Socially Adept

Choose Your Agency Like You Would Choose a Doctor

Lee Odden, over at TopRankBlog, has a great post today about Getting Social Media Marketing Straight which is a must read for any biog brand looking at entering the Social Media space.  There is clearly some disconnect in understanding the community and it is important to understand the space when considering a consultant or an agency to work with your brand within the Social Media community.

I liken selecting an agency or consultant to selecting a Doctor.  Every big brand needs a Primary Care Physician (Traditional Advertising Agency, PR Agency) to help them bring their message to the consumer.  On occasion, you'll need to visit a specialist like a dermatologist to help you with a specific problem (Interactive Agency).  However, once the problem has been identified, both your Primary Care Physician (Advertising/PR Agency) and your specialist (Interactive Agency) will suggest that you meet with a Surgeon who specializes in your specific problem (Social Media Marketing Agency).

The current problem is, that you PCP and Dermatologist aren't recommending that you seek the help of a specialist.  Instead, they are telling you that they can help you with the problem.  The result is a huge scar on your brand like this one for Uncle Ben's that BL Ochman astutely points out.

Additionally, your PCP will tell you that they know the best people in the business, but in reality, they are pushing you to their partners instead of helping you get in front of the best people.  A Social Media Marketing Agency knows where the best people congregate and helps you join the conversation and make your own selection on who is the best for your brand.

There's more to come on this later...but food for thought when sending out an RFP.

Life as a ZZ List Blogger (Will Coke, Sony, or Under Armour Care?)

As part of my job, I spend a lot of time researching the social media space.  I also have the opportunity to read hundreds of other blogs on a variety of topics.  What I really enjoy, is being able to reach out to these bloggers and discuss the space and how businesses can improve the way they approach the space.  How should brands contact bloggers and approach them about promoting products or obtaining permission to sell to them and thier audience?

Of course, everyone has an opinion on this topic so it can be difficult to determine what the best approach is.  Aditionally, with 55 million blogs out there and a million more started every day, it can be pretty hard for major brands to reach out to everyone.  Considering this fact, I am running a test to see how long it takes the following list of brands to reach out to me.  As these are my favorite brands right now, I am interested to see how they approach me.  I am already an advocate of their products and fall within their target demogrpahic, but it will be interesting to see what value they place on a ZZ level blogger. 

1) Sony (As previously stated, everything in my house is Sony... I am obsessed with this brand... I have never been disappointed with a product, but I can't pinpoint when I became such a huge advocate.  The big question is, would my advocacy change if I could afford more elite brands?  Hmmmm)

2) Coca Cola (For the past 25 years, I have invested approximately $156, 000 into Coca Cola... not stock, that's an estimate on how much I have spent on their products... and that is being convservative)

3) Under Armour (This brand is often bucketed by consumers as strictly athletic wear.  Let me tell you, they definitely are more than that.)

So, these are the three brands I am targeting.  I think it's a good mix of products and I think it would be very easy for them to engage me as I am in their target demographic and clearly announced I am a consumer of their products.  However, my blog readership is small, I don't post every day, and my level of Influence at this point in time is probably not very high.  Of course, I have been contacted by other brands and if they had been more adept in the space and provided me with some good content, I would have made more of an effort to carry their message into the blogosphere, but they weren't 100% committed (i.e. Diesel).

So, Coke, Sony and Under Armour, you have now become my focus.  Do I matter to you? 

Sunsilk should have maintained they weren't involved!

For anyone who watched this video (and apparently, there were 9 million of us) I have one simple question... how on earth could anyone have thought this was a real video?

If anyone out there has selected a bridesmaid who would just stand by and video tape this catastrophe, instead of helping their friend and knocking her to the floor before she cut her hair off, please let me know.  I would never believe for one minute that a bridesmaid would keep filming this tantrum. 

Sunsilk should have maintained their statement about not being involved.  This is terrible.  Sure, it got 9 million views, which is great, but it does nothing for the Sunsilk brand and 9 million people have no idea Sunsilk was involved.  Let these women try to get some stardom and rethink your social media strategy that at least supports your brand.

Book Review: Citizen Marketers - When People are the Message

So, I took Typepad's advice and picked up their recommended book of the month "Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message," by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.  I bought it on Saturday night and just finished it about 5 minutes ago.  It's a quick read and I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to wrap their head around Social Marketing.  It's a quick read and any CEO looking for a snapshot into the future, could benefit from the compilation of stories and examples.

To be honest, I didn't learn anything new, but I've been doing this for awhile.  What I really enjoyed about the book was the inclusion of old media stories and the history of media in general.  As a college graduate with a degree in Media Studies, it really brought me back and reminded me how much of the old is incorporated into the new.

