The Impact of Social Media On The World

Posted by Kevin Spidel on Aug 14th, 2009 | Comments

Our good friends over at Roost posted a powerful video we felt the need to share. This is a video showcasing the powerful impact of social media on the world. This video, posted on Youtube, then onto Facebook, then onto their blog came to me via a retweet, and now has over 12,000 views! The powerful networks and influences on these networks are based on relationships online and offline.

A perfect example of social web word of mouth!

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?