New address
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If you’re wondering why I’ve moved, I wanted to be able to use a few tools not available on wordpress.com.
Don’t start your social media effort with a Facebook page
When initially discussing social media with clients, often the first thing brought up is using Twitter or Facebook as an outgoing tool to push their advertising messages. If you’re thinking about social media from a traditional marketing perspective, there’s nothing wrong with this concept. It’s obviously a cheap media buy, and we all know that it’s a bigger and bigger audience every day. So it makes total sense to dive in, right?
In case you haven’t heard, volume of social media is absolutely huge, including 133,000,000 blogs, 250,000,000 active Facbook users and, now, over 33 million Twitters. This vast sea of information contains connections and ecosystems that even the most adept brand manager or CMO will find confounding without the right tools and people with a dedication to finding them.
After the individuals and connections are found, marketers must learn what customers are saying and gauge their sentiment about their product, brand and company. Marketers may discover there’s a lot being said by more people than they would have thought possible.
Once all this information is gathered, it becomes obvious that simply getting a line in the water isn’t enough. Marketers need to develop a unique strategy to engage their audience that’s a lot deeper and more involved than getting on Twitter and Facebook with the same message they’ve been using in traditional marketing.
OK. You get it and you’re ready to start and want to know your options.
Hire an agency or consultant to do the listening and strategy for you.
Buy a tool like Neilson’s, Radian 6, or Social Radar and make a go of it yourself.
Don’t have the budget or buy in on the importance of social media? Start with the free tools and and Excel spreadsheet. A couple graphs and some solid numbers may help you illustrate the importance of social media to decision makers.
A couple free tools are:
Google Blog Search
There are literally hundreds of tools out there, these are just a couple I’ve used. The important thing is pick a tool and stick with it if you want to do any tracking because they will all provide different results. What they won’t give you is easy tracking, graphing, and sentiment.
Four predictions on the future of advertising. Yes, there is one.
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what’s next. On both a personal level, for the agency where I work, and for the industry as a whole. One thing that’s pretty darn obvious, things have already shifted. There have been several reports on industry spending and the shift toward digital. Spending is predicted to continue to increase in digital segments while it will stay flat at decreased 09 levels in traditional segments. There have also been so shifts that will most likely not be long term.
Agencies have heard loudly that serving the same old sauce isn’t going to land new clients and keep old ones. Things have to change so I’m going to go way out on a limb and make some predictions.
- Agencies won’t be siloed the way they are in the future. Media, creative, and account service. We will still have creative girls and numbers guys, but media, planning, and some of what account service now does will be blurred. This will help produce better solutions for clients.
- Successful agency/client relationships will touch a lot more departments. Working with a mid-level marketing department executive for the day to day won’t be enough. Customer experience, outbound communication, and even inbound communication will become so important to the brand that great client/agency relationships will work on all of this and more on as part of a branding effort.
- Agencies will finally stop talking about the big idea and start talking about getting the details right. Who cares about a big idea when the brand experience is the new media? Getting the details right will make the brand successful.
- Long thought of a slick hucksters, ad folks will be preaching truth, trust, and respect for the customer. Remember David Ogilvy’s “the customer isn’t an idiot, she’s your mother.” Well, don’t forget it. In fact, repeat it once or twice and you’ll be on the cutting edge.
Bonus prediction: Agencies will be confused about what to call themselves for near future. Using monikers like group, Inc., collective, partners, labs, and idea factory because they’re afraid to commit to being grouped as just a digital shop or a old school advertising agency. Eventually, they’ll all agree on what their industry is called and rename the AAAA.
Jimmy’s Week on the InterWebs 8-28-09
Posted late because, hey, I’m busy.
I think this is the story of the week just because it’s such a good example of both what is wrong and why there is hope for the social web. A PR firm, Reverb Communication, was busted for gaming the iPhone app store. They seem pretty unapologetic about their behavior and are raked over the coals for it by a blogger. This is story is a great demonstration of the shift to the “Trust Economy.” You had better be trustworthy or the blogger community will call you out.
