» 2009 » August

What do you say to someone who tells you that social media “does not work”?

I put out a case study on my blog yesterday showing the results of an experiment where I launched a new site using mainly Twitter.

Most people found it useful and interesting, there are 26 comments at the time of writing. What surprised me though were the number of folks who told me in various ways that social media is useless, worthless, and does not work.

A couple of people (the more polite ones) I went back to and asked what they meant. Especially considering the reason they contacted me was because of a case study showing it clearly had worked for me and my specific goals.

Almost all cases came back to common themes:

1. They had no strategy
2. They had no desirable content
3. All their communication was self-serving or bordering on spam
4. They were trying to use it as a direct sales channel
5. They had few followers plus the followers they had were gained through “auto follow” and tricks rather than engagement

Most surprising was outside of the online realm they had a lot of credibility and value to offer, it seems only translating to the internet was causing this lapse in judgement. This is a lot easier problem to solve than someone who does not get it in any domain!

How to Use Social Media and Get Results

We all have that friend who when on the dating scene goes in too strong and treats dating as a numbers game. The more “lines” they deliver the more chance of getting a date. These unsuspecting marketers were doing the same thing in social media, rather than breaking the ice, showing value, then gently wooing, they were coming in straight for the close.

The bulldozer technique will rarely work, instead you must:

1. Understand your audience
2. Join your prospect on home ground then bring them to you
3. Provide value without anything asked in return until you have built a relationship
4. Build credibility and trust
5. Use social media to attract and engage, not to close a sale

Remember AIDA (Attract, Interest, build Desire, then get Action). Social Media works best on the first three, and is great for generating clicks, but sales are best handled with dedicated landing pages where you have more space to close.

Use social media to attract, your blog and email to build your relationships, and use your sales pages to make offers and close.

Who is the Most Interesting Tech Startup of 2009?

Now, unless you’ve read Anil Dash’s Blog, you probably didn’t guess the Federal Government. The government is a large, established monopoly that’s been around longer than Twitter, the Internet and even telephones. You think Microsoft’s anti-competitive? Try not paying your taxes.

Yet this is exactly the answer the article argues. Since January the government has revamped WhiteHouse.gov and launched Data.gov, USASpending.gov and Recovery.gov.

They’ve done all this in a matter of months where, as Dash points out, “something like the USA Spending dashboard would have taken half a year or more to deploy in any large-sized corporation. How did they do it? Well, the team in the CIO’s office was working nights and weekends, borrowing time and resources, when they were able to, in order to get something useful, shipping as quickly as possible.”

That sounds an awful lot like a a startup to me.

A real tech startup (Google)

Of course, there’s plenty of room for rebuttal. Paying $18,000,000 to overhaul Recovery.gov isn’t something a startup would do. Nor would startups award no-bid contracts or involve contractors in drawn-out processes to be eligible to bid on contracts.

It’s cool to see the government be “innovative” for once when it comes to technology, but we can’t, and shouldn’t expect them to be a startup. The government needs to be accountable to us, the citizens, far more than a startup in some garage.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan area is home to over 17 million people. A region where Hollywood thrives, high fashion can be found, and up until recently was home to some really bad design. Yes, in a city that has more trends than Dennis Rodman, the design was awful.

Two things were adept at describing the L.A. Metro Authority in 2002, ridership was stagnant and public perception was poor. To most residents it was an after thought to use the public service, and that speaks volumes when your neighborhood street corner looks like a mixing bowl of roads.

Ridership was not stagnant due to quality of service, as evidenced by a hefty $3.4 billion operating budget. Ridership had hit a plateau because Metro wasn’t captivating their target audience. In a sea of California’s personalities, Metro was the quiet, shy child no one wanted to talk to.