What is most valuable to my clients is making sure they understand the 1 percenters.  So often, people are unrealistic in their expectations.  It is imperative to set measurement goals early on when launching a Social Media campaign and "Citizen Marketers" does a great job at providing examples and numbers that anyone can reference with ease.

Anyway, the book got me thinking and anything that can bring me back to my media studies days is A+ in my book.  However, I want more!  So, I implore all of you Social Media experts and those just beginning to send me three titles that you have enjoyed and really provide some insight into the space.  I'll be reaching out to some of you in the coming days, so start thinking now!  Until then...

For those looking to purchase, you can find the book here.

Need Numbers? How about these numbers in 1 week?

So, if you've taken the time to check out the kidnapped Diesel.com site, you'll recognize why there is such a huge spike in chatter within the blogosphere.  As an organization, if you are looking to harness the power of Web 2.0, this is a good example of a brand that threw caution to the wind and committed themselves fully to their viral campaign.  You can see some of the results in the graph I pulled from BlogPulse.  In a couple of weeks, when Compete updates, I'll post how the campaign spiked traffic to the site. 

Over the last few days, I have had the chance to touch base with the Marketing team in Italy and they are very pleased with the results of the campaign.  I'm hoping they will share more statistics with me, but 50,000 visitors in one day is way above their normal 10k or so (and that was day one).  If you haven't checked it out yet, you have two more days and then, who knows... I hope they have a bit more once the webcam is down.  I'd like to see the Heidie's negotiating with the Diesel executives for the release of the site.

*According to the site, Diesel has received over 250,000 YouTube views, 100 Myspace Friends (including Uma Thurman, Justin Timberlake and Gwenth Paltrow... hmmm... not sure about this), and 17,400 views on Flickr.

Introducing the Term "Blog Stalking"

You've decided to start a blog and after a few months of interesting posts, comments begin to fill up in your inbox.  Of course, your enthused that people are reading your thoughts and providing their own perspective.  You develop a group of regulars and before you know it, your circle is expanding and you have formulated a valuable community.

Then, a newcomer drops by and comments on your most recent post.  It's interesting, but you don't reply because you are, of course, only one person and don't have the time to answer everyone.  You post again a few days later and again receive a new comment from the newcomer.  Post after post, you start seeing the same comments.  You are now getting emails about your profile.  Their following you to Second Life and forums.  Before you know it, you're being "Blog Stalked."

I'll admit, I am guilty of blog stalking.  I've tried to get on the radar of high profile bloggers in an effort to develop a relationship, but I have learned the error of my ways.  As much as I would love to have Jaffe, Ze Frank, Rubel or BL link to my site, contacting them directly is not the best way to go about it.  Content is clearly King once again and just because I grew up a town over from where Jaffe lives and know how to find Crayon Island in Second Life, doesn't mean I will be able to connect on a level that encourages a dialog.

In my pursuit to increase exposure, I neglected to recognize that I don't want someone following my every move online.  I value comments enormously and Will always go to sites that comment on my blog or email me.  I'm building my network and will build it based on listening and responding.  Not tailing, emailing or invading.  Like any community, you'll be invited once you prove your worth... and no one ever liked a tag along!

So, I've coined the term "Blog Stalking" because as Web 2.0 technology becomes even more popular and marketers utilize the social web to connect with consumers, "blog stalking" will become even more prevalent.  If we recognize it now, maybe we can cut it off at the pass.

If you're a "Blog Stalker" plan on having as much success as the guy in the bushes outside Jessica Simpsons house.

Backlash to "Social Media" and other Web 2.0 Terminology

As some of you may know, I also post on my company blog called DigTrends.  My recent post focuses on the current backlash to the terms "Social Media" and "Consumer Generated Media."  I'd be interested to hear any feedback on the topic and encourage you to check out the original post from Steve Rubel at Micro Pusausion.

Here's To Beer... and Diesel Kidnappings

I love the slogan... "Here's To Beer!"  I also enjoyed the site design.  However, Anheuser Busch flops on this one.  There is some valuable content here if you're interested in brewing tips from the worlds largest producer of frosty beverages, but other than that, I am unimpressed. 

AB, you're the worlds largest producer of beer!!  You have millions of loyal customers.  Heck, there are people out there who have memorized your entire label!  Yet, you barely engage them in your "social community?"  According to the site, I am a Pilsner, but that is the extent of my interaction with the site.  Not quite sure what MingleNow's contribution was to the Here's to Beer site (they collaborated) but whatever.

Switching gears now, here is some viral video's from clothing company Diesel.  Kudos to them for completely redesigning their website to fit in with their viral campaign, even going as far as having a YouTube video on the homepage.  Talk about daring, they even have the campaign resulting in a name change from "Diesel" to "Heidies."  All in all, it's entertaining and they even have a live webcam.