Facebook adds Open Web Community leader. This doesn’t speak to any obvious news other than the direction they plan to go, open.
Facebook updated their iPhone app. It’s way better. Check it out if you use an iPhone, you’ll be pleased.
I talked to Gretchen Miller and Michael Strutton of Vitrue on Monday. They showed me their SRM tool which is still in beta. It enables users to get more out of Facebook with a automated platform that also provides some project management functions. It’s like a CRM system, but for FB. Which is probably where the SRM comes from. It also has link tracking built in, which is similar to what bit.ly does, but private. For a marketing department that’s very serious about their FB presence, this is a tool to look at. They also have a Twitter function in the works.
Are you familiar with TED? Nothing specific or new I’m calling out. But they are “ideas worth spreading.”
Finally got around to setting up my Google Voice account. This is a permanent free phone number that you can forward anywhere and some cool extras like email voice mail. Sing up. It’s free.
Ten things advertising people need to know about social media
Notice this doesn’t say “Top Ten.” Just ten things, as a modest practitioner of copy and social media, I think aren’t obvious to people coming to social media from advertising.
I expect some people will have a few problems with this list. That should be expected, we are still defining social media. Got a problem, leave a comment. I’m listening.
- The PR people are way ahead of you in this arena. Their business has been shifting more dramatically and longer than ours.
- Social Media isn’t a threat to your job if you still have one and you take SM seriously. But if you don’t have a job, it could be your savior.
- Social media isn’t just about user generated content. You have to give people something to talk about.
- If you dig in and dedicate yourself to social media, you’ll gain more than you’ll give.
- Social media still needs a concept. If you just build it, they won’t come.
- Don’t concept for the technology. Social media isn’t usually “paid,” so do what makes sense for the brand and the concept. Just because the client said they want a Facebook page, doesn’t mean you should make one.
- Social media is about learning and sharing. Your social media executions should share something of value.
- You can’t tell half truths or even spin. The bloggers will skewer you.
- Social media isn’t a fad.
- Learning is more important than in other media.
I’m sure I must have missed something…
Jimmy’s Week on the InterWebs – August 21, 2009
This is the first installment of Jimmy’s Week on the InterWebs. A very low-level look at what’s current and what I think would be interesting for agency folks that is happening on the Web. This may end up being a weekly blog article or it might not.
Lots interesting things going on with Facebook right now. Last week Facebook bought a little company called FriendFeed. FriendFeed had been on the radar of Web hipsters for awhile and is considered to be the next Twitter by some and potentially an even bigger hit.
FriendFeed is basically an aggregator of your social content on the web. It links your social accounts together so when you post something on the Twitter, FriendFeed picks it up, or if your Facebook friend puts something on their wall it will show up on FriendFeed too. You can post to multiple sites on FF as well. All that content in one place can get overwhelling, especially with their lackluster dashboard. But many smart people swear by this site as the future.
Last week, Facebook also announced FaceBook Lite. This is most likely intended to be a more streamlined version that will be a competitor to Twitter.
But it seems they’re also playing nice with Twitter for the benefit of Facebook admins with a tool that allows them to post to both their Facebook page and to Twitter. More about that here.
Next week I’ll be talking with Vitrue about their SRM tool for Facebook posting and tracking.
For a more in-depth analysis of where Facebook may be headed check out Jeremiah Owyang’s more indepth post.
Steamy is a social aggregator on steriods and most likely a precursor to what Google Wave will be. It’s basically a single Web page where you can access all of your communication and information. All of your RSS streams, email, chat, Facebook, social bookmarking, and even join news groups (remember those). This is a really cool service that probably seems pointless to many, but definitely demonstrates where the Web is heading (aggregation). I’ve been using and like it but don’t see it as an all-purpose tool.
