enjoying so can mobilise promotional activities, incentives and implement this across many territories. The only drawback I can think of is that you need to have a big audience to speak to and ideally have built up a large enough following for your message to not fall flat. It’s a case of that old philosophical riddle: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” In my opinion, it’s not all a numbers game as a return on engagement can be done with a few loyal fans, followers or connections providing the content that is shared is relevant and meaningful to them.

I feel that a savvy brand should incorporate the two disciplines in their marketing mix (which, by the way, our client is doing). By using the wide reach of Social media, digital tools and multiple channels in conjunction with regional experiential activity means they are getting the best of both worlds. This approach can only reinforce brand awareness and customer interaction, which hopefully for the brand, creates increased ‘talk-ability’ and real lasting memories.

“While many are in love with the whole concept of Social Media as being the next big thing in marketing, the holy grail that will lift sales and enhance your brand, I have seen some detractors that insist in calling out the faults and dangers or adopting Social Media as part of your marketing strategy.

Social media is just another media

Experts, personalities and false prophets are all clamoring that social media is king. We’re told that if you have a good plan , if you follow a proven framework for rolling out your social media activities and integrate them with your sales efforts , then the ROI will be clear . That is, if you can translate all those additional site visits, downloads, and re-tweets into sales. Otherwise it’s just buzz.

Some blasphemous professionals on the other hand, caution us to be careful in our efforts, telling us we should really focus on those customers that love our product and not use social media targeting everyone. They caution us saying it could be dangerous to our business if incorrectly used and it’s only helpful to build relationships and goodwill .  Sales? Maybe not so much.

I don’t know about you, but so far it seems like Social Media is nothing more than just another media, another tool in the marketer’s arsenal. It’s like saying everyone should do email marketing, everyone should do podcasts, print ads and TV spots…”

To read more, go here.

Meltdown headliner

Tickets now on sale for the AWESOME Meltdown event.

This has been an absolute stormer over recent years with previous guest directors including Massive Attack, David Bowie, Morrissey and more. this year, free jazz legend and icon of the avant-garde Ornette Coleman will take over Southbank Centre’s riverside venues and spaces as the 16th director of Meltdown. Reflecting the restless, unfettered spirit of this year’s director, Meltdown in 2009 will provide a platform for avantrockers, jazz and world music artists alike – giving free reign to reinvention, improvisation and the collaborative concerts Meltdown is renowned for.

As the Southbank Centre digital agency it was our task to put together all the comms for this year’s event including the dynamic website that draws on several social feeds, including Twitter, Blog and a Spotify playlist.

Meltdown homepage

There has been a great response from the community – the Twitter feed already has nearly 700 followers and newsletter subscriptions are high. So don’t sit here reading any more – go and check it out and why not treat yourself to some tickets too!

More than half of all the arrests have been made in China, Egypt and Iran with prison sentences given to many. The average prison sentence for blogging was 15 months and the longest sentence found by the WIA was eight years!

Its not just the Middle East bloggers though – in the last four years, British, French, Canadian and American bloggers have also been arrested.  Arrests tend to increase during times of political uncertainty – so with upcoming elections in China, Pakistan, Iran and the US, arrests are predicted to high an all time high.

For more details about the report visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7456357.stm

The new website will see a whole bunch of new features from day one but a program of development ensures that there will be some cool stuff being added each month. Don’t worry, the blog will remain – well, we couldn’t lose our little soapbox could we?

The case studies section has gone through a major overhaul and now has client quotes and pulled out stats. We have API’s, social bookmarking and more besides.

The most important thing for us though is the new visual design that it will bring with it. It’s different. Very different. But very ‘us’.

Check out the very small sneaky peek image and then go to our existing homepage and watch the seconds (minutes, hours, days) count down.

eBay are suing community ad site Craigslist to “safeguard its four year financial investment”. eBay believe that Craigslist’s executives Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster have adopted unspecified measures that have disadvantaged eBay and unfairly diluted their “economic interest by more than 10%”.  EBay’s general counsel Mike Jacobson has said “since negotiating our investment with Craigslist’s board in 2004, we have acted openly and in good faith as a minority shareholder, so we were surprised by these recent unilateral actions”.

In response, Craigslist have said in their company blog that they are surprised and disappointed by eBay’s “unfounded allegations”, and that eBay’s legal action “came to us out of the blue”. It said “we have always treated eBay fairly as a minority shareholder, and plan to continue doing so, despite this unfortunate development. EBay has absolutely no reason to feel threatened – unless a hostile takeover of Craigslist, or the sale of eBay’s stake in Craigslist to an unfriendly party, is their ultimate goal.”

Read the full article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7362221.stm

This week has seen hi5 become a victim of their own success, as their runaway growth has come with some some growing pains.

Over the last month, third-party developers have launched over 400 OpenSocial apps on hi5’s network. These apps have has faster adoption rates than those on any other social network. The hi5 platform has averaged at around a million application installs every day and around half of hi5’s 80 million members have engaged with three or more installed apps.

Mashable spoke to hi5 developers to find out the secrets to their success – the short version being that they just put together a really solid service and happened to quickly tap into a broad cross-section of countries. Their really impressive application statistics are continually attributed to their uniquely international userbase.

However, their success has come with some growing pains and Justin Smith at Inside Facebook has told Mashable: “Hi5 for a brief period turned off all platform notifications. However, Hi5 has since restored platform notification service to developers by making some changes to the way notifications work. Specifically, notifications are now processed asynchronously.  Hi5 will be continuing conversations with developers that are using notifications the most.”

See the full Mashable blog and hear their conversation at: http://mashable.com/2008/04/29/hi5-growth/