It's a little over the top in terms of sexuality and I am not quite sure this will sell a lot of clothes, but in terms of brand recognition, it's got a shot.  However, it has only been viewed 263 times since yesterday, so time will tell.

UPDATE: As you can see from the comments, the Diesel site received 50,000 hits yesterday, which is pretty good for their new campaign.  I encourage everyone looking into the utilization of Social Media Marketing to check out the site.  It is very well done.

A Fool Proof Way To Pitch Bloggers

Here are some of the recommendations I have seen during recent searches.

1) "Give them free stuff." - Sure, this might work.  Who doesn't love free stuff?  Of course, provide explicit instructions on how it is to be used, whether it should be sent back (Microsoft), state that a post on your blog about the product is only fair (you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours), pay no attention to your declining reputation and don't worry about negative comments (everyone has an opinion)

2) "Be honest that you are pitching and state your goal" - How about something like this:

Dear Blogger,

This message is designed to encourage you to write a brief statement about my client, XX.  Although there is nothing in it for you (our budget was too small and realistic for us to send you something) we hope that you will take a few minutes to check this out and comment on it.  I know you see at least 100 of these emails a day, but this one is worthy of attention (I bet you hear that all the time).  We value your opinion just as much as the other 500 people we sent this information to, so please feel special about receiving this.  We look forward to the post!

Cheers,

Not Quite

3) "Contact them by posting comments" - This is true.  I read all of my comments (all 9 of them).  However, once I've posted the information in the comments, are you really going to want to write about it since I pretty much said everything for you?

4) "Be Yourself" - Well, not actually yourself, because if you are contacting me, you most likely aren't doing it for personal gain.  I would assume that of the 100 pitches received a day, most of them aren't about your new video on YouTube or the new music track on your myspace page.  Sure, I know some of this happens, but for the most part, your looking to sell something so be yourself, as in, "I'm a brand advocate and I need to represent them appropriately."

Now, of course I am just being ridiculous with the above comments, but those looking to influence the influencers need to recognize that there is no fool proof plan for contacting bloggers and social media types.  Like traditional press pitching, some things will stick and some things won't.   When trying to influence the influencers, it is imperative that marketers and PR professionals educate their clients regarding the tonality and delivery. 

I am a big advocate of throwing out the old book and starting from scratch.  I've never been a fan of canned pitches and generic emails that ramble on.  Of course, as someone looking to Influence the influencers on a daily basis, I know that I too can be guilty of this practice.  Trust me, as much as I would enjoy familiarizing myself with every blog I intend to reach out to, it's just not always the case.  I don't have that kind of time and clients don't have that kind of money.

So, what's my advice? 

1) I do agree with utilizing comments to reach bloggers.  Additionally, showing that kind of confidence in your pitch where you are willing to let it live on my site forever is admirable (be careful though, screw up and someone may humiliate you).  However, don't spill everything on the table, here is where you have my full attention.  You can real me in with a good comment and then pitch me if I respond.

2) Due your research.  Before you even think about reaching out to the "in crowd" make sure that I welcome the information and be on topic.  Having read this post, you can most likely assume that I am not going to post on cars (but feel free to send a free sample).  Also, make sure you know the basis of the site.  Do they just regurgitate news or do they offer opinion?  One writer or multiple writers?  You get the gist.

3) Content is King!!!  Not only in your pitch, but what you are pitching.  I don't expect it to be perfect (and most of the time prefer that it not be) but the content is key.  Is it compelling?  If not now, does it have potential?  Is there an opportunity for my input to help shape the future of the topic?  I am not worried about details, language, AP style, etc.  With that said, be professional, I don't need anyone "Hollerin' at cha boy!"

4) Don't assume anything.  What worked with the Top 150 marketing blogs may not work with me or anyone else.  Every approach will require a different technique, but your core message shouldn't change.  If all you have is a link to a site that you want me to review, no need for more than, "Hey, check out this site we just made.  Would love to hear your thoughts."  I'll check it out and if I can find something to say, I'll say it.

Most of this stuff you can find elsewhere on the web and there have been some phenomenal posts lately on this topic here and here, but I had to weigh in anyway.

ZunePhone Debuts

Clearly, there is value in being timely.  In the world of consumer generated media, this is more evident than ever.  The blogosphere went crazy with the launch of the iPhone and people were hanging on Mr. Jobs every word.  For me, the iPhone is just another gadget that means little to me.  I am one of the few consumers who don't care if my phone can play music or dance a jig.  Can it make calls?  However, I love the touchscreen... I am a sucker for a touch screen!  Unfortunately, that still isn't enough for me to even consider leaving Verizon for Cingular (now AT&T as a result of today's announcement).

Anyway, here is an interesting video announcing Microsofts new ZunePhone.  I'm concerned about the size and the sound, but I know it will surf the web, send email and manage my calendars.  Who could ask for more?