In an attempt to stay relevant, MySpace has acquired a social music discovery site iLike. This is probably a good move for them to hold on to the music audience. If they could only do something to improve that awful interface.
Some of you may know that I’ve been listening and learning about tools to monitor the chatter on the Web. I still have a few more to learn about but if folks are interested in seeing and learning more about what each can do, let me know and I’ll share.
This site has been around for awhile but I only recently started paying attention to it. I dig it.
When of the neatest things I stumbled upon this week is the Personas site from MIT. It provides a graphic visualization of your online personality. Enjoy.
So, you want to work in advertising. An open letter.
This is an open letter to the many who have asked me, and will ask me, about working in an tough industry.
I’ve been slammed lately, seems like there’s just as much work these days but I’m doing a lot more things rather than just creating ads. So I’m apologize if it’s taken awhile to get back to you but I’m busy adapting to all the changes in the industry.
Like you, a lot of people that are just starting out their careers have asked me about working in advertising. They usually want my opinion about their spec ads or work they’ve created for a friend. Sometimes they’re offended by what I have to say. I’m sorry for that, but I think it’s important to be honest with people rather than take the easy way out. I’m not the kind of person who will stroke an ego, I’d rather tell people what they really need to know if they want to work at an agency.
First the good.
It’s good that you’re getting out and talking to people. You need to be on the top of people’s mind if you’re going to be hired, no one is looking for you. I know it’s tough to do when you’re unemployed and feeling down.
It’s good that you’re directing people to your Linked in profile. You’re letting people know what they need to know about you and they’ll be able to link you instead of losing your resume.
It’s good that you have a blog. It would show that you’re current with the industry if it didn’t have pictures of your cat and posts about that crazy road trip with your brother. So you may want to start a professional/career blog like this guy. It may be a little over the top for you, but it will give you an idea what people should do to stand out.
Your portfolio site has a couple problems. Mostly user experience related. Having stuff fly around your site for no reason is a problem these days. Cool for cool’s sake went out of style with corporate jets and $100 hamburgers. People want value for their time and you’re wasting it with flash intros and gizmos.
I need to see where to click and how to find information in a simple and attractive execution. And, frankly, your portfolio doesn’t need to be more complicated than an extra page on your blog. Or heck, it could even be your blog.
I’m also confused about what your trying to sell yourself as. You site tells me you do it all. You couldn’t possibly be the best at everything. For example, I’m not qualified for a senior job on a pharmaceutical account but I am an experienced advertising writer with more than a passing knowledge of online promotions and social media. I’ve produced a lot of different types of advertising over the years but I’m not selling myself for all of them, just what’s current and in demand.
To paraphrase Tim Williams , take a stand for personal brand. Why are you important to me? I need to know right away or I’ve lost interest.
The technology of the site is outdated. Flash is out of favor, unless their is a really good reason for using it – like demonstrating something, playing a video or a way for a user to meaningfully interact with it. These guys are at the forefront of the industry and look at their site. Still think you need to do something flashy? Create an app or do something in html 5.
Now this is part where I may lose a friend. Sorry, but the quality the work on your site is uneven. While there are some bright spots, much of it looks more like something that might be produced in a marketing department. If a corporate client is coming to an agency, they’re expecting something they can’t do in house. You’ll need to be tougher on yourself if you want to get in the door.
There’s never been a worse time to be looking for a job in advertising, your competing against out-of-work people with great resumes and brilliant books. They lost their jobs for no fault of their own and they’re smart, talented, and fast. For some perspective on this visit Erik Proulx’s wonderful site.
If you really want to work as a copywriter or art director, now may a good time to reach out to my friend Norm Grey at the Creative Circus. Sharpen your skills and wait out the recession. Or, if you’re looking for a job in production or account service, consider offering to work for free and get some free training. You need the training more than they need you right now.
