China Mist Tea Tour TwitPics

Posted by Kevin Spidel on Jun 30th, 2009 | Comments

Last week one of our clients, China Mist Brands, wanted to thank all of their Twitter followers by hosting a “tweetup” tour of their factory. We had about a dozen “influencers” on Twitter show up. The reality is, these are all fans of the brand who showed up to gain more knowledge of the brand that they love!

Of course various types of user generated content was produced during the tour. We want to show you some of the TwitPics from their fans. This is authentic engagement, real honest marketing that yields the best results:

@azneville—Alex Neville
•    http://img291.yfrog.com/i/vdjn.jpg
•    http://img145.yfrog.com/i/8h0.jpg

@wesleytech—Wes Novak
•    http://twitpic.com/8foxm
•    http://twitpic.com/8fiif
•    http://twitpic.com/8fhll
•    http://twitpic.com/8fi1e

@chrislee—Chris Lee
•    http://img141.yfrog.com/i/kbo.jpg
•    http://img291.yfrog.com/i/58761960.jpg/
•    http://img261.yfrog.com/i/f9b.jpg/
•    http://img146.yfrog.com/i/5g3.jpg/
•    http://brightkite.com/objects/15ce703461ef11de93ca003048c10834

@wonet—Warren Owen
•    http://twitpic.com/8fc50

@ChefVern—Vern Gill
•    http://twitpic.com/8fk5k
•    http://twitpic.com/8fe1f

@jen2281—Jennifer Kindred
•    http://twitpic.com/8fgfj

Online Business Networking…Just an Extension of Offline Networking?

Posted by Jennifer Kindred on Jun 30th, 2009 | Comments

By: Jennifer Kindred

I am an Economist magazine junkie and have been for years. I may not always agree on the magazines opinions but the analysis and reporting is top notch. So imagine my surprise and excitement when I came across an article about Business Networking websites http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13900974. The article cleverly compares the influence of old fashioned networks like alumni associations, social cliques, and religious groups to online business networking sites such as LinkedIn, Xing (headquartered in Germany), and Viadeo (based in France).

These online networks are breaking down the “good ole boy” club barriers and creating a diverse pool of people who can post their credentials, resumes, and recommendations to the world. My LinkedIn profile is a wonderful online resource for employment opportunities, client vetting, and networking without leaving the comfort of my desk.

However, I must disagree with The Economist on one point, even though anyone can join LinkedIn and post their profiles, users must engage others either offline or online to grow their network. LinkedIn does not allow you to simply click on others and make them your “colleague” the other person must actively engage you through invitation and accept you as a member of their network. Savvy users will not just allow anyone access to their rolodexes.

So are social networks like LinkedIn just another way to create exclusive clubs, but online? Perhaps, but people who are fans of exclusivity will undoubtedly seek to exclude others in all environments, including online. However, The Economist is correct in its assessment that online networks create links that cross national borders and help people to exchange information about each other’s talents and businesses.

At a minimum you should create a LinkedIn profile for business purposes, it is a resource for you and others interested in you or your company. Business networking sites are another example of the benefits of authentic engagement and information collection.

Here at Activating WOM, our business cards not only have company information but our LinkedIn profiles links. We are living in the digital age; you and your business must get on board the social web to compete in the world of infinite information.

Lobbyist and Politicians Embrace the Social Web as the AZ State Budget Crisis Erupts

Posted by Kevin Spidel on Jun 30th, 2009 | Comments

The Arizona State Legislature and the Governor have been going at it for months now in a back and forth budget battle. So much so that the Arizona Governor took the issue to the Supreme Court to force a vote by the Legislature. As the deadline grows nearer to a Government shutdown, members of the Legislature, Lobbyists on both sides and even activists have been flooding Facebook and Twitter.

John and Jennifer Loredo have been using Facebook status updates and notes to not only give updates to their followers, but also spur activism on the issues of education:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1534230179

and

Dana Kennedy is actually connecting activist and lobbyists to Jennifer’s note on Facebook to add to the viralocity of these updates:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1534230179#/note.php?note_id=122738646180&ref=mf

State Representative Kysten Sinema gives the blow by blow tweets from the House Floor:

http://twitter.com/kyrstensinema/status/2407305658

This is democracy in action. No walls, direct connection of movements to elected officials. Real time advocacy thanks to new media.

b4tqv6xke8

Word of Mouth in Action

Posted by Kevin Spidel on Jun 29th, 2009 | Comments

The folks at 12seconds.TV are close friends to the ActivatingWOM team. We have mad love and respect for the family over there. When we see authentic word of mouth happen to friends we love, we often take note. Here is a great shout out by Shawne Merriman:

Link to the specific mentions of 12seconds here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1712613/highlight/7011

The Social Web: Companies that are Catching on in a BIG Way!