That’s when Los Angeles went on the offensive and gave Metro a makeover. One which came in the form of the Metro Design Studio. One of the only design studios dedicated entirely to public transportation. Complete with a Creative Director and 20 underlings, the studio manages all aspects of Metros presentation. From all kinds of signage, to bus passes, maps, promotions, and even wrapping busses in design. Here is what they have come up with since their inception in 2002:

These are all fantastic designs, but what makes them even more intriguing is that Los Angeles didn’t financially overextend themselves by adding the new personality to their Public Transit. Metro did not dramatically alter any of their 16,000 stops after the personality change, yet public approval increased by a staggering 20%. This has drummed up more money as Fare Revenue has increased by $56 million.

What this shows is that the government can’t rely on Times New Roman e-mails and basic street signs to encourage the public. The government and citizens can both mutually benefit from high design.

On a final note, the Los Angeles Metro also gets bonus points for having their budget on Scribd. That is data accessibility at it’s finest.

So with the ever changing web, one thing that remains an ongoing challenge is the visualization of data.  Smashing Magazine has a couple good blogs on this topic where they show a few good examples, but let’s face it, what executive is truly going to understand what those mean.  No offense to Smashing Magazine, they’re my all time favorite blog, but let’s have a look:

TrendMap:

Newsmap:

Displaying Connections:

So, I admit, these visualizations are awesome but how useful are they.  Do you see the CEO of GM actually looking at them and understanding them?  (Well maybe if we laced his coffee with acid.)

Ok, so what’s my point?  I like to create what I call the Fisher Price version of Data Visualization, that anybody can understand.  For instance, look below, you can clearly see individuals moving across the sales funnel in real-time and see their geographic location.   It’s still pretty cool but it doesn’t require hallucinogenics.

Dukky:

What are your thoughts on this topic?  Let me know!

Now, more than ever, businesses are realizing the importance of interacting with their market. Social media platforms present a perfect setting for businesses to engage their consumers in conversation and vice versa.

The consumer has changed and one-way marketing will no longer make the cut.

David Kramer, President and General Counsel at Castle Title, LLC simply put it, “If social media is not a large part of your future, then your company does not have a future.”

Marketing strategies need to reflect a new generation of more accessible customers.

Kramer welcomes change and believes in innovation.

“So many people complain about the market, but if you keep doing the same thing, you will get the same results,” Kramer said.

Ken Montville, Associate Broker and Realtor at RE/MAX Advantage Realty, has spent 10 years in real estate. He also realizes the need to evolve with the consumer.

“The internet is a constant flow of information. So, consumers do their research first, and then they contact realtors when they have more focus,” Montiville said.

Marney Kirk of Keller Williams Excellence Realty agrees that the consumer has changed but she points out that the flow of information Montville speaks of is not always valid.

“The consumer does have an opportunity to be more knowledgeable, but it has become more important to educate the consumer because of the misinformation on the web,” Kirk said.

(more…)

As seen in Scottsdale, AZ

The song remains the same. Microsoft is yet again continuing the saga of following in Apple’s innovation. They’re entering the retail marketplace by opening their very own themed “Microsoft Stores.” Who can blame them? Since Apple opened their retail presence in 2001, they went from existing as quirky iMac specialized brand of computing, to dominating consumer entertainment media with the iPod and iPhone brands. Apple may still be a minority in terms of the overall personal computing market at large, but it’s global brand and appeal has never been more popular.

Now Microsoft wants in on the action. They’ve even redesigned their classic brand icon strictly for the retail stores. I have to admit, the tinted alpha tiles are a nice modernized update. I’ve always felt the flapping 4-color 3 dimensional flag always looked a bit cheap. I’d run with this across the board, but MS says the flapping flag will stay. Not only that, they’ve even hired the same George Blankenship, a former Gap executive who helped launch Apple’s retail arm in 2001. Speculation suggests that Microsoft will try to appeal to cost-conscious market and continue their current brand strategy with the recent Laptop Hunter ads. But imitation is flattery I would think, after all, to counter Apple’s annoying Genius Bar label, big MS thinks a yet to be named “Guru Bar” is a must have. Think they’ll have wood floors? Probably. Not sure if they’ll go all the way and lift the Stanley Kubrick white walled glow as well, but I’m sure it’ll be nice, in a Zune Mobile sort of way. Keep innovating Microsoft.

What do you think? Do you think this will save Windows 7?