Good luck, Jimmy
Pay for tweet seems a lot like borrowed interest
One of the first things you learn as a copywriter is that borrowed interest is a lame way to engage a consumer. What is borrowed interest? It is borrowing interest from a celebrity or something perceived as interesting, like skateboards or superheros and attaching it to a product with no logical tie. Sex may have a lot to do with a lingerie but skateboards have nothing to do with orange juice.
Now I believe Catherine Zeta-Jones uses a telephone. But I don’t believe she knows anymore about cellphone service than most people. Men may watch Catherine slink across the screen and maybe even think it’s a good spot, but do they really believe her words anymore then the would an unknown actress? Not likely. They may listen, but awareness is another topic.
Borrowed interest worked great in the 50′s. But after awhile people noticed that if celebrities were paid enough they’d whore themselves out for any product under the sun.
What does a band leader have to do with a "luxury trailer"?
Anyone wanna guess if Michael Jackson ever rode a Honda Scooter around LA?
The strength of social media is about people connecting and informing each other what they really think. Transparency aside, a tweeter paid per tweet about rattle on about deodorant, or cars, or computers doesn’t seem like brand advocacy.
Sure, there are celebrities that people should listen to. @lancearmtrong is one I follow on Twitter and someone I wrote an Oakley ad for in 1996 when he was a former world champion headed to the Olympics. And just before being diagnosed with testicular cancer. He used and still uses the product. Could there possibly be a better advocate for cancer research or the athletic gear he actually uses? My step mother who is recovering from breast cancer finds what he’s done and, and is doing inspirational. Now that’s a brand advocacy.
The best brand advocates aren’t paid for their tweets. They’re people who believe in a product and are sponsored and use it like Armstrong or Tiger Woods who both use Nike. Or they are the thousands of people that use a product and advocate for it everyday. Ever talked to a Harley owner about Japanese vs American?
Is Social Media Advertising?
Not so long ago advertising was TV, newspapers, magazine and newspaper ads. Even with the Web in the mix, most “digital stuff” was left to digital specialist.
As the digital space has become more important to consumers and clients and more money is invested, it’s become a no brainier for ad agencies to want to be more involved. As they have, they’ve tried to apply old branding models to a new and more complex network of communication. They’re finding that things like micro sites aren’t always the best vehicle for promotions that might work better on Facebook.
Which brings us to social media. If advertisers run an ad on Facebook, does Facebook become advertising? I could argue that any media that paid communication inform about a product or service is advertising. That’s what ad agencies do with other media.
But social media isn’t created for readers, it’s created by and with them. Which is why an ad can appear so intrusive in this media. This means that advertisers have to think differently about the messaging that’s used in the social space and possibly, even start from an a different creative brief.
The Gates Story Got Me Thinking About Our Industry
So let’s just get this out of the way. It’s wrong for police to abuse, be biggoted, racist or to racially profie.
And let’s get this out of the way too. It’s wrong to verbally abuse and attempt to humiliate someone who’s job it is to protect your community.
Not that either of those things happened. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. It is not the point of this post to judge them.
I’m writing today about what this brings up about our industry. Our reliance on demographics, which at times simply amounts to profiling for the sake of making money for our clients. Just because we’re not doing this to harm anyone does this make it OK? There are ad agencies that make it their business to only speak to one race or another. Usually they are run and staffed by minorities. Does that make it OK for them to single out other minorities?
With the rise of the social web, we’re learning better ways to target consumers based on tracking behavior rather then the generalities of age, sex, income and race. At Kilgannon, most of our clients are B to B and considered purchases brands, so we’re usually more concerned about purchase behavior and market conditions than race or sex. We also use a unique planning model that allows us to target engagement. This allows us to talk to people with the right message at the right time.
With the rise of the social web, customers and potential customers are telling us more about them and even opting to engage with our clients. The smarter we get about consumers, the less we should rely on old-time demographics and the more we can target behavior.
What do you think?