Posted by Jennifer Kindred on Jun 29th, 2009 | Comments

When we sit down with potential clients, many are still trying to grasp the world of social marketing. During out pitch, there tends to be a lot of education about what the social web is, and what makes us different than other marketing/PR firms. Many think that volume is the key strategy to the social web. We feel that there is a fine line between spam and volume on the social web. So today we decided to post about different approaches to the social web and how our strategies coincide with these successful engagement methods.

Our specific strategies start with social networks…evaluating a brand’s digital foot print, determining which networks work best for the brand, and executing a specific strategy for the brand.  Obviously we add our special sauce that provides analytic reports. Evaluation is key. Our Managing Partner has spent nearly 10 years in political campaigns.  His specific background is in “field.”  Field work is about breaking apart the trend data of voter files and marketing lists to target a voting base and then “activate” them. With the social web, the data is there!  Marketing lists and social interaction data is resting in the code of the tweets and the pings.

The following are examples of brand sponsored social marketing strategies. Companies are catching on in a big way!

Last week we had the privilege to partner up with Jennifer Van Grove, the Associate Editor for Mashable.com, for the #sdtweetup with Shawne Merriman.  ActivatingWOM was a big part of the event.  Her latest post:

“brand sponsored social media campaigns are everywhere. From SeaWorld, Starbucks, and Dunkin’ Donuts, to Cadbury, A&E, and even Universal, it’s officially the hot trend to replace or supplement traditional marketing campaigns with social media.”

SeaWorld has created a Facebook game application where you can challenge friends to get the most points; Starbucks challenged its network followers to be the first to post pictures of new Starbucks advertisement signs. Cadbury has taken a page out of Ford’s viral marketing campaign and created a contest for Cadbury fans to get as many social media views and points as possible while participating in “Operation Goo.”The winner gets £20,000 ($32,900).

The newest social media campaign is coming from Huggies in partnership with the social site, Circle of Moms. Huggies will be putting its content directly in the path of its primary consumer group…moms.  The “Huggies Zone” will be an interactive site with advice columns, baby photo sharing space, parenting polls, and of course diaper information.

As these examples demonstrate, companies are approaching the social web in a variety of ways…everything from Facebook applications, to photo contests, to large scale viral marketing, to an interactive page focused on a specific consumer group.  Companies can spend and do as much or as little as they want on the social web.

Here at Activating WOM we understand different social media strategies, implementation, analytics/tracking, and most of all reporting.  Companies need to know if their marketing strategies are effective.  We believe in authentic marketing, which is what creates a viral marketing campaign.

When taking the social web plunge, companies should be opened minded …as demonstrated above there is a whole new world of online communication.

Companies should see the social web as a cost effective way to talk about brands, engage consumers, and most importantly track their progress.

The social web is here…. are you ready?

The Perils and Rewards of Being First

Posted by Jennifer Kindred on Jun 24th, 2009 | Comments

By Jennifer Kindred

We usually think of “being first” as a good thing…first across the finish line, first in line for the water fountain, first group to come up with the newest innovation. In the business world, unlike the playground, being first accompanies risk. Sure companies are all over the latest innovation once some other hapless company proves the idea is successful or worse a failure. This, unfortunately, seems to be the approach that many companies are taking to the social web. They see the value but are too risk adverse to take a chance on a seemingly untested method.

Kevin came across a fabulous blog by Ken Kendall, which is the inspiration for this blog and can be found at http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2009/06/givetake_ratio.html The truth is that in communications, the risk adverse lose and lose big time. Ken cleverly uses the example of pizzerias in Chicago, basically a dime a dozen right? So why not use the social web to stand out from the noise, which exactly what Ramon De Leon or DPZRamon has done. Ramon is the owner of several Dominoes chains in Chicago and has built an online network about pizza. Ramon is the “pizza guy” and talks about everything pizza. Ken makes an excellent point saying that Ramon was the first pizzeria owner to take advantage of the social web and is known as THE “pizza guy”, as such, it will be much more difficult for other pizza chains to penetrate the Chicago pizza market on the social web.

Being first definitely paid off for Ramon! What about other business titans that were first in communications? Time magazine came out with their 100 Influential People edition a couple of weeks ago, the first profile under “Builders & Titans” was on Biz Stone and Evan Williams…founders of Twitter. The next page profiled Ted Turner, the guy who took a chance on cable television in the 1980’s before most of America even had access to cable TV. The gambles paid off for these folks.

So what does this have to do with activating word of mouth? Everything. I was on Twitter this morning and saw a retweet about a marketing promotion that Orbitz was doing. If you follow Orbitz on Twitter and retweet their message about a free airline ticket, you might win a free plane ticket, I immediately started following Orbitz and retweeted the message, duh I have a lot of traveling to do this year. All Orbitz had to do was give away one plane ticket and thousands of people took notice. This marketing strategy is unique and has not, to my knowledge, been done by an online travel company. Orbitz now has the foundation to build strong online social networks and engage those communities with travel information and additional free giveaways.

For companies who are risk adverse and hesitant to engage the social web, businesses like Orbitz will make it very difficult for you to build online communities once you determine that being left in the communications dust is not good for business. The amazing thing about social web marketing is how little it costs and how much you can gain. At the end of the day, we are all in business to make money…so why wait, be first in your industry to engage on the social web and see how much bang you get for your buck!

Live TweetUp Webcast: Shawne Merriman

Posted by Kevin Spidel on Jun 24th, 2009 | Comments

We are helping to host, broadcast, and promote a Tweetup for San Diego Charger @ShawnMerriman on Tuesday at 8:00pm PST.

This is the first Tweetup for a NFL player and the first Tweetup being broadcast. We will have an interactive Q&A from you all live, here.

The event can be found on Twitter and streamed live here:

Live Videos by Ustream

Another Social Media Win – 12seconds Video Contest

Posted by Kevin Spidel on Jun 19th, 2009 | Comments

By Kevin Spidel

World renowned photographer Jose Villa offered a scholarship to his photography workshops in Tuscany, Italy to the winner of his 12Seconds competition.

12Seconds.TV is one of the most popular video messaging sites on the web and also good friends of the ActivatingWOM team.

The video contest received over 4700 votes. Online word of mouth actions such as ReTweets, submissions, and advertising of each artists’ submission drove new views to Jose’s website and piqued interests of many who had not previously known about his workshops.

Jose also created a twitter account and actively engaged in conversations: http://twitter.com/ItalyWorkshop

The submitted videos demonstrated artistic talents from around the world and exposed artists’ works to the social web. The bonus was that by using 12seconds.tv the contest was interactive with the artist, kept the attention span of new viewers, and was entertaining.

Here are the top picks: http://josevilla.bigfolioblog.com/weblog/post/110789

And the winner:

shiz-what? on 12seconds.tv

By engaging his online audience to produce their own content about his workshops, Jose not only won over new fans, but received more creditable word of mouth advertising than if he had worked through traditional firms, which would have required a large budget for less return.

This is authentic word of mouth marketing on the web. It is a social media win!

On the Social Web, Respect – Not Numbers, Matter

Posted by Kevin Spidel on Jun 17th, 2009 | Comments

By Kevin Spidel

People often look at the number of followers/fans of others’ online networks as a way to evaluate the network’s influence.  In the beginning…numbers mattered on the social web; however, we have evolved and are now entering a social web Renaissance where the number of engaged followers matter.  Engagement is measured by followers’/fans’ responses to your content.

On social network sites such as YouTube and Flickr, where the content is the central piece of the conversation, view counts are still relevant.  Yet, with networks like Facebook and Twitter (the two largest growing networks) the central content focus is the conversation.

So those of you reading this blog who are not already faithful followers of our writings, we will once again reiterate the importance of authentic conversations on the social web.  Since social networks revolve around conversation, authentic engagement is a must! The culture of Twitter and Facebook is very open and welcoming; however, if you begin even the slightest spam, repeating, mass messaging technique versus real engagement, these networks are very unforgiving. Users can block your content with a click of a button; forever shutting you out of their content stream. You have one chance to capture social network users in a positive manner, so make a positive splash on the social web and engage authentically.

How?

Social network users are real people, real potential customers or fans of you. They are online to connect to like minded folks.  Brands do not engage, people do!  Remember that you are an individual who is talking about a brand.  Be human first.

In the latest blog post from Social Media Marketing UK they talk about the social web replacing corporate CRM software because of the authentic real and accessible value of the social web: (link here.)

What impact will this have on you and your company?

If you approach social web engagement as a numbers game, you will fail.  If you approach it as building your name identification and engaging into a larger community, you will win. Don’t focus on the numbers. Why, you ask?  Here is an example of authentic respect on the social web versus quantity of fans.  Let’s take a look at the ever so popular actor Aston Kutcher’s influence on Twitter.

As of 6/16/2009 he has 2,212,447 followers; one of the largest, if not the largest, following on Twitter.  Is that influential? Possibly…but let’s really look at the numbers.

•    In the last 24 hours Ashton had 300 ReTweets (Fans who replicated what he was saying verbatim) – That is approximately .013% of his network.

•    His last TwitPic (photo posted live from his mobile device to Twitter) received 44,235 views. That is approximately 1.9% of his network.

Sure the numbers are there, but is he an influencer to his network?  We argue no.  He is not engaging in even 3% of his network.  The value of having over 2 million followers is diminished if less than 5% of those followers do not actually engage and respond to your content.

From an athlete’s sponsor or a brand associated with a personality do these numbers (eyes) matter as much as the interactions of those who listen, ReTweet and evangelize content from a strong network? No.

Sponsors, brands, and those who want to really impact the social web care about strength in the network. This is something you can’t fake.  You can’t buy billboards and ask folks to “follow you on Twitter” as Ashton did and expect quality network.  You must engage naturally and earn your network’s respect. We are here to help coach you in that process.

Below is an example of a strong network.  Let’s stay within the celeb world since we picked on Ashton’s network and take a look at actress Alyssa Milano.

Alyssa_Milano has 89,225 followers but is an active Twitterer.

•    She has over 350 ReTweets in the last 24 hours that is approximately .39% of her network.

Although she has significantly less followers then Ashton; she has nearly the same return on ReTweets.

Imagine if her numbers were double and she still actively engaged on Twitter in her naturally authentic way.  Her influence level would be double Ashton’s with far less followship.

Let’s take a look at her last twitpics:

•    One received 5,362 views, which is approximately 6% of her network.
•     The other received 4,782 views, which is approximately 5.35% of her network.

The best part about these two photographs is that they were taken by her fans, of her fans, wearing HER jeans in a place she loves to spend time (a baseball park.) She merely ReTweeted what her fans did and earned them nearly 10 thousand in views. This is true engagement!

Photos here: http://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/2171411248
http://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/2171383587

What is the difference between these two celebs?  Alyssa is actively engaging in conversations with her fans rather then using Twitter as a megaphone.

On the social web, it is about respect and authenticity of your networks… not numbers.

Your Customers Are Talking About You – Why Aren’t You Talking To them?

Posted by Kevin Spidel on Jun 12th, 2009 | Comments

By Jennifer Kindred

Last week Kevin and I spent several days in the Bay Area.  The trip was a professional and personal success for both of us; we met and interacted with amazing people all over the Bay Area, particularly in Santa Cruz.  I could go on and on about our trip, but then would miss the point of this blog entry, which is utilizing the social web in our everyday lives.
On our last day in San Francisco we had a meeting with a potential client who suggested we go to lunch and that I pick the place.  Hmmm, I’m a Chicago gal, not so familiar with San Francisco, so my first instinct was to go to Yelp.com.  Yelp is a great resource for reviews of almost anything, including restaurants.  The site not only gives you information about the restaurant but provides reviews from people who have eaten at the restaurant.  This is word of mouth in its purest form on the web.

I thought about the power the reviewers had over a restaurant’s business and my choice.  I personally do not put 100% stock in other people’s opinions but in a world of infinite choices, others opinions do provide guide posts.  Quite honestly, I am much more apt to bypass a restaurant if there are several bad reviews on a site like yelp.

Sites like Yelp are a PR agencies worst nightmare…no control over the reviews.  However, that is because traditional and Web 2 types do not understand how to engage and use both good and bad reviews that are found on the social web.  Bad reviews are often the most valuable pieces of information that a business such as a restaurant can find.  If a restaurant contacted the reviewer and engaged in real conversation about the bad review and then offered to compensate them for having a bad experience at their restaurant; the restaurant would have just taken a negative impression and turned into a positive interaction with a customer.

Word of mouth marketing gives power to the consumer but also allows the business to find out exactly how their product/service is being perceived and consumed.  A major part of Activating WOM  is to track semantic conversations about our client’s service/product.  In a world full of choices make sure you are engaging your customers in a meaningful way.

The next time you are in a new city and rely on the social web to navigate restaurant choices, remember to provide meaningful reviews about your experiences.  Empower yourself through Web